Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Canada	Moving to Canada after being a US citizen my whole life??	The Bold part that Udella wrote is the hardest part of getting a passport. Most Canadians have only had one since the new rules were put into effect 2years ago (?) i think. So for me finding someone with a unexpired passport of 5 years was very hard, add on the fact they had to know me for 2 years already. I ended up asking a co-worker to do it for me.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-04-01 08:29:00
Canada	Extremely home sick	I still miss alot of things about Canada. the stores, the places, the landscapes. of course there are things i don't miss. but when I'm feeling blue i look at a book i have which i got when i used to work for REIMER express lines in Canada. the book is Over Canada. Its basically a picture book full of aerial photos from the entire country. some of them are quite beautiful. http://www.amazon.co...ader_0920431879 I'm sure once we get this house my homesickness will fade a bit. i just really miss how nice my fellow Canadians are..here no one seems to give a **. back in Vankleek Hill Ontario, you had everyone waving to everyone and saying hello. it did not matter who you were, how old you were. they would be friendly and offer to help you with anything. sigh. i just really miss that lately.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-06-07 12:28:00
Canada	Hotel Reviews Montreal	well we stayed at le dauphin, the price was 110/night there plus 20 for the parking. parking price seems pretty std from what i saw. as for parking near the consulate we were iffy about that since montreal tends to be very quick with tickets or that lovely boot they put on your car..ugh.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2010-06-01 06:54:00
Canada	Hotel Reviews Montreal	Anyone offhand know how the parking is at Dauphin? website says limited parking and i emailed them last week but i never got a reply. Just want to make sure we have a spot rather then leaving the car out at one of those 30/day lots with no security.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2010-03-11 15:16:00
Canada	Hotel Reviews Montreal	Leaving Windsor at 5am should put you right smack dab in the middle of that mess. wait..you mean at 10am traffic is still bad ???ARGH hate that area	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2010-01-28 17:31:00
Canada	Hotel Reviews Montreal	ok so i checked out the hotels etc. prices..david was able to get hotel dauphin for 93$ plus tax total of 108.00$. Figure we'll leave Windsor at 5am so we miss out on the mississauga traffic. normally my choice are always the comfort inns, we used em for our drivers when i worked at Reimer.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2010-01-25 10:21:00
Canada	TD Bank/RBC, switching from Canada to USA	I tried this but there are no TD banks aside from the East coast..so they told me i was out of luck.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-08-05 08:47:00
Canada	Chicago Tribune article : Usa should attack Canada	i woke up tot his in my morning paper. Here is the original link http://www.chicagotr...293,full.column The journalist is part Canadian and grew up in Chicago. Arm yourselves, Canadians John Kass August 3, 2011 AdvertisementProving once again that he is the undisputed master of American politics, President Barack Obama claimed another victory this week. It was victory over an otherwise implacable foe: Reality. Obama may have fed the multitudes at his 2008 inauguration with two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches and five hot dog buns, but his absolute thrashing of reality this week was truly astounding. Obama and his Democrats were able to increase the federal debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion — money that we don't have — and then give taxpayers a lecture about fiscal responsibility and how a tax increase will create more jobs. And if that's not grabbing reality by the hair and kicking it in the behind, I don't know what is. And Republicans who voted to increase the debt ceiling said it allowed for trillions of dollars in federal cuts. But only in Washington is a promise to reduce a future spending increase a cut. It's not really a cut. It's still a whopping spending increase. Sure, Obama's poll numbers are down. But is there outrage at the evisceration of the American economy? Not really. If you really want to see American outrage, just cancel "Dancing With the Stars" or "American Idol." But Washington's behavior has upset some world leaders. One is the Russian dictator (I meant Prime Minister) Vladimir Putin, who called us a bunch of parasites. "They are living beyond their means," cried Putin to a group of adoring, youthful followers who hadn't even been born when the Soviet Union ran out of money and stopped governing and turned things over to its mafia. "They are living like parasites off the global economy and their monopoly of the dollar," Putin said. Clearly, things are bad when a brute like Putin can call us parasites and say that