3 ms·

I have never purchased property in the US, but I keep reading horrible anecdote after horrible anecdote, so I have to ask: As a buyer, why would I even care wh

I have never purchased property in the US, but I keep reading horrible anecdote after horrible anecdote, so I have to ask: As a buyer, why would I even care who the seller has their mortgage with? Why would that matter? Where I'm from, the real estate agent deals with that shit. When you close the deal, the agent calls up the new bank or faxes them or whatever so that they open a mortgage for X amount for the piece of property for the buyer, and directs them to send Y to the old bank so that they close out the previous mortgage, and Z to the agent's account, who then takes their cut, and forwards the remainder to the seller. Is this not how it works in the US?

dd36 9y ago
No. There are no loan assumptions in US. Seller’s mortgage holder is irrelevant.
- henrikschroder 9y ago
  Ok. Good. :-) So why was Klathmon's friend bothered by it?
  - tstrimple 9y ago
    Because now his friend is forced to be a customer of Bank of America unless he goes through a refinancing process. Even then, unless he's very careful, he could end up refinancing with a company who turns right back around and sells the mortgage back to Bank of America. The same thing happened to me. I've had two mortgages through other banks who then sold my mortgage to Wells Fargo forcing me to have to deal with them and I had absolutely no say in it.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
Klathmon 9y ago
In his case Bank of America attempted to forclose on a house he bought after he bought it.
- ensignavenger 9y ago
  I presume your friend had title insurance, and the title company dealt with it?
  - Klathmon 9y ago
    Oh I'm sure, I didn't follow it all that closely but I remember it being resolved within a few weeks, but the headache was apparently enough for him to want to avoid sellers with BofA in the future.
ensignavenger 9y ago
It really shouldn't be relevant. Your title company will usually handle closing (apparently where you are form the agent does this? Here, the agent usually helps you so you don't have to deal with the title company, but the title company is responsible), and they will deal with the previous mortgage company. Usually you should have title insurance in case a problem does crop up (required for most lenders)- and your title company can deal with it. So the real nightmare is when your title company handling the transaction is a problem. (Usually the seller chooses the title company, but this can be negotiated between buyer and seller, and many sellers are more than happy to use the title company of your choice- if you pay for it).
- henrikschroder 9y ago
  Title company? Title insurance?!? A third-party for-profit company handles some aspect of the transfer of property, instead of, you know, government? And in case this third party fucks up, you need to pay for insurance?!? Jesus.
  - ensignavenger 9y ago
    You said the real estate agent handles it where you are from- are real estate agents government officials where you are? You don't have to have a title company, you could do it yourself, but a typical real estate transaction involves large amounts of money and multiple parties, so most people want someone else to handle it all. If you are borrowing money, you lender will probably insist on it.
    - henrikschroder 9y ago
      This is how it works in Sweden, as far as I understand it: Real estate agents have to be licensed, and part of their duties is of course to verify that the seller is who they say they are and that they own the thing they're trying to sell. When I sold an apartment, I had to show my ID to my agent so he could verify me. The registry of who owns what pieces of land is managed by a government office, and government data is by legal default public, so checking if a seller actually owns a piece of land is trivial. You don't need to chase down a distributed sealed deed history thing thing, it's basically a single national database at this point. So it's really simple to do, and the responsibility is on the seller's agent, who in turn has a strong incentive to not screw up, or they lose their license and their job. When you go to your lender for a pre-approval on a mortgage, they want to know which piece of property you're buying, and they typically check that it's being sold by a licensed real estate agent, because if it is, then they can be assured that the seller is verified and actually can sell the property. When you sign the purchase contract - which is typically one or two pages long - you sign one copy for the seller, one for the buyer, one for the agent, and one for the government office, and the agent helps you fill out the (short) form that goes with it so you can send it in and get the ownership legally transferred to you. That's it. There's so little work involved with verifying ownership and transferring ownership, that it's just put on the shoulders of the real estate agents. The idea that you would need yet another party to handle this aspect is completely ludicrous in Sweden, it makes no sense.
icantdrive55 9y ago
1. In the US, becoming a Realator is 8 courses, and two years "experience". In California, up until a few years ago you didn't need any experience if you had a four year degree. (The added mandatory experience requirement was not necessary. It just cut back on the number of Broker's Licenses issued. Making the best looking real estate cheerleader just more wealthy. Will explain in more detail below.) 2. In all honestly, the Realator should have been retired by now. 3. They basically just hold your hand while collecting 3 percent on the biggest purchase of your life. That's full commission. Supposedly, paying full commission gets you a better deal? 4. I believe the biggest assent any agent possesses is a great Ommission & Error Insurance policy. 5. Yea--I do have gripes about the whole industry. 6. But if you are a foreigner, a Realtor is indispensable. In this wonderful country, we allow anyone, to buy up our Land with a phone call. It irks me to no end. We have strict immigration laws, but allow rich people to buy our Land? As I step over homeless, and see huge empty houses; I just want to scream. 7. Just letting off steam. As to a good mortgage, they all supposedly have a "guy", but do your homework. (The experience requirement was lobbied to limit the number of Broker's licenses out there. Their wasen't any evidence experience made any difference, but Gov. Brown fell for the ploy. Ironically, Governor Schwartznegger didn't cave into the lobby effort. He saw no problem in the industry, and making it difficult to obtain a Broker's licence as anti-commpetive. I stopped looking at party affiliation when he did what was ethical/moral. Arnold wasen't a bad politician. I didn't appreciate him at the time, but I do now.)

