Real Estate: Story Time: Friend won’t let go of sinking ship... |
- Story Time: Friend won’t let go of sinking ship...
- How do you feel about showings and open houses during the pandemic?
- Northwest of Boston suburbs - Single family home competition
- Request to have furnace serviced prior to closing
- Closing on the house we built tomorrow
- First time homebuyer with military partner
- Landlord Software?
- Negotiating roof replacement
- First time homebuyer, not sure if realtor is good or bad
- What do I have to do to get a house in a hot market?
- Putting on a new roof, unlicensed contractor? (California)
- Best place to look for Vacant Land?
- Can't sell because there's nothing to buy.
- Realtors & Lenders
- Small house
- New here - I want to get into the Real Estate industry and am looking to get my license. Any tips? Looking to complete by end of this year!
- Can someone walk me through how to finance home repairs needed to get ready to sell your house?
- Buying 2nd home advice
- Why is communication so difficult?
- License | P.O. Box vs Home Address
- What's with the 20 pound pet limit?
- We're weighing up the options of going all in on 1 property vs 2
- Seemingly perfect house, but found some water in the corner of the crawl space: go (lower) or no go?
- Repair list after home inspection
| Story Time: Friend won’t let go of sinking ship... Posted: 31 Jan 2021 08:33 AM PST I've got a friend back home that bought a house that's over 100 years old. It was a sprawling Mc mansion that was in need of some TLC. It sat on the market for several years with a ridiculous price. When my friend found it, he thought it was a diamond in the rough, since he had never owned a large home before. He liquidated his savings to buy (overpaid) this "dream home" and even took out a secondary loan for the renovations. He had very ambitious ideas of what this property could become, but it has all since gone to hell. From hiring cut-rate foreman's/ contractors that ended stealing piping and materials, to flat out not completing any of the work, which included adding central air. To add insult to injury, they discovered the workers even stole personal property. In addition to all of that drama, the house needed updated electrical, floors, shit pretty much everything needed updating. I knew he was in way over his head, but now things are much worse as we enter the second year of the pandemic. Aside from buying this money pit, he and his wife spent unnecessary funds on a fancy refrigerator with a touch screen and sleep number beds for all of the bedrooms. Mind you, this house is literally 6000 SQFT on 6 acres, with 8 bedrooms. The 8 bedroom thing really tripped me out as they have grown children. They can't even keep up with the lawn maintenance at this point. This has just been a disaster, to say the least. They are paying almost 4k a month on the loan(s), and have even missed several payments. When they first bought the home after looking at HGTV and thinking they were Chip and Joanna, they really under estimated this process. Well into their 60's they have really done a number on themselves and their credit. This dream home has now become a living nightmare. I'm pretty sure they're underwater and not able to sell to recoup all that they've put in. They blew through all of their savings and the house is still barely livable. In fact, they can't retire now due to not having any money. I share this story to encourage you not to buy more than you can afford. Also sometimes it's best to turn off HGTV and get real about what it takes to undertake these kind of projects. I'm not even sure what to say to them when they vent about being stuck and now broke. May this be a cautionary tale. Edit: Love the comments about it not being a Mc Mansion lol I stand corrected. But I'll tell you what, it's a huge home! [link] [comments] |
| How do you feel about showings and open houses during the pandemic? Posted: 31 Jan 2021 08:27 AM PST Hello Fellow Real Estate Folks! I am a realtor in San Diego and I have a client who wants to list his home but he is worried about people entering his home due to Covid. I was wondering what everyone's experience has been like with showings and open houses during the pandemic. I want to re-assure him that we can do this safely. I was thinking about shooting a video and posting it on social media. I was also thinking about doing a Facebook/zoom open house. Did having 3D tours or virtual tours work for you? What was useful at selling/purchasing your home during the pandemic? Thanks in advance for your input! [link] [comments] |
| Northwest of Boston suburbs - Single family home competition Posted: 31 Jan 2021 09:33 AM PST Since I've gotten a bunch of helpful perspective from the Boston-area folks on this sub in the past, here's another topic: I'm looking to buy a single family home on the low end of the market in the suburbs northwest of Boston (Arlington, Belmont, Winchester)(NOT LEXINGTON). While I know I can afford the monthly payments for a purchase of up to about 750K, I'm a first-time buyer and only have about a 10% down payment and no equity in any property. My vague impression is that I'm competing with many other couples who make in the low 200K/year range but also have either equity in a condo or a 20%+ downpayment. While I am saving rapidly, house prices are also increasing at a comparable rate and I'm concerned about being permanently priced out of the market if bio-tech further blows up and Boston becomes the next Bay Area, so I am feeling pressure to buy now. Can anyone provide some perspective on how much difficulty I'm going to have finding a single family home in the next year given the competition? Since people will inevitably suggest other towns like Watertown or Melrose or Stoneham, I am considering other options. The towns I mention above (specifically Arlington) check all my boxes for a place I want to live for a long time, and I honestly don't care that much if I end up with a relatively crappy house because location and school system matter much more to me than house size/amenities. I am also considering condos, but they aren't that much cheaper than houses in Arlington. [link] [comments] |