Washington's fantasy is unsustainable. What's worse is that he's right. The fantasy is unsustainable. We're going bankrupt, and still our politicians cling to their fevered dreams. If you dare argue with them, Vice President Joe Biden might denounce you as a terrorist as he denounced the tea party, according to Politico. So, if we're going to be realistic about things, we should acknowledge two key facts: Our Washington politicians will never change their ways. And we're quickly running out of money and resources and the national will to do anything about it. So there's only one solution: Attack Canada. Yes, let's attack Canada now, before it's too late. OK, so we tried it before, in 1812, and failed. But now, it's time to consider it again. Some of you who live in Washington will probably accuse me of being somewhat unrealistic. Biden might get angry. But all I'd say is, consider the source. And for the rest of you who don't live in Washington, just think on it a piece. When you look at this thing from all sides, attacking Canada is about the only recourse left to us. America needs cash, and Canada is a nation rich with oil, gold, minerals and maple syrup. Oh, and don't forget all that fresh water from the Great Lakes that we can sell to Mexico once we get the pipeline up and running. And Canada has that "health care" that Obama's always lusted after. But that's not all. The country is teeming with fish, including the succulent walleye. Better yet, Canada is not teeming with people. Most of them live within a few miles of the border, so a quick strike and they're all ours. And once we've conquered them, we won't be foolish enough to make them a state. We'll maintain them as a protectorate and just take their natural resources. And send all our undesirables to Newfoundland. Before anyone gets upset, let me say here that the Canadians are a fine people, plucky, and they're possessed of that special brand of British stoicism and understatement that makes for excellent sarcasm. And many Canadians are still prone to wearing tweeds in Toronto and Ottawa. But they also have Celine Dion and put gravy on their fries. How do I know their vulnerabilities? I'm half-Canadian myself and still have family there. My mom was born in Guelph, Ontario, and she taught us to sing "God Save the Queen," which ensured that back home in Chicago, the Fitzgibbons boys on Peoria Street would give us a good beating. So I called my Uncle Bill up in Mississauga, Ontario, to let him know my plans. "What about Quebec?" he asked. "Are you going to conquer Quebec too?" I thought we'd give Quebec back to France, as long as they let us keep all the fish and sell their fresh water to desert peoples for profit. Just then, Obama was on TV, saying that now that we can borrow trillions more, it's not over. He said something about how "everyone's going to have to chip in; that's only fair," which, to my untrained ear, means he wants more money. "So voters may have chosen divided government," said our president, "but they sure didn't vote for dysfunctional government." Sadly, Obama forgot to mention that voters also wanted realistic politicians and a federal government that is grounded in reality. So get ready, my Canadian friends. Gird yourselves. Winter is coming. jskass@tribune.com Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune Edited by Kimbear, 03 August 2011 - 07:07 AM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-08-03 07:06:00
Canada	Montreal interview was today. Everything went fine except...	Even though it seems like it is just me and him posting here, I'll update anyway. lol. Yesterday we finally got some type of news. On August 12th they started reviewing our case/my mail...finally. Of course that makes me happy, finally some type of update, but still, August 12th was a week ago, and still not approved. I know they are really slow, and it took over a week for their computer to update about reviewing, since we have called every weekday since the 12th, and yesterday was our first time being told that, so I assume it was just updated Friday. My emails from Montreal have said they start reviewing mail about 4 weeks after it is received, and I have read posts here saying it takes about 4 weeks also. Monday it will be exactly 4 weeks, so really hoping this is THE week we are finally approved. Of course, after we are approved it will be a new thing to wait on for who knows how long, the visa being issued! but right now, just being approved would be great. Well iknow i haven't kept up on the most recent matters with montreal but last i heard it usually takes well over a month for anything to happen once you mail in documents..and yes..its' montreal..they are always this slow have been for years..its a common complaint from most of us actually. but at least you should receive it soon now that it was issues congrats are in order me thinks lol Edited by Kimbear, 26 August 2011 - 06:52 PM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-08-26 18:50:00
