[Ed. Would anyone here like to share their horror story?]

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/advice/20031027c1.asp

Mayhem! Horror stories of house building and buying
Compiled by Amy C. Fleitas Bankrate.com


From phony contractors to lying real estate agents, home building and
buying is about a lot more than just location.

Fake architect charges for worthless blueprints
We wanted to build a log home. We searched on the Web and commissioned an
architect who specialized in building log homes. He had a legitimate-
looking license, degrees, credentials and everything. We met with him and
drove around and looked at log homes he had designed. He drew up some
blueprints for us. They were $600 down and $600 upon delivery. We thought
he was so nice to personally visit us and meet us at our home instead of
his office.

When we got the blueprints we went to a general contractor to start
building the home. There we found out that the architect was just "some guy
with CAD software" who had no idea of how to do blueprints. The ones we had
were completely useless. We tried to get our money back, but this person
had since canceled his phone number and his "office" did not exist. We
knocked on the doors of a couple homes he had claimed were "his" on the
tour, and discovered that the owners had never heard of this person.

Haunted by house's past
My husband and I were looking for our first house, and our Realtor showed
us a cute two-bedroom we liked. Because the real estate market was so "hot"
at the time, our Realtor said that if we really wanted to make sure we got
the house, we should offer more than asking price. The house was listed at
$199,000. We offered $207,000. We got the house and proceeded with
inspections, etc. At one point our Realtor explained to us that the owner
had passed away and the son was selling the property. "The old guy took a
nap in the yard and just didn't wake up," the Realtor told us.

The first day we moved in, my husband pulled out the old carpets and dumped
them at the side yard garbage cans where our first neighborly encounter
happened. She expressed surprise that the house sold so quickly. She said,
"I'm surprised it sold so fast, considering …." She paused and started
again, "They did tell you what happened, didn't they?"

My husband said, "Tell us what?"

She said, "Oh you shouldn't tell your wife this, but the old owner who
lived here hanged himself from the front yard tree."

We were furious that we had been lied to and, at the very least, upset that
this information, which we believe impacted the value of the property, was
withheld from us.

To top it off, the seller was a real estate lawyer. You would expect him,
of all people, to know that information like this should be disclosed.

We lost our house
We sold our house in Florida a few months after we arrived in Pennsylvania.
We sold it through the same real estate agent who had sold the house to us.
A year later, we found a home we wanted to buy. Everything was going well
and we were all set to secure a mortgage, so we began the process.

I received a letter from the mortgage company. It couldn't give us a
mortgage because we were in foreclosure with our old house.

It seems our agent in Florida had sold our house by letting the buyer
assume our mortgage. She didn't even have to qualify. Our name was still on
the title, so we were responsible! It took us 10 years to become homeowners
again. Don't ever agree to something you don't understand 100 percent.

Construction loan horror
We were attempting to obtain a construction loan. We supplied our initial
paperwork to our loan officer. We wanted to place a used, single-wide
modular home that we owned on 23 acres. After pulling our credit, he
assured us that he could fund the loan.


Looking for a better bank? Check for the best deal your area.

Months later, our loan officer told us that there was a change in Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac rules. They now wouldn't fund single-wide mobile homes,
so to complete the loan we would have to find a new, double-wide mobile
home. We quickly found a modular home that fit the needs of the lender and
continued with the process.

Our loan officer then referred us to the construction loan department to
complete the process. That's when we were told that they would not even do
a construction loan on any property larger than 10 acres.

Two weeks later, I received a bill for the two appraisals that were done.

Mortgage strong-arming
When I was rehabbing turn-of-the-century houses two years ago, the mortgage
broker I depended on took advantage of me, knowing I had a payroll to meet.
Because he assured me that a loan would close "next week," I went ahead
with work on properties.

When "next week" didn't bring proceeds from the mortgage loan, I was hard
pressed to pay the workers. By the time the broker did deliver the loan, I
was not in a position to walk away from it. At the closing, the settlement
officer handed me an agreement to sign that doubled the broker's fee for
arranging the loan.

