Real Estate: Potential Hot Take: Open kitchen shelves are often just a flipper being cheap. [Pacific Northwest] |
- Potential Hot Take: Open kitchen shelves are often just a flipper being cheap. [Pacific Northwest]
- Backing Out After Nightmare Inspection
- WTF is it with sellers and no plan to move out?
- Anyone have any issues with an appraiser?
- My friend has been trying to sell a house several states away for the last few months
- We got outbid by a cash buyer, again. Agent suggested condos and townhouses with HOAs.
- Better.com review - Jumbo Refinance March '21
- Sellers agent messaged and called me and my wife.
- Selling a house before taking the full tax deduction of a capital expenditure
- Same agent buying/selling?
- What do realtors do for presales?
- Can We Afford $575K Home?
- Have an accepted offer! Sexist remarks and errors from buyers agent have happened in 10 days since offer accepted. what are my options, if any?
- [Chicago suburbs] FSBO without an agent questions where the buyer has an agent
- My Extensive Buyer Write-Up- north wilmington delaware suburbs
- Would you consider advertisements in restricted access forums a fair housing violation?
- I’m having trouble deciding on an agent to sell our house. I want one that’s works in our area but the ones recommended to me are 30 minutes away and are agencies with one office. I’d like an agent that works with one of the bigger agencies with ~10 offices in my area. Does it matter ?
- House price
- Using Seller agent to increase chances of accepting offer or self representation?
- Power of attorney
- Tender
- Opportunity to buy house before it's listed, catch is realtor seller only willing if we don't use own realtor
- Investment Property Approved - No Bank Records
| Potential Hot Take: Open kitchen shelves are often just a flipper being cheap. [Pacific Northwest] Posted: 16 Mar 2021 11:22 PM PDT Noticing a huge trend lately where flipped kitchens don't have upper cabinets, just open shelves. While some may say it's for style purposes (and they do have a place in some kitchens for sure) I can't help but think it's a flipper looking to save the ~1-2k of not installing some shitty Lowe's uppers. These open shelves are rarely completely useful; basically you need to be able to make any dishes/food/etc. presentable to be able to use them. No surprise, but it looks like flippers are reaching a new low where you don't even get cabinets in some houses. Thanks for coming to my ted talk. [link] [comments] |
| Backing Out After Nightmare Inspection Posted: 17 Mar 2021 12:22 AM PDT I don't need advice just need to tell it how it is. This here is a story as to why you should insist on an inspection. I put in an offer on a house and it looks GREAT. Good acreage. Home looks well maintained. I'm thinking, finally after years (yes years) of searching and finally getting the balls to do it, I put in an offer. Before I put in an offer, I asked why the house had so many pending sales fall through. He told me it was just the one and that the MLS is inaccurate. Okay. Fine. Tells me offer fell through because seller did all the repairs after inspection and then the buyers still walked away from the deal. Super, sounds like I win. In my head, I'm telling myself that that sounds off. I'm fairly informed in real estate....no genius, but I know my way around. I also reviewed the seller's disclosure...everything was marked as working...no defects...nothing. I put the offer in and at first the agent says I should waive the inspection and I said absolutely not. If you're taking my cash, I get to know what's under the hood. Seller agrees. We sign. I order the inspection. What a doozie. Needs a new roof. The chimney which is no longer connected to a fireplace hasn't been capped (so water is going somewhere). Zero drainage measures around the house. Foundation has multiple large cracks (stair step, vertical, horizontal...you name it, it has it). All joists are rotted and need to be replaced. Pretty much all wood framing members of the floor need to be replaced. Support beams for part of the house were redone and improperly installed so they are leaning. None of the windows open up...either painted shut or just won't budge. Every outlet in the house is ungrounded. Inspector can't locate grounding rod outside. The electrical box looks like it's about to set fire. I could go on. It was almost funny how much was wrong with this cute house that seemed so well taken care of. What's that phrase....you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. [link] [comments] |
| WTF is it with sellers and no plan to move out? Posted: 16 Mar 2021 01:34 PM PDT I saw a home this weekend and it's the second one in a month where the seller had no concrete plans to move. Their agent said she's trying to find a house for them and guarantees they will be out of there late June or July. Are people this incapable of planning? are some buyers naive enough that they fall for this and risk all kinds of problems? This one agent was telling me that she wants $50000 down and whatever and her clients were essentially going to give me the equivalency of a pinky swear that they would hold their end up [link] [comments] |