dd36 9y ago

No. There are no loan assumptions in US. Seller’s mortgage holder is irrelevant.

henrikschroder 9y ago
Ok. Good. :-) So why was Klathmon's friend bothered by it?
- tstrimple 9y ago
  Because now his friend is forced to be a customer of Bank of America unless he goes through a refinancing process. Even then, unless he's very careful, he could end up refinancing with a company who turns right back around and sells the mortgage back to Bank of America. The same thing happened to me. I've had two mortgages through other banks who then sold my mortgage to Wells Fargo forcing me to have to deal with them and I had absolutely no say in it.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

Klathmon 9y ago

In his case Bank of America attempted to forclose on a house he bought after he bought it.

ensignavenger 9y ago
I presume your friend had title insurance, and the title company dealt with it?
- Klathmon 9y ago
  Oh I'm sure, I didn't follow it all that closely but I remember it being resolved within a few weeks, but the headache was apparently enough for him to want to avoid sellers with BofA in the future.

ensignavenger 9y ago

It really shouldn't be relevant. Your title company will usually handle closing (apparently where you are form the agent does this? Here, the agent usually helps you so you don't have to deal with the title company, but the title company is responsible), and they will deal with the previous mortgage company. Usually you should have title insurance in case a problem does crop up (required for most lenders)- and your title company can deal with it. So the real nightmare is when your title company handling the transaction is a problem. (Usually the seller chooses the title company, but this can be negotiated between buyer and seller, and many sellers are more than happy to use the title company of your choice- if you pay for it).

henrikschroder 9y ago
Title company? Title insurance?!? A third-party for-profit company handles some aspect of the transfer of property, instead of, you know, government? And in case this third party fucks up, you need to pay for insurance?!? Jesus.
- ensignavenger 9y ago
  You said the real estate agent handles it where you are from- are real estate agents government officials where you are? You don't have to have a title company, you could do it yourself, but a typical real estate transaction involves large amounts of money and multiple parties, so most people want someone else to handle it all. If you are borrowing money, you lender will probably insist on it.
  - henrikschroder 9y ago
    This is how it works in Sweden, as far as I understand it: Real estate agents have to be licensed, and part of their duties is of course to verify that the seller is who they say they are and that they own the thing they're trying to sell. When I sold an apartment, I had to show my ID to my agent so he could verify me. The registry of who owns what pieces of land is managed by a government office, and government data is by legal default public, so checking if a seller actually owns a piece of land is trivial. You don't need to chase down a distributed sealed deed history thing thing, it's basically a single national database at this point. So it's really simple to do, and the responsibility is on the seller's agent, who in turn has a strong incentive to not screw up, or they lose their license and their job. When you go to your lender for a pre-approval on a mortgage, they want to know which piece of property you're buying, and they typically check that it's being sold by a licensed real estate agent, because if it is, then they can be assured that the seller is verified and actually can sell the property. When you sign the purchase contract - which is typically one or two pages long - you sign one copy for the seller, one for the buyer, one for the agent, and one for the government office, and the agent helps you fill out the (short) form that goes with it so you can send it in and get the ownership legally transferred to you. That's it. There's so little work involved with verifying ownership and transferring ownership, that it's just put on the shoulders of the real estate agents. The idea that you would need yet another party to handle this aspect is completely ludicrous in Sweden, it makes no sense.

icantdrive55 9y ago

1. In the US, becoming a Realator is 8 courses, and two years "experience". In California, up until a few years ago you didn't need any experience if you had a four year degree. (The added mandatory experience requirement was not necessary. It just cut back on the number of Broker's Licenses issued. Making the best looking real estate cheerleader just more wealthy. Will explain in more detail below.) 2. In all honestly, the Realator should have been retired by now. 3. They basically just hold your hand while collecting 3 percent on the biggest purchase of your life. That's full commission. Supposedly, paying full commission gets you a better deal? 4. I believe the biggest assent any agent possesses is a great Ommission & Error Insurance policy. 5. Yea--I do have gripes about the whole industry. 6. But if you are a foreigner, a Realtor is indispensable. In this wonderful country, we allow anyone, to buy up our Land with a phone call. It irks me to no end. We have strict immigration laws, but allow rich people to buy our Land? As I step over homeless, and see huge empty houses; I just want to scream. 7. Just letting off steam. As to a good mortgage, they all supposedly have a "guy", but do your homework. (The experience requirement was lobbied to limit the number of Broker's licenses out there. Their wasen't any evidence experience made any difference, but Gov. Brown fell for the ploy. Ironically, Governor Schwartznegger didn't cave into the lobby effort. He saw no problem in the industry, and making it difficult to obtain a Broker's licence as anti-commpetive. I stopped looking at party affiliation when he did what was ethical/moral. Arnold wasen't a bad politician. I didn't appreciate him at the time, but I do now.)