Tricked instead of treated by a real estate agent
I wanted to take advantage of the rock-bottom interest rates of this past
summer and went scouting for homes. I met a real estate agent who offered
to help me find my dream home. I had to really pinch and scrape to get my
down-payment money. I was a first time-home buyer. I was preapproved for a
conventional mortgage but preferred an FHA loan. My agent knew all of this.

When I finally had found a home, my agent took my offer to the sellers and
their agent. Without my consent, my real estate agent offered to go with a
conventional mortgage and waived my right to have a home inspection. When I
found out, I demanded she get things straightened out. She said it was too
late -- she and the sellers had already signed the acceptance agreement and
taken my earnest deposit check of $1,500.

After the final closing, I discovered multiple breaches in the disclosure,
including water leakage in the basement, garage structure damage, roof
damage. Also, the fireplace was deemed unfit for any fires by a contractor
and had to be removed and replaced.

Worthless float-down option
I just closed on a mortgage refinance loan last week. I locked about six
weeks ago, choosing to take the float-down option. During that five-week
period I followed the going rate on a daily basis. The trend was a steady
decline. Sure, there were a few bumps, but the net effect was a much lower
rate than five weeks prior. So I was very surprised when my closing
paperwork still stated the original interest rate for my loan. I called my
loan officer and was informed that despite four or five weeks of declining
interest rates, this particular lender's rates remained unchanged and so my
float-down option was fruitless.

Asked to lie about income
I went through a building company to buy a new home. I put $3,000 down as a
deposit. I had been pre-qualified for a mortgage through its company.

When the mortgage company was putting me through final approval, I was told
I did not make enough money according to my profit-and-loss statements for
that year. They suggested ("wink-wink") I redo them to make it appear my
business was more profitable.

I refused to doctor my financial records and was denied the mortgage. The
builder then called to say I would not be refunded my $3,000 due to the
fact the construction had begun and the mortgage was denied. I tried to get
help to reclaim my money, but was unsuccessful. The home was resold to a
new buyer and the company made a killing.

-- Posted: Oct. 23, 2003


--
Hilary Duff is America's Sweetheart.

"FAILING = Finding An Important Lesson, Inviting Needed Growth" -- Gary
Busey

In article , Ablang wrote:
[Ed. Would anyone here like to share their horror story?]

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/advice/20031027c1.asp

Mayhem! Horror stories of house building and buying
Compiled by Amy C. Fleitas Bankrate.com

From phony contractors to lying real estate agents, home building and
buying is about a lot more than just location.

Yeah, some of it is about foolish, whiny homebuyers too.

Fake architect charges for worthless blueprints
We wanted to build a log home. We searched on the Web and commissioned an
architect who specialized in building log homes. He had a legitimate-
looking license, degrees, credentials and everything.

Translation: it looked good, so we didn't check it out.

We met with him and
drove around and looked at log homes he had designed. He drew up some
blueprints for us. They were $600 down and $600 upon delivery. We thought
he was so nice to personally visit us and meet us at our home instead of
his office.

When we got the blueprints we went to a general contractor to start
building the home. There we found out that the architect was just "some guy
with CAD software" who had no idea of how to do blueprints. The ones we had
were completely useless. We tried to get our money back, but this person
had since canceled his phone number and his "office" did not exist. We
knocked on the doors of a couple homes he had claimed were "his" on the
tour, and discovered that the owners had never heard of this person.

Translation: we didn't bother to check out references *first*.

Haunted by house's past
[snip]
She said, "Oh you shouldn't tell your wife this, but the old owner who
lived here hanged himself from the front yard tree."

We were furious that we had been lied to and, at the very least, upset that
this information, which we believe impacted the value of the property, was
withheld from us.

Oh, bulls--t. That doesn't affect the value of the property at all.

To top it off, the seller was a real estate lawyer. You would expect him,
of all people, to know that information like this should be disclosed.

No, "you would expect him, of all people" to know that it doesn't actually
affect the value of the property.

We lost our house
[snip]
It seems our agent in Florida had sold our house by letting the buyer
assume our mortgage. She didn't even have to qualify. Our name was still on
the title, so we were responsible! It took us 10 years to become homeowners
again. Don't ever agree to something you don't understand 100 percent.

DUH!