Canada	Tim Hortons	I see no need for a larger cup - I just ahve to stick it in the microwave when it goes cold on me my thoughts exactly. why get a bigger cup if you have to nuke it and then it will taste nasty. i'd prefer smaller cups and fresh brewed. just because i drink like 3 cups first thing in the morning doesn't mean i want a1L cup..besdies..just means that much more to spill if you trip	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-08-29 13:37:00
Canada	My Observations Back in Canada	There is clear Fanta Cream Soda at pizza pizza in Collingwood, Ontario. My daughter likes it but i think it tastes weird! If you want to buy a house go to North Dakota, we just bought a house for 13k lol. i think i used buy Crush cream soda in quebec, and it was clear..and it was the ONLY thing that worked when i had an upset stomach. ginger ale doesn't work for me.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-08-29 13:43:00
Canada	My Observations Back in Canada	lol, BBQ with propane? If you think cooking with wood, or even charcoal tastes bad, then you're just not used to it. It tastes better, but requires a lot more effort and time. If it still tastes bad, chances are, you're doing it wrong. no no no its the craptastic charcoal that they sell here.. my father in law has a bag and i guess it has that lighter fluid stuff built in..and it smells horrible!! and then you read the bag about how it was engineere3d from old wood used at or for car plants etc so its got oil and gas etc smells..i understand people want to recycle but for the love of good tasting food not with that stuff@!!!!!! i mean that just smells like the wood used on railroad tracks..like i really want my food cooked on that??? no thank you!! Actual wood i can deal with..in fact i <3 woofired stoves with pizza cook over em or a nice streak with mesquite flavour. i jsut prefer propane cuz its a cleaner taste i guess. and its a hell of a lot faster ...heat up cook clean..and your done..in like half hour..not 3 hours with a charcoal grill. also i can get hotter temps to get my searing marks done right. Edited by Kimbear, 29 August 2011 - 01:41 PM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-08-29 13:40:00
Canada	My Observations Back in Canada	oh what i would do for a propane bbq and not this nasty charcoal grill stuff..BLECH and clear cream soda...why oh why does everythyng have stupid carmel flavour and colour?? and just for once i'd like to buy normal jams and bread etc instead of going to the organic section and paying a fortune..and i absolutely miss farmers markets..10 corn for 3$...i'm sorry but that is not an effing sale!	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-08-26 19:04:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	And another realtor bites the dust..sigh "I wanted to avoid you any further heartache after the last bump in the road. I can not tell you just how sorry I am that this turned out the way it has. I am not able to help you reach your goal as you have outlined below" Thats what i got today from my realtor. So thats umm 3 realtors that have com and gone i think? yeah.....i dunno. Anyone know a forclosure specialist in illinois?	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-08-31 13:18:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	sorry to dissapoint..but nada zip nothing. going on 3 realtors now since the auction..i have yet to have anyone help us or get a reply on anything. no new houses on the market, the ones i was interested have been sold, others are not fha approved. Been stuck in one room with hubby 2 dogs and naught but a bed and clothes for over a month now. Tired of ppl telling me how to use a stove, a laundry machine or how to cook. Im not a baby i'm 37 years old. Think i'm slowly going crazy.. mood swings..anger outbursts etc. Seriously contemplating going to stay at my uncles in Niagra Falls Ontario, so i can get a job there and get a place to live. At least up in Canada my credit counts for something. Here they tell me i need 3 years of USA credit to ever consider buying a house or car or anything. I even contacted an REO specialist referred to me by a friend, still no answer from them on anything. I guess no one wants to sells houses to us. But that pretty much sums it up and is why i haven't been around much. Too depressed to do anything lately but cry and sleep.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-08-04 13:56:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	i swear i'm going to be a bloody expert on this ####### soon..lol..maybe thats what i should go into or a job since i dont have one yet... ok i did some research on the forclosure notice that was done a year ago..found a nifty site..wehre you can tell who you loan servicer is..its a site called MERS...its listed i on all the deeds i noticed.." mortgage electronic registration service". so i went there and found out the history of mortgage companies servicing this address was. research has shown the company originally doing the mortgage Magnus financial went bankrupt a few years ago and sold off all the mortgages it owned to Aurora who is now..obviously overwhelmed. there was also a delay in forclosure paperwork at the county level...dupage has nothing listed since last year but in MAY there was an updated forclosure notice done..which of course i can't access due to all these damn pay for it sites..not even on HUD!!! ..so lame. and i'm not coughing up 50$. details of the auction will take a week to find out if it was sold or kept by the bank.. David talked to our realtor..who is not the one that was selling the house..