| Anyone have any issues with an appraiser? Posted: 17 Mar 2021 05:10 AM PDT To make a long story as short as possible... I bought a house 3 years ago, total shit show no heating, electric all Fd up, plumbing all Fd up, basically everything was messed up one way or another perfect for my first reno. Got it cash for 100k in a comp market around 200k. So over the last 3 years I've fixed everything put in high end finishes and mechanicals. I went to get a home equity loan, my comps now stand around mid 200k. First Commonwealth sent an appraiser out to do the report he comes in at $170k, I was dumbfounded. I dispute it and write an entire letter explaining why I disagreed everything from 2 year old comps to judging my 4br against a 2br. In his response to my dispute he claimed I had only done minor cosmetic work and that he couldn't give a higher value on a house that was just purchased for 100k. Bank tried to counter based off of this. Fast forward to today, I get my appraisal back from PNC 231k!! Has anyone seen an appraisal so freaking far off?! Even this other appraiser said the other guy had no clue what he was doing and was basing this off of what he felt it was worth vs what the market says its worth. [link] [comments] |
| My friend has been trying to sell a house several states away for the last few months Posted: 17 Mar 2021 06:35 AM PDT And it's none of my business or my problem, and he has a real estate agent that he can consult with, but I was just curious on this subs take. Because you're all savants and Reddit is a well of knowledge to me: List price was $130k without appliances in November. They got appliances and lowered the price to $125k. 2 months have gone by, yesterday someone offered $100k cash, as-is. But wanted 40 days to close and an answer in 7 hours. Friend countered with $115k cash, close in 20 days. Person countered with $110k cash not as-is, inspection and no appraisal, 44 days, but could finance "if it was in buyers best interest". The agent said they could be going for $10k in concessions after inspections to bring it back to the original offer. Which friend could just say no to. He seems to be fine with this offer, but not having to relist late. I was just curious about this subs take. Friend bought house for $69k 8 years ago, if that is important. EDIT: Zestimate $124k. If that helps. [link] [comments] |
| We got outbid by a cash buyer, again. Agent suggested condos and townhouses with HOAs. Posted: 17 Mar 2021 08:38 AM PDT This market is really competitive. We found the perfect 6 bed house and a large backyard only to be outbid by a cash buyer. My agent said that there is no way to compete with cash buyers since they can close out quickly when bank loans take a while to approve. Just being on a loan is putting us at a disadvantage. My agent suggested what we really didn't want. Attached buildings and especially no HOAs. He said that this is the only option as these properties are less attractive to investors and with how quickly even crappy houses are sold. My SO suggested we move to his parent's second home and just pay for utilities and save up for a More expensive house but that house is 4 hours away and I would have to quit my current job of 3 years to live there. I'm not comfortable driving long distances. I don't know the area. And I don't know if I will have a job there. My parents are not okay with me moving so far away. As a last resort, I worked with my agent and found a condo that is occupied with a tenant and our move out date matches ours. I gave him the okay to do the showing and we will make a decision from there as he said the condo looks promising and there's cash reserves etc. I told my SO that this would be the final property we look at as we move at the end of April and loans take a long time to process. I'm not sure if he will be on board as his savings will take up 2/3rd of the down payment and closing needed to purchase the property. I'm not either but right now our options are extremely limited and I'm indecisive of what I should do. Advice? [link] [comments] |
| Better.com review - Jumbo Refinance March '21 Posted: 17 Mar 2021 08:15 AM PDT I engaged Better.com to complete a refinance on my home after doing significant research into mortgage companies online. I was sold on their marketing, and was excited for a new, "better" mortgage experience. I found the online portal to be fast, easy, and user-friendly, but the results to be far from that. Background: After 20+ hours of my own work, digging up countless personal and financial documents for them, paying $550 for an appraisal, letting an appraiser into my home during a pandemic, hard credit checks, and getting all the way to underwriting and title review did they realize the issue, that I was never eligible for the loan based on the agreed upon parameters, and I would need to come up with over $80K due to Better.com's mistake (even though we had discussed this exact scenario during the initial calls). A manager for better.com confirmed on two separate calls that some sort of "foul play" took place. I have stopped trying to assume what that was or why... I have tried to reach out to leadership via multiple means and have even had a better.com employee refuse to forward emails to leadership. For now, my complaint is apparently going nowhere but here and to the Consumer Fraud Protection Bureau. Make your own decisions as my experience may not be reflective of yours. [link] [comments] |
