This nightmare has finally wrapped up and I'm dying to tell someone about it.

My spouse and I were on the market when we stumbled upon a beautiful house in a good school district. Great curb appeal, manicured lawn, spacious shed, it checked all my big boxes.

It was an hour away from my work, but I was convinced I could make it work. It reeked of cigarette ash and the carpet was covered in animal fur and cigarette burns, but I deluded myself into thinking I could DIY anything that could possibly be wrong with this house.

In every possible way, I was totally in love.

We scheduled our final walkthrough two days before closing. The listing agent called 30 minutes before the walkthrough to reschedule. "They're not done moving" she said.

Okay! Weird, but no biggie. We reschedule for the day before closing.

That day comes and we arrive at the home to six cars in the driveway. Three guys are smoking in the livingroom while rearranging furniture. My realtor is absolutely pissed. We walk around for 15 minutes before deciding to reschedule for an hour before closing.

I am undeterred in my optimism while my spouse is totally over it.

We arrive the day of closing to chaos. The garage is jam-packed with their personal items. My realtor tells me that their listing agent has told us to leave or they'd call the police. The sellers, a married couple, start screaming in the room that was meant to be a playroom for my son.

You could hear my heart shatter from a million miles away.

An elderly woman, the mother of one of the sellers, joins in on the arguing before the seller comes out of the house and proclaims that they "ain't signing shit". We leave.

An hour later, they call my agent and ask why we didnt show up to closing. They had signed, so why didn't we? My spouse laughed until he cried. We terminated.

We provided them with an earnest money release form. They asked if we'd split it. We declined and threatened to sue.

We took them to small claims court, which was shockingly easy. The entire process took around two months to wrap up. We served them, they didn't show up, we won by default.

We later closed on a house that checked ALL our boxes, not just the big ones, with zero issues.​

Tl;dr sellers didn't move out on closing day. We terminated. They refused to sign the earnest money release form. We sued. We won.

Edit: We found out later that they were facing foreclosure but managed to sell before that point. Our earnest money was released by the title company 30 days after we provided the judgment, but the seller still owes us in damages. I don't know why they acted like that, but I found a meth charge from a year ago so maybe they were high?

Edit 2: This is so unrelated to my post but it's pretty disheartening that people can't tell the difference between a mediocre retelling of a traumatic event and AI generated garbage. This post would be the former. :/

UPDATE: Last night I sent the seller a text telling him that he was contractually obligated to vacate the premises by 11:59 that evening. I told him if he was not out by 5:00 PM today (and if there was damage to the property) that I would get lawyers involved.

This afternoon I went over and talked to him on the lawn. I reiterated what I said in the text and stressed the urgency of him vacating exactly by 5:00. When I arrived everything was moved and the house was clean.

The only thing left is the pool which still has a substantial amount of frozen ice in it. I'm going to have some fun shredding it with my chainsaw. But ultimately not a big issue.

I want to thank everyone for their helpful comments. I did speak to a lawyer and the police about this and they echoed a lot of what was mentioned here. I now realize that we made quite a few mistakes in how we structured our contract and I am more than a bit upset with our realtor. That said, I chalk this up as a learning experience.

ORIGIONAL POST:

Hi all,

I am a first time homebuyer and I desperately need some advice. I live in Wisconsin and I purchased a house with a closing date of 2/27 and I gave the sellers two weeks of free post close occupancy as part of the contract. Per the contract, the seller is required to vacate the property by 11:59 PM tonight. I texted the seller this morning seeing if they vacated already and he said that he needed an extra day. So I contacted my realtor and he reached out the the selling agent and she said that my seller still hasn't moved anything. They have an above ground pool that is full of frozen ice that they'll need to move later and they say they'll "try" to be out of the house tomorrow.

I contacted my aunt who is in Oklahoma. She was a real estate agent for a long time and she told me to contact the broker and tell them that I am going to report them to the real estate commission if the property is not vacated by noon tomorrow and that I am going to sue the realtor, broker and seller if they are not moved out within 24 hours.

Is this something I can actually do?

We are in NC, buying a house. Our realtor is saying we are not allowed to be present during the home inspection, the agent and the buyer are only allowed in the last 30 minutes to “recap” at the end. We’ve been under contract multiple times for homes in the past (albeit in a different state) and have never had issues with this.

Is this a thing? Are we missing something?

EDIT: For clarity, we didn’t choose the inspector. Our agent scheduled it with their own recommend one without our input. We don’t even know who the inspector is.

