Real Estate: Offer Accepted - Miami - What Worked for Us. |
- Offer Accepted - Miami - What Worked for Us.
- Case in Point of Why you don't Waive Inspections (I was so happy to Just Sign the Release)
- Couple buys home but they can't move in because seller refuses to move out due to the eviction moratorium in California
- Looking for seller's agents thoughts on "cash offers" from buyers using cash offer programs like Realti, Ribbon, Homewards, etc.
- Shit show negotiations
- Why are split levels a thing?
- Can all these cash buyers back off please?
- If I plan on selling the house before 10 years, does it make sense to pay off the mortgage early?
- Purchase from a widow - Make offer?
- There is a home I'm interested in buying (SC) the problem is the land is owned by someone else
- House going back on market for the 3rd time
- 6th offer accepted!
- Can a Buyer Back Out Before Earnest Money is Paid?
- Tampa Home Buying Experience
- Thoughts on a working as a land acquisition analyst for a US single-family home builder?
- Lots of buyer posts - here is an everyday, non investor seller’s post about current market experience. Spoiler: it also sucks on the other side.
- Did the 15k tax credit pass?
- Help Finding a brokerage in Alanta!
- NYC Real Estate: what do you think of Washington Heights Area?
- Real Estate Agent
- First Time Homebuyer Who Just Closed!
- NOVA vs MD
- Home buying is one frustration after another.
- Found a house I’d like to rent. First time doing this. How do I go about it without getting scammed?
- Buying from a flipping company?
| Offer Accepted - Miami - What Worked for Us. Posted: 20 Mar 2021 05:44 AM PDT Hey all; My wife and I have been searching for a house since new years. Like many of you, we were having a hard time getting an offer accepted until a couple weeks ago. This subreddit has been a tremendous resource to me over the past couple months, so I figured I'd share our experience and what worked for us, in the hopes that it can help some of you. Our situation: wife is pregnant with our first child and we were renting month to month. Our landlord had the house on the market so we had a time limit on how long we could look before we needed to sign another lease. We were looking for a 3/2 in northeast Miami-Dade where my wife and I would have reasonable commutes (whenever commutes become a thing again). Pre-approved for up to 500K with 5% down. We had multiple offers fail. Some were really close... we offered as much as 15% over asking, provided proof of funds, pass/fail inspection, appraisal gap commitments for up to 10% of offer price. We never completely waived contingencies (first time home buyers, with a baby on the way - can't afford a massive financial surprise), but we were aggressively making those contingencies as palatable to sellers as we could afford. Newer listings that looked even close to livable consistently had multiple offers within a few days. We had about 2 weeks before we had to move out of our rental (it had sold) and were starting to look for leases. We could make one last offer before we were resigned to signing another lease. We saw an older listing in a neighborhood that we really liked (and thought we were priced out of). 1940's 3/2, Flood zone X, full impact windows, 1400SF, one-car garage and a decent school district. It had been on the market for 3 months and was initially overpriced and well above our budget. Every couple weeks, the list price dropped 10K, to where it was barely within our reach, but still above our pre-approval amount. We had been budgeting conservatively, but after a bit of research with our health insurance companies and a re-evaluation of our budget, we realized we afford the difference with a larger down-payment. We wouldn't be able to offer much beyond that, however. Our agent (who has been fantastic) - got us a showing... just barely. The seller's agent had an offer in hand (just one!) and was about to accept it. After viewing the house (it was in great condition and much better in person than in pictures), we made an offer slightly below list. Contingencies intact (pass/fail inspection, appraisal contingency, etc) with 30K earnest money. Since our contingencies were intact we could put more into earnest money to show we were serious. We weren't going to back out unless there was a major issue during closing. Accepted within a day. What worked: Keeping an eye on older listings, re-evaluating what you can afford and prioritizing what really matters to you. We wanted a pool, we didn't get a pool. We wanted a bit more living space, we got a house on the smaller side of what we were looking for... but what we needed was a 3/2 in a decent neighborhood. We got that and are absolutely thrilled. Since then, we've had the inspections and appraisal done. The house appraised at our offer price (phew!) and inspections found the normal kind of wear and tear on an older house - the roof needs 1K in repairs, some of the pipes need to be replaced, HVAC has about 5 years of functional life left and the water heater doesn't work. There's a lot of smaller things that need to be resolved as well, but nothing urgent (beyond the roof repair work and the water heater). We also had a septic inspection done, which is optional in Florida. GOOD CALL. Septic had completely failed and needed to be replaced. Our agent took the inspection report and recommended that we ask for credits on the septic system and the water heater - both were basic livability and health/safety issues and would have to be disclosed to future buyers if we walked. He made note of all the other things that we were not asking for credits on and negotiated a 10K concession, which we think will be enough to mostly cover both repairs (based on a quote from the septic company and friends in the neighborhood who had to do septic replacements). We love our agent. We're now conditionally approved for our loan and will be closing by the end of the month. To summarize: We got an offer accepted, under list price, all contingencies intact and got a 10K credit... in this crazy sellers market. This has been a long post, but hopefully it gives some of you some hope or ideas on how to brave the market. Good luck to all of you buyers and thank you to this subreddit in general. [link] [comments] |