(btw dont believe the "reo and short sales are my specialty BS..that century 21 chik new nothing..not a damn thing). Susan our coldwell banker realtor is calling Aurora to find out ####### is going on with the hosue and to see if its possible for us to still get it... In the meantime i'm still looking at houses but pickings are slim..most of the ones i would have been interested in OF COURSE are all sold...LE SIGH.. And thats another day in the life of Kimbears attempt at buying a home in the U.S.A...	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-07-15 10:50:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	gota letter from sellers attorney just now..it was sold at the sherrif's auction today.. i find it very unlikely NO ONE knew it was going for auction and that it was legally not allowed to be even sold.. coulda swore they had to give exisiting owners that live there 30 days notice..which means the sellers realtor that told us it was approved and ok for the sale at 66k was lying...	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-07-14 20:31:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	So i put an offer on this house almost 4 months ago right?....and it was supposedly approved and we wer just waiting for the fha loan etc... well i just got an email from my lawyer.... the hosue was forclosed on and sold and is no longer for sale... so now..i have no home no where to live nohting nada zip... how hte ** did this happen...4 months. of...wasted time money etc etc etc... Can this even happen up in Canada?.... I dont know what to do...i just feel so lost...ever god damn turn since i met my husband then fiance has been nothing but an up hill battle...and now this... after over a year of waiting for a effing k1 they shoulda just said permanently denied if they didn't want me in thir fvucking god damn country... i think my heart has just about had it ..period...	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-07-14 12:29:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	that doesn't seem bad.....do you have to pay it in one chunk or can you make monthly payments? because when you divide it up over the year it is only an extra 83 bucks a month..... we pay about 750 dollars a year for car insurance on one car... In illinois, the whole policy has to be paid up front in advance at time of closing..grumble. unlike canada where i just gave them a copy of the policy showingt i had it and paid it monthly, or working it into the escrow etc. but wowsers i <3 PROGRESSIVE!!! i compared diff quotes and values etc..and the same 1300$ quote including sewage backup hail and 160k value for house came to: 475$ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and our car? even cheaper than Geico..181$..total of 655/month..for both..OHHHH EMMMMM GEEEEEE. And i found our home warranty as well. if we pay a higher deductable 100$ vs 75$, the policy is 380/yr instead of 450/yr. I think i can live with that. Just spoke to my husband, and i sounded like the Geico car commercial. : honey i just saved us alot of money by switching to progressive and bundling our home and auto ROFL. ohh and why do they all wnat to charge extra if you make monthly payments ..i mean even if its EFT they want an extra 60 year..bah! Edited by Kimbear, 06 July 2011 - 08:32 AM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-07-06 08:31:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	Oh, sorry, Kimbear. I thought you were asking about home warranty costs. We have this house bundled with our car insurance at GEICO. $700/yr is a really good price. no apologies needed i was technically asking for both i asked my realtor about home warranty and she sent me a recommendating but its for a company that is being sued for giving realtors kickbacks and uppping the policy cost on ppl due to that..so i found another company that has about the same rates good deductible and has decent reviews. nwo if only i can get an insurance quote for less than 1300 for a bundle..lol they want over 700 for the house and over 300 for the car..BLECH!	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-07-05 20:30:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	Yep, sure makes it hard to compare apples to apples when comparing the different mortgages, thats why those good faith estimates are soo important, and dealing with a reputable lender. As 1 hates surprises at Closing. Shopping around for insurance is another hassle, but can be very worthwhile. Just dont think that you have been with a company for many yrs, ur getting the best deal. Who am I to talk,lol We have had USAA for like 5 or 6 yrs now and I have never checked to see if I could do better. I'm very happy with their service, but thats just me,lol IS that for military familes only or can anyone join? service is a big thing for me..after a few accidents in canada we always had trouble getting ahold of people or them returning calls..we ended up with a broker who was just the best..she was always there for us 24/7 and we never had to deal with anything our selves.