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    Home Unlabelled Real Estate: Just closed on first house - experience

    Real Estate: Just closed on first house - experience

    June 19, 2020

    Real Estate: Just closed on first house - experience

    Just closed on first house - experience

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 05:34 AM PDT

    36 years old, lived in the US for 10 years and finally in a position to buy. Conventional mortgage with 10% down on a house that was $400K. Got mortgage @3.2% with no PMI

    1) Pre-approval made everything super smooth. Found a mortgage broker who took a look at my W2 and basically told me upfront how much I'd be approved for. We then did the heavy lifting of paystubs, taxes, statements etc. Pre-approved for up to $600K

    2) The hunt started - we found a buyers agent on zillow and she was super good - knew her shit. Been in the business here in DFW for 20 years and has all manner of contacts.

    3) Found a place, loved it and put an offer on it. Inspection came back with a shit ton of problems...too many. We backed out but kept hunting.

    4) Found another place in a school district we wanted - only on the market 3 days. Put an offer on that afternoon. Sellers agent phoned our realtor to ask how serious we were - she conference in our mortgage lender who told him that everything was a formality and the funding was pretty much assured. Offer accepted

    5) Inspection found a few smaller issues and one big one (the roof) went back to seller and they agreed to a new roof and -$1000 to sort out a couple of windows

    6) All done. Closing process was super smooth, had to clarify a couple things with the underwriter. Actual signing was done in our car with a notary checking our ID.

    From putting a bid on to closing was 20 days. It definitely helped getting a mortgage broker (big banks never responded to our calls) and a realtor that had good connections and knew her shit.

    submitted by /u/fear_of_trains
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    Listing agent asks if I am a serious buyer...

    Posted: 18 Jun 2020 05:39 PM PDT

    Ended up making a 10% above asking offer on a house which was fairly valued considering all the cosmetic work it needed. I was asked if I was aware of all the renovations that needed to be done and of course I agreed(new kitchen, bathrooms, flooring) They accepted my offer.

    I end up running a few inspections on the property and a few reports came back that need immediate attention and were very costly. The roof was actively leaking with mold in two locations which I was told that it had been repaired (20k for new shingle roof), the plumbing is completely corroded (30k to fix), the pool was pitted and pump and heater were inoperable (10k to fix), the pool deck was installed over the septic tank which is inaccessible so I have to tear it out, the house has an illegal addition in which i was quoted 14k to tear down. Plus 40k in other miscellaneous fixes and renovation costs. I sent a counter after inspection 35k less and 2% under original asking price.

    Proceeds to tell my agent if I was a serious buyer to begin with. Apparently she wasnt happy with my offer. Was I out of line? The house has had to contracts fall through. My guess is that theyd like to pass it on to someone who doesnt do inspections.

    submitted by /u/bscot020
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    Just closed on our first house! (3 weeks ago)

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 08:27 AM PDT

    TLDR: Writing a personal letter to the sellers helped us get a house

    Just wanted to share my experience. We were looking for a house around 300-350k in a specific town we already were renting in (and preferred two specific areas of that town). Got pre-approved for a conventional mortgage (at I think 5% interest or so) and started looking in early February and picked a random broker who ended up being just okay. We found that the town we were looking in is a popular market with any decent house priced fairly would have an offer accepted within a day or so.

    We found our broker to not be aggressive enough and we feel like we kind of did most of the work finding a house, but obviously wouldn't want someone who was TOO pushy. Someone with more knowledge about renovations would have been helpful.

    Ended up looking at a handful of houses that we did not like at all (and a lot of them did sell after a week or two), but inventory was bit limited back in February and most of the nice looking houses were $400k+.

    In early March, one house pop up down the street from us at $299k, set up to look at it that day and we did like it. It had that cape-cod style issue of the upstairs bedrooms being intersected by the roof, but didn't realize that adding a dormer (didn't even know what that was) would have made it fine and we would have liked our realtor to point that out to us. They ended up accepting an offer that day which kind of woke us up that we need be more aggressive.