| Case in Point of Why you don't Waive Inspections (I was so happy to Just Sign the Release) Posted: 19 Mar 2021 02:46 PM PDT Just in case anyone is thinking of waiving inspections on here. I wanted to post this example of why you shouldn't waive inspections unless there is a damn good reason you have to. I posted this thread the other night about some concerns I had with a house: The house appeared to be in pretty good shape upon the tour besides the age of the A/C and heat pump. The radon inspection came back today at 12.1. The EPA acceptable limit is 4. A mitigation system will be 2k. Besides that, other inspections found the septic tank is missing a baffle and the remaining operational drain field is about to fail. Replacing the baffle alone would be about 1.5k but replacing the whole system would be about 7.5k. The windows need to be replaced soon which will be another 15k. The heat pump and A/C were 35 years old and also need to be replaced so there's another 5-7k. The inspector also found considerable mold in the attic. What scared me the most was various polybutylene piping throughout the house. I signed the release. For 1.7k in home/radon/septic inspections I saved myself tens of thousands of dollars. Honestly the best 1.7k I've ever spent. Even though this was my 7th offer on a house and the first to be accepted, I am happy to jump back in the market and not get stuck with all of those expenses. Again, this was all in a house that looked to be in very good shape (price was in the 500s). We had priced our offer thinking the house wouldn't need a ton of work. So for anyone currently hunting, please don't waive inspections if you don't need to. In this case I did an "as is" inspection contingency which was still enticing enough to get my 5% over list offer accepted and still covered my butt. Also, I realize in some markets like the Bay Area this may not be possible but for markets where it is let my experience serve as a cautionary tale. I know lots of you on here I have found way more expensive issues like foundation issues but I wanted to post this example. TL;DR : Don't waive inspections. You could get stuck with 30k in non-budgeted expenses upon move in and be SOL. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 20 Mar 2021 10:03 AM PDT Anyone seen or heard of this happening at a large scale? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 20 Mar 2021 07:38 AM PDT In the most competitive markets many buyers are losing to all cash offers. There's been companies stepping up to provide a service where they provide a cash offer on your behalf, making your offer more competitive. Is that the case though? Do seller's agents view these offers differently then typical cash offers or conventional offers? My understanding is that Ribbon adds an addendum to your pre-qualification letter. I guess it states that they will guarantee an all cash payment, I'm not sure. To me that right there differentiates it from typical cash offers. More so appearing like a motivated conventional offer. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Mar 2021 06:34 PM PDT So my mom is a pretty emotional negotiator, and overall has a difficult personality to begin with. She made an offer on a downtown san diego condo for 720k that was listed for 780k, all cash. Seller countered at 750k, she countered at 730k. Seller countered at 744k. I told her just to take it - that the price difference over her life wouldn't mean anything (she can well afford it too), but she was pissed and asked her realtor to cut 4k off comission to make it 740k. He said no, so they countered at 740k. Seller got pissed and RAISED the price to 795k. Mind you, it's been sitting on the market for a couple months with no offers. Looks like both my mom and the seller were petty and emotional. Now she has to rent something since her current place she is selling will close next month - the cost of two moves and rental will be well over 4k. The seller also has to continue paying 1300 monthly HOA. I'm shaking my head. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Mar 2021 09:54 PM PDT Almost half the homes listed around my area are split levels homes. Is there a new appeal or some kind of benefit for homes with split levels or something? I went to go view one and the layout feels so choppy. Are split homes pretty popular/ trendy now? I'm new to the housing market [link] [comments] |
| Can all these cash buyers back off please? Posted: 19 Mar 2021 05:46 PM PDT We've been looking for around 3 months now and every single offer we put out there gets crushed under someone's shoe. We basically find 1 house a month that fits our criteria for what we need. We've done 4 offers on different places, one we lost by five thousand dollars and our most recent one was a cash buyer. We did every possible thing we could, including upping our budget, putting down extra, adding in appraisal stuff in case it appraises low. We were definitely going to get this one... Then at the last minute an all cash buyer! I'm so mentally and emotionally drained from this process. I'm also so tired of people saying, "Well you didnt get it because it wasnt the one!! You'll get the one you're destined to get"... Sorry but these people have not tried buying in this type of market. [link] [comments] |