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-07-05 17:10:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	I think their are more fees in the USA than Canada, but I didnt have any problems buying our place. Every where you read says buying a short sale/foreclosure can be a real pain in the butt, should it be that way, no, but one pretty much has to expect it. Not trying to be rude,lol but I'm sure it would be pretty similar if you bought a house that was in distress in Canada. Don't know, personally I stay away from those kind of situations, but thats me, and everyone is different. I'm glad the end is near, you will need a few bottles of champagne and cases of beer to celebrate, its always an exciting time. Congrats pain in that it takes a while yes i get that. i'm just annoyed at all these extra costs..two types of title insurance, lender fees, closing fees, origination fees, document fees..i mean jeez.. As for the alcholol lol it will definately be needed at the end!!! right now i'm shocked at home insurance prices. i can't seem to get quote lower than 750/year add on car insurance and its over 1300$..UGH. did insurance prices skyrocket recently or something? crikey..i mean my freaking house payment is ony 340/month lol but the taxes insurance etc..just..wow. Glad i never went for the max mortgage we coudl get..with these extra costs..no way in hell we'd afford a house at the higher tier! Edited by Kimbear, 05 July 2011 - 04:40 PM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-07-05 16:39:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	Thanks for putting up with me over the last couple months lol. I tell ya its a very different process buying a house here...even if you think you understand you get thrown so much more info charges etc..wow. Not sure i wanna go through it again! lo. so why is it insurance companies need our ssn and credit check for a quote?? i'm insuring the house not me...sigh. and so far my bank tells me it should be around 450 but the only quote i've beena ble to get so far was for over 700 with State farm.. just worried with all these credit checks for everything related to the house davids credit is gooing to go down. also..whats a good price for a home warranty? i see many different companies and many different prices tryign to figure out my clsoing costs here lol. although i like the free first month thing..where you dont have to cough up a mortgage payment right away Edited by Kimbear, 05 July 2011 - 11:53 AM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-07-05 11:52:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	Ok so we are moved into the inlaws..ugh what a day...uhaul and my storage company both scrwed up ...and then we got stuck in 3 mile an hour traffic..got home finally unpacked etc..at midnight and we had been up since 5am...and 4 hours of sleep only the night before..and my bloodie dogs although i love them woudln't let us sleep in today lol. Ok so some good news!!!!! we found out it was the lienholder that did the appraisal. we got a call from our realtor saying they counter offered our price. house was 70k originally we offered 58 and they came back with 66 take it or leave it..so we're taking it!!! just gotta wait for the fha loan and in 2 months we'll have our house!!!!! although ..that means i have to move...again...UGH LOL. they wont pay for the home warranty..bah...but we'll go ahead and buy it ourself...i'll just have to shop around. I can't remember if i posed pics or a link to the house but here it is: http://www.century21...103-C2136265100 I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...and wow when my realtor called..i was shocked and my stomach did flip flops lol. I can't wait!!	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-07-01 11:52:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	Wow - that's horrible. Every short sale has it's own situation I suppose. We bought a short sale - it had been vacant for probably a year but was in excellent shape (19 yr old town house). Appliances were all about 2-3 yrs old and fortunately the ex owners had both loans with the same lender (which I think is rare)so the bank/lender was able to agree more quickly. Took about 2 months from offer to close. It actually didn't seem any different then a normal sale other then the fact that we were the only people at the table at closing. We had an inspection, asked for something to be fixed and their bank also paid for closing costs. it's been a good experience for us. Can you not pull that $500 back? Revoke the check or whatever....I haven't read everything in this thread - but is there an option to just walk away? I haven't paid anyone for anything yet. And everyone i know is saying they did