| Sellers agent messaged and called me and my wife. Posted: 16 Mar 2021 05:33 PM PDT We are house hunting and came across and interesting situation today. We found a home last week that we loved. The seller realtor is the son of the home owner. We placed an offer on Thursday evening, put earnest money down etc. Over the weekend the wife and I decided to back out of the home purchase on Saturday evening (2 days) for varied reasons and would continue looking, no harm no foul, home had back up offers. We signed and sent the resending letter on Saturday evening. Since then the seller agent has messaged my business, text me and wrote me an email expressing his anger and displeasure with me backing out. I haven't replied to his messages or calls and I'm debating if I need to tell my agent this is going on, or should I just directly call the seller agent and tell him to stop. Any advice is appreciated. [link] [comments] |
| Selling a house before taking the full tax deduction of a capital expenditure Posted: 17 Mar 2021 10:06 AM PDT Question for the CPA out there: if you've incurred a capital expenditure such as a new roof which is tax deductible for residential properties over 27.5 years but you sell the property well before the end of that term, do you essentially forgo those remaining tax advantages? For example, what happens if a roof costs $10,000 and you've deducted $363.63 over the first year and then sell the house after the first year? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 17 Mar 2021 09:37 AM PDT We are looking to relocate from an urban center to the suburbs about an hour from here. We've interviewed 3 agents regarding selling—2 local and 1 based in the area we are looking to move to. Interested to hear some perspectives from agents here as well as other homeowners on using the same or different agents for buying and selling. TIA! [link] [comments] |
| What do realtors do for presales? Posted: 17 Mar 2021 08:40 AM PDT I'm buying a presale. All done. My realtor, which was necessary, signed one document. Her commission will be $15,000. Wtf? They say 'the seller pays me' BUT IT'S MY MONEY THAT IS PAYING FOR THE HOUSE. So what are they doing that is worth 15k? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 17 Mar 2021 07:53 AM PDT We are looking to move within our city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, to a property with a larger lot and a bit more square footage. The property market is crazy in our city. We purchased our current home about 5 years ago for $200K, and I would imagine we could sell for $260-$275K. We have a 15 year mortgage at 2.75%. We are looking at a home priced at $575K later this week and are questioning whether it is within our range without putting us under any strain. Property tax would be ~$18K/year. I make $130K/year, and my husband brings in about $60K/year, and between us we have maybe $900K in investments, 401k, etc. We also have no kids and no other significant expenses aside from an annual vacation. So given that info, do you guys think it would be silly to take on a mortgage like that? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 17 Mar 2021 07:35 AM PDT I'm a single woman and a FTHB doing this on my own. Accepted offer but my buyers agent has made errors and miscommunications with sellers agent that has cost time and started negotiations off poorly. I don't want her inexperience to kill the deal. BA also unable to clarify my question about state law re: what needs to work in house. Finally I don't appreciate the sexist comments, though I could deal with it if I saw she was good or experienced. Should I call brokerage? [link] [comments] |
| [Chicago suburbs] FSBO without an agent questions where the buyer has an agent Posted: 17 Mar 2021 07:13 AM PDT "If you sell with no listing agent but WILL pay a buyers agent - typically a professional realtor will put a FSBO seller into bad situations" This is what our lawyer told us. What bad situations can arise? We want to show our house to a couple that is coming with an agent. We will take pictures of their IDs/drivers license since we don't have an agent. What are some things we should say / don't say? Never done this before. [link] [comments] |
| My Extensive Buyer Write-Up- north wilmington delaware suburbs Posted: 16 Mar 2021 07:34 PM PDT IntroductionHello all Now that I'm closed, I wanted to do a write up on my home buying experience. I recognize the numbers, offer strategy, and outcomes will be atypical of some of the usual HCOL, mania-market areas we are used to seeing, but the region in which I bought (Wilmington, DE suburbs) has still seen dramatically reduced supply and fervent demand for starter-style, detached, SFH. It should prove useful to others buying in this area, or a comparable one. Background and Why Buy?I'm a 28 year old, single male who works in tech/consulting. After graduating college in 2017, I lived in my parents' home for the past 3.5 years due to fear of committing to anything and to save money. Fortunately, I was able to save a fair size of money while still contributing to retirement, etc. During this time, I job hopped a number of times, but spent at least 1.5 years commuting approximately 2 hours a day before transitioning to 100% remote as a result of the pandemic. Beyond the crushing commutes, there was a pretty substantial impact to my social life, though nothing totally prohibitive (even from a romantic perspective). The reason I mention this is to assuage anxieties of others my age who may not be financially equipped to become homeowners - sacrifices were made and at this point it's still unclear whether or not they were "worth it". So, don't think you are falling behind. As for why I feel that buying was right for me, I am not really a big traveler, I pretty confidently know that I dislike cities (having spent professional and recreational time