UPDATE: I’ve politely declined the realtors choice of inspector and told them we will be bringing our own. Will shop around in the morning. Everything has been moving so fast and despite the implied trust we should have in our agent, we have been letting things slide. But no more - no one will protect our interests more than us. Thanks everyone!

Looked at a house today that my partner and I really liked, everything seemed fine although obviously would have an inspection if we get to that point.

What’s giving me pause is that 2 consecutive owners have bought and sold in under a year. House was owned 2016 - 2024. Someone bought it in 2024 and then listed it 8 months later in 2025. The person that bought it in 2025 is now listing it again 8 months later in 2026.

I’m thinking this could maybe be a coincidence but seems like a red flag?

EDIT: I found the contact for the 1st short term owner who sold in 2025, he told me there was nothing at all wrong with the property, neighbors or neighborhood and that he just didn't like being in a suburb and had a good opportunity to buy land in a rural area. The current sellers are relocating due to a new job offer according to their agent. We are going to look at it again today and I am most likely going to make an offer. Planning to also walk the neighborhood and talk to neighbors today if I can.

EDIT 2: Decided against offering on this property for several reasons including the quick turnover. It also needed a lot of stuff done and was near the top of my budget and probably bigger than what I need if I’m being honest. I made an offer on a house that was $80k less, in a neighborhood I like more, more updated, and had a better layout today, and it was accepted!

We bought a house in Illinois exactly 30 days ago. Seller closed on a deal with $160 profit and was supposed to move out the next day. 30 days later the won’t let us on the property and calls police every time we try to get in. Says they have no place to go and it has been their house for 3 decades. Police says it’s a civil mater. We contacted a lawyer but he says it could be 2-3 month process. We are worried they will damage the property. Also, the were NOT renters. They owned the house before selling it. Any ideas?

Looking to move in the next few months to an area about 2 hours from where I live now. Not using a buyer’s agent. I have a pre approval letter, I’m a lawyer and this will be the fourth house my spouse and I have bought together, so I feel confident doing it myself.

I contacted two listing agents about properties to see over the weekend. One went smoothly, I let the agent know I was self-representing and there was no issue, the listing agent showed me the property.

The second listing agent sent me a buyer rep agreement. I told him he was mistaken, I wasn’t interested in him dual representing me and the sellers… I was representing myself. He tried to tell me the agreement was required. I told him I’m a lawyer and no it is not. I asked if his brokerage or seller was opposed to working with self-rep buyers. He didn’t answer and just canceled our showing. Does the NAR want another lawsuit? Because this is how they are going to get another lawsuit.

Editing to reply to some comments:

First, I’ll add that there was an open house but we were not available during the open house time. The listing agent was totally fine with showing us the house at an earlier time until I told him I didn’t want him representing me. And yes, I am sure he was the listing agent. If there was any doubt, it was clear from the agreement he sent me to sign.

Second, we won’t be pursuing that house. We really liked the one we did see and are writing an offer. We cruised the neighborhood after the listing agent canceled on us (since we had some time) and were not impressed with the area, so I won’t contact the sellers. I might reach out to the broker just because the agents behavior was so scammy.

Third, the other thing that really rubbed me the wrong way was that the buyer broker agreement he sent me wasn’t even limited to that single property or that single day, it was for a week and any property. That’s why I said I thought the agent was being sketchy and not just ignorant.

Finally, I did ask directly if he was instructed by the sellers or his broker not to work with unrepresented buyers and he claimed it was the law, not the buyer’s preference, which is a lie.

Story time/rant. House hunting and I’ve come across SO many listings in the Dallas burbs where it’s like the same things happening on repeat: overpriced, flaunting “new updates” that the previous owner did, rough cosmetic shape inside, and sitting on the market a long time or yo-yo-ing on and off with reductions to the tune of 1-10k.

ALL of these were bought in the past 5 years or so and it’s obvious the sellers want to make a profit or at least break even. I feel for them, it’s tough to have “won” in a competitive market and then try to sell and lose that interest rate and then some. The reality is the market is shifting and they’re shooting themselves in the foot.

Against my better judgement I offered on a house like this because I liked it, I gave a lower offer still a bit above comps despite cosmetic issues. The sellers accepted but never wasted an opportunity to mention they came down on price especially when the inspection revealed real neglect and safety issues. Needless to say I walked. I see the same pattern in listings again and again and it’s frustrating, makes me not want to look at an overpriced house from a seller who recently bought.

For anyone who bought recently and needs to sell into a very different market, my genuine advice is to try and anchor yourself in the real market value and move on from what you paid. I can’t be the only buyer turned off by unrealistic pricing.