    Then covid-19 starts getting more intense, I get furloughed from my job, and we are thinking if we don't find a house very soon then we will just put it on the back burner for a bit. We did inform our lender that I was not working and had to redo our pre-approval, but because I had enough cash (enough for 20% down and would still have a decent amount left) and my gf was still working we were able to get pre-approved at a nice new rate of 3.5%, but up to about 180k less (I think it was up to $330k or so) that what we were quoted to before.

    Towards the end of March we see a house freshly listed at $299k in one of the two areas we were interested in. House looks good from the pics, but pictures can be very misleading and there were no pics of the backyard. Location of this house is prime AND it is right next to the house my gf's grandmother lived which was now owned by her cousin. We tried to set up a viewing that day, but they were already booked up, so we just did quick drive by. Asked the cousin next door if it was cool if we potentially bought a house next to them and they were very okay with it. Talk to our realtor and she says if we are interested to make a competitive offer before the end of the day. We offer $310, but our realtor says they will get back to us the next day.

    The realtor calls and says they have multiple offers on the table, and that we should make a better offer. A little nerve racking because we have not gotten to see the inside of this house yet. We end up offering 320k AND thanks to some info we got from here, my gf wrote a letter about how she spent so much time in this neighborhood and how the house next door was her grandma's. We find out later that day that they had 4 other offers, some of which were higher than ours, but they ended up accepting ours because of the letter! We still want to see the house, but find out they have tenants living there and because of coronavirus we won't be able to until the inspection. We figure if we really hate the house we can back out after the inspection. We finally get to walkthrough the house the day of the inspection and luckily we like it. The pics were actually not misleading and everything looked good. Inspection goes very well except the electric is very dated (fuse box), so we ask for $2000 credit to update which gets accepted. Set to close June 1 because that is when the tenants are supposed to be out by. We were nervous about the tenants, but they were actually buying their own house and moved out mid May. Everything else went very smoothly, house appraises at 333k and got the closing moved up to May 27 (and at 3.15% for mortgage). Very happy with how everything turned out.

    I will say that buying a house that was being rented can be iffy because the tenants don't keep up with everything (exhaust vent in bathroom super dusty, exhaust from dryer needed to be cleaned out, decent amount of weeds in lawn), but it all worked out for us.

    submitted by /u/judioverde
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    First time home buyer: Made an offer, buyer countered, we accepted, now the deal fell through

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:56 AM PDT

    My wife and I found a house we both liked. It was renovated, looked great, and we were enthusiastic about putting an offer in after 2 years of searching. We figured we could low ball the initial offer and shave off some costs based on the location (asking price is well above the average price per square foot). With those funds, we figured we could add things like a shed, get some furniture, and more.

    The house was listed at $405k just over our planned budget but then had been reduced to $399k. That's how we found it since it now met our search parameters. After taking into consideration our own circumstances, we figured that our short commutes (25 minutes for me, and my wife can walk to work), at least one of use would need a new car as the new commute would be about an hour. Also, since we saw the house had been listed for over 3 months, we figured we had some negotiating room.

    So here is the rundown:

    1. We offer $375k for with the ask at $399k on a Sunday

    2. Seller gets back after 48 hours and counters at $390k while also informing us they have another offer

    3. We accept the counter and inform our attorneys on Wednesday

    4. Attorneys tell us to get a home inspection before doing anything else

    5. Seller's agent tells us we can get the inspection but there is a lot of interest and we should move quickly if we don't want to lose it

    6. We get an inspection on Friday - everything in the house was good except for water. The inspector tells us there might be a problem with the well and to get an expert to look at it.

    7. We inform the seller's agent and ask if we can have an expert inspect the well. She reluctantly accepts and tells us it has to be done over the weekend because they are fully booked with showings. She also reminds us that she has another offer that is better but since ours came in first, she's holding out for us.

    8. Well inspection goes poorly. The well is running dry. The septic tank is too close to the well based on local health codes. We are advised that the well should be replaced and moved elsewhere on the property.