in Philadelphia, and some in New York, etc.). When I was younger, I definitely had feelings of wanderlust, but as the years went by I think my perspective shifted and I now place a lot of personal value on proximity to family, friends, and being familiar with a great location I've called home for many years. For those who are not familiar, Wilmington, DE offers a lot of accessibility to job markets like Philadelphia, Southern PA, some of New Jersey and even D.C. via the train station. It also has a number of state parks close-by, and beaches in southern Delaware, MD, and NJ are less than a couple hours' drive. I think that demand in this area will grow if metropolitan flight continues, especially as areas like northern NJ and outside of Philadelphia become cost prohibitive in comparison. Property taxes in Delaware are also incredibly low compared to PA - and there's zero sales tax on products and services bought locally or online. Great stuff! Choosing a Realtor:I initially spotted the first house I would walkthrough while browsing Zillow. I used the built-in "inquire about this property" feature looking to connect with an agent, . As I understand it, when you use Zillow, it will disseminate your inquiry to registered buyer's agents that serve the area. Within an hour, I received a call from an experienced realtor who was licensed to service my area. I should have done more vetting before sticking with the first person to pop out of the woodwork, however, I ended up getting really lucky. My realtor was always available, and came up with some good offer ideas that sealed the deal for me, which I will get into later. One of their key characteristics that garnered them my confidence was their familiarity with the local market and genuine interest in the real estate market as a whole. There were times where our discussions were argumentative, but stimulating, as we both held strong opinions on where the market would go and what was causing all this RE craziness. I think a takeaway is, if you are trying to find a good realtor, find someone with a similar degree of genuine interest and passion about real estate in general. Again, shop around, I think I just got lucky, which will probably be considered a theme throughout this write-up. The HomeThe second home I walked through would be the one I ultimately bought. I scheduled a walkthrough some 30 minutes after it was listed on Zillow and toured it the next day. The house was a good size, perfect starter home material, and had been treated well as far as I could tell. Importantly, there was nothing particularly spectacular about it - it wasn't "love at first sight" and moreso "this makes a lot of sense" going through my mind when I decided to put in an offer. All in all, it's a fairly standard house without any fantastic features, and even one aspect I had to compromise/sacrifice on: there are only two, rectangular windows in the main living room area, and I really like large, bay style windows at the front of the house! Oh well - it paid to be relatively unattached as I was willing to be more aggressive with my requests of the seller and less willing to compromise out of "love" for the home. That is takeaway #2 - be willing to buy what is lukewarm or neutral feeling as long as it checks the right boxes from a utilitarian perspective. Now that it's mine, I'm absolutely enamored with it! The Home (stats)
The OfferAs noted above, I offered 320,321 (I tried to offer 320,420.69 to make my offer stand out from a sense-of-humor perspective, my realtor wasn't having it) which is about 7% over asking but nearly 22% over the last sale price. Pretty good appreciation for the owners, but compared to other markets it really wasn't that insane. Offer attributes:
Surprisingly, they accepted my offer the next day (after asking me to waive the appraisal contingency, attribute #4 was my counter) InspectionAs noted, I didn't waive the inspection. I chose a local inspector recommended to me by my realtor, probably not the smartest move, however I did my own research to confirm he had great reviews. He did a fantastic job, though he was a little pricey (~$600) Inspection turned up some issues, specifically: 1. Some mold in the basement 2. A leak into the ceiling of the kitchen from the recently remodeled bathroom 3. A "double tap" on the circuit breaker 4. Other general issues. After I got the inspection report, I requested the seller to remedy the first 3 issues and provide proof of the use of licensed and ensured electricians, plumbers, etc. Incredibly, they agreed and spent approximately $3,500 addressing the issues. The mold (there was barely any) was remediated AND the entire basement was treated/coated with dry-lock to help prevent future moisture issues. Again, I think I really got lucky with this, the sellers were willing to do a lot to get this deal to the finish line and I am eternally grateful for that. It almost felt like a neutral market experience at this point. Personal and Mortgage FinancingI'm going to be as transparent as I can here, as I've spent countless hours reading this subreddit and others to ensure I was financially prepared and understanding all the aspects of a mortgage, rates, how lenders operate, etc. I went with a local lender recommended by my realtor (another not-smart move that totally paid off). They were obviously inundated with work as they were not very responsive, but still managed to get underwriting finished up, approve me, and get me a great rate that I'm really happy with.
