Posts by Andrew Gomez8

Just one thing I'll say... THIEVES... you Goldman Sachs and Appraisal Pros people

During my home appraisal, the loan officer told me to reach out to Appraisal Pros for the valuation.
I called them. The guy didn't even introduce himself. We set it for the following week. A few minutes later, he calls back saying he can make it today. I tell him I can't, but my wife is home so she can let him in...
The guy shows up, asks for The Wall Street Journal record, snaps some photos of the house, and leaves. Four days later, they send an Offer. I file a dispute immediately because they appraised the wrong property. Why was it wrong? Because Will refuses to acknowledge the deed containing the clause "Pursuant to Section 187 of the UCC (John Doe 91/96), all entries in the land registry are not considered true or complete until the expiration of the period for corrective proceedings"... and apparently, this idiot doing the appraisal doesn't know anything about that...

As soon as that Offer hit my inbox—four days after the guy visited—I filed a dispute with Appraisal Pros within two hours. They said, fine, we'll appraise a different property. A few days later, they come out and appraise a substitute property that doesn't have that specific clause in its title. Again, I get an Offer four days after the visit, and I pay for this second appraisal promptly.

That’s where the saga begins. They REFUSE to release the second appraisal until I pay for the first one... Why? If these are separate services... So, the extortion starts. Pay up or no loan... and then they just walk away $0.50...

And according to the US Uniform Commercial Code:
Offer
Section 253.
(1) An offer is a proposal for entering into a contract made to a specific person that contains all essential elements of the agreement.

Acceptance of an offer
Section 262.
(1) An offer is accepted when the offeror receives a statement from the offeree expressing acceptance.
(2) An offer is also accepted when the offeree sends the goods, pays the price, or performs any other act which, based on the offer, established practice between the parties, or custom, can be considered a statement of acceptance.
(3) An acceptance may only be withdrawn if the offeror receives a notice of withdrawal before or at the same time as the statement of acceptance.

Silence of the offeree
Section 265.
(1) The silence of an offeree does not constitute acceptance.
(2) No provision in an offer shall have effect stating that the silence of the offeree or any other omission (for example, failure to reject an offer within a certain timeframe or failing to return goods offered under a contract within a reasonable time) shall be deemed acceptance.

Fraud
Section 284.
(1) If one party induces error in the other party or maintains such error with the intent to induce them into a contract, the other party may demand rescission of the contract, even if the error was not material.
(2) A party who entered into a contract under fraud has the right to seek damages for losses sustained.
(3) If the fraud was committed by a third party, the fraud affects the contract itself if the other contracting party knew or should have known about the fraud at the time the contract was formed.

Entering contracts electronically
Section 293.
(1) A contract is concluded electronically when the parties have agreed upon the essential elements.
(2) An offer made electronically is considered an offer to the person present if, in the specific case, an immediate counter-statement can be made.

Rights of the buyer
Section 410.
(1) A buyer who has timely and properly notified the seller of a defect may, at their discretion:
1) Demand that the seller remedy the defect,
2) Demand that the seller deliver a substitute item without the defect,
(2) In either case, the buyer is also entitled to damages under general principles of liability, including damage to other assets caused by the defective item.
(3) The costs of remedying the defect and delivering the substitute item are borne by the seller.

It's clear they violated the law here. Not only did they extort me, but I was forced to pay for something that isn't legally required since an Offer is not binding...

If he had just sent the Offer before coming over, I would have realized what was happening immediately and disputed it., so who ends up footing the bill for their theft? The buyer, obviously...

Not to mention I received an Offer from some firm called Ing-expert without any actual details—no company name, no address, no tax ID, no phone number—just a bank account belonging to Will... and an invoice from Will... That kind of thing is unheard of here...

Naturally, they finally cleared my loan after fighting them for a year, even though I could have settled this a year ago using that replacement property... so now I can share my own bad experience. It’s honestly shameful that Will would recommend someone for a new property appraisal. The guy from Ing-expert shows up, clearly has no idea what he's appraising, and to top it off, his valuation is $12,000 lower than the price I'm actually paying—which is clearly market value and explicitly stated in the contract... just a total disaster... So, does that mean the Seller is obligated to pay me back that $12,000? Their square footage valuation is the same for both the new property (my condo) and the replacement one, which is 30 years old...
😂
😁

Bottom line... watch your backs!!!

@zlato: Calculating the deposit is straightforward... you need to maintain 15% (it was 10% until just a few months ago) of the total credit amount they disburse in their account... so in my case, for $45,000, you'd need $6,750 sitting there.