    9. We inform the seller. They get their own guy, a plumber, to inspect it. He claims it's fine and that adding an extra storage tank would fix the problem.

    10. We inform the well inspector who tells us that is not a solution. We present all info to the seller about why the well needs to be replaced. We advise the seller to contact the local expert we worked with.

    11. The seller declines to contact our guy because they believe it's a conflict of interest. They reach out to all well drilling companies in a 30-mile radius only for all companies to recommend the guy we met with.

    12. The seller accepts that the well needs to be replaced. Their agent contacts us and tells us it will be approximately $18k and they are willing to split the cost with us.

    13. My wife and I discuss and determine that this is their responsibility to fix and not ours. Outside of the $1000+ we've put into inspections, specialists, additional tests, and legal fees, resolving a problem with the well is not our responsibility. We tell them as much and they are not happy.

    14. The seller's agent comes back daily all this week asking for us to contribute to the new well and letting us know they have better offers than ours.

    15. We decide that all other items in the Home Inspection report can go unresolved except for the well. These add up to about $3-4k. We draft a letter and send it to the seller informing them that we will not contribute to the well. We would accept a credit to fix it ourselves. Also, we remind them that regardless of who buys the house, they will have to move forward with installing a new well and inform future buyers of the problem now that it is documented. We end our letter by telling them if they feel they have a better offer, then they need to decide what is best for them, otherwise, we are still interested but will not contribute to fixing the well.

    16. The seller gets back to us today and says "Because you will not contribute, we are going with another offer."

    My wife is now bummed out about it all, but I feel like despite liking the house, we already came up $15k and accepted their counter offer. Why would I accept $9k more to fix something that is not my responsibility? We made concessions to take on the electrical work, window replacements, and other issues found. Basically, we'd do everything except for the well. That was our deal breaker. Another thing to consider was that the well driller told us that the area might be dry but he won't know until he starts drilling. They'll need a permit which takes almost a month too. So all in all, had we accepted sharing costs for the well, we would have been waiting another 4-6 weeks, and there could have been more problems down the road.

    Now I'm wondering if we did the right thing. Personally, I feel that we paid just over $1k to save us $9-18k if we had closed on the property. Do you think we did the right thing?

    submitted by /u/cbcswim
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    New construction vs. 40-60 year-old existing homes?

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 06:52 AM PDT

    My fiance are looking to buy our first home, but since we're planning to have a family soon and with the transfer taxes, we want to buy a home to last us until retirement. We're looking in two areas:

    1. Area 1 is closer to my work, but much of it was built in the 60s to 90s, meaning things like gas heating, asbestos siding, aluminum wiring, and outdated designs. No well-built Craftsmans or Victorians. Although the landscaping is generally nicer because it's matured and the area is hillier. We went under contract on a house (one of the rare designs that we actually kind of liked), but the foundation was much worse than expected due to soil erosion.

    2. Option 2 is further away (25 minutes to my work, mostly highway), but close to his parents (and where he grew up). The town has exploded in popularity in the past 20 or so years, and continues to be popular due to the schools (best-ranked in the state). However, there aren't many places to build anymore at this point. We'd be looking at the northern part of this town, which is further away from the center, but closer to my work (and where most people commute to). The community is trying to go for a New Urbanist design, but they don't have much in yet in terms of shopping and currently mostly limited to a few events and weekly concert series. I do very much want a walkable community (which is hard to find in that state in general, especially with decent schools), but who knows if it'll actually happen. Of course, it's more expensive for new construction, but still in our price range. And while we won't get a beautifully constructed Craftsman from the early Arts and Crafts movement, at least we can pick something that emulates the styles that we like.

