My immediate suspicion is that it goes against the zoning laws. If you don’t intend to use this as a rental, then I’d certainly argue that and offer to sign a document stating that you’ll be using the second kitchen as part of a MIL suite and not as a rental.
No one is letting me see the appraisal. I can’t find the exact zoning information online, either. No one is being very clear about this at all. There are a lot of houses in the area with mother-in-law suites, and as I said, this house was sold a couple of years back and the mother-in-law suite was there then.
The one lender, who does a lot of business in this area, said that the cap and remove nonsense was just that, nonsense.
What I really don’t get is this lecture about illegal rentals. I have repeatedly stated that just my family will live there, and families in Cook county are allowed one unrelated person, so even if she were not related, which she is, then we are still a family.
The stove and sink (and possibly the fridge) could legitimately be used in an art studio. I don’t see how that could be construed as strictly a rental unit.
You don’t have to find it online. Call the appropriate zoning commisioner and ask.
And if the VA rate is really that much attractive than other loans, you might want to hire an attorney to fight the matter on your behalf. It’s amazing what one knowledgeable person can do to clear up a mess.
It is not just the rate, it is zero down with no pmi at a decent rate. The other loan has a bit higher rate and some pmi.
What would happen if the stove was disconnected, moved to the other side of the room, and covered with a tarp?
What stove? 
Why on earth not? You paid for it, didn’t you?
We’ve bought 6 homes over the years and have always seen the appraisals. I think your realtor might be telling you what ever is expedient to close the sale.
koee’s home purchasing advice: insist on seeing everything, don’t believe anything without verification, select your own inspector, read all the papers at your leisure and don’t sign them with someone breathing down your neck.
Good luck, lee.
I second this. While I ended up getting a better deal on an 80/20% loan through a private company recommended by my realtor, I think USAA has customer service down to a tee, and some competitive rates.
Tripler
Me personally, I like having that available service–never know when you might need it.
Ah, the guvmint–such beacons of shining clarity in the murk of our squalid little lives. Where would we be without them, and how soon can we essay the experiment?
I went for FHA financing on my little cracker box, and some of the requirements were simply bizarre. What major impact does having a shrubbery touching the house have? No idea, but get out the clippers. Some made sense, like broken windows and decks over 18" high having to have a railing, but the one that gave me the big WTF moment was my little add on laundry room. The rest of the house is on concrete slab, but the laundry room is post and pier, about six foot by eight or so. In order to get the FHA loan I had to pay someone to cut an access hole 2 feet square in the floor–which means that there’s a great big air leaking, draft producing, heat losing, doesn’t match the rest of the floor eyesore–all because of FHA mandating that all crawlspaces be accessible through the floor. Eventually I’ll be pulling up all the flooring in the house, resealing the concrete and replacing the flooring and that “access hatch” will be THE first casualty!
Your tax dollars at work, people! :smack:
The zone is R-5. I found that much out at least.
I’d just like to second/third/whatever that you have to be able to see the assesment. These people are trying to verify whether that one has bells.
I’ve only been involved in real estate purchases in Spain, but weren’t you present when the assesor saw the house? Most assesments I’ve been a part of have had both parts present; I’ve been in several because one part was an old lady who wanted to have someone young and on her side who could explain anything she didn’t understand (no idea why I get adopted as an extra daughter by so many of Mom’s friends). Being able to say “oh, we’re four already and another on the way, the last thing we need is a renter taking up space!” might have helped.
Jurisdictions adopt many different zoning systems and codes, your “R-5” means little or nothing outside your area.
In reading all your posts, it sounds like you’re in way over your head. You seem to be relying a lot on this real estate agent. Are you aware that the agent works for the seller and is going to do whatever is in the best interest of the sellar?
I’d suggest you find an experienced real estate attorney and have them go over this deal before you sign your name to anything. If you’re typical, you’re about to commit to the most expensive financial transaction of your life. I only makes sense to spend a few hundred bucks to make sure you’re not making any major mistakes.
I’m no expert, but a VA loan w/ “0” down and no PMI just doesn’t sound right to me.
There are a lot of mortgage financing schemes out there and once you sign your name you are stuck w/ the consequences, which may be very bad for you. Now is the time to get your questions answered and if you’re uncomfortable, then stop the deal until you understand everything. Do not put all your trust in a real estate agent.
Yeah, you wouldn’t want to spend an hour or two of manual labour on a new house to get the loan or rate you want.
:rolleyes:
That’s basically the deal I got through FHA, so that doesn’t seem suspicious to me.
I agree, however, that lee should get a real estate attorney. I’ve been told that using one is not a matter of course outside of my area, which I really don’t understand. It’s a lot of money that you’re committing to (and a whole stack of confusing paperwork).
At the very least, you should find someone you trust that has been through the process before to go over ALL of the paperwork with you. You should be able to see everything that the VA appraiser sees - they have no reason to keep anything secret from you. And call the VA directly and ASK THEM TO EXPLAIN CLEARLY WHY THE KITCHEN IS A PROBLEM. They should have documented rules laying out what they will and will not allow.
Okay, I don’t get this. Why wouldn’t her agent be representing her and the seller’s agent be representing the seller? I thought the two would work out the details with their own client’s interest at heart. I’ve never purchased a home, but I always thought it was in some professional’s best interest to represent the person who hired them. Can someone explain?
Again, I’m no expert. I’ve bought and sold several properties, I dated a realtor for awhile and I’ve had a couple friends who were real estate agents.
Here’s the way I understand it. If you go to an agency and request they help you find a property, they will be compensated through a division of the fee paid by the seller. They may have never seen the property, or the seller, before, but it’s in the agents best interest to sell you the property. Therefore the agent is not likely to tell you anything that’s not required by law.
As w/ many things in life, it behooves you to know as much as possible about something before you enter into it. Since most real estate transactions are likely to involve hundreds of thousands of dollars, and may be the largest financial decision of your life, I think trusting a relative stranger, who stands to profit from the transaction, is a foolish move.
I hear people talk about using a “buyers agent”, but I always wonder what arrangement they have. If they are paying, a licensed agent, a fee to find them a property and that agent is NOT compensated from the proceeds of the sale, then that’s what I would consider a buyer’s agent, otherwise I consider the agent to be working for the seller.
I once got moved to the US by a company who, among other things, provided the service of a real estate agent to help me find a rental.
Numbers made up for ease, but let’s say I made 6K/month. To my way of thinking that means that 2K is the very absolute top to spend in housing, including utilities and maintenance (food not; cleaning and repairs yes).
The agent tried to convince me that 2K was what I had to spend. The listings she sent me started at 2400 and went up to… 3500!
If she’d been on my side, it would have made no sense. But it does, once you realize she got paid a % of whatever I would pay :smack: That’s like… like taking the wolf to the vet!
:dubious: All of my house is on a crawlspace, and I have access via an opening in the foundation from the outside, not the floor. I also have an FHA mortgage, and not a thing was made about this.
If you don’t have outside access, then your situation makes sense.
So, I call my lawyer and I get a big shrug about what could be the issue. Sigh.
So, the lender is getting someone from the zoning board to go out and look at the place and determine if it is up to code or not. This is someone that can say definitively how this house measures up to the zoning regs. The preliminary word is that if things are as described there should be no issue. From what I can tell looking at the laws, if it was legal when it was last changed, it is legal now (grandfathering and such), and the last change to the mother-in-law suite seems to have been 1950 or earlier, so likely it did conform then. This should happen this week.
This that seems to be the only issue remaining. No silly holes to cut in the floor. No other odd repairs to make other than the ones that have been agreed to.