Hi Gary - I am a CPDE Realtor - Certified Distressed Property Expert.

This Real Estate Market has caused undue stress and heartache on many homeowners,
As a Certified Distressed Property Expert I can give you the expertise necessary to save your credit, relieve the uncertainty and most of all, help your family.

I have a question for you: (If you are in financial distrees):
Have you thought of interviewing a CDPE Realtor?
We are just like normal Realtors but certified to assist with financial hardship and distressed home owners who do not know what questions to ask or where to go to get help...

If you are NOT in financial distress and just wanting to get some legal advice on your recent purchase then perhaps calling the Real Estate Hotline: 1-800-727-5345 to get legal advice from Brokers who are also Attorney's. They specialize in assisting buyers and sellers that may have a grievance or complaint in real estate contracts, sales, agreements etc...

They may be the avenue for your best advice... Hope that helps...
Fellow New Cumberland resident and your local Realtor, CDPE, RECS
Brooke Rhodes

Hi, Gary,
I had some other thoughts about your situation - and Erica has already addressed most of them. I think the first step would be to get a supply and demand analysis - most listing agents do a comparative market analysis in order to arrive at a price for your property, a supply and demand analysis will give you a better idea of a price to sell your property as quickly as possible, and maybe more importantly in your situation, a prediction of how long it is going to take to sell. If it is going to take a while to sell, I think it's a good idea to contact the attorney general's office as I mentioned before. If you can get a refinance without paying for it, you'll be saving quite a bit while you are marketing your property.

You learned some big lessons. Taking the builder's title company / lender bundle is not always the cheapest option. They claim one-stop-shops are easier and cheaper--that is not always true.

I admire you in your frank honesty, and admitting partly to be the blame of your situation. Many buyers don't look in the mirror and see they may have messed up. They want to blame everyone but themselves.

Your buyer's agent did you no favors. He/she also is required in PA to disclose all your costs, including the HOA fees, before you write that offer. They should have counseled you on the loan, too. While we're not lenders, we see enough Good Faith Estimates that we should know when we see closing costs that are out of line with the market rates.

Find yourself a good Seller's Agent. Hire a listing broker who knows what they're doing. Interview several, especially ones that seem active in your development. Hire someone who offers you good solid advice, and cares about you and your situation more than their own commission.

A good realtor is about more than a commission. They should be knowledgeable about the market and be aggressive in getting your house sold. I wish you the best of luck.

We were represented by a buyer's agent, but it seemed the individual was not knowledgeable along the lines of new construction. I am not looking to pass the blame because I will be the first to tell you that we have looked in the mirror and accepted full responsibility for this debacle we put ourselves in.

Please note that before we started the buying process we covered all the bases and received pre-approval with a Good Faith Estimate from our own highly respected local lender. We were not put in touch with the builder's lender until after we signed the contract and put down the required deposit. Only then we spoke to their mortgage consultant which treated us more less like dirt and talked down to us in such an unprofessional manner that we still have the bad taste of it in our mouth. We learned the hard way that the community sales representative is there to sell houses and not to look out for our best interests. It was empty promise after empty promise. I will never forget the words uttered from his mouth in regards to their in house lender "Oh John Doe will work with you... just give them a chance"

In reference to the loan we had closing costs of 18k on a 270k home. We received a rate that was still higher than the going rate at the time. Do the math as we literally took a bath on it plain and simple. And I have been told by other realtors since that this is a practice of new home builders to offset their "generous" closing help they offer. We did go as far as contacting a real estate attorney and their advice was that we would have a case in accordance with the HUD excessive closing costs guidelines but that it would run us more to fight it than it would be just sit back and take the hit.

The more we thought we put into what to do, we think that we are going to try and sell it. If we can at least get what we paid for it given the commission and probable buyer's help, we can walk away with enough
down payment for a lesser house. And we would be looking at about 3 years to reach point where we make back all the money we just threw away. The deciding factor in this definitely has to the HOA. For all those prospective buyers out there, if you don't like being told what you can do on the outside of home and this includes something as simple as planting a bush to storing a trailer, boat, jetski, snowmobile, or firewood... than a HOA is not for you... ASK YOUR REALTOR IF THERE IS AN HOA WHERE THE HOUSE IS LOCATED

Gary
You should have a lender look over your loan. There are great rates now, however, I get the feeling there might be other problems (such as a pre-payment penalty if you try to re-fi within the first three years).

Have a lender evaluate your situation, then see if a re-fi might work.

Without knowing all the details of your purchase and lender costs, I can't say for sure, but it is possible that your lender was in violation of the truth-in-lending act. If so, the attorney general's office may be able to help you. Recently, friends of mine were able to get their loan refinanced at 4.5% with no closing costs because their lender was found in violation. It doesn't hurt to make the call the Bureau of Consumer Protection 800-441-2555 or visit their website http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.

Also, I'm guessing you didn't have a Realtor working for you as a buyer's agent in this transaction. The purpose of having a buyer's agent before you go to look at any homes for sale, whether new build or resale, is to have a professional looking out for your best interest and making sure you understand all the terms of your purchase.

As far as selling your property is concerned, the property may see an increase in value in two years, but it's not likely that you will have enough equity in the propery to offset the expenses associated with selling the property (commission, transfer taxes and seller's assistance). Usually, if you haven't been in a home at least 4 years, it's tough to see a profit or to break even. Having said that, if you can't afford to make the payments, this is a good time of year to sell, and to find a much less expensive home.

I hope that helps. Let me know if you need any more information.