    I know this is somewhat subjective, but do you think it's better to go with a 50-year old suburban home we don't love, might have trouble expanding the kitchen the way we want to, but is close to work (<15 minutes), or go with a new construction home, pay extra but pick the features we want, deal with the foundation settling, (although the lots are all flat there), and have a longer (25 minute) commute in somewhere that's growing and a bit more uncertain? Thanks in advance.

    submitted by /u/UNsoAlt
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    First time home buyer

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 06:24 AM PDT

    We are buying our first home and everything in our price range and desired area sells before we even get a chance to look at it. We've been warned and can see the conflict of interest of buying a home that our real estate agent is also selling. She has 2 places we can look at and the benefit is that maybe we can finally see a house before it's already purchased. Is it really a concern to have your agent also be the sellers agent?

    submitted by /u/Fancy-Carpet
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    Southeast PA Market struggles

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:58 AM PDT

    Any buyers/agents also struggling to even see a listing before it goes under contract in this area? Looking in the 300-350k range and it's ridiculously competitive. I struck out on every house this week to even get my foot in the door to look at them. I send them to my realtor within hours of being listed online. It usually takes a day or so to get an appointment scheduled and they go off the market before I get scheduled or my appointments get canceled for it going under contract.

    Is there any tricks to being able to buy in this area/price right now? Are people putting offers in on them immediately without a showing? Do I need a quicker moving agent? Is there any hope of inventory to start to catch up with demand here?

    Starting to feel like I should give up on this region. I have huge search area from above Philly to below Allentown and as far west as into parts of Berks county and still struggling to find something to even put an offer on.

    submitted by /u/RandyLehay
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    How are people finding 3.5-5% down mortgages for quadplexes?

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:55 AM PDT

    Title. Finding deals shared online where people are getting 3.5-5% down on quadplex mortgages. Called a couple banks in my area and they are asking for 15-25 percent down. Should I just call more banks or have things changed?

    I am looking to do an owner-occupied property to get more favorable terms for things such as down payments, fyi :)

    For example: https://www.reddit.com/r/realestateinvesting/comments/fjdg8l/deal_analysisupdate_quadplex_owner_occupancy/

    submitted by /u/barrett7212
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    Mathematics paper proposes optimal incentive system for realtors

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:11 AM PDT

    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5142115_An_Optimal_Incentive_System_For_Real_Estate_Agents

    The percentage commission structure currently dominates other compensation systems in real estate brokerage. This situation persists despite compelling evidence that it sub-optimally aligns the incentives of the broker and the seller. We have presented a contractual system involving a simple put option that optimally aligns incentives. The put option ensures that the seller has the appropriate incentives to aid in the selling effort. A number of possible reasons including institutional and regulatory impediments were put forward as to why such a contract does not exist. Further investigation into these issues will advance our understanding of this market.

    submitted by /u/slappysq
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    Too late to negotiate closing costs?

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:53 AM PDT

    Earlier this week I was looking into refinancing my house. The same day quickenloans called, gave me what seemed like a very favorable rate, and proceeded to the application process and walked me through. I thought this was just an application phase, but unbeknownst to me, there was also a notice of intent. The closing costs they told me on the phone didnt include escrow. Closing costs with escrow seem very steep at 8k on 250k. My neighbor is also refinancing virtually same loan amount, interest rate (2.75 on 20 years) and credit score (800) and his closing came out closer to 4k. Is it too late to negotiate points/underwriting fees etc? Are there financial implications for rescinding if no appraisal has yet occurred and it hasn't been approved? Any help appreciated!

    submitted by /u/Rjmick
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    In escrow, but Foundation issue came up after inspection

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:50 AM PDT

    We entered an agreement on a single story house built in Los Angeles last week. We came in at ask, they said they had 2 other offers (one definitely below ask but cash) and asked for best and final. We went up 10k over ask and they accepted our offer (possible we just bid against ourselves, but who knows, we liked it enough we were comfortable with doing so.

    Despite being an older house, the interior was in good shape, they remodeled the kitchens and bathrooms in past ten years and mostly appeared to be in good shape. We'd need to change some of the windows, the detached garage was in really poor condition (but we planned on just using it for storage anyway so didn't care), but nothing readily apparent.

    Then the inspection happened and a number of other small issues came up (roof needed about 2k in work, HVAC needed $600 in work, $700 in termite work, etc.) but then the big issue was there were issues with the raised foundation/crawl space. A number of the short piers were off center and leaning diagonal. There were some rusted screws on some of some of after market retrofitting, and a few vertical cracks in the stem walls (one of which was about 1/2-1 inch wide). These caused a 1-2 inch slope in the floors at the front of house (didn't even really notice the first time). We then got an additional inspection from a foundation expert and he quoted the repairs at 33k.

    I'm comfortable proceeding with the house if the Sellers will agree to cover/credit the foundation repairs. I'm planning on only asking them to address/negotiate around the foundation as all the other repairs are fairly small (like 4-5k total) and I can put in the bucket of "expected wear and tear" in an older home. The garage repairs would be significantly expensive, but the condition of the garage was also pretty apparent from seeing the house, so I feel that's baked into the price it was listed.

    Does this seem like a reasonable position? How likely do you think sellers will agree to cover the costs (35k is a lot, but relative to total cost of house it's a very minimal percentage of the proceeds they will get)? Obviously there were two other interested buyers, but I was the high bid and I would presume the other buyers didn't know about the foundation issue either as it isn't apparent. They also have presumably lived there with this foundation for a few years (they've lived there over 20 years) so would that make them minimize its perceived importance? I'm comfortable walking if they don't as I was already stretching my budget for this house, but am obviously hoping they will be willing to cover the bulk of it as I think was an unforeseen issue

    submitted by /u/neifichicken
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    Can I get my deposit check back from my broker if I don’t sign the lease?

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:50 AM PDT

    So I gave a broker a check to secure an apartment three days ago. We had agreed upon an August 7th move-in date, I have emails/texts from her confirming this date. I also talked to my current landlord and made a deal to extend my stay here until the 7th. The company also left the ad up and gave at least one tour after we put the deposit down, when the deposit was supposed to keep them from doing so.

    When the lease came the move-in date became the 15th. This doesn't work for me, the 7th was already later than we would have liked. (We were initially told August 1st) We don't want to sign the lease as it currently is, but the broker said we'll lose the deposit if we don't sign because it "cost them the ability to get other tenants."

    Should I be able to get my deposit back? I think the broker is trying to scare us into signing the lease, but this is definitely not my area of expertise.

    It's in Massachusetts if that matters

    submitted by /u/EnjoyWolfCola
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    Buying a house that's being rented out by the owner for another year - help me make sense of this !

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:45 AM PDT

    There's this house for sale my family and I are interested in. The owner is renting it out, though, until May of 2021 for $1200/month. His asking price, though, would put my mortgage at $1600/month - meaning I'd be losing $400/month for one year until the tenant is done with the lease and my family could move in. We don't mind waiting a year to move because we love the house and location, but shouldn't his asking price point be low enough where we'd at least break even even with the rent value ?

    submitted by /u/Channe79
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    First-time buyer. Is it really easy to buy a house/condo?

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:43 AM PDT

    Hi there! I'm a fresh expat (the US) and after 5 years of renting I decided to go forward and prepare myself to buy a condo (my first thoughts about a condo, yes). My spouse sees buying a home really easy: call real estate agency (our friends suggested one), give them our wishes, prepare downpayment and when a good option appears, buy it. Is it really easy? Please, may you give me a few tips, what we should learn, read, know before we start? Honestly, I have no idea how the market works. We're a naive young family and I really worried about that "journey".

    submitted by /u/s8f5d3h2
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    Just saw several properties listed as short sale this week. Is it a good idea to chase after those? Anytime I need to watch out for? I remember that it can take a while for the seller’s lender to approve the price. Thanks.

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:24 AM PDT

    What happens to homes that were crime scenes or have had decomposing corpses ruin them to the point where they would be impossible to resell?

    Posted: 18 Jun 2020 05:20 PM PDT

    I work as transport and crime scene clean up for a medical examiner and often times after cleaning up something like a several month old decomp I wonder what happens to the home? The smell permeates every inch of the home, the rotting flesh seems through carpets to the wood below and maggots and termites infest whatever is left. I cannot imagine that a house like that could be repaired to a marketable state. What happens to it? Often times decomps have no next of kin so I'd assume the bank takes possession but what then? Do they spend the money to level it and build another one? Or does it just sit there in limbo?

    Also I don't know if this is the right subreddit for this question, if there is a better place please direct me.

    submitted by /u/nickname2469
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    Our Buying RE Agent slow after contract signed

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:17 AM PDT

    When we were prospective clients he was very quick to respond to every text and email.

    Now the ink is dry on our 600k house contract we have had to chase after him for every follow-up. We're two weeks out from closing now, we had 6 weeks from contract to close. New construction, inspections and radon came back fine. Builder wants time to fix a punch list before we move in, and there has been zero mention or motion toward scheduling.

    Stuff he says he'll get back to us on, we have to contact him 2 days after (whatever meeting) for the answer.

    He's a high volume REAgent in the area, and we feel like just another number to him now.

    Generally, while we were looking around, he seemed fine and professional yet personable. Now when he's with us he seems rather relaxed and the professionalism has slipped lower.

    We had requested some upgrades including a 2nd water heater that everyone agreed to at the contract. Somehow it became a larger water heater that we didn't find out about until we were walking through for a blinds estimate.

    Is this crap worth dropping him and losing earnest money, no, but it makes me seriously wonder about what else he isn't communicating in an effort to 'just get the deal through.' Once he thought we were interested in another house and started drafting up the contract before we even said go... seemed aggressive.

    This doesn't seem right. Is there any way to get his attention? What else should we watch out from getting burned on? This is our 3rd home, first in this area.

    submitted by /u/Lavender_Fields
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    Part time Broker in NYC?

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:15 AM PDT

    I'm moving to NYC in a couple months. I have a full time day as a software developer, however it's not too demanding. I've always been interested in real estate and know some of the Manhattan neighborhoods pretty well.

    Is it possible to work in the NYC market as a part time sales person on the weekends/evenings? What good brokerage firms would you recommend for someone just starting out on a part time/contractor basis? Anything I need to know starting out in that market before I get my license?

    submitted by /u/urnewfamousceleb
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    First Time Homebuyer in NYC. Need Advice and Assistance!

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:10 AM PDT

    Hey guys,

    I just joined this group to seek advice regarding buying a home. I am relatively new to all of this and have a basic understanding but have gotten into an interesting position:

    I am currently looking at places in Queens and came across a decent condo for sub 600k. I reached out to the seller agent, checked out the place and figured it was a decent buy. However, when I suggested that my buyer agent speak with her, the seller agent become offended and asked why I would need a buyer agent. She explicitly stated that I would have to pay the buyer agent their commission out of pocket after seeming upset that I would use one in the first place, but isnt the total cost of the purchase what the commission would be anyway? Wouldn't I as the home buyer be facilitating the commissions of both agents with the condo purchase?

    Im wondering if this is kosher practice as usual home buying process takes a seller agent and a buyer agent and obviously split commission between them after working out a deal. Is this seller agent just trying to upsell and take a bigger commission for herself and is she being shady, or is this something expected in NYC? What bargaining power do I have if I with my limited knowledge of the condo other than checking it out and reading on Redfin/Zillow/etc and reading up on neighborhood history and potential. I already have pre-approval from the bank and I havent revealed any amount to this seller agent to keep bargaining power on the table, but how can I move forward if I want to get this place?

    Also am I asking the right questions here? Was my first mistake not having the buyer agent represent me and reaching out to the seller agent directly?

    submitted by /u/Seoul_Brother
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    FTHB Questions

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 08:55 AM PDT

    Hi everyone,

    Going through the ringers for our unit and had a few questions. TIA.