| If I plan on selling the house before 10 years, does it make sense to pay off the mortgage early? Posted: 20 Mar 2021 08:08 AM PDT My interest rate is 4% and I plan to buy another house to rent out. [link] [comments] |
| Purchase from a widow - Make offer? Posted: 20 Mar 2021 10:16 AM PDT My wife and I have been searching for a home for months and had multiple over list price offers get out bid. We were looking at a home a couple weeks ago and the neighbor who lived down the street walked in and asked to look around. We started talking to her and she mentioned her husband passed away in January and she wanted to sell soon and we were welcome to come see her home. After leaving the house we went over the the neighbor's house which we ended up loving. We started talking to the homeowner who used to be a realtor and is 80 years old to find out she wants to sell soon but wasn't sure how soon. We went back to the house again today and tried talking to her about a price for her home. She said that she still wasn't ready to give a price but does want to sell and that it's been hard for her since her husband recently passed away and they lived at the house together for 30 years. My wife is due to have a baby in early August so we are thinking of making an offer on her home with a 120 day closing so we can move in prior to the birth of our baby. What advice do you all have to approach this situation? We don't want to upset the lady but we do really want to go ahead an make an offer. Any tips?? Should we just move on?? [link] [comments] |
| There is a home I'm interested in buying (SC) the problem is the land is owned by someone else Posted: 20 Mar 2021 05:09 AM PDT The house has sat for over a year because the land owner didn't want to sell. My realtor mentioned last week that he is finally ready. The home + the land would total around 130k. Now this is probably a dumb question, but is there any way to combine/purchase the two through one loan? [link] [comments] |
| House going back on market for the 3rd time Posted: 20 Mar 2021 04:38 AM PDT So my house contract has fell through twice now. First due to the appraisal coming in 22k below and the buyer not budging and the appraisal being very undervalued. Put it back on the market and was under contract again in a week. Inspection and appraisal went seamlessly and now 9 days before close they terminate because they changed their minds. I started this process in November. Feeling very down about not being able to close the deal and having to go through the process all over again. Anyone experience this and have any advice or words of encouragement? I also am moved out and only have some furniture left so it's not staged anymore which concerns me. Also, I'm afraid people will think it's a bad house now and not even look at it. Thanks [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Mar 2021 06:21 PM PDT We finally got an offer accepted. What we did differently this time was get lucky and find a home that wasn't listed online yet. I literally saw the for sale sign in the yard. Had our realtor call the number and arrange a showing basically the night they were supposed to list. Our agent texted their's that we were going to make an offer, so they didn't bother listing. We offered them asking and kept all contingencies. And luckily didn't have to get in a bidding war or anything since it seems like the sellers just wanted to sell instead of seeing if they could do better. So we got lucky. And the house is the perfect location for us and something we can make our own. So pretty happy about it. Hopefully inspection and all that goes good! So glad to no longer be looking. Things are looking less and less friendly to buyers in my area every day even more. I've been hearing people are offering and some sellers are demanding appraisal gaps (unheard of prior to this month in our little neck of the woods). [link] [comments] |
| Can a Buyer Back Out Before Earnest Money is Paid? Posted: 20 Mar 2021 03:53 AM PDT We got an accepted offer and signed the sale agreement. 2 days later, I noticed part of the exterior looked different in the listing photos than it shows in Google Streetview so my realtor asked and turns out part of the exterior had to be wrapped in siding due to foundation issues. Seller says it's been fixed when he bought the place, but nothing about this was mentioned in disclosures. We haven't even paid our earnest deposit yet, but we want to back out. Part of the reason we liked the house was that we could bring it back to what it looked like originally and we wouldn't have made the above ask offer if we knew of past issues. We want out of this agreement. Our contract expires if we don't give the EM within a few days but the seller says we have to go through an inspection, which we think is a way to tie us up since seller has owned it for a short period of time. Does anyone know if we're able to walk out of this before going through inspections? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Mar 2021 11:04 PM PDT I just want to preface by saying the market out there is atrocious. This is my first time ever buying and it's because my job required me to move. Literally the first offer I put in was better, but because of the loan I used they went with someone else... (which is illegal but i digress). That deal then fell through, having them have to put it back on the market anyway so... HA... Anyway... Average Specs of the houses