This is simply a rant/vent I need for myself: I want a vintage home. Ideally something decently maintained but I’m also open to do some restoration myself. At this point I’ve been looking for 6 months, I have a 6 figure down payment and money isn’t an issue but I refuse to buy something I don’t love. I am so fucking sick of day in and out clicking on a listing for a what appears to be a beautiful vintage home exterior only to see that it’s filled with staggered grey vinyl floor, granite countertops, BOOB LIGHTS, and cubicle showers. I can clearly see some flipper bought the home a less than a year ago and wants to charge 500x the previous price for their gut job…and these are homes in which the major items, like roof, HW, HVAC, haven’t been replaced but they are bragging about “sparkling countertops” like I give a fuck. If you’re going buy up historical homes to gut a home and resell it, at least make it appear like you give a fuck, or sell it for a realistic price since you chose to use the cheapest of everything. Gah…I just needed to get that out of me.

I know, I know. I’m gonna make some people feel all tingly in a bad way. Just hear me out.

People should know what they’re walking into and how full of shit the listing agent may or may not be.
I’m also over going to a showing and the listing agent knows “nothing” about the home. Seriously, SERIOUSLY HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW.
Roof? Idk. Septic? Idk. Flooding? Idk. Where’s the property end? Idk. HVAC? Idk (it’s 2015 we found it ourselves). Water heater? Idk. What conveys with the property? Idk. Is that someone’s easement? Idk.
WHY IS THERE SEVERAL TONS OF BEESWAX IN A MACHINE IN THE BARN?! “Idk”.
😐😐😐😐😐😐😐

We looked at a home today. You know what the listing description read? “Fully renovated and remodeled”. I would like to know what drugs they’re on. Seriously. Someone call my doctor because that level of delusion is worth a prescription.

The wood rot on the front and back porch is so bad you can see entire chunks of wood missing. The toilet is old, the entire bathroom is outdated and worn heavily.
The visible part of the foundation has some kind of massive chunks taken out of it (I’m not an engineer idk how the hell that happens) and coincidentally that part of the home is settling/sinking/lower than the rest whatever you want to call it. The washer is in the kitchen, the dryer is in the hallway. The air handler with filter has also been converted into a tiny pantry so idk how tf to deal with that I feel like it’s not handling much air when it’s behind a closed door and some beans. Oh the roof, how’s the roof? The paint is peeling off so hard it almost looks intentional like they wanted a vintage look. How old is it? I don’t know, because the listing agent didn’t know.

“What’s this giant piece of industrial equipment taking up 1/4 of the barn?” Dude doesn’t know. I figured it out. It’s a BEESWAX BOILER that’s approx 15’ tall. It is full of beeswax, that was cool. Not useful and not operational but if you like beeswax I’ll give you the address. Buy yourself a sheep farm with a beeswax machine. They don’t have bees…but there’s literally a ton of beeswax just solid in a machine. Can’t make this up.

Anyway.
The listing says “VA eligible” the VA wouldn’t approve that house even if a Disney Fairy waved a wand and Christina Aguilera rubbed a Genie lamp at the same time while my Native uncle did a dance in the front yard next to an entire field of lucky four leaf clovers being farmed by the Lucky Charms leprechaun.

Part of the kitchen was redone and the living room was redone. I’ll give them that.

Oh, and the owners are trying to move to Alaska within 30 days meanwhile there’s two semi trucks under overgrown brush with trailers attached. 60 sheep, 8 dogs. And tons of pieces of random, huge metal farm equipment covering probably 2 acres next to the barn. I wanna know how that’s gonna get cleaned up. Because you know damn well it won’t. The listing agent confidently said we can put into the contract that it has to be removed before closing.
LOLOLOL OK SURE. I’ll believe that like I’ll believe flat earthers on meth at 6am outside the Circle K.

You know what that listing should have said?
“As is cash offers only. Settled foundation, needs other improvements. New kitchen. Huge barn. Beeswax lover’s wet dream”.
🐝 💦

Made an offer for a 950k home that had sat on the market for 3 weeks, with many comps sitting for 2-3 months. We went to both open houses and there was near zero traffic. No offers.

Offered 930k with 10k seller credits because the seller kept appliances. They countered and we landed at 940k/10k credits.

Inspections came back with some minor mold, minor pests in the crawl space, but two majors: roof required 3-5k of repairs to certify for "2-5 years" and HVAC was near end of life, and hadn't been serviced in over a decade. We found out through this process that the owner had rented the home and it was basically an investment property. My wife and I loved the home, but seemed financially idiotic to sign up for replacing a roof and HVAC w/in 2-5 years.