    • As a buyer, can I reduce my title cost anyhow if the seller is picking the title company? Everyone has said this cost is determined by the seller.
    • Is there a list of what items to look at during the final walk through?
    • Is wire transfer the best way to get earnest deposit and down payment through? Any way to reduce the wire transfer fee?
    • How are property tax collected under prepaid? The reason I ask because some loan estimates only collected 2 - 3 months and some wanted 6. This is for Illinois and closing is July but taxes have been moved to October 1st this year.
    • Is there a limit of how much lender credit can be applied to a loan? Can out of pocket cost be negative if you include the sellers credit?

    Appreciate the help!

    submitted by /u/varun_v90
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    (NY) Seller accepted a new offer after our inspection

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 08:46 AM PDT

    We are first time buyers and we put down an offer on this home, they countered, we accepted. We have not signed the contract yet, we were at the step of the contract being drawn. We are pre-approved for a mortgage but the sellers agent asked for proof of funds for the down payment which we provided. We paid $1,000 on inspections for the home and it came back with a handful of problems but nothing seemingly too major, the main ones were that one beam was supported by a screwjack and there was termite damage on a beam they hadn't disclosed prior. We asked them to handle all repairs expecting they'd counter with fixing some which would have been fine.

    They started ignoring our questions and not responding and we'd found out they were still doing showings. We were told today that they've accepted a higher offer we'd have to top if we wanted it and wouldn't be doing any repairs and now they basically have the results of the inspection to use in their negotiations. My question is, is there really any action we can take in this situation since we hadn't signed a contract yet? They didn't tell us they would continue showing the house otherwise we would have waited on inspection, they also weren't disclosing that they had an accepted offer.

    Disclaimer: I'm a sibling to the person this post is for, just wrote it in first person for clarity's sake

    submitted by /u/DiveinWhenImDown
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    Realtor advise buyers to stay away from broker.... why?

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 08:37 AM PDT

    My friend is buying first home and realtor told my friend how sellers don't like buyers getting their mortgage thru a broker.

    Personally, i think the best way is going into offer with most of paper work done and ready for mortgage, with pre-approval, regardless of getting it from bank or broker. If I'd to sell my properties tomorrow, I don't think it really matters or concerns me how buyer is getting money as long as everything is approved and done properly for next step.

    Can someone explain why realtor would say this?

    submitted by /u/choijw2
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    First time buyers (UK) need help on how to make an offer

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 08:31 AM PDT

    Me and my partner are looking at 2 bedroom apartments. We have seen a multitude of places, ranging from 325k up to 370k. The apartment we really want has been on the market for a month, and the asking price is 370k. After speaking with our financial adviser, we decided to make an offer at 315k (15%), stating that we are conscious about the current COVID19 situation and it's effect it is going to have on the housing market once the backlog of surveys starts to clear. We don't want to overpay on an inflated price, only to have the house value fall soon after we take ownership.

    ​

    The offer was rejected without a counter-offer, stating that it was simply far too low to consider this early on. We're now weighing up what to do next. My next plan of action is to wait a week, and then make an offer of 10% , up from 15%. Hopefully, that will provoke a counter offer, and we can see where it goes. If we can't agree on something, then I'm happy to take a step back and let someone else pay over 90% of the asking price. We're not desperate to buy. What are your thoughts, are we simply just offering too low or should we persist?

    submitted by /u/throwthemuvvasout
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    Hot deal Listing agent (dual agency) not responding. Add'l compensation needed?

    Posted: 19 Jun 2020 08:14 AM PDT

    (CA)

    I came across a handful of hot/good deals in the last few years. Got none of them.

    One of them happened recently, the house was not even on the market yet, just being published in the pre-market stage, and it got into contract. I talked to the listing agent the first day, he was still willing to respond to my texts and call. From 2nd day, he was just MIA. On 3rd day it's in contract. I've already asked him to represent me as a buyer on the first day, but this tactic has not worked in the last few deals. what else can I do here? What is the missing piece?

    I wonder if other people gave him additional compensation in person, maybe in cash, to snag the deal? Can I do this too? I really hate being in this situation.

    p.s will cross post this to gather more opinions, hope thats alright.

    submitted by /u/tst212
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