I've been bombarded recently with ads from various mortgage providers, offering unrealistically-low rates, many of which skirt the edge of almost-fraud by looking very official and US-Government-esque. One of these even had "2013" with the "20" dark-on-light like the tax forms have. (Of course they all say "This is not a government document" in tiny print somewhere on the back of the form.) And the radio ads piss me off even more. "You may be able to refinance even if you're under water! And even if your rate is over 5%, you may be eligible for a reduction!" etc. Notice my emphasis. But that's a rant for another time.
In any case, due to the balance due being higher than the house could be sold for, the only bank who'd touch my mortgage is of course the one who currently holds it, which is UrbynBank. (I'm sure you can guess who. And if there's a real UrbynBank somewhere, my apologies to them.) My rate has been 5⅜, which was dynamite when I got it, but now, not so much; they're offering 3⅞, which is about as low as you can get on a 2-family house. Process has been relatively painless up to now, thank $DEITY. My cost is something like $665.00, most of which goes to the required home inspector, which they hire and send over.
So the guy was here today. He went and took one picture in every room, and was kinda evasive about why he (or rather UrbynBank) wanted them. The house is its usual messy self, which I've long since grown out of being embarrassed about, I know I'm incapable of keeping it any neater than it is, and back when I was single you literally could not see that my apartment had a floor, you had to deduce it from the fact that all my worldly possessions weren't falling into the basement, but I'd really rather not have the approval or refusal of my mortgage riding on that. He did say that they were looking to make sure the apartment was "livable", but that doesn't really tell me all that much. The physical plant is in decent shape, no holes in the walls/floors/ceilings, there aren't broken pipes or exposed wiring, no illegal apartments in the basement or attic (I've heard a horror story from a friend of my sister who moved here from Brooklyn and had to get evicted when an inspector found that she was living in an attic which the property owner, unbeknownst to her, had illegally converted to an apartment), and so forth. Also I haven't cut the grass in the backyard for a while, and it's about knee high, but he said that didn't matter.
So I'm asking for prior experience here. Anybody been in a position to have had their house inspected, or who have done so themselves, what are they typically looking for, and what could cause them to reject the loan? (Which considering that they're the ones currently holding it, would mean that they continue to get more money for the same services provided, so they really have no reason to knock my rate down at all when you come to think of it.)
In any case, due to the balance due being higher than the house could be sold for, the only bank who'd touch my mortgage is of course the one who currently holds it, which is UrbynBank. (I'm sure you can guess who. And if there's a real UrbynBank somewhere, my apologies to them.) My rate has been 5⅜, which was dynamite when I got it, but now, not so much; they're offering 3⅞, which is about as low as you can get on a 2-family house. Process has been relatively painless up to now, thank $DEITY. My cost is something like $665.00, most of which goes to the required home inspector, which they hire and send over.
So the guy was here today. He went and took one picture in every room, and was kinda evasive about why he (or rather UrbynBank) wanted them. The house is its usual messy self, which I've long since grown out of being embarrassed about, I know I'm incapable of keeping it any neater than it is, and back when I was single you literally could not see that my apartment had a floor, you had to deduce it from the fact that all my worldly possessions weren't falling into the basement, but I'd really rather not have the approval or refusal of my mortgage riding on that. He did say that they were looking to make sure the apartment was "livable", but that doesn't really tell me all that much. The physical plant is in decent shape, no holes in the walls/floors/ceilings, there aren't broken pipes or exposed wiring, no illegal apartments in the basement or attic (I've heard a horror story from a friend of my sister who moved here from Brooklyn and had to get evicted when an inspector found that she was living in an attic which the property owner, unbeknownst to her, had illegally converted to an apartment), and so forth. Also I haven't cut the grass in the backyard for a while, and it's about knee high, but he said that didn't matter.
So I'm asking for prior experience here. Anybody been in a position to have had their house inspected, or who have done so themselves, what are they typically looking for, and what could cause them to reject the loan? (Which considering that they're the ones currently holding it, would mean that they continue to get more money for the same services provided, so they really have no reason to knock my rate down at all when you come to think of it.)
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