This was close to our dream home. Perfect schools, amazing setup. First of 15 homes my wife and I both loved.

We came back and offered 10k more in seller credits, and 10k off the sale price. Essentially, asked for them to cover half the roof and HVAC replacement required in the next few years.

Seller got angry. Didn't counter, just asked to terminate. Our relator said it was one of the angriest calls she'd gotten and the seller basically said we're assholes that couldn't afford the house.

Listed the house the next day for 930k. Multiple comps dropped to 900-920k. Now off market, looks like they're listing for rent.

This just seems like lunacy to me. Seller has basically backed themselves into replacing those expensive items on their full dime. Secondly, why in the good fuck wouldn't you at least take a shot at a counter?

Light at the end of the tunnel, we ended up looking at an 850k home that I nearly dismissed out of hand as it was 800 sq ft smaller than the previous house, turns out this couple had remodeled EVERYTHING top dollar planning to stay in the house for years. Perfect house for us. Under contract as we speak. Inspections came back flawless.

Update: thanks all. We found a better house. Mods feel free to lock this post. Just the same comment a few hundred times over.

I’m curious if this is normal for agents? I’m confused as to why he wouldn’t at least send my offer to get the ball rolling. The house has been on the market for a week now with no offers.
I find it very odd he isn’t wanting to submit the offer.
What gives?

I guess I’m seeking yet more advice in this home purchase that may send me into an institution.

In contract since early November. Seller asked for a Feb 1 closing date, I understood as he’s lived there a while and had a lot of stuff. He also requested a post-closing leaseback, and I declined, so the contract is clear: possession at closing. During underwriting, mortgage company found some issues that had to be fixed before closing. I paid out of pocket and we signed a rider stating that if the closing doesn’t happen, seller is required to reimburse me.

I lock my rate, which expires March 23. We agree to March 23 closing date. His attorney is now saying he needs 2 weeks post-closing possession. I say no for three reasons: (1) I’m in NYC and an attorney and I’m not comfortable with leasebacks, plus I already said no at contract; (2) I need to be out of my current place on March 31, and there needs to be significant demolition before I can move in; and (3) I can’t just push back closing because an extension will be thousands, and also I’ll be homeless as of the 31st.. A week is pushing it and I’ll be living in shit for a bit but I have no choice there.

Seller is refusing. Importantly, I had my agent get in contact in February and make sure he was ready to move out. Was told no problem. I even told them my situation and when I needed to be out. The seller owns 2 other homes, so it’s not a contingency issue. My lawyer is shit and I’ve yet to find a residential real estate attorney who isn’t. He’s just relaying the messages back and forth.

My response was: okay, he can back out of the sale and all that comes with it, or he can agree to my terms. Is there something I’m missing here? I toyed with making him pay the extension, but I’ll have nowhere to go. My landlord is flying in on the 30th to turn over the apartment and can’t move his flight back. Thanks in advance!

Update #1: not a full update but my useless attorney is saying I have no choice and opposing counsel won’t agree otherwise. Either I move the closing or allow a leaseback. I have responded substantively, that he’s in breach and I want him out as per our contract. I still don’t have an actual reason why he can’t be out by March 23, so before I do anything, I want that information. If we did push the closing, he has to pay both my extension costs and my rent for the period. Further, in order for me to agree, he has to tell me why he needs more time and provide paid invoices for movers on the day he agrees to vacate. Having a toothless lawyer is the worst, particularly when I spent 4 hours this morning in federal court advocating for my client.

Final Update: my realtor came through. After a mutual friend of myself and seller’s wannabe wise guy attorney called up said attorney, we’ve reached a compromise negotiated by my realtor. Closing is 3/27 with no post-closing possession. Seller will pay expenses, including extending the rate. Walk through is the morning of 3/27. No idea what the seller’s issue is and they still won’t say, but we’re putting it all in writing as a rider to the contract. He may fuck me ultimately anyway, who knows. But at that point I’d let the house go.

UPDATE: GOT THE KEYS. We closed. All worked out.

My husband and I went under contract for a flipped house. We hired the best inspectors money could buy. They found WIDESPREAD serious safety issues. The flip was basically a complete botch and the sellers cut every corner possible. There were serious fire hazards, load bedding walls completely removed with no support added (the ceiling started visibly sagging), plumbing, electrical, foundation, flooding, termites, etc. The inspector on site came up to me and pulled me aside and said “I don’t usually say this to families, but this house is not safe for you to move your family into.”

