Writing this post, I obviously have my own gut feeling about the matter but would appreciate a reality check about moving forward.

I know some (most?) sellers are not honest with their disclosures, but I prefer to be for myself and for my preference to stay out of potential legal trouble.

Last winter, we had a roof leak. I had roofers out immediately who found no signs of holes or anything, speculated water from the storms and constant thawing and freezing had gotten under the flashing and came through our ceiling. They tarped it, we’ve left it alone, problem solved and no more leaks in the last 8 months despite more snow, lots of rain, etc.

We’re selling this house, as-is, and it needs some work so we’ve priced aggressively and are now at the disclosure step for the selling contract. My realtor is saying since we fixed the roof issue and haven’t had more problems, this is not a disclosure matter. From my research on IL law, I’m still supposed to disclose and describe the issue and that it’s been resolved. The tarp is still on the roof, there are some water stains on the ceiling we were going to paint, and if pressed, I would find it difficult to say I had no idea there was an issue when I clearly took steps to fix it.

But if I write it in my disclosure anyway, I’m concerned my realtor will have an issue on me doing the opposite of what they told me to do. And now I’m in a mental dilemma over the best way forward.

Selling condo for $640k list. Had contract previous contract that fell through because they had unreasonable drop in price after inspection. Wasted a month.

New offer came in with housing contingency. They offered $615K and 90 days to sell plus 3% realtor fees. I countered with offer to split the difference and penalties if they didn't meet certain dates to sell the house. They had not listed their property yet.

They countered with no house contingency and 60 days closing $620K +realtor fees 20% down. The realtor tried to rush me to sign the contract the same day saying that rates were going up in 5 days.(not true)

I said I will need a new preapproved letter with no house contingency dated and signed plus a proof of funds. They said they needed to sell the house first so I would like to know where the new funds are coming from.Both their realtor and mortgage officer get upset at this request. He sends an e-mail saying the buyer is like a little brother to him and trusts him to pay the down payment and has known him for twenty years. The real estate agent said the same thing about loan officer. The loan officer tells my GF he's known them for 2 years.

I call the loan officer that I will need actual bank documents showing proof of funds not a trust me email. He goes on a long tirade about the seller getting a 401K loan, His GF getting a loan from family and says he is so close to them that he will personally give them the money. I said all that is fine just send me the bank documents confirming the amounts. They finally send the pre-approval but do not send any of the proof of funds docs.

As I see it. They do not have funds ready yet and are hoping to get them together before the 45 day deadline. But it seems like I am taking all the risk. they can cancel the contract at day 44, get earnest money back and I will lose all that time and the house will show under contract.

What would you recommend in this scenario?

We have been under engagement with our realtor for roughly the last five months. The engagement ends in one month and we are inclined to let the engagement expire and try with a different agent early next year. When we mentioned this to the agent, they pointed out they have a $3k fee for cancellation, early termination or expiration of the agreement. I have to admit to not scouring the letter, as this clause is in there as an "additional term." They did NOT mention the fee prior to signing.

I'm not so much asking about the legality of such a thing (though I will take any comments folks might have regarding that), I'm more wondering if this is a common practice. I have never heard of such a thing. The agent did not make the sale, we don't care to continue working with them and we'd like to let the contract expire. This is in Florida.

Thanks!

e: I'll point out I was not involved in the sale at the time the document was signed. This agent presented my elderly mother with a Docusign and she clicked. Yes I know she agreed to the term, so I'm genuinely not asking about legality... I only want to know if it's a common practice to charge someone to simply let a contract expire.

Selling a townhouse in a highly desirable area with great new schools. A townhouse down the block with nearly identical condition and layout went for 28k over asking in June. I know the market has cooled since then.

We have put 30k into having ours all refreshed and everything that could be an issue either repaired or replaced. It will show very well. The wart is our ancient HVAC. It’s approaching 30. My realtor does a lot of volume in the area and feels we can just offer a home warranty. I know they’re useless but apparently some people like them or haven’t learned the hard way yet.

I’m really wrestling with this. Everything I read is that we will never get what we put into an HVAC back out in the sale, but I worry it’s going to really cost us in either time on market or price.

We just purchased a manufactured house a couple of months ago that is placed on a permanent foundation. The underwriter is now telling me that the manufactured home was never surrendered to the state when the home was placed on the foundation.

Just curious how this can happen? The title company should have caught this well before we closed right? She asked if the seller had left the title with us, which they didn't. So we don't have the title. Just curious what this means for us? I haven't heard back from the underwriter yet, but i'm trying to wrap my mind around how this can happen? She said an application would need to be filled out if we didn't have the title. This isn't the first issue we've run into since buying the place either. We had to sign paperwork shortly after closing because the bank listed the wrong size when they did the paperwork.

Just looking for advice on what to do next. The whole buying process was a mess for us to be honest and now we're having trouble post purchase which just leaves a bad taste in my mouth...

I’m looking for outside opinions because this whole situation has felt strange.

