...Nothing like waking up wanting a nice bacon and egg on rye with a little cheese and discovering the bacon you bought Sunday has gone bright metallic green on top. Yeech!
So, fine, fried the egg in a hole punched in a slice of rye, in olive oil. Sigh
In other unexpected rottenness, I discovered my (new) home lender, the guys who picked up Countrywide (who'd bought the note from my original lender), reviewed my real estate taxes (which are just plain nuts in Indiana of late and did go up -- should drop next year, once my various exemptions finally kick in) and decided, oopsie, they didn't really think they had enough in escrow and cranked up their reserve to the maximum amount permitted by law; so they have jacked up my house payments nearly 130% and to keep them from going up 150%, I'm gonna have to front 'em something over $2K by 1 September.
This is my punishment for gettin' a nice, conservative fixed-rate loan. Gee, thanks.
Funny, when my employer asked everyone to pleeeeze forgo a raise this year, times being tough and everything, we all went along; but ask government or a homelender the corresponding question and they've suddenly gone deaf. Umm, d000ds, don't you think you have bled the middle-class turnip just about dry?
--Here, banker, Senator, have some nice bacon.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
14 comments:
"[property taxes] are just plain nuts in Indiana of late and did go up."
Well, for you big city folks maybe.
:-)
Shootin' Buddy
Roberta - If its Bank Of America - their a bunch of idiots. Wife has been paying ahead on our mortgage. Last statement showed them shorting us $30. Wife called and said WTF? (well not quite that way). They said it was a administrative charge from when they took over from Countrywide. She called bullshit and they put the money back where it belonged. Check their amounts vs your amount and make sure you're not being screwed over
Calculating escrow payments is truly a "black art"; there are lots of ways to do it. Check your closing papers for fine print. Did the lender promise to calculate the escrow a certain way? That promise would be binding on the "holder in due course". Got any friends who are settlement attorneys? They might have some ideas. $2K is a lot of escrow shortage for a modest home in Indy. Oh, wait, I forgot about Indy's insane real estate tax situation.
I suspect they're doing this system wide to get a cash infusion. Our bill went up the same way.
Re: bacon
I like fresh bacon as much as the next dood, but if you freeze it- and I mean HARD freeze it- it seems to kill whatever causes the creeping crud. ALL commercial bacon is frozen, that's how it's cut so accurately, it's stiff and hard and easy to cut when frozen. So packaged commercial bacon will not be adversely affected by freezing. You can also separate it and freeze serving sized packages (though one full package is, in my opinion, a serving) Remember to squeeze as much air as you can get out of your ziplocs before freezing.
For "fresh" bacon, if you can truly get it, the very best thing is to cook it and refrigerate it already cooked. It should store ages like that (Well, at least as much as a full week) The fat is less likely to go rancid, and a piece of cooked bacon microwaved for only a few seconds makes a fine snack, low in carbs and not low in other things that I tend not to examine too closely.
I feel for ya. I haven't had a pay increase in the last four years. Some bonuses, yes, based on performance, but no base pay increase.
I'm on salary, so I can work all the OT I want.
Nooo!!1!! Not the bacon!!!111!!!
The whole point of bacon is that it is cured. Low-tech preservative. They used to hang the flitches from the porch for months. No matter what colour it is, it's probably reasonably safe to eat. Likely the colour change comes from some sort of dye used in it. Not to say that it couldn't go off, get a nasty taste and the colour is definitely unappateizing.
Bummer about the escrow, I was kinda going "wha huh?" for a second till I figured how you could have a fixed rate mortgage and have your payments change.
But if added escrow for property taxes riases your house payment by 130% you must have a pretty reasonable house payment in combination with insane tax rates.
My property taxes are about 13% of my monthly payment. And I'm not too pleased about that much.
Larry, I put in a lot of work to get a loan set at what I was brought up to consider proper for a month's rent or house payment, a week's pay. In the process of doing the loan, it crept up by was still do-able. Now it'll be two week's pay, after I do something funky to cover the escrow shortfall.
...I'm thinkin' refi.
Also? I do not eat irridescent green bacon; the stuff is a treat rather than a food for me anyhow. I like bacon (a lot!) but it's a garnish.
SB: Funny. Man. Yeah.
Two words. Bacon Salt.
Peppered on eggs, hickory on everything else.
WV: sherm
The Professor had to keep telling him that we didn't need the "Way-back machine" to get the Bacon Salt. Kids these days.
Roberta
Been there.
Escrow funds are pretty heavily regulated both by the feds and most states' licensing boards. This doesn't seem to stop some shylocks ahh errrr "licensed" lenders from trying to cover their own failings with them. Dig out your loan docs and read them for info on any impound account requirements. If you are required to have an impound account it will be spelled out. Sometimes lenders don't even know what your particular loan requirements are especially after they have been sold/traded a couple of times. They just do "what they always done". 2 ways to deal. Get on the phone, be persistent and complain about the amount until a) they agree to re-audit your account. Amazing sometimes what can happen, or b) they agree to drop the impound account requirement, refund any balance, and you then pay taxes and insurance directly. Mentioning talking to the state mortgage co. licensing board can help if they get selectively deaf.
On the other hand, if they have already ponied money up front to pay your taxes and insurance cause they screwed up (pretty common) in an earlier year and your account is showing a prior year deficit, you're probably not going to get much of anywhere with them unless you cut them a check.
good luck
WV = madinit....it sure is!!!
Comes in colors
Green and pleseant
Glows in the dark
Cause its iridescent.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Fair enough, Roberta. I usually go by the "40% of income rule" but I have heard criticisms of this rule of thumb, with some people saying it should be more like 25-30%.
I make a decent living, but it would be hard to have much house on that budget where I live. I bought mostly as an investment at this stage of my life, and had other considerations such as extra family living with me that needed a hand up, so I bought more than I would have otherwise, ina first home and still as a single dood. Definitely not the home I plan to die in (knockin' on wood).
LOL. I don't blame you about the bacon. I'm just sayin'.
Roberta, if you refi, get a no-escrow loan. Takes a little more finegling and you have to have squeaky clean credit, but it's a wonderful thing. It does require you to be responsible in saving up for the annual property tax and insurance bills, but most gunnies tend to be responsible types. I may not get much interest in a savings account, but at least I'M getting it, and not my mortgage lender. Plus, no "slush fund" crap. They get my P&I, and that's it. Let me take care of my own taxes and insurance, thank you very much.
- Texas Mike
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