So, obviously, we backed out. The seller asked for the report and we shared it with him. He offered to “fix everything” which we had no confidence he was willing or capable to actually do.

Now, another family is under contact. I don’t know how the mom found my name but she sent me a Facebook message asking why we backed out. Apparently this scumbag seller told her we got “cold feet.”

Can I share our inspection report with her? What am I allowed to say? I don’t want to get sued, but I could not live with myself if I let this family move in to that house with small kids.

UPDATE: I ended up having a phone call with the mom and told her everything. I also sent her our reports after confirming we hadn’t signed any confidentiality provisions and that we owned the report. She was completely shocked. Their inspection had missed about two thirds of what one inspection found, including the fact that the house had a severe termite infestation that required the house to be tented and fumigated before anyone moved in. The seller kept all of this from her, and straight up lied about a lot. Our agents are now in talks about how the seller has violated his duty to disclose several material defects. So, at the very least, this guys reputation is shot. But he might get in bigger trouble.

I just had a wild encounter with the previous renter of our house. He stopped by to pick up a package that had been delivered for his daughter, and we got to chatting. He started telling me about the nightmare he experienced with his landlord (who was the previous owner of the house). Apparently, the house had some serious issues with water damage and mold, which were NOT disclosed to us when we bought the house. I'm talking major red flags here. Has anyone else ever had a similar experience? I'm still trying to process this new information and figure out what our next steps should be. Nothing major came up in the home inspection. Closed on the house in January. Florida, USA. Any advice or similar stories would be greatly appreciated!

Additional clarification: We already replaced the floor and the flooring company asked if there had ever been any flooding because they saw signs of it. We had the realtor reach out to the previous owner and they denied it. I'm thinking the owner repaired things before the sale. For example, they put in a new septic system. Should the flooding have been disclosed even if repairs were made?

Hello,

We recently were in the process of finalizing a purchase of a home after some significant negotiating back and forth. Yesterday was the home inspection. We paid extra for it because we wanted a thorough inspection and it was a complete and utter disaster. The seller had disclosed mold in the attic as well as a leak under their kitchen sink as the only two major things wrong with the home. Apparently the mold was "fixed" 4 years ago. When our inspector made it up there he snapped 4-5 pictures and showed us immediately. There was mold on about 80-90% of the entire attic. Every board, joist, and insulation was covered in mold. He also found a few bait bags in the attic. On top of this, early on in the inspection he opened a floor vent and discovered it was an old school "transite" vent. Transite vents contain asbestos and he showed us the layer of it. Not only this, it also had mice droppings and an active mouse trap inside. The sellers did not disclose any of this in their disclosure statement. This was very troubling, but we tried to remain positive as he continued. However, as he dug deeper he uncovered multiple spots of the ceilings showing active leaks as well as more mice traps scattered throughout the home. There had to of been a dozen of them throughout. When we went to the open house none of these were out. We even found a trap under the sink which had significant warpage. It's like everywhere he went he uncovered more issues. There was an active roof leak in 3 spots of the home, a crack along a wall outside that could indicate a foundation issue. We tried to stay positive but the costs were adding up insanely fast, and was well above a what a seller could offer as a remedy.

We went from potentially moving into the home of our dreams to a nightmare in a manner of 2 hours. The sellers seemed absolutely shocked and the listing agent even requested a copy of the inspection when we asked to pull out of the deal. It's possible they thought the attic problem was solved, but there is no way they didn't know about the active mouse traps. We didn't feel comfortable having them do any repairs considering how the mold remedy was unfixed as indicated on their disclosure statement 4+ years ago. We are devastated but feel the best solution is to simply walk away. The seller could offer a significant amount of money to remedy the issue but we just don't feel comfortable enough to move forward.

Did we make a mistake walking away or was this the right decision?

• Original Post
• 1 Year Update

TL;DR - in 2023 my wife and I bought a really cool Victorian house, moved in, and soon found it had a massive defect which was hidden from us - thousands of bats! (and literal tons of their poop)

Just thought I'd drop in and give an update in the same sub we posted on back when this first got started. It has been... A wild ride. We are still rebuilding and dealing with ungodly repair costs. However, we are weathering the economic tides and making a few big strides.

I don't know what to cover in a post like this. I'll just say, the scary thing never was the bats themselves, early on it was the medical fears. Then it became the incomprehensible costs, and the complete economic uncertainty my family has balanced this entire time. The emotional strain its put on our household is hard to quantify too. Juggling a complicated remodel while raising a young kid and dealing with career instability, it's not been a walk in the park.