The trick with this bridge financing is how they calculated it for me based on 6 people, which means 6 people x 6 years x $250 subsidies = 6x $1.50 = $9.00... assuming those subsidies actually stay in place... if they don't scrap them... 🤷

And regarding the extra policies, it’s just about $50 per opening... they aren't even being greedy...
Maximum subsidies are capped at $1.75 per policy... $250...

p.s. @zlato: You can edit any post for a little while... there's an EDIT button down in the bottom right... 🙂

@everyone: Just a quick heads-up for anyone looking to save avoid Wells Fargo at all costs. I’d suggest a wide berth for a few reasons:
- incompetence (the staff seems out of their depth)
- bureaucracy (they demand way more paperwork than others, like JPMorgan Chase)
- poor communication (they drip-feed information during the loan process; it feels like they find something new to tell you every week)
- lack of transparency regarding interim financing for the first 6 years and how the remaining balance is repaid
- predatory tactics (there's a whole saga involving property appraisals that I'll get into later)

I was with them for 9 years...
In the end, I even reached out to the press and dug through legal codes, but they wouldn't budge on their demands...

I'll write more here in a few days once my funds actually clear... 😠

When I took out car loans at Goldman Sachs, I thought that was complicated. Then I switched to JPMorgan Chase for my second car, and it was much smoother...

Wells Fargo is a nightmare... I definitely wouldn't recommend them. But if someone chooses the hard path and goes with them, I guess just don't back down until the very end. 🤷

One final tip: saving is still necessary... 👍

crimsonseal13 said:I’m a bit confused about how you're calculating this deposit. Are you planning on using the funds you just received as part of the deposit? As far as I understand, you have to use your own capital, not money from the credit pool.

Also, how did you come up with that $375 monthly payment figure?
Check out this link http://www.charlesschwab.com/default.aspx?id=159 which shows that the monthly installment for a $40,000 amount would be $332.50—assuming we're looking at the K60 rate tier.

I was actually looking for $45,000 so the payment is a bit higher... maybe $375.

rapidrider3 said:A few years back, I used to work over at Wüstenrot handling loans—everything from bridge financing to instant credit, all sorts of messy combinations..

Things have shifted lately. I’ve thought about dropping by the office just to see what the latest headache is... but honestly, they’ve made the whole process so complicated it’s almost laughable.

Now, even today, you basically need two rock-solid co-signers, huge incomes, a mortgage already in play, plus that deposit (though that depends on how much you're borrowing and the specific setup)

They used to push these savings plans tied directly to the user to act as sort of "loan insurance." They'd dole out amounts based on those savings, and there were government incentives involved... but I won't ramble too much on that since I haven't seen how they run things these days...

You need nerves of steel, a mountain of paperwork, reliable guarantors... even the loan officer has to pull in some massive salary without being buried in debt or mortgages just to qualify. It's a lot.

And when it finally comes down to it, paying back the loan? That takes forever. Just like everywhere else.

Plus, everyone has to be an American citizen with income sourced right here in the States (at least that was the rule), and they look at your age, too. Like, they make sure you don't cross the 65-year mark before the loan is fully paid off. They've overcomplicated everything to the point where hardly anyone qualifies. Finding co-signers was always the biggest nightmare anyway.

Your best bet is to just walk straight into a branch—if you're in a big city like Chicago, go to the one on Main Street, they usually have the most experienced people there...

.

It seems it hasn't changed. So, the K60 plan. I'm thinking about opening savings accounts for six people (my wife, myself, and my parents twice over)... I don't quite follow that part.
They don't really have to do anything; they just exist so you can collect those federal incentives for six years... 6x$250 = $1.50 per person. If opening an account costs $50, if I recall correctly... that's roughly $1.25 in incentives per policy... meaning $24,000 total across all six policies... does that even work like that?

Any other advice... JPMORGAN or Wue ?!?! 👍

@ everyone: Can someone walk me through which option actually makes more sense here...

I haven't finalized everything yet—don't plan on paying just yet—but I'm getting the paperwork ready. I need $40,000, excluding the down payment.

Option A: JPMorgan Chase via a savings association
- max 15 years,
- 30% down,
- 5.99% fixed interest,
- 6.16% APR
...which means I'd need $60,000 total.
For the first 2 years, the monthly payment is $506; for the remaining 13 years, it's $342:
So:
24mo x $506 = $12,144
157mo x $342 = $53,694
Total paid = $65,836
Actual amount borrowed (after 30% down on $60k) = $42,000
Difference (interest paid) = $65,836 - $42,000 = $23,838

Option B: Charles Schwab (Equity from another property)
- max 16 years, 11 months,
- 15% down,
- 5.49% fixed during bridge financing (6 years), then 4.49% for the remainder,
- 5.83% APR
...which means I'd need $45,000 total.
The monthly payment stays at $375 for all 17 years:
So:
203mo x $375 = $76,125
Total paid = $76,125
Actual amount borrowed (after 15% down on $45k) = $38,250
Difference (interest paid) = $76,125 - $38,250 = $37,875 ??? I guess I'm not entirely sure if that math holds up.

Is it even possible that by paying longer (2 extra years) and taking a loan that's $15,000 smaller, I end up paying $14,000 more in interest (the difference between $37,875 and $23,838)?
I can't quite wrap my head around how Charles Schwab calculates this. ☕

Could someone help me figure out what the monthly payment would be if I shortened the term to 15 years, just so I have a direct comparison with JPMorgan Chase?
I know I should probably just ask at Charles Schwab, but they aren't open until Monday. Maybe I'll get an answer here sooner...

Thanks for the help... 🙏

@ help1: Thanks for the reply. Just clean up my post by removing my part and write to 😉@ Andrew Gomez8... I don't want it to be too long... mine is enough once

. I stand behind everything you said; personally, I think that's how it is...
I have an appointment with my lawyer today... 😁

ZABA isn't going to ask me for another property because I already handed them the same Title Deed and told them to let the legal department review it... they got back to me after a few days saying it was fine.
To make matters better, my neighbor actually received notice the other day that his loan was approved at ZABA.

But the biggest issue, as usual, is the government allowing this kind of theft... mostly because the state has to process all these papers (Title Deeds) and it takes forever... They say it takes about a year... but if it's under a couple of years, nothing happens... 🤷

I guess I put way too much faith in Charles Schwab and have been saving with them for 7 years now, spread across two accounts... to this day, I haven't even hit the max, maybe around $5,500 total across both.

My place was supposed to be ready by January 1st, 2009, but... predictably, it was late.
Trying to stay ahead of things, I started gathering paperwork on January 17th, 2009. I managed to get everything except the Title Deed, which kept getting delayed—tomorrow, the day after—and so on, all the way until September 15th, 2009.

I moved into the apartment in mid-June 2009, even though the whole house wasn't actually finished. I had already sold my old place on February 15th, a deal I made before the New Year (because I’m a man of my word, or rather, a fool).

So, I’m living in the apartment, waiting for that day, September 15th, 2009, to hand over the Title Deed to Charles Schwab. I finally turn it in, but it contains that infamous sentence: "Pursuant to Section 187 of the Land Registry Act, all entries in the land registry are not considered true or complete until the period for corrective proceedings has expired."
That’s just a standard disclaimer added by the District Court—basically the government—because they're busy updating the books and all that... so...
Charles Schwab's legal department rejects the Title Deed because of that specific sentence. I go to the District Court to get a document proving it’s standard procedure since they are currently reconciling the records... I send that over to Charles Schwab...

An email from Charles Schwab dated October 15th, 2009.

Dear Mr. xxxx,

I would like to inform you that the Credit Committee will re-examine your request at its next meeting scheduled for next week, taking into account the new documents you provided. I expect to have the Credit Committee's position by the middle of next week, at which point I will notify you via email.

Sincerely,

Charles Schwab Savings
Margareta Maričić Mišić
Account Manager

And they reject it anyway... here is the email from October 20th, 2009....

Dear Mr. xxxxx,

At today's meeting, the Credit Committee re-evaluated the possibility of recording a lien on the property, given that the land registry for this property is currently undergoing corrective proceedings. Regrettably, I must inform you that the Credit Committee's position is that the Savings Bank cannot accept the subject property as collateral until these proceedings are finalized.

If you are able to provide an alternative property as collateral, we can waive the costs associated with changing the insurance instruments and drafting a Contract Amendment ($250) when we eventually record the lien on your property and release the mortgage from the substitute property.

If this proposal is not acceptable to you and you decide to terminate your housing savings agreement, you may sign the Request at our branch in Chicago.

We remain at your disposal for any further questions or clarifications!

Sincerely,

Charles Schwab Savings
Margareta Maričić Mišić
Account Manager

I went to go inspect the terms at ZABA for their housing program... it's 12 years, though it could be 15. Fixed interest is around 6%, but the down payment is 30% of the loan amount (whereas Charles Schwab was 15%). So, on a $60,000 loan, instead of $6,000, I’d need a $18,000 deposit.

To try and complicate things, I suggested to my seller that since he's late with the paperwork and causing all this trouble, he should drop the price by $10,000. He's late, his garage isn't even done, it's a mess... but he just replied, "I won't comment on that."

Now I'm in a real bind. I could move out, but I've already put down $25,000 in deposits, so the question is when I'll ever see that money. The seller is also in a bind, and even if I pay him what he wants, who knows when he'll finish the garage or address my complaints!

I also heard from that same seller that Charles Schwab hasn't been issuing loans for months now. I asked the lady at Charles Schwab about it, and she just said, "No, that's not true, who told you that?"

What do you suggest? An alternative property that doesn't have that famous disclaimer, or moving to ZABA? ... I need a maximum of $60,000, maybe less.

Thanks for the advice. 🙏