What I did after looking at 15-20 houses in 5 areas
Next Steps:
PROS
CONS
I have a buddy renting out the other room so my total expenses come to less than 1000 per month for everything including utilities and internet. I really hope I made a good decision, I'm 22 so this was nerve racking at first. The location of this property is also extremely phenomenal. I only plan to stay around 3-5 years, should I sell when I am done or refinance and turn it into a rental? Thanks ! [link] [comments] |
| Thoughts on a working as a land acquisition analyst for a US single-family home builder? Posted: 20 Mar 2021 07:41 AM PDT I've been offered a job as a land acquisition analyst for a large US single-family home builder. Just wondering what your thoughts are on this? I'm worried that the job doesn't offer much marketable skills going forward if it's just plugging a few numbers into an excel spreadsheet and having others departments (e.g. engineering, construction, sales, etc.) provide those numbers on such things as land development costs, construction costs, and potential selling prices. Also, will it lead to any potential exit opportunities to elsewhere in the real estate development industry, or will I be confined to jobs in home building? Seems like my potential ceiling would be just a more senior land acquisition person, or at a stretch, a division president. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Mar 2021 10:14 PM PDT This market is crazy right now, no matter where you live in North America, at least. We are in Atlanta metro and our latest experience has been fast but weird. We are pending close in 2 weeks in a very popular N suburb of ATL; fantastic neighborhood of 40-35 year old homes, walkable to a 10/10 Elementary school, short bus trip to district's winning MS & HS (this all matters). We are priced in line for our area and went into contract over asking. We have owned our house for a slight bit under 10 years. We were a corporate transfer and had a weekend to find a house and get under contract in 2011. ATL was still very much at the bottom pricing of the housing crisis at that time so we bought a property that presented as 'pre crisis' stable. It wasn't. It was just really presentable with a shit ton of issues just below the surface. We have put over 200k into this house just to make it marketable these days, 10 years later. ANYWAY... this house was a pig with the fanciest lipstick imaginable. l am happy to say that It is no longer its former self. Now, selling in this current market - we are priced at market but every buyer that walks through devises that everything we have done to this house is deemed unsexy OR it's just too big for their needs. AKA - seasoned buyers who see the value in the structural/ bones but don't need 4K sq ft and a yard to maintain. It is the structural things people think comes prepackaged and expected (brand new furnaces / HVACs, roof, electrical panels, sewer, grading and sod that was 15+ years past due, upgraded irrigation, etc etc etc ), regardless of age. This house is 35 years old. There is zero appreciation for any of it. Buyers want to know why we put the funding to structural integrity and mechanical instead of adding more subway tile and updating the remaining 2 of the 4 bathrooms. It's crazy to me!! Then, our due diligence period - we disclosed every bit of our $200k journey via paid receipts and reputable contractor info but they didn't want that. They wanted 2nd and 3rd opinions from their own contacts after their initial inspection. No. We extended DD to accommodate but would not do it again. I'm starting to believe that the buyer parents are to blame (parents thought they could tour our home without invitation or intent and are the ones present at every inspection ) but in any case; it feel like the buyers are trying to get themselves a 35 year old 'new build' by looking for any possible issue at this point and we are exhausted. How is it that SO many people are so out of touch with what matters in a house? I'd like to blame HGTV but when people are paying over asking for houses sight unseen, I'm not so sure. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 20 Mar 2021 10:27 AM PDT Some youtuber is claiming the 15k credit already passed, but I can't find any news about it. [link] [comments] |
| Help Finding a brokerage in Alanta! Posted: 20 Mar 2021 10:27 AM PDT I've interviewed at 1 keller, twice and visited another once. I've also visited a lesser known agency. I'm 26, recent college grad, not overly sales type but well spoken. I've Been to a lot of open houses to understand many market in and out of the perimeter. Talk to many agents but want an opinion without q sales pitch something that would be right for me specifically. Ive realized welcomed mentorship, practiced, schedule, calling, time etc. will get you forward. Don't want to spin my wheels at a place, also diversity is important. Met some interesting personalities so if your brokerage is full of "those" please don't advise me to go there 😉 [link] [comments] |
| NYC Real Estate: what do you think of Washington Heights Area? Posted: 20 Mar 2021 10:23 AM PDT What do you all think of buying real estate in Washington heights right now? Should I wait a year? Should I pounce while interest rates are low? Should I rent? Also, multi family or single unit, does it matter? Thank your help or your upvote. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 20 Mar 2021 10:06 AM PDT So I am dealing with a realtor when looking at properties (land, homes, etc.) ive put an offer on two properties and I backed out of the first one and now I want to back out of the second one. I feel like the agent is going to be pissed and I don't know what to tell her. Any suggestions?? Anything would help lol [link] [comments] |
