Real Estate: Flipping Vegas is such a bad TV show. |
- Flipping Vegas is such a bad TV show.
- When you look at houses, what are some of the uncommon characteristics you look for?
- I’ve now lost 4 homes in two weeks
- Seller Didn't Complete Repairs
- (PA) Should I update a condo I'll be selling in the not to distant future?
- How important is the neighbor's curb appeal? [Rural TX]
- Cash for Keys gone very wrong (NJ Tenant)
- Do I Need a New Realtor?
- I have $10k I want to buy a acre of land
- Sell with tenants or not?
- Which is cheaper and/or better to do?
- Selling a House in California
- New Construction address woes
- What municiple department in [VA] do I need to talk to to see if they will allow me to build a driveway on an undeveloped acerage?
- Cash Out Refinance on Rental Property? [MI]
- Cash Out Refinance on Rental Property?
- Is sales, sales?
- Seller asking me to pay fee because their rate expires before agreed close date
- Appraisal: fireplace vs freestanding stove
- Home Loan Question
- Pent-up supply coming?
- Seller won’t drop price after 30k appraisal difference!
- Buyers asking $5k at closing
| Flipping Vegas is such a bad TV show. Posted: 18 Jul 2020 06:43 AM PDT |
| When you look at houses, what are some of the uncommon characteristics you look for? Posted: 17 Jul 2020 01:14 PM PDT A couple of ours: After living in a well-built house and then a cheap construction house, we always have one of us stand in the main floor just below a bathroom, and another go upstairs and flush the toilet to see if you can hear normal walking and/or the toilet flushing. I have a habit of counting kitchen cabinets and measuring depth. Some cabinets nowadays only fit a row of 3 regular-sized glasses deep! What do you all look for that your realtor filters their facial expression over? [link] [comments] |
| I’ve now lost 4 homes in two weeks Posted: 17 Jul 2020 07:12 PM PDT I've put in 4 bids in the last 2 weeks. All of which are conventional loans, $ down, and at least 5% over asking price. What am I doing wrong here? This market is insane. I feel like I'm wasting my time. [link] [comments] |
| Seller Didn't Complete Repairs Posted: 18 Jul 2020 08:01 AM PDT I'm sceduled to close on a house I'm buying in a week, but the seller just called my realtor yesterday saying that they were having trouble getting permits to fix the sewer line fractures that they signed off on agreeing to fix after the inspection. They said that it was problems with permitting, but the quotes they sent me for the work are all dated yesterday (the agreement after the inspection was signed several weeks ago). My realtor is recommending that I accept a certified check at closing, but not part of the real estate transaction for this (I can't accept any more seller's credits due to my closing costs being near zero due to other seller's credits from the inspection). My realtor says he does this all the time, but it sounds off to me. Any thoughts on this are appreciated. As a note, I am planning to get my own quote for the work if I do end up sccepting compensation. [link] [comments] |
| (PA) Should I update a condo I'll be selling in the not to distant future? Posted: 18 Jul 2020 08:24 AM PDT I own a condo it was built in the 70s and everything is original. I'm debating whether to update my kitchen and bathroom or just keeping it how it is and letting the eventual buyer do it. I'm just curious to hear what others in a similar situation did or would do. [link] [comments] |
| How important is the neighbor's curb appeal? [Rural TX] Posted: 18 Jul 2020 05:14 AM PDT This is my first post here and I'm looking to buy my first home. I hope this is the appropriate sub for this question. I just started my search and my budget is fairly limited given the type of properties I would like. I'm looking for a 2-5 acres property, preferably with a home on. I have found many were there is a home but it needs major repairs, or raw land. I finally found one that has a decent manufactured house on it, recent upgrades/repairs, and is in the size and price range. However, the neighbor to the right looks like they have never done any maintenance to the home and it is visibly in need of repair, and the neighbor on the left has several junk cars. Across the road, the neighbor's house looks perfect, so does the other home on the cul de sac. To me, this seems like a great way to get my little slice of Texas, because it's probably why the listing is so low. The question is, how much should the appearance and condition of the neighbors' homes play into my decision making? Personally, as long as everyone keeps to themselves, I could care less what my neighbors are doing, but my dad pointed out that it could hurt resale value. What are your thoughts? [link] [comments] |
| Cash for Keys gone very wrong (NJ Tenant) Posted: 17 Jul 2020 01:42 PM PDT I moved into a beautiful condo townhouse with two other individuals on May 1st, 2020. The owner who showed us the property was a broker. He seemed to be in a hurry to rent it, but offered us a nice discount if we could move in just days after. We signed the lease and it went swimmingly. He did inform us he had recently listed the property for sale, and that our lease states we must allow showings with 48 hours notice. We were fine with this. Fast forward to Mid June. We had no showings up until this point. Our landlord informed us that a man was going to see the place and that he wanted to pay in cash to buy it for his grandfather. Our landlord requested two showings, one at 12pm and another at 3pm for the grandfather, and that it would be best if we were not there. Not ideal, but fine. We are assured by our landlord that the man wanted to continue our lease, which runs from May 2020-April 2021. (I did later discover our lease stated that showings could not occur until we had 3 months left on our yearly lease.) Our landlord then asked if the prospective buyer(s) could come back the next day. We allow it, on the basis of just trying to be good tenants. This happens. Then, our landlord tells us the man wants to come back the day after that---at this point we are annoyed at how often the prospective buyer(s) want to see our house---4 times in the 3 days--- but we allow it. A few days pass, and things return to normal. We are informed by our landlord that the closing was set to take place on the 2nd of July, and that we would be paying our normal rent of $2,000 to the new landlord. We say no problem. A few days later, let's call it June 20th, a man identifying himself as the new buyer contacts me via phone call. He says he wants to use the place as a vacation home for his grandfather, and that he would like to pay us to terminate our lease and move out by closing. Mind you, that is less than 2 weeks away from the phone call. He says he would like to offer us $2,000. I tell him that we are happy in our new home and that I would not consider his offer. He asked what I would consider, and after consulting with my two roommates, I tell him $10,000. He says he needs to get back to his partner. I say no problem. A few days pass, and I hear nothing from the new buyer. I decide to text him asking if he has made a decision. He calls me and says his offer is now $3,000 and to take it or leave it. Of course, I say no thank you. From that moment forward, the man identifying himself as the prospective buyer becomes angry and agitated. He informs me that he knows how to evict people, and that I must accept the offer because he would force us to leave anyways. He begins to call and text me every day, even calling me past midnight some nights. I was only able to record a few of his phone calls, but all the text messages are documented. Being in my early 20s, along with my two roommates, we were naive in believing his threats of eviction. Mind you, the house is still owned by our original landlord at this point, but now the closing is just a week away. No written or verbal agreement had been made with the man identifying himself as our new landlord, and my roommates and I decide to continue our lease despite the intimidation and eviction threats if we do not accept his offer of $3,000. After continuing pressure from the new buyer, my roommates and I decide we should consider a deal due to fear of what this individual was capable of and he was telling us would happen. I wait for one of his many daily phone calls, and tell him that we would accept $4,000, along with our security deposit of $3,000. He says wonderful, and that we must start moving out because the closing was in just days, and that we HAD to be out before that, or the deal was off. We tell him that this demand is impossible, and that we need approximately 2 weeks. He says that we could only have until the 7th, or that the deal is again off. I tell him that we need until the 15th, that we need upfront funds (at least partially), and that he must sign a legal contract stating he would honor his end of the deal. At this point, we hire an attorney. Our attorney writes up a contract for a July 15th moveout, but the buyer is not willing to sign it. Because the buyer was only willing to pay us once the keys were handed over, our attorney informed him that we request no rent payment be made. After all, we needed to relocate and that is not cheap, and since the buyer was not willing to partially pay upfront, we would use our rent money for this. The buyer still refuses to sign the agreement. We still have yet to come to deal, and the closing is in less than a week. July 2nd rolls around, and no agreement has been signed. The new buyer, who now claims to be the rightful owner and our new landlord, come to our house in hopes of entering. We refuse, citing no notice of entry had been given to us. He becomes angry. We inform that if he wants us to move out, he needed to sign the contract saying he would pay us the $4,000 + the $3,500 deposit on the 15th. He says fine, I will sign it. Our lawyer advised us to ask him for his ID before signing, so that we can be sure of his identity. Our yearly lease did state that we were legally entitled of a certified mail notice of a change in ownership, along with the information regarding where our deposit was to be held by the new owner. Because that had not happened yet, it was imperative to me to know who this person was. After all, I have no notice of him buying the place. He says he left his ID at home (he drove to our house) and now refuses to sign it once again, now becoming even more enraged. We ask him to leave our property, and we go back into our house. The man took the contract we presented to him and left. A few days pass and our lawyer receives a scan of the contract from the buyer, now digitally signed with what he claimed to be his legal name. He signs off as being the landlord. At this point, I am still very uneasy about everything that had transpired. However, I knew I was entitled to receive a certified notice of who our new landlord was at some point in the 5 days following the closing as per our lease. We begin moving out, as we had only 10 days until the agreed key exchange on the 15th. By the 12th or 13th of July, I still had not received any written notice whatsoever. By this point, the house is now basically vacated. I decide to spend hours and hours researching my rights as a tenant in NJ. I discover that all the things that the new owner has done were not only illegal, but known tactics in the form of landlord harassment. I find the property deed at the county clerks office, and see that the man claiming to be the owner and landlord was nowhere to be found on the deed. Instead, it was purchased by two other individuals who each had 50% undivided interest in the property. I look up these names and they are connected to a real estate company in a neighboring state. The individuals are brokers. It now occurs to me that they lied about their purpose of purchasing the property. I also reached out to my old landlord and asked if the man was actually the buyer. He said that at the very last second, the "buyer" pulled out of signing, instead opting for someone else to sign at the closing. I reach out to the "buyer" who had been harassing me for a month and who signed off on the cash for keys agreement as our new landlord, and ask to see any kind of documentation that he owned the place in any way. He says no, I will not provide that, and that his team of workers would be at the property on the morning of the 15th to change the locks and start re-doing the place. I tell him that nobody may enter unless they are the landlord, and that I am no longer accepting his offer if he cannot produce sufficient documentation of his ownership. July 15th arrives. The man comes to the property anyways, along with 4 other cars and trucks, and maybe 13-14 people in total. The cars and trucks block off my driveway. I text him that he may not enter, and if he cannot respect that request than I would call the police. I look out the window and see them eating Chinese food and having what appeared to be a party in my driveway. I use the intercom to say that I am requesting them to leave. They do not, and I eventually call the police. They leave, only to continue to drive around the block for hours. Meanwhile, the individual identifying himself as the landlord contacts one of my roommates, who at this point is terrified of him and just wants out, and tells her that she will be sued if we do not collectively accept the payment. She is in hysterics at this point, comes to the house, and begs me to leave. I stand my ground, citing that none of what has transpired has been in any way legal. From July 15th until now, July 17th, I have received threats from the man. He texts me saying he will spend 100s of thousands of dollars to fight me in court, that no matter where I go there will be liens against me, and that he will be making sure my future career is ruined. Here is important information that may not have been included:
N.J.S.A 2A:18-61.64 A penalty may be assessed against the landlord in an amount equal to 6x monthly rent if certain landlord violations occur (I am certain they did). N.J.S.A 2A:18-61.9 Owner is liable in civil action for three times the amount of damages plus attorney's fees and costs for misleading the tenant in any way about the conversion to condo N.J.S.A 2A:18-61.66 Tenants are entitled to attorney costs and court fees from a landlord when both parties go to court and the landlord loses, as our lease states the opposite would occur if the landlord wins. N.J.S.A 46:19(c)(5) a new landlord must present the name and address of the bank where the deposit is now held, assuming it is transferred by the old landlord. *Our old landlord informed us the "buyer" asked him to knock the deposit off the sheets by crediting him $3500, therefore breaking the law by not following legal security deposit procedure. N.J.S.A 46:8-28-29 This is the landlord registration act, stating a new landlord must register with county clerk. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 18 Jul 2020 06:53 AM PDT I'm a first-time homebuyer in northern New Jersey. I've been working with my current realtor for about a month now, but the only house I've gone to see was an open house I caught on my own. When I find listings and pass them to the realtor to check out, they've either gone off the market or "already have a dozen offers" when the realtor gets back to me. The listings he finds are way outside my budget or major fixer-uppers that I don't have the time or resources to reno. Is this normal for the current market in general, or in New Jersey? Should I expect to make above-list offers just to have a chance? I know my budget is low (~$350k for a 3BR). And I have unusual constraints. My disabled father lives with us, so I need a place with a first floor BR and full bath. I can't tell if there's simply not a lot out there that fits my needs or I'm a low priority for my realtor. If he's doing the best he can, I don't want to just dump him. Advice is appreciated. [link] [comments] |
| I have $10k I want to buy a acre of land Posted: 17 Jul 2020 10:20 PM PDT So I have $10k saved up and I was thinking about buying a piece of land and building a small cabin like home or a Van Camper I have seen some land go for pretty cheap, I have been living in brooklyn new york so the idea of living in a small place does not bother me. But would this be a good or bad idea to do? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 18 Jul 2020 09:49 AM PDT Hello extended wealth of real estate knowledge. I have come to the decision to sell my rental property. The issue is that my really good tenants of really long time still live in the home. Before I speak with a local RE agent, anyone has any experience on my current options, or suggestions on a better one? Here are my two current options:
Home is in PA if it matters. Reason for selling is nothing more than looking for other investments and I don't see this one being a profitable one moving forward. [link] [comments] |
| Which is cheaper and/or better to do? Posted: 18 Jul 2020 06:02 AM PDT I have been trying to figure out which scenario is better: buying a lot and building according to our requirement s buying a house and modifying it to our requirements (not a total demo/rebuild) I work from home and require network cabling and lots of outlets throughout the house but that is by no means the limit of what we'd like to have available. Internet searches only address demoing and rebuilding so that's not very helpful [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 18 Jul 2020 09:30 AM PDT I live in California now and am moving out of the area in a couple months. I was going to list a rental home that I have with a Realtor, but I got a call from someone referred by one of our neighbors who is looking for a house. He knows the price and has seen the outside of the house. He wants to take a look through the inside and it sounds like he's very interested in purchasing it. He expressed how difficult it's been to find a home for his family with a lot of out of town buyers and competition. I don't care too much about getting the very highest price, my goal is to get a decent price and be able to sell it quickly so I don't have to worry about it when I move. It seems like it would save me $25k or so to do it myself. Is this a good idea? How do I go about selling this house on my own without a Realtor? Or do I approach a Realtor and negotiate some kind of flat fee for them to handle everything since I already have a buyer? I'm appreciative of any advice you might be able to provide. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 18 Jul 2020 09:19 AM PDT My husband and I are in the process of closing on a new construction townhouse at the end of this month. This week, I started contacting utility companies to switch them over into our names on the closing date. The builders already have the utilities turned on in their names. Our address is in the format: 1234 Anystreet Lane Anytown, XX YYYY4 When I contacted both the gas and electric utility companies, both have the correct street number, street name, and town. But they insist my zip code is YYYY3, not the YYYY4 and refuse to correct the zip code in their system. The zip code on our builder contract and when I check with the post office is YYYY4. Both the builder and my realtor have no idea why the utility companies have the wrong zip code, and aren't sure how or where to fix this. Is this going to cause issues with our utility service? Any suggestions on how we fix this? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 18 Jul 2020 09:17 AM PDT Interested in buying an undeveloped acreage in [VA], it's selling for significantly under appraised value. But the frontage is on a bush-ish road and near a curve and currently, most of the frontage has a guide rail covering it, so I'm worried it's not actually accessable. Who do I need to talk to to find out if I can put a driveway in? [link] [comments] |
| Cash Out Refinance on Rental Property? [MI] Posted: 18 Jul 2020 08:56 AM PDT I own two condos in MI. Here's the situation on each: Condo 1) Balance $120,000 Zestimate: $180,000 Rate: 4.25% 30-yrs loan (27 yrs left) tenant will vacate in August. Condo 2) Balance $80,000 Zestimate: $180,000 Rate: 4.50% 30-yrs loan (25 yrs left) tenant will vacate in September. Should I cash out refinance condo 2 and put the cash towards condo 1 and pay out the mortgage? Should I do it the other way around? Or perhaps I should wait until finding new tenants for both condos. I don't want to buy another property under current circumstances. Any advise is appreciated [link] [comments] |
| Cash Out Refinance on Rental Property? Posted: 18 Jul 2020 08:24 AM PDT I own two condos in MI. Here's the situation on each: Balance $120,000 Zestimate: $180,000 Rate: 4.25% 30-yrs loan (27 yrs left) tenant will vacate in August. Balance $80,000 Zestimate: $180,000 Rate: 4.50% 30-yrs loan (25 yrs left) tenant will vacate in September. Should I cash out refinance condo 2 and put the cast towards condo 1 and pay out the mortgage? Should I do it the other way around? Or perhaps I should wait until finding new tenants for both condos. I don't want to buy another property under current circumstances. Any advise is appreciated [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 18 Jul 2020 04:32 AM PDT I'm coming from timeshare (concierge) with the company still having team members furloughed due to the pandemic I've chosen to start getting my real estate license in the meantime. I'll be a full-time real estate agent and not be going back or trying to do real estate on the side, I really want to eat sleep and breathe real estate. Coming from a timeshare background my numbers were really mainly based on my ability to generate rapport with a guest. My bookings usually lasted no more than 15 minutes before getting a yes and only the first 5 minutes were spent creating that bond, my discovery, and asking the right questions before going for the close however at times I would definitely have to twist a guest arm or put on the pressure with boxing in strategies so they can't say no. I've done well at my job and got top producer months in a row so I'm confident in my ability to sell however will that translate to real estate very well? I've heard the stereotype of all real estate agents just being more yes men and agreeing with whatever you say coming from a background where I have to convince people to do something they don't want to (a timeshare presentation) I've been going against the path of resistance I'm not too sure how those skills will transfer over. Before the pandemic had really gone into effect before late March I shadowed a top agent in my small town for about 3 months on my days off but not enough time spent looking at the whole process to know the answer to this question. I saw glimpses of the rapport and discovery but not the formula I'm used to for sales (which is similar to the straight line persuasion from Jordan Belfort) but most of my shadowing was making sure everything on the binsr was done from the seller and filing paperwork to get me used to the vocabulary used in the paperwork and to prepare myself for what the job is like, sending out marketing campaigns, and adding leads to MLS and creating a portal for them to look at homes in the area in their budget. [link] [comments] |
| Seller asking me to pay fee because their rate expires before agreed close date Posted: 18 Jul 2020 08:15 AM PDT I'm under contract on a home with a closing date of July 22nd (contract was signed on June 25th). I thought the closing date was aggressive but the seller requested this and upon advice from my lender and my realtor they thought it would work. Turns out we aren't going to hit that date and it will be pushed out one to three business days so no later than Monday. I learned yesterday the seller's rate expires on the home their under contract with on July 22nd and they'll have to pay a little over a $1000K to extend the locked rate. My realtor called me this morning and told me the seller's asked if I'd pay that fee because they're ready to close and I'm not. My first reaction was "Well do I have to?" The home has been on the market 51 days so far. They were under contract after a week of it being on hit the market but the buyer's backed out after 13 days (cold feet is all anyone knows) and I went under contract 10 days after that. I understand I'm not obligated to do so but my question here is there ANY reason what so ever I should consider paying it.....other than perhaps out of kindness or courtesy? [link] [comments] |
| Appraisal: fireplace vs freestanding stove Posted: 18 Jul 2020 08:06 AM PDT What's worth more to appraisers? A gas fireplace or a freestanding stove? Would either affect an appraisal value either way, or is it just a preference? I am considering putting one or the other into a small living room and wondering how it may affect the value of the house. If location matters, I'm in Colorado. I'm hoping to refinance out of a second mortgage within the next several years, hence my interest in appraisal value. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 18 Jul 2020 12:31 AM PDT Can you take out a loan that's more than the purchase price and use the extra money for improvements/furnishing, etc.? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 17 Jul 2020 06:10 PM PDT Using Redfin Data ( https://www.redfin.com/blog/data-center/), one of the popular blogs I'm following is saying that pent-up supply is beginning to show up in the San Francisco market. Starting about 8 wks ago, new listing is higher year over year. Since real estate is local, I thought this would be a good data source if people want to know the trend for their own metro area. If this pent-up supply keeps on showing up, it would relieve some of the supply shortage going into the fall. [link] [comments] |
| Seller won’t drop price after 30k appraisal difference! Posted: 17 Jul 2020 02:55 PM PDT The house we have under contract at the asking price of 200k just appraised for 170k. The seller won't budge from asking. They say "we can just re-list it, another buyer will come along". Although we are in a hot market in Texas right now, a 30k difference seems ridiculous. Is our appraisal permanently linked to the house now? I assume the only hope they have is someone with all cash or an extra 30k in cash. Is there anything we can do? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 17 Jul 2020 05:30 PM PDT Selling our home, HVAC system is 20 years old, works fine and just had it serviced at the end of May. The service person said it works fine for its age. Buyers did a home inspection and are asking $5k credit at closing. My real estate agent and I think it's unreasonable. We are countering with $1000 or a 2 year home warranty. Any thoughts on this? Are we as the seller being unreasonable? [link] [comments] |
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