not do the appraisal so unless the sellers agent is mixing up the properties i'm very confused right now. And yes our contract states that after the orgiinal closing date of May 19th, we will extend the contract by 30 days until we get approval and closes or we can just walk away and get our escrow money back. I spoke with my realtor and she thinks the other agent myst be mistaking the properties. apprently she contacted the old lender and he didn't do it either and neither did our current lender. So someone is mixing up their information. But now it seems any progress i thought we had on the short sale is gone and we have no progress, after 3 months I have been looking at other houses but it seems the amount going on the market is slowing down, and there are none in thea areas we'd like to live in for a price we can afford. And trying to find a hosue that is not a short sale or forclosure is almost impossible. Chicago has the highest rate in the country i think from waht i read on redfin and other boards. I really like this house, its just these people are not doing any upkeep let alone cleaning it and wh en we do get it i have no idea what shape it will be in either But yes i have plenty of opt outs on the contract if we really decide not to keep going. its just the communication thing and delays that are annoying me. Everyone has to have their hand in the pot, whereas up in canada i'm used to like 3 ppl at most...no such thing as title companies etc when i bought and sold my house in Ontario. and it was way cheaper on fees etc.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-06-18 22:23:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	I am never buying a house in the USA ever again!!! next time i want a house i'm going back to Canada!!!! There was an appraisal done. apprently by someone claiming to be our lender. And yet my real estate contract specifically says this will not be done before the short sale has been approved. And i have a feeling it was the mortgage company we fired...and i fired him IN WRITING AND HE REPLIED!! So i just sent my lawer an email saying ####### now i'm out 500$ for something i did not authorize, but someone i dont know, that went against the real estate contract addemdum that my own lawery put in???????????????? this day just keeps getting worse.. i swear to god i'm going back to canada if this ####### keeps up.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-06-17 20:36:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	Ahhh FFS!!! left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing it seems.. My lawer just told me the appraisal has not been done that they have only requested more documents from the sellers.. I just asked both my realtor and the lawyer ####### is going on and to get the story straight..3 months and i still have no idea what is going on..youl would thing i'd have some sort of information from the freakign bank that has the mortgage..come on..as much as i'm sorry for these people that have to loose their house, they have been living in it scott free for over a bloody year now. Why the house has not been forclosed on or auctioned off i dont know..and i wont know anything unless i can do my inspection appraisal yadda yadda yadda. Grrrr i was prepared 3 months to wait yes..but not with ZERO information. God this is frustrating..i mean am i suposed to be looking at more houses just in case? sigh i really liked this one too. UGh i hate America's stupid mortgage crisis... And to make matters worse the rental company is trying to say we never paid our rent or water bill and charged us late fees and they did it to a whole bunch of people. Way to piss me off today. Edited by Kimbear, 17 June 2011 - 05:49 PM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-06-17 17:46:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	so Finally some good news!! My Realtor just told me that the lienholder on the house did the appraisal last week!!! But i asked her to verify whether it was a real appraisall or just one of those BPO things..which they usually do a few of..and i dunno of both the liens have to do that and if so if the 2nd one did it yet. Oh how i hope we could find out soon. I already know my FHA loan is gonna take another 30 days after we get an ok so we are moving in with the inlaws for at least 2 months ... but at least i have a house to look forward to eh?	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-06-17 17:06:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	Almost 3 months of waiting here, and the only thing we have been told is that the "Seller's agent just received an email from the short sale attorney. The file is in underwriting with the negotiator" whatever that means. still waiting for my realtor and lawyer to get back to me. Sellers attorney is really dragging out the attorney review period..been over a month since we heard jack from him. And i have to move in 22 days, Back in with the In-laws. but this time its different..most of our stuff will be in storage, and i know its just a matter of time til we get our house. also we get to save like 2k a month this way.