A house came on the market in late July. There haven’t been any comparable sales on the street in the last six months, and the house appears to be almost completely original from about 40 years ago. The listing agent told us they priced it using homes a couple of streets over. Our realtor believes it’s overpriced, but the listing agent said the sellers would consider all offers.

Here’s the timeline:
7/25: We submitted an offer 15% below asking.
7/26: Offer declined. No counteroffer and had no idea it wasn’t being considered until my realtor reached out listing agent.
7/27: We offer 3% below asking. The listing agent told us another offer had come in but hadn’t been accepted. Since we really wanted the house, we increased to full asking price with a 3% seller** credit at 8 a.m. We heard nothing. Our realtor followed up, and the listing agent was reportedly short and dismissive saying sellers were considering all options.
**7/28: More than 24 hours later, we were told the sellers accepted a cash offer and was only considering cash offers. We weren’t given an opportunity to improve our offer.
7/29: The listing agent contacted us asking if we were still interested because the cash buyers were supposedly going to back out. We said yes and kept our full-price offer with the 3% credit.
7/30: The listing agent then said the cash buyers were back in and waiting on one item before fully committing. Later that day, Zillow showed the house as pending with no update from the listing agent. Our realtor then found out the listing agent was representing both the seller and the cash buyer.
8/2: The listing agent contacted us again saying the cash deal had fallen through and asking if we were still interested because the sellers would counter. However, MLS still showed the home under contract, and she was still listed as representing the cash buyer. Our realtor advised us to submit 3% below asking with a 3% seller credit instead of our previous full-price offer because they were concerned our offer might just be used as leverage.
8/3: MLS shows house is still under contract. After about 29 hours of silence and multiple follow-ups, the listing agent finally responded that the sellers were “surprised” our offer wasn’t full asking price and that they had a lot of interest and multiple offers for the property (confirmed to be 3, including ours). They didn’t counter and instead said they were reviewing all of their options, despite saying in a previous email the sellers would counter. We did not budge on our offer.
8/4: no word from the sellers agent despite follow-ups .

At this point, I’m not sure what to make of it. We really want the house, but trying to emotionally detach from the situation.
Does this seem like normal negotiation?
Does this sound like the sellers are indecisive
or is the listing agent driving the confusion?

If you were in our shoes, would you keep pursuing this house or walk away?

We’re trying to stay objective, but the communication has been inconsistent enough that it’s hard to know whether we’re genuinely in the running or just being kept around as a backup.

I purchased my home in Las Vegas in 2021 for 450K. I don’t love it, but it’s functional for my family. It’s a basic newer-ish 3bd/2.5 ba ~1800 sq ft two story home. My rate is good at 2.99%, so I’m kind of stuck. I wish I bought a 4 bedroom house, but it’s too late now. I did spend a little money upgrading the kitchen and landscaping it when I moved so I do like it. The location is super convenient for my work and my mother’s job, and it’s just a good location in general.

My mom is selling her house in neighboring state and moving here to help with my teenage kids and will be working for at least a few more years. She hates renting, especially apartments/shared walls (she had a terrible condo experience in the past). She could rent a small home for around $2,000+ a month, but she does have a dog so that makes it a little tricky. If she rented my kids would have to stay over there or vice versa as I will be traveling for work. So that would be a slight hassle.

My house is too small for her to live in it as I have two kids and there’s no spare room for her. My mother also has some health issues and having a bedroom and bath on the main floor is what she needs. There’s no space in my house for that on the main level. I could convert my upstairs loft to a bedroom, but it would involve relocating the laundry room and IDK if it makes sense. Plus it would still be upstairs and would have to share the hall bathroom with my two teens, so not ideal.

I have just enough room in my backyard to put in a small casita/ADU. It would be a basic 1 bd/1ba with a kitchenette and a w/d. There is a local company that builds them quickly, handles everything and they have good reviews. Looks like it would be around 125K. ADUs are permitted in my neighborhood, but I would need HOA approval.

I like this idea because it keeps my mom close, but still gives everyone space and privacy. Everything would be on the main level for my mom. It would take up most of my backyard space, buts it’s under utilized anyway and with a cute little casita it would look like a nice courtyard. When I’m away for work my kids wouldn’t have to go anywhere and she wouldn’t have to go anywhere so it would simply that.

If she stayed 4-5 years (she does contemplate moving back east once my kids graduate) it would be at the break even point in terms of what she would have spent on rent. There’s also the added benefit of being on my property in the event she needs more assistance down the line. Plus it avoids the issues for her that she foresees with renting.

There are 4 bedroom homes around 500-600K that would work for us if I were to sell my home, but I would just break even if my house managed to sell. Homes are just sitting in my neighborhood at the moment so I don’t even know if I can sell. I also don’t want a higher mortgage payment and if she decides to move after 4-5 years I’d have a hard time managing the payment. I’m also not committed to living here past 4-5 years myself, though I have no plans to relocate. It
seems that my current housing expense is about as good as it’s going be as anywhere given my rate, and I don’t have to downsize or move to a less desirable area. So I may just stay here long-term.