| Request to have furnace serviced prior to closing Posted: 31 Jan 2021 08:35 AM PST Boyfriend and I Just had our home inspection that was listed as "for information only" on our offer. Fortunately, nothing serious came back and we plan to move forward with the purchase. However, the furnace has not been serviced in a year and there is air in the lines, so it needs to be serviced with a purge. We would like this done prior to moving in but as the buyer we can't do this before closing. My boyfriend wants to send a request to the seller asking to have this done and I am afraid this would piss them off. Is this is reasonable request? [link] [comments] |
| Closing on the house we built tomorrow Posted: 31 Jan 2021 04:27 AM PST I got a promotion right after the pandemic started and married right beforehand, so my husband and I decided to build a house. We sold my house and got a few months have been living in our temporary home. I'm excited to get settled, but as we move over through the next week, what advice do you have? Besides changing garage codes and door locks, what should we do immediately? [link] [comments] |
| First time homebuyer with military partner Posted: 31 Jan 2021 07:06 AM PST I am a first time homebuyer debating purchasing a home or continuing to rent. I have a set income, salary grid and seniority to protect me. In addition, I have two cosigners (my parents) who allow me to qualify for roughly 1 million with our three incomes. My partner is a military member, and would be renting from me, not purchasing the home with me. My partner has six years left at our current location, there is potential to be reposted here after the six years as it's a big site/but we have no idea. I am currently looking at properties between 270 000 to 410 000. A wide range, because there are not a lot of listings available in this location. As a Canadian military member he would have relocation costs covered in the event that we sell the house. A few other things to consider, I have wanted to purchase a home before meeting my current partner. He does not feel financially prepared for a home at this time. If we wait, we could be married and both contribute to the down payment. We could also wait for his next posting, so the military helps cover closing costs and moving costs - however, it's also possible we are reposted here and there is no relocation support as we wouldn't be relocating. Meaning we would be at the same debate we are now, six+ years of renting later with an even shorter horizon left at the posting as the next posting is two years on average. Our current rent is roughly 1200 all inclusive. We hope to move out regardless if purchasing or continuing to rent. Apartments we are looking at are roughly 1600-1800 - apparently we got really lucky with our first rental being low cost! Anyone with experience in short term purchases would be wonderful, especially military members. I come from a long line of homebuyers so I am also biased and am trying to recognize that renting isn't a bad thing or throwing money away! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 31 Jan 2021 10:41 AM PST My father and I are planning on building a few industrial shops for recreational or commercial use, with future plans to expand into residential real-estate. Looking for recommendations for property management softwares, i.e. managing payments, expenses, landlord Tennant communications, etc. Is a software like NestEgg worth paying for? Or is something like Excel and a phone all I really need? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 31 Jan 2021 10:39 AM PST Hi r/RealEstate! I'm in the process of closing on a SFH and currently in the inspection phase. The house was built in 1980, and the inspection report came back pretty good except for a need for stucco replacement and a new roof on a 450 sqft detached dwelling unit (about a $10-12K job). However the tar and gravel roof of the main house (1900 sqft) is the original one since 1980, with periodic servicing in 2006 and 2014 (not a full replacement). There was no evidence of leaks anywhere in the house, but the roofing guy said it might be pumice sand the slope didn't look sufficient. The inspector didn't note any obvious problems with the main house roof in his report. My question is, would it be a big ask to get the seller to fix the detached unit, and offer a credit towards a new roof on the main house (which would cost about $15K-$20K). Purchase price is set for $600K and we are in a sellers market (the seller received 5 offers on the first and only day it was listed). [link] [comments] |