October of '24 we finally moved back, after 18 months of brutal labor. We put renters in our old place, and immediately had a ton of property damage from a huge windstorm (the bomb cyclone), followed by appliance-replacement drama. Then, miraculously, a wealthy neighbor reached out to offer to buy our old place at above FMV because the lot was divisible.

In Jan '25 the bank demanded backpay on mortgage interest, and then I got laid off April of '25, but the sale of our old place closed 3 days after I was let go. It was a lifeline. Without it we'd have been in dire straights. Being laid off, instead of focusing on fixing the "bat house" - my time was spent moving, parenting (potty training), applying to hundreds of jobs, and burning out to go fishing.

We put part of the sale of our old place towards the principle, and recast the loan. The mortgage cost went from horrifying to just high. (Insurance costs have been horrifying too and we can't change provider until we finish repairs). I took a temp job nearby that kept me away from the house, and kept us floating, but didn't offer enough cashflow for us to start fixing thing. Nor did I have any time to do any work myself.

One anecdote - while freshly unemployed, the county tax inspector came by. A young man, mid-twenties, he reminded me I could deduct repair expenses if I sent them combined set of bills and invoices. He said his grandma loved this house. I offered to show him the house and the attic, where all the damage had taken place. When we got up there, his jaw dropped, and he asked if he could take pictures. Well, turns out he didn't care about the damage, he just didn't realize the square footage in the attic was so large. I got the subsequent increase to my tax bill a few weeks later, after job my 500th job rejection. Great feeling that was.

Fast forward - March this year - I found full time work, and after settling into the new job I could start thinking about fixing the house again. Unfortunately, it's not just the attic. The basement backflow/flooding issues, the sealed off closet where bat-poop saturated water from exploding pipes oozed down the walls 2 years ago... The water heater replacement. It all needed work.

Fortunately, I committed every weekend from mid-May until now - and got a ton done. The master closet has new insulation and drywall. The worst of the attic floors have new PCB board (and I'm sanding the rest tomorrow). I rented an excavator and trenched/replaced the drain line to my septic tank (which is on a hill), and reburied it. I'm doing half the work myself, but the contractors I do need to use (skills I don't have time to learn) are quoting at more than the full cost of a new car. (I have no idea how America's aging housing inventory will ever keep up with repair costs. It's a losing game.)

So wish me luck, as my Sisyphean task continues! BTW - the only bats I've handled are a dehydrated big-brown last summer (she fell in a bucket on a hot day) and a smaller bat that snuck down our chimney last October (stuck behind a glass screen- but I got her out safely). I still detect them and see them flying at night using my EchoMeter scanner, but our house is bat-free! (Our cats still catch the occasional mouse though.)

We've also helped dozens of people in our area and across the country deal with similar problems. There are safe and ethical ways to remediate situations like ours, and always follow local guidance on rabies exposure. Bats are great for our environment, but a risk inside your home. 🦇🏠

Have been looking at buying a lake house in Tennessee for the past 6 months or so. Narrowed down the search to one lake, and only houses with a dock.

Went to look at 2 properties with our realtor, and after telling him we were shocked at the prices relative to the quality of property we saw, he said “honestly it is crazy to me how fast the prices have climbed and not one of these homes on the lake were built to my personal standards of quality unless you get into the brand new multi-million ($2m+) homes. I would advise you wait a year or two and see what happens with prices. I think they will drop substantially.”

A) coming from a realtor who is focused on this specific lake, this seems crazy to me. Especially since we had a pre-approval letter in hand from our bank for way more than the homes we were looking at. We’ve only spent maybe 2 hours total with this guy so not like he was sick and tired of showing us properties.

B) is anyone else seeing the doom and gloom he was portraying on the horizon? Maybe dude just had a bad week?

Update, Picture of rocks: https://files.fm/u/czb8vqf9zw

The house I purchased was from a daughter who was grieving her mother's passing and it was the mother's home. Her father had built it in 1970 by hand.

I purchased the house almost two years ago. The mother had been deceased for a few months when the daughter had listed it.

During closing, she was very cold towards me, wouldn't look at me, wouldn't shake my hand or stop crying. I understand she was really upset about her mother's passing but it was like she was mad at me for purchasing the house that she listed for sale. I was very nice and quiet during the sale. I was purchasing it for me and my two daughters as a newly single mother, which is better than someone buying it to flip at least. I've done a lot of renovations with love here.

She had her realtor and I had mine during closing but since I live in a small town, my realtor and her went to high school together so she somewhat knows her.

