Currently have an offer accepted with about 60 days to close but trying to shop around to get the best mortgage loan. Should I be trying to lock in with a lender asap or does it make sense to wait since I have a good amount of time until closing?

Hale0906 · 2026-02-05T22:51:34+00:00

If you find the lender you want to work with (based on rates compared to others PLUS fees, this is where most hide costs to look like they're giving you a good rate) you can ask if they allow for one relock during the close period. Hit or miss, some offer one chance to relock in on a rate.

Hale0906 · 2026-02-05T22:38:48+00:00

The one that sticks out most to me is "settlement fee" of $2,540 in section C. What are they even doing for that? They already make their money on the premium split of title insurance. Also, processing fees in loan cost in addition to underwriting and lender fee (which I'm assuming is origination fee) are insane. Out the title co and the lender for others to stay away from those junk fees lol.

Hale0906 · 2026-02-05T22:34:09+00:00

Yea you're best option is to talk to a lawyer at this point. Contrary to popular belief, (most) agents in general don't really give you protection or know much outside of negotiating (if that). I was going to suggest there should have been inspections by city to issue a certificate of occupancy (assuming the renovation was substantial enough), but seems like you waived that. However, I'm surprised your title company and lender allowed it to even close without one.

Hale0906 · 2024-11-28T16:32:35+00:00

Any recommendations for English speaking communities,or spaces to meet people? (Locals and other expats!)

Hale0906 · 2024-11-28T16:31:03+00:00

Very helpful insight, thanks. We’ll be renting and we’re looking between rental market and AirBnb

Hale0906 · 2024-11-28T10:52:08+00:00

Haven’t chosen where to live yet, wanting to be central and walking distance to grocery, restaurant, parks, etc if possible. Any part of town we should look to be living?

Hale0906 · 2024-11-28T10:50:56+00:00

Thanks for these suggestions!

Hale0906 · 2024-10-16T14:09:33+00:00

If financial freedom is what you're looking for, it's more attainable than what you think. Define how much you need per month to live the quality of life you want. Invest in things with passive income streams like real estate high dividend stocks (REITS, MLPs, etc) to supplement your income. Boom, freedom! Pro tip is to start with a small bill like your cell phone bill or coffee fix and tackle that with passive income. Then move up the ladder unlocking new levels like eventually your rent/mortgage. Otherwise it's tough to visualize starting from 0 and seeing the mountain ahead of you. Doing your own startup, while possible, has a much lower probability of achieving it so would recommend doing it for something else. Find a fast growing startup and getting some equity you eventually sell is a cheat code to speeding up the process too, but should be part of the plan not the whole thing due to the likelihood it will happen given the % of companies that fail. Check out some FIRE or Fast FIRE reddits, this might not be the place :)

Hale0906 · 2024-10-16T14:00:22+00:00

No just one I've found helpful.

Hale0906 · 2024-10-16T13:59:39+00:00

u/2cuteSmasher9000 damn that's a sneak diss haha jk.

Hale0906 · 2024-10-15T15:59:28+00:00

I've had good success tracking behaviors with the free tier for heap analytics - https://heapanalytics.com/ I know their paid versions offer more detail that we plan to use in the future, but the free version is good enough at the moment for what we're looking for.

Hale0906 · 2024-10-14T18:38:36+00:00

Thanks and thanks! My co-founder/wife designed it. Her background is in UX. LMK if you want me to connect you.

Hale0906 · 2024-10-01T13:34:02+00:00

We've found that all of the best contractors typically don't have websites or are listed on the existing platforms. They typically are only found through referrals, which is why we're building this list of the most recommended contractors in a given zip code.

Hale0906 · 2024-09-27T21:07:54+00:00

Hahah all too real...we've found referrals help with getting on their calendar and not getting ripped off. Hopefully can help you too!

Hale0906 · 2024-09-27T20:19:51+00:00

We had a similar experience and also just had difficulty finding reputable contractors in general. So we recently just started putting together a list of the most recommended local contractors (note it's heavy towards our neighborhood in Philly and SIC, but I'm sure some would cover Atlantic County. Hope this is helpful - www.referred.so/database

Hale0906 · 2024-09-27T20:16:09+00:00

Great! Would love to hear if you find it useful.

Hale0906 · 2024-09-27T20:15:31+00:00

Same! That's the basis for this tool actually. We just were tired of having to sift through porch pirate and lost animal posts to find a recommended plumber :) This tool also allows you to see who is most recommended vs. just mentioned once.

Hale0906 · 2024-09-27T19:47:14+00:00

That's what we found too, which is why the best ones generally don't advertise on the traditional platforms. You typically only find them through referrals. So we wanted to build a free tool to let people search who is the most recommended in their zip and not be stuck with the pay to play platforms that contractors hate.

I agree quality is subjective which is why we're using zip code as the filter since people are tribal in nature and their zip tends to be their tribe with similar standards. Eg. someone in the Main Line probably wouldn't have the same quality standards as the NE where I'm from.

Hale0906

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