Construction loan horror
We were attempting to obtain a construction loan. We supplied our initial
paperwork to our loan officer. We wanted to place a used, single-wide
modular home that we owned on 23 acres.

Construciton loans are for _construction_. How did you expect to get one for
buying land to park a used trailer on?

Mortgage strong-arming
When I was rehabbing turn-of-the-century houses two years ago, the mortgage
broker I depended on took advantage of me, knowing I had a payroll to meet.
Because he assured me that a loan would close "next week," I went ahead
with work on properties.

Dope. Wait til the money is in hand, and you won't have to worry about stuff
like this.

When "next week" didn't bring proceeds from the mortgage loan, I was hard
pressed to pay the workers. By the time the broker did deliver the loan, I
was not in a position to walk away from it. At the closing, the settlement
officer handed me an agreement to sign that doubled the broker's fee for
arranging the loan.

Tricked instead of treated by a real estate agent
I wanted to take advantage of the rock-bottom interest rates of this past
summer and went scouting for homes. I met a real estate agent who offered
to help me find my dream home. I had to really pinch and scrape to get my
down-payment money. I was a first time-home buyer. I was preapproved for a
conventional mortgage but preferred an FHA loan. My agent knew all of this.

When I finally had found a home, my agent took my offer to the sellers and
their agent. Without my consent, my real estate agent offered to go with a
conventional mortgage and waived my right to have a home inspection.

Without your consent? Yeah, right. Who signed the papers?

When I
found out, I demanded she get things straightened out. She said it was too
late -- she and the sellers had already signed the acceptance agreement and
taken my earnest deposit check of $1,500.

After the final closing,

You went ahead and closed anyway?? Why didn't you contact an attorney?

I discovered multiple breaches in the disclosure,
including water leakage in the basement, garage structure damage, roof
damage. Also, the fireplace was deemed unfit for any fires by a contractor
and had to be removed and replaced.

Yeah, that's what happens when you buy a house without looking at it first.

Worthless float-down option
I just closed on a mortgage refinance loan last week. I locked about six
weeks ago, choosing to take the float-down option. During that five-week
period I followed the going rate on a daily basis. The trend was a steady
decline. Sure, there were a few bumps, but the net effect was a much lower
rate than five weeks prior. So I was very surprised when my closing
paperwork still stated the original interest rate for my loan. I called my
loan officer and was informed that despite four or five weeks of declining
interest rates, this particular lender's rates remained unchanged and so my
float-down option was fruitless.

Let's see, now.... you agreed, six weeks ago, to a particular rate. And now
you're upset that you are being charged... the rate you agreed to!

Asked to lie about income
I went through a building company to buy a new home. I put $3,000 down as a
deposit. I had been pre-qualified for a mortgage through its company.

When the mortgage company was putting me through final approval, I was told
I did not make enough money according to my profit-and-loss statements for
that year. They suggested ("wink-wink") I redo them to make it appear my
business was more profitable.

Time to see an attorney... did you?

I refused to doctor my financial records and was denied the mortgage. The
builder then called to say I would not be refunded my $3,000 due to the
fact the construction had begun and the mortgage was denied. I tried to get
help to reclaim my money, but was unsuccessful. The home was resold to a
new buyer and the company made a killing.

Either you had a written agreement with the builder before you made that
$3,000 deposit, or you did not. If you did not, you're an idiot. If you did,
either it specifies that the deposit is refundable if, e.g., the mortgage does
not go through, or it does not. If it does not, and you signed it anyway,
you're an idiot. If it does, then see an attorney and get your money back.
Regardless, quit whining.

--
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?

Ablang wrote in message . 135...
[Ed. Would anyone here like to share their horror story?]

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/advice/20031027c1.asp

Mayhem! Horror stories of house building and buying
Compiled by Amy C. Fleitas Bankrate.com

Thanks...stuff like this can make buyers stop and think, and avoid
mayhem before it's too late. It makes many take a step back and do
better research before proceeding. I volunteer for a consumer
advocacy org and many of the people who think they're too smart to be
taken have to swallow their pride and seek help because they didn't
think warnings like this one applied to them. Those who arrogantly
think, "that would never happen to me," are the MOST ripe for the
picking because they aren't keeping up with current scams.