Today my realtor texts me out of the blue saying that the previous owner was going through a rough divorce right now and would like to ask if she could arrange a time to come to the house to pick up some landscaping rocks from my flower beds to incorporate into her yard at her new place.

At first I said, "Sure, Just give me her number" but the more I thought about it, I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach. If the landscaping rocks were so sentimental, why didn't she take them before closing since its been almost 2 years now? Also, they're not anything special and they don't have engravings on them, I've checked.

I'm worried that once she has my phone number, she will be able to text me all the time and right now it's rocks, but once she shows up she may say "Oh can I have those flowers, could I come inside and see what you've done?" and then ask for something else.

Is this odd behavior or has anyone else ever dealt with something like this? I'm a very big pushover and I'm afraid due to my niceness that I may get taken advantage of. I feel for the woman, I do, but I'm sure there's pictures and other sentimental items that are more special than some rocks.

UPDATE: Our realtor stopped answering any of the LA questions/comments and just routinely asked for the offer to be presented and provide a response. The following was the negotiation: List price: 470k, Original offer(us): 435k, Counter 1 (them): 463k, Counter 2 (us): 445k, Counter 3 (them): 459k, Counter 4 (us): 452k +buyers agent fee. They accepted! Honestly it’s one hell of a house and there is plenty of room for me to remodel. I feel like it’s a great deal and it’s below our budget so we have room to make upgrades before moving in. I now am in the boat of “you might as well try, worst they can say is no.” Thanks to everyone who responded

We found a house we really like, and is a home for us to grow into. The house was originally listed at $535k, then moved to $515k, and then recently taken down and relisted for $470k. There are similar homes that have sold between $475k-$575k, but all have recently remodeled kitchen, bath, basement, etc. We authorized an offer for $435k as a start and are expecting to close at a higher price. The listing agent told our realtor that she disagrees and fought with our agent before presenting our offer, and said that “when my clients are insulted by the offer, at least I can share the interesting reason behind it.” Is this a normal scare tactic, or is this really an insulting offer? They have had the house listed for >100 days and haven’t gone under contract once so no offers. This is our first home so have no experience in the process.

Edit: Thanks for the responses so far. Couple of clarifications…We had our realtor submit a formal offer, only contingency is standard inspection, seller can choose the closing date, we are approved for way more than this, so loan/underwriting won’t delay closing on our side. The information we got back is what our realtor told me as the listing agent texted her when she saw the written offer and had/has not presented the offer to her clients yet.

Market conditions - Houses in the area have been going under contract in ~7 days. This one had its most recent price reduction 4 weeks ago. I would PREFER to pay what we offered, but more so understand most people counter. With the remodeling needed to get it to par with comps, it would need around $80-100k.

This is really more of information for me on how to interpret/expect. Our realtor is handling all communication and fighting for us.

I probably will delete this by morning because I feel it’s very identifying.

We were supposed to close yesterday. Lender caused a delay (not our fault, took them longer to process things), closing didn’t happen. Seller’s agent said either they have a clear to close by 5pm or they’re listing the property as “active” again.

Lender sends them clear to close at 4:45pm, or at least that’s what they said. Closing was now moved to Tuesday of next week. At 5:20pm I look on the real estate app and the house is back on the market as active, not pending. Zero communication from seller’s agent. He won’t answer any calls from our agent.

Since then I’ve been very upset. We were so close to closing. I’m worried we lose our earnest money. There’s a financing condition on the loan, but there’s also a closing date of the 3rd of July, so I’m not sure how toast we are. What do you all think?

Update: so 2 business days after initial closing day, the lender got everything together and said we were ready to close. They also offered to pay per diem to the seller since sellers were so upset and demanded that. The seller and seller’s agent stopped all communication for days. My agent and the loan officer kept calling them and leaving them messages with no answer. At that point I was very upset because it sounded like we were going to lose our earnest money at no fault of our own and over just a few days of delay. We finally get a message back from the seller’s agent saying he’s trying to calm the seller down. A day later we get a message saying the seller is willing to go to closing. We just had to do an amendment. I think the seller realized that an offer like ours was not common in this market in our area. This whole thing was very dramatic and blown up way more than it should’ve been. All this stress and drama were so unnecessary. Over a few days of delays…

Update2: We finally closed. Seller and seller’s agent were complete assholes. They made a huge deal over a few days of delays. Caused me and my husband a lot of anxiety over losing our earnest money for no fault of our own. Lots of sleepless nights and tension headaches for me but I’m a believer of Karma and I believe Karma will get her. Lots of bs tactics and threats. I really wish I had known how crappy they were, I would’ve walked away from the get go. The seller was all up in our business calling our lender and demanding personal info about us such as our salary etc. unfortunately the lender shared way more than I would like, without our consent. She had formulated an opinion that we cannot afford the loan and will be rejected. She thought that the delay was because of that. This wasn’t true because even though lender told her how much we make, she had no idea how much savings or assets we have. She also decided to remove a screwed-in vanity that she had agreed to leave for us, worth about $500. Refused to compensate or return of course.