| First time homebuyer, not sure if realtor is good or bad Posted: 31 Jan 2021 10:18 AM PST Hi! I'm in the process of trying to buy my first ever home (in Florida of all places). I'm using a realtor provided through the credit union that I'm pre-approved at, since they have a program where you get back a portion of the closing costs if you use one of the realtors in their program. I'm on my first realtor and I'm not sure... how I feel about her. We've only been in contact for about a week, but every message I have sent her (either text or email) takes 6-12 hours to be responded to. I asked her yesterday if I could view a home at noon today that I knew was going to go quickly and she emailed me back this morning saying that she was going to go down and help her daughter work on her home so she couldn't show it, but her other realtor friend could show it to me at 4pm, which I can't do because I work weird hours. It's just been frustrating trying to communicate with her. Literally the second day I was talking to her (after she sent me a list of LITERAL SHACKS that were close to 100k less than what I told her I was preapproved for), I had messaged her about another home I was interested in and she waited the 12 hour period again and just said "Sorry, my phone was on the blitz" as if she doesn't have a laptop too? I think I just want to know if I'm just overwhelmed at the moment and feel the need to take it out on someone and this lady is the victim or like... is this normal and okay? I've met her once in person and she was very nice, but really didn't seem all that passionate about helping me (although she was very honest about the home which I like). I just was under the impression that realtors would want my money and put in a little more effort. Thoughts? [link] [comments] |
| What do I have to do to get a house in a hot market? Posted: 31 Jan 2021 10:14 AM PST Offered $30,000 (12%) over asking price, big appraisal gap, earnest money, no contingencies other than the ordinary inspection period, financing in place, conventional loan. Not necessarily an over the top nice property, adequately priced. Not sure what else I could have offered. Going on 2 months of this and am running out of time. Every decent house or condo is on the market for about an average of 3 days. Thinking it's just not a reasonable time to buy and re-sign my apartment lease and try again next year? [link] [comments] |
| Putting on a new roof, unlicensed contractor? (California) Posted: 31 Jan 2021 09:58 AM PST Hi! I need a new roof, and got an estimate from someone who lives in the neighborhood, family friend. He works for a roofing company during the week and his crew does extra work on the weekends. He does not have a license. I trust that his work will be good, and would like to give the guy the business, but I wonder: if I sell the house, will it be a concern that the roof was done by an unlicensed contractor? Is that something that I have to disclose, or can I just say new roof? I'm not worried that he will take my money and run, he has lived a block away for years and is a solid guy. thanks in advance for your opinions! [link] [comments] |
| Best place to look for Vacant Land? Posted: 31 Jan 2021 09:56 AM PST Currently on the search for vacant land in Ontario 5-100+ acres. I found a great parcel a month ago but it didn't work out and I'm still searching, using realtor.ca and feel that I could be doing more. I know that there isnt much on the market but want to ensure I'm looking everywhere possible. Any suggestions on where to find vacant land? [link] [comments] |
| Can't sell because there's nothing to buy. Posted: 30 Jan 2021 03:06 PM PST It's an interesting problem. Anyone else having the same trouble? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 31 Jan 2021 05:45 AM PST Can I leave my current realtor while still using her recommended lender? Context: I just started my home buying journey earlier this week. I was connected with an agent in my area and she connected me with her lender. When I started working with this realtor I was under the assumption that I would only be moving within an hour of my current home, but am now most likely moving 4-5 hours away (out of her work area). Is it okay for me to go with another agent in a new area while still using her recommended lender? I know they are in close contact and I don't want to make anything uncomfortable. Sorry if this is a silly question but this is my first time with all of this. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 31 Jan 2021 09:05 AM PST Me and my dad are looking to build a small 5x5 meter cabin, i was wondering how much it would cost to build like supplies and everything, and how much it would cost to get it built, in our back garden by the way [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 31 Jan 2021 08:46 AM PST Just turned 25 and I want to expand my career into the real estate business. I work in marketing now but have always been interested in buying/selling homes. Always been interested in homes that need fixing and just the overall development of housing. My question is, where do you think I should get my CA real estate license on line? I work full time so taking these courses online after work at night would be the best way to go about this. I've also read that going with an expensive course doesn't necessarily teach you what you need to know. I just don't want to end up wasting my money if I know I can get the same material and learn the same things in a cheaper alternative. What are some sites you recommend? Some books? How much money do you think I should save up for books and courses? Generally I'm new to this so what are the things you think I need to know? Who should I talk to etc etc. looking forward to reading all your advice! Thank you and hopefully I can get my license by the end of this year!! [link] [comments] |
| Can someone walk me through how to finance home repairs needed to get ready to sell your house? Posted: 31 Jan 2021 08:34 AM PST What are my options? I've got about 100k in equity. If I sell my house as is it's worth about $250k, but if I made some necessary repairs it would be worth about $325-350. I've got no savings, I'm just ready to get out of my house and walk away with as much as possible. Where and how do I start? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 31 Jan 2021 08:31 AM PST So my mom passed away a few months ago...she has a nice older ranch style house in an upcoming area. I expressed interest in purchasing the house (I have a few siblings, none of them are interested) what would be the most cost efficient way to purchase the house? Are there any tax breaks I should be aware of? Are there any do's and don'ts that anyone can suggest? Thanks [link] [comments] |
| Why is communication so difficult? Posted: 31 Jan 2021 08:25 AM PST I started searching for homes last summer with my partner. The number one issue I have faced is poor communication. I can't remember how many times I have reached out to an agent to view a property and by the time they get back to me, the sellers have already accepted an offer. I viewed a property in the fall that I really liked, and the agent told me to sleep on it. 20 minutes later the agent emailed me that he set up 6 more showings. I told him I needed more information on the HVAC/other systems before I made an offer. Never responded, house went contingent. Recently our situation has changed and renting is probably our best option. Found a duplex for rent in our price range on Friday, it was posted on Wednesday. After 2 emails and 2 phone calls, we still haven't heard back. What is the issue with communication nowadays? I feel like I keep missing out because of the other party. Is it rude to continually contact someone until they reply? [link] [comments] |
| License | P.O. Box vs Home Address Posted: 31 Jan 2021 08:20 AM PST Hey guys, I'm wondering if it's OK to use a P.O. Box instead of my actual home address once I get licensed? Just in terms of safety, I don't want everyone to know exactly where I live if they look up my license # I'm not finding any info in my course or online about this! [link] [comments] |
| What's with the 20 pound pet limit? Posted: 31 Jan 2021 08:07 AM PST Hi everyone, I'll keep this short and simple. In my area (Northeast TN, USA), I notice a lot of rental properties say either no pets or pets allowed but 20 pounds and under. Why have all landlords agreed upon this arbitrary number? Is it some kind of legal thing? Insurance maybe? What's the reasoning here? (My question is not "why no pets?" It's "why 20 pounds?") [link] [comments] |
| We're weighing up the options of going all in on 1 property vs 2 Posted: 31 Jan 2021 07:56 AM PST My partner and I are in the market for a new property (have been since pre-covid), between the two of use we have a substantial amount which would enable us to buy a property near the city we both work (Dublin). Like many others covid is set to impact how we work in the future and both of our job are moving towards remote working for part of the week. We're exploring the idea of either ;
Either options means we're investing all our money in to one/two properties. The second option means we could live in a much larger house (bungalow) in the country (owned by one of us) and have an apartment in the city with good links to our job while also letting the 2nd room. With option 1 we are likely to still have a 1hr+ commute while option 2 would see a much longer commute twice weekly to/from the city apartment. Is it a terrible idea? The 2nd property could generate some income and in the future could be fully let or sold. We would be living apart for part of the week and maybe it's hard to feel grounded in either place as neither will be 100% home? [link] [comments] |
| Seemingly perfect house, but found some water in the corner of the crawl space: go (lower) or no go? Posted: 31 Jan 2021 07:54 AM PST First time buyers here. We've been trying to buy a house in NC for a whole year, lost four different bids, the last one went for the same price se offered (20k above asking!) but our due diligence was too low... This market is so crazy and we're so tired... We visited a house yesterday that had it all, move in ready, great indoor and outdoor space, vinyls sidings etc. We were discussing the numbers on our offer (going 16k above...) when I decided to give a look at that tiny crawl space. There was water in the corner where I opened. The house is on a very slight negative slope so our guess is that water gets in the vents on the other side and trickles down. While there is only water in that corner, it hasn't rained in 2+ weeks. The rest looked dry but the vapor barrier looked... messy? Bumps everywhere. See pictures here (wish I could have cross posted): https://www.reddit.com/r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer/comments/l9esm7/we_were_about_to_make_an_offer_on_a_seemingly We're trying to decide if we should not even touch this house, or if we should make a lower offer on account on that issue, and plan for work (french drain, pump...). Our fear is if that could have affected the foundation, if there could be mold, if the humidity could attract bugs... Ty very much [link] [comments] |
| Repair list after home inspection Posted: 31 Jan 2021 07:47 AM PST Home inspection found that heating/ac units need to be replaced ($13,000 quote), electrical box is considered dangerous and needs replacement ($2000), moisture levels too high in crawl space due to leaking plumbing (no idea of cost), few leaks in roof (no idea of cost), among many other minor things (not worth asking for them to be repaired). Seller does not want to fix anything, wants to reduce cost of house. But wants buyer to come up with number, and negotiate again?? Is $25,000 reasonable to start negotiations at? [link] [comments] |
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