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-06-08 14:27:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	No, the assumption is that the home owner is underwater and cannot pay mortgage, thus the owner doesn't have the money to make anything but minimal repairs, if that. The trick is to go to the lender - which I guess may not necessarily be the bank? - and see if they're willing to do repairs, but most will not. You can ask the seller to dock some money off the price but if it's already a low price (and, at least in my area, short sale homes go onto the market at nearly the -20% price cut off to sell fast) you run the risk of the bank not approving the deal. The owner has no money period and the lender wants to make as much as possible, that's why they are making the realtors and lawyers all take commission hits. the reason people try and go for a short sale is that it is less of a credit hit to them as opposed to a foreclosure. and in 2 years they can get a mortgage again if they go the way of short sale. With a foreclosure forget about it..your ruined. Lenders with short sales will not negotiate anything, they wont even pay for a home warranty now adays. thats why short sales are "as is", and they all have short sale addendum dictating that they wont even pay for real estate transfer stamps which the sellers normally would pay for. The only way nowadays that you see lenders paying this is if its a foreclosure and alot of times a Fannie Mae one etc. they use it as a sale tactic but up the interest rate etc to go with their loan. typically short sales are cheaper for banks then going through foreclosure , auction etc. that incurs alot more costs for the lender meaning in the end they would get even less money out of a sale after foreclosure. Luckily i know a bit about all of this as my Uncle was a real estate agent all his life, and my other uncles has bounced back and forth between living in usa and Canada. and of course i've done my own research through all the HUD sites etc. In the end the house is well worth it. its not that old, and the price is great. and i love the area.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-05-15 09:13:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	One wants to feel comfortable with the people ur doing business with--its ur $$$$! They won't loose any sleep over it, if the deals goes haywire!! Best of luck ya at first i felt bad, as this guy was nice and gave us tons of explanations at the beginning, but now that its time for paperwork he is all business and i don't feel as comfortable with him. especially since it seems hes only a third party 4 path or however many ppl are involved in this loan. he does paperwork, someone else does underwriting someone else actually services the loan and then there are others involved too?? i mean..NO TY...that's why so many fees..they all gotta get paid i guess.!!	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-05-15 09:04:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	The selling of mortgages is fairly common. We used a lender who sold our mortgage almost immediately after closing, and it has since been sold again. It doesn't change anything aside from who you make the payments to. I wouldn't let that bother you too much... but the undated documents thing would not be ok with me either, or the general incompetence and lack of clarity on the interest rate. I agree with the walk through thing. That's the best thing you can do. We have found several issues with our house that were never disclosed at the time of purchase. We were naive and assumed our home inspector actually knew what they were doing, and as young first time buyers, we didn't really know what we were looking at. Keep your chin up Kimbear! This will be over before you know it, and you will have a great new home to live in Luckily I've owned a home before so i know what to look for. this one has no basement just a slab foundation, and i know how to check the doors and windows etc. for install dates. same with the furnace water tank etc. also sense of smell is a key factor in any home i go to see. if it doesn't smell good or the bathroom smells funny there are issues at hand. maybe its common for mortgages to be sold left right and center..but i just don't like it...gives the possibility of missing a payment to the right person cuz you made it to the wrong person.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-05-15 09:02:00