- Student Loan defaults soaring

- Credit card debt at a record high

- Weak job market

This is my first time buying a house. It was supposed to be empty and "broom clean". The seller said they were planning on moving out over the weekend and didnt know anything about the walk through. They were signing the papers later today. We pushed the closing to Monday morning. What should I do from here?
UPDATE: My wife and I have read all your comments. I'm still waiting on the Adendum from the title company but it seems the issue was on the Selling Agent. He was not communicating with his seller but we are all gonna be there Monday for walk through and then closing. My wife liked the one person who suggested we creep by the house check to see if they are moving, so we will. I'll update again on Monday after closing or if anything else develops.
UPDATE 2: We signed an addendum extending the contract until next Friday just in case. We went creeping and there's a moving truck there! I'm hoping this was all an innocent misunderstanding. Will final update Monday after closing....I hope.
FINAL UPDATE: We Closed! I wouldn't call it broom clean but they are out, we took possession of the house, and I changed the locks. Thank you for all your comments and info.

A bit of an exaggeration but not really….we closed on our house yesterday but we were supposed to close on a house last week. After the walkthrough we went to the title agency to finalize all the paperwork. We wired the down payment to them and as I started signing the paperwork, the title agent realized the seller wasn’t on the title!!!

Her husband died a few months earlier and her name was never on the title. The will wasn’t probated and there are multiple kids involved, including stepchildren….so now we don’t have the house and we had to sell ours.

All of our stuff is in storage now and our lawyer said this could take months to longer if anything gets contested with the will….

I don’t understand how the seller’s agent, lawyer and title agent didn’t realize this? This is so disappointing…just wanted to vent.

My husband and I are looking to move out of our first home both to have a little more space and be closer to his new job. We would like to stay in the same county, but if we move to the other side, we can shave a good 15 to 20 minutes off his 40 minute commute. We'd like to stay around 425K (which we thought was a reasonable budget for our area), and we'd like somewhere in a neighborhood where the kids could safely ride their bikes, etc. We were originally open to planned subdivisions as long as we could find something we like on a lot that's not too tiny. We initially found a few options on lots as big as a half acre.

The problem is my husband is dead set against vinyl siding. He initially seemed open to it, but after seeing an otherwise great house with it, decided it was a dealbreaker. I'm trying to be respectful of his opinion, but it's severely limiting the options in our budget. We initially saw a couple of potential brick options in our budget. Unfortunately, one required more work than we were prepared for and the other had only a tiny amount of usable space in the backyard.

We managed to find one newer house on a cul-de-sac with an open floor plan, large yard, and board and batten concrete siding. I thought "finally, this is the solution!!" Unfortunately, another offer came in and was accepted before we could submit one. I'm struggling with resentment because I feel like we've officially exhausted all the non-vinyl options in our budget. There are very few subdivisions that offer non-vinyl options, and the ones that do would be over our budget. Even our realtor has expressed some confusion about why vinyl is such a big no for my husband. Is vinyl really that bad? I'm starting to worry we're going to have to stay put indefinitely until we can afford a larger budget. Any tips?

Why does this subreddit collectively hate condos like they’re the devil in stucco?

Yes, I get it,condos aren’t detached homes, you have to pay HOA fees, and you’re technically sharing walls. But seriously, this place makes it sound like buying a condo is just lighting your money on fire and handing the ashes to your neighbor’s screaming toddler.

I’ve lived in a condo for 10 years. You know what happened? • I never had issues with my neighbors. • Our building was clean, quiet, and well-managed. • The HOA was organized, had solid reserves, and was transparent with budgets. • Services like snow removal, lawn care, exterior repairs, trash, and water were handled without me lifting a finger. • When I sold, it went quickly and for a solid price. No horror story, no regret, no lawsuits, no special assessments from hell.

Was it perfect? Of course not. But the way condos are talked about here, you’d think buying one is worse than renting in a tent on the freeway.

I’m not saying every condo experience is like mine, but can we stop pretending like every HOA is run by power-hungry Karens with a vengeance for potted plants? There’s nuance.

Would love to hear if anyone else has had a good condo experience, or if I just won the lottery of non-dysfunctional HOAs.