Future Market Outlook and OpinionI'll weigh in here briefly, as I've refrained from commenting on the NUMEROUS threads on the "state of the market". I think that things will probably stay the same for a while, despite rising interest rates, and when things drop it will be because of a major market-wide correction (that will include us white-collar tech folk fearing for our cushy jobs). Just my crystal ball take. As for how this outlook affected my homebuying strategy, it was SUPER important for me to get as low a PITI as possible so that I could "weather the storm" if I lost my job or got a paycut, and it wouldn't be too painful to end up underwater because I "bought the rate" and wouldn't have to panic sell. Interest rates where they were made this possible for me and I really, really feel fortunate to have that monthly payment where it is. ConclusionI was pretty much sweating bullets the last two weeks, as I felt like things were going too good to be true. In particular, I didn't get officially approved until last Friday and settled yesterday (Monday) which was really tough because the thought of losing my rate was killing me inside. All in all, it was an interesting ride. Now, the hard part begins right? I'm not a handy person and have been living at my parents for the past three years so I have a lot to learn (and unfortunately a lot to buy). I hope this write-up and transparency is valuable to you guys, as I loved to read similar write-ups. I guess I had to give back. Thanks all! [link] [comments] |
| Would you consider advertisements in restricted access forums a fair housing violation? Posted: 17 Mar 2021 06:50 AM PDT As an example: Can an agent post an exclusive listing to a Facebook group that blocks a protected class from joining the group (e.g. a Facebook Moms only group)? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 17 Mar 2021 06:25 AM PDT |
| Posted: 17 Mar 2021 05:59 AM PDT The price and competition is crazy. I keep losing to a better offer despite offering 30 k more than listed price with a conventional loan( while FHA is way lower) & waving inspection. Is the house market ever going to stabilize? [link] [comments] |
| Using Seller agent to increase chances of accepting offer or self representation? Posted: 17 Mar 2021 05:58 AM PDT Just wanted to see if this would have any affect on getting your offer picked and having to go above asking price Basically have the seller agent double dip on commission to make my offer more appealing to the seller or self representation with a buddy of mine that was in real estate before he wouldn't charge me to brush up a contract and guide me. I would obviously find my own lender, title lawyer, etc Opinions? Miami Florida market. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 17 Mar 2021 05:51 AM PDT I am refinancing my rental property in California and won't be able to be there in person to sign at closing (I am out of the country currently). The lender asked me to send them power of attorney paperwork. I've never done a POA before and googled and learned they seem to be state specific, but there were many different forms. Does anyone know if there's a specific type of POA I would need? I found this form. I read that the POA needs two witnesses but this form doesn't seem to have a place for a witness signature. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 17 Mar 2021 05:45 AM PDT How fair is the tender of the properties? The asking price of a property was max &1020000. We offered $1040000. Then the agent informed us someone offered $1047000. Every time we offer a price for a property someone offers 5000 more than us and takes it. Now I am very much suspicious what happens on the back ground. I am new to property market. Pls give some advice. Thanks [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 16 Mar 2021 08:01 PM PDT We live in Oklahoma. My mother in law's next door neighbor is moving, and he offered to sell his house to my wife and I instead of putting it on the market. He's a realtor, and it sounds like the catch is he wants us to do the deal directly without hiring our own realtor(s). When I said we have a friend who's a realtor we'd like to represent us, he said in that case he might as well just list it. He did say he'd give preference to our situation (it would allow us to better take care of mother in law), but we don't know if we could compete with unlimited offers. I asked our realtor friend her opinion, and she agreed it's a tough decision because of how crazy the market is right now versus us wanting to be prudent. She said there is an uncommon but sometimes allowed situation where a realtor can be in an advisory role but not part of the transaction. (We would pay her separately.) She has to ask her broker for approval to do this, and we don't know whether the seller will go for it. I asked another friend for advice, and he suggested if that doesn't work, another option might be to just have a lawyer review the contract before we sign. Actually my friend suggested just saying we'd have a lawyer review it to gauge if the seller has nothing to hide, but I think it might be a good idea to actually have a lawyer read it, if we don't have a realtor. (I assume there are lawyers who do this, but I don't know anything about it.) [link] [comments] |
| Investment Property Approved - No Bank Records Posted: 17 Mar 2021 05:40 AM PDT Hey there, a little over a week ago, I applied for a conventional investment property loan with a really popular lender. They approved me without checking bank records. All I submitted was W2's, Social Security Number, Drivers License, and 2 of my most recent check stubs. I now have a letter of approval that I can use to shop with. Is this normal? Obviously I haven't closed yet, but I can't imagine they would ask for bank records after telling me I can start my shopping/buying process and that their approval letter "is as good as cash". I'm asking, because I came across a 6 unit deal in the same neighborhood, and I'm tempted to take out a personal loan for 20% down on all of them. My personal home will be up for sale in April, and my positive equity will be enough to cover that loan if I choose so. I'll be staying with family short term, saving my income from my job to invest into additional properties. Thanks for any advice! [link] [comments] |
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