| First Time Homebuyer Who Just Closed! Posted: 20 Mar 2021 09:35 AM PDT My husband and I have been looking for homes since the start of the year in Utah, south of Salt Lake City. Similar to the rest of the country, the market is a bit off it's rocker. We put offers on 10 different homes before snagging one. We did not waive inspection, but we didn't make the offer contingent on appraisal, which definitely helped us lock in one of our favorite homes we saw. The seller recently let us know that while we didn't have the highest offer (among 30 offers!) we were the safest pick. Basically they were only looking at offers not contingent on appraisal because they didn't think it would appraise, and we had a strong 20% down payment. They wanted to make sure that the offer they chose could cover the difference for the appraisal without their financing denied. We feel very lucky! We closed a couple weeks ago and the market seems to only get more crazy. Also we locked in 2.5% interest on our loan, which is about as good as it gets. That was our experience, but let me say we lost homes to all kinds of cash offers, dropped inspections on 70 year old homes, etc. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 20 Mar 2021 09:11 AM PDT Hello! We are relocating from CA in the summer, we are looking for a house with a yard in the NOVA region. Having to look at these houses all online being 3 hours behind has been stressful as most of them are contingent by the time we set up a tour. Now we started to look into Waldorf, MD area. For someone that's resided in CA their whole life and never been to NOVA (primarily looking at Woodbridge area) or Waldorf, what area would you recommend in the current market? Friends have suggested NOVA because there's more hiking and other opportunities to do things vs Waldorf. Also if anyone has any advice on shopping for a house from across the country? Edit: job is in DC. I should've specified in the original post but this move will be for 3-4 years till the next relocation. I guess looking at the bigger picture, the overall stressor is if we will be able to rent out or sell the place once we relocate (shorter turn around turn so maybe renting is best). Price range: $500K [link] [comments] |
| Home buying is one frustration after another. Posted: 20 Mar 2021 09:07 AM PDT Just wanted to vent, and see if anyone else has had a similar experience. Fiance and I have seen home after home...offer after offer has either been outbid, or inspection comes back with some issues and the seller is like, nah I'm not helping with that. We've run into a new and fun scenario though! We find the perfect home, saw that it was recently relisted. Agent tells us the previous buyer's financing fell through. After looking at the home and falling even more in love with it, we're then told that the financing didn't "officially" fall through, just that the previous(technically current) buyer is trying to figure out something with their bank, as they were supposed to close last week. But they'll take our offer as backup. WHY RELIST AT THIS POINT IN THE GAME!? Isnt there a big difference between their funding "falling through" and there just being something the buyer needs to figure out with the bank? Idk, maybe there's stuff that I just don't understand, and I'm just butthurt, but it seems odd to put the house back on market before the previous buyer has officially lost funding... [link] [comments] |
| Found a house I’d like to rent. First time doing this. How do I go about it without getting scammed? Posted: 20 Mar 2021 09:04 AM PDT Hello. I went to look at a house by a private landlord. It is a 2 bedroom/1 bath for $1100 a month. Fits all my needs. I saw it online about 3 weeks ago for $950. When I got there today the landlord said they took the ad off the internet (I mentioned that I noticed the ad was taken down) and they're now asking $1100 a month. I mentioned, without coming off as demanding, that I had seen the ad for $950 and that's what peeked my interest (words to that effect). She said that the price was actually $995 (could've been. It was like 3 weeks ago now) but she'd work with the tenant on the pricing. Which I'm assuming means she would do the original asking price of $995/month if I inquired. She seems okay enough, no red flags. As pleasant as a landlord can be, I realize it's a business transaction. I am 25. Never rented or anything before. Still live at home. How do I go about this business transaction to make sure I don't get screwed? House is a bit older but nothing looks bad cosmetically or structurally. Just looks like an older not-so-updated house. Which I'm fine with considering the asking price of other rents in the area. Any advice would be appreciated. When I went to the viewing today I did not take pics of anything because nothing looked obviously neglected or damaged or out of the ordinary. Thanks for reading! [link] [comments] |
| Buying from a flipping company? Posted: 20 Mar 2021 08:56 AM PDT Do these companies (I think it may be an individually owned business?) make big repairs such as foundation/plumbing if needed, in general? Found a house we love but has signs of possible foundation issues. Obviously it depends on the specific company, the market, and the repair. Just wondering what to expect. [link] [comments] |
| You are subscribed to email updates from HomeOwners & Investors. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment