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ProfBU OP t1_izxpgf4 wrote

Question to ask more: How many years am I going to own the home.

Question to ask less: None...ask as many questions as you can.

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Seen_Unseen t1_j0049sc wrote

To me what's baffling how few questions people have (and on the same term how little the CS from banks know). I have a whole bunch of mortgages and I read each and everyone of them. For many people these are defining moments in their life yet few seem to even take notice of what they are about to sign. I have always questions, banks often don't mind tailoring small adjustments accordingly. These agreements strangely enough also don't seem to be standardized, I get sometimes from the same bank a couple mortgages in a single year and the agreements vary occasionally. On top as said, the banks customer service seldom seem to be well versed in what's going on.

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a679591 t1_j00a27n wrote

Most people don't have the patience to learn about this stuff or read the fine print. We've become so accustomed to blindly clicking to accept the T&C that we don't even think twice when signing a mortgage. Look at credit cards, loads of people don't learn how to use them or read the fine print, then are shocked when their apr is stupid high after missing a payment. So many people are in such a rush that they won't take the time to focus on a major decision like buying a house.

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Graviton_Lancelot t1_j00himr wrote

To be fair, most people buy a house a couple of times in their lives. This guy "getting a couple of mortgages a year from the same bank" is absolutely not the norm.

When you're buying your first house, you don't even know what questions to ask. Nobody is really there to help you through it, they're just there to get another day of their jobs done just like the rest of us.

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Vaaag t1_j01822z wrote

>When you're buying your first house, you don't even know what questions to ask. Nobody is really there to help you through it, they're just there to get another day of their jobs done just like the rest of us.

I took one of my parents with me at every stage of house buying. They've done it 4 times at that point. After 35 years of home maintenance they know that to look out for. My mother asked questions I wasn't even considering. But they were good questions.

I went to the mortgage advisor alone. But discussed the results with my parents.

I think most people will have parents, uncles/aunts or good colleagues that would be willing to go through the above with you.

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obsquire t1_j01r9pa wrote

It's a good idea, but a big ask. Many families aren't that tight, and it's not the kids fault.

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computerguy0-0 t1_j02c2z1 wrote

You need to understand that you're extremely lucky. I do not have friends, family, or parents well versed and I had to learn everything myself. Now I am the one that friends, family and parents come to for advice.

My parents are college educated with decent middle class careers. They are absolutely clueless.

I'm a massive proponent of an entire year of high school being dedicated to life skills. People always say that's the parent's job but if that's what they've been saying for the last hundred years how many hundreds of millions of adults have come out clueless, because their parents were clueless?

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a679591 t1_j01ukwn wrote

But it's not about how many mortgages you end up getting, it's about not reading. Yes the other reply was out of the norm, most people will have maybe 3 mortgages in the ir life, but that doesn't mean you don't do the research on it and read the document.

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la_peregrine t1_j00tk9a wrote

You don't even know what questions to ask is an excuse. Try reading the documents and ask everything you do not understand. Call up your loan officer and ask questions on their documents. If your loan officer minds find a better one. Mine didn't know the answer to one question. So he said he'd ask someone more involved with that part and I had an answer in a day. In the title office you can sit and read every page and ask questions. Would they grump, sure. Did I give a shit? Nope. Idgaf that it was the hottest market in the country and they had many deals. They didn't send me the documents early so both my husband and I sat there reading and asking. When the person had to step away, we asked for post it's and put the questions there.

It's never going to be someone else's jobs to make sure you know wtf is happening. Even in a doctor's office, the onus is on you to ask questions.

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sensei8901 t1_j00m157 wrote

Most people are just happy they can get the loan these days...like a mobile contract they cbf looking into all.

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obsquire t1_j01r20m wrote

When I signed my mortgage, I sat there for an hour at closing in front of the real estate agent and the seller. I didn't have a copy of the documents I was about to sign ahead of time. It was 50 to a hundred pages (at least a half inch thick). It's more dense than most college level reading. So it's not surprising that most people don't read it and don't understand them.

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hbrthree t1_j01el37 wrote

What are some of your fav and least fav lease terms.

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