Canada	We decided to buy a house	Kimbear - have you gotten the seller's disclosure and taken a reaaalllyyy good walk through the house? The crappy thing about short sales is that 99% of the time the bank won't fix anything. At least if you're going with a traditional mortgage, you won't *have* to have anything fixed to get the mortgage approved. The house I originally fell in love with was a short sale. We were told at the time (by the realtor) that the roof was only eight yeras old & there weren't any major issues with the house. We finally get the seller's disclosure and it needs a new roof for us to get the FHA loan. And the owner had painted over some horizontal cracks in the basement (huge foundation issues) which she didn't mention in the disclosure. :er: this is a short sale.. all short sales are sold as is. the only addendum you get are lead radon and the standard real estate 5.0 disclosure. you can't even get any copies of ccr's (covenants, conditions, and restrictions) until lender approval of the price. You might be thinking of a foreclosure that has to have a minimum escrow for repairs or a 203h rehabilitation loan. And yeah we walked through the house already and do plan a 2nd one at closing with a home inspector. Edited by Kimbear, 15 May 2011 - 08:59 AM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-05-15 08:59:00
Canada	AOS'rs...	ok i'm really really pissed off...this is a vent..but in regards to my AOS. so i've been waiting forever for my bio appt. and today i get a letter from uscis that bascially says: " you case is awaiting the required bio submittal and is currently in suspense until you complete this process" Like NO EFFING SH1TE. THEN, it goes on to say my information has just been entered into the system that schedules the applicants for biometrics...OMFG, like they got my aos pkg JUNE 1ST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FFS! then it says again both of my applicatons have been entered into the system. so what..i waited this long for some kneejerk efftard to get off his a$$ and put my damn file in the gdmit computer???? meaning i have to wait another month for an appointment..and with the xfer to CSC taking 4-6 months on avg..i'll get my stuff in what..9 months from submission???? JOY watch..i'll get another RFE for a lost medical or some sh1te to boot... why is it every step of my visa process has been hell from the beginning with all the fu@#ups?? ####### did i do to deserve this? i just want to be able to live a normal happy life..but it seems the usa just wont let me. why do i get subjected to so many damn hoops to go through since the day i was born...i'm so fed up of this.....the only thing holding me together is my husband...	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2010-08-05 10:35:00
Canada	AOS'rs...	YAY for Peachey!	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2010-08-03 15:31:00
Canada	AOS'rs...	grats on the EAD. saddens me to see you mailed out the package 11 days before me..and both colleens and i have yet to have biometrics, which means oh another 2 months for ead??>..uscis..you SUCK!	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2010-08-03 12:02:00
Canada	AOS'rs...	indeed, the first msc number they gave me which was on the back of my check did didly squat. still does nothing, the other numbers i got with my noa's which are different actually do work, and i had to wait a few days before anything would even show up online.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2010-08-03 08:37:00
Canada	AOS'rs...	good luck ashen, hopefully it's going to be nice easy and not overly expensive..still find it dumb they can't even bother lookking for you medical...grrr. so today it is 2 months since USCIS got my aos package...and still no bio appt and no touches since june. and i've exhausted all ways of getting info. i can't call back for another 18 days.../sigh. wonder if congressman can do anything about why the hell this is taking so long, at this rate my EAD will be well out of processing times, and hell, i have no idea when i'll see a green card at this rate either! Just really wanna feel like a real person again, not some hobo milking off everyone ya know?	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2010-08-02 14:49:00
Canada	AOS'rs...	if you had no issues when you went in you should get it no problem in your married name i waited in line for like 2 hours and it was done and over with in 10 mins! lol. it was my first real piece of id with my married name on it and i almost wanted to frame the damn thing i was soo happy when i got it i cried	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2010-07-23 16:11:00
Canada	AOS'rs...	Contests peachy! We got our 6 emails and texts today! I got a little hasty and tried to check the status online and our MSC numbers aren't in the system yet. Booh! Now we are crossing our fingers that we get transferred to CSC. Grats on getting your notices and for the record..lots of coplaints about CSC xfers. From what i'm seeing you do not want to get xfered. Most of the posts are ppl waiting for 6 months. Look at peachey's timeline..almost 7 for her to get her green card.. OOOOOH! Congrats hon! Its about damn time!!! On a side note - apparently CA can't determine that I'm legally here so I had to go back to the DMV with my GC to prove I'm allowed to be here to see if that will help them send me my damn DL. GRRRRR. I have to do the same thing but for my bank account. They have my old CDN addy there, since i do not have a green gard showing my LPR status. Even though i do have a state d/l id etc. so i can't even change my address online /sigh.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2010-07-23 08:03:00