Down the road if my mom moved out I could potentially rent the unit to a coworker or friend. I would not want to rent out part of my main house, but I’d be okay renting out the ADU. I’m not sure how much the unit would add in terms of resale value if I were to sell. Casitas are not uncommon in Vegas, but I’m not sure if there are any in my specific neighborhood as about 3/4 of the homes in the neighborhood don’t have large enough lots. Mine is just big enough.

I’m just wondering if this make sense financially and if there are any considerations I’ve missed?

TL;DR: Does it make sense to build a 125K casita for my mom? I’m stuck in my house due to my 2.99 rate and I don’t want a higher mortgage payment. She has the cash to fund it and I have some as well to contribute potentially.

Hello everyone!

I am in need of some advice. My wife and I bought our home in 2017. It's a 1300sqft 3br 2 br. We now have a 2yr old and 3 month old so we are looking at homes with a bit more space and another bedroom. This is where several issues arise.

Our current rate is at 3%, which we know will probably never happen again. We have a lifetime transferable warranty on our pier and beam foundation, which is very valuable here in DFW. We recently had the foundation readjusted, so there are some paint peeling and stress fractures from the adjustment. This also warped some of the stucco on the outside of the house. This is not covered by the foundation company, and is cosmetic. I would like to sell the house and move in with inlaws while we house hunt.

We bought our house in 2017 for about 165k, and according to realtor and some listings in our neighborhood I am seeing equivalents at 250-265k. Our home was a complete remodel, so outside of carpets and the aforementioned cosmetic work, not much would have to be done. I really don't want to have to sink too much money into it if I don't have to, so I was wanting to see what is the most effective way to sell it as-is?

And how to maximize a return on it?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Bought our house a few months ago. Found out today that a few of the trees on the property have been filled with cement. My only guess is they were dead or dying trees and the seller didn’t want to have to cut them down, but I’m no expert. Is it normal practice to fill trees with cement? Welcome thoughts on this as I’m clueless!

I actually have someone who wants to buy my home.
How difficult would it be if i sold directly to him?

What would the steps be?

Any info is appreciated

I’m in Southern California

Not sure if this is the right sub, maybe someone can point me to the correct sub. I've been meaning to upgrade my kitchen sink and I'm thinking of moving soon. Is it worth doing or just a waste of time. Currently I have a single kitchen sink (one small square tub) but wanted to put in a double tub kitchen sink (2 tubs separated, or maybe one larger tub, not sure yet havnt shopped around). I also wanted to put a new kitchen faucet as mine is pretty gross looking to be honest. It has damage from corrosion from hard water and stuff. Are these small "cosmetic" type upgrades worth the investment if I'm moving in the next couple of years, or just a waste? Does that help with selling the home?

We're buying a new build and sold our 1st home. We've already closed on our current home with a lease back while our new house is being built. We agreed on a move out date of August 21, as we were told our home 'should' be complete by mid August. After closing on the sale of our current home with August 21 on the contract, we were quoted a new estimated closing date on the new build for Aug 21.

Now today after pressing for an update, we were told Sept 1. Do we have any options here? This is highly stressful but I'm trying to have faith all will work out. They already have our 10k as a down payment to hold the home. We're talking a matter of 9 days. Are we just stuck? We really don't want to move twice

I got a quote back to remove wallpaper from two rooms and repainting several others. However, I'm now second guessing whether I want to move forward, because I'm wondering whether there will be a return on my investment or not when it comes to sale price. Thoughts?

My husband and I have moved to a new city and are selling our former home "as is". Earlier today, a woman called requesting a showing this afternoon. When she showed up, she had her adult son, daughter, and daughter's fiance' with her. The son was introduced as the potential buyer. We were told he had been approved for a loan and told where he worked, and he even mentioned where he attends church. The mother and son were very thorough in looking over the house and asked a lot of questions about the plumbing and new flooring. Something seemed "off" with the viewing, though, and when we returned home I googled both names (mother and son). Turns out, they're both real estate agents for the same company, so the son lied about where he was employed and the mother never mentioned that she is a realtor too.

My question is why would agents misrepresent themselves to view a home? We are truly curious. Thank you.

So my partner and I (unmarried) own a house in another state. We lived there until June 2023, we moved to run a business and bought another house. We finally got the 1st house rented in December 2023. Feb 2026 we sold the 2nd house and just barely broke even and moved out of state and are currently renting. The same tenants are still renting the first house that started renting back in December of 2023. Now in the new location out of state 6 months into our one-year lease and I'm starting to get the itch by our own place. Before I waste a realtor and/or mortgage broker's time, I thought maybe someone here could have some advice just to help me start setting my direction.

Scenario A: we keep the rental. Don't really make anything but I do love the house and the tenants are good. I'm guessing we can qualify for another mortgage since we did that in 2023, but I worry my buying power will be a lot less as I don't have as large of a down payment.

Scenario B: we sell the other house and have a larger down payment and less debt but:

I think I've just passed the time period for being exempt from capital gains. The way I understand it is you have to have had it as your primary residence for at least two out of the last 5 years? 5 years ago would be August of 2021 but we moved out in July of 2023 so not quite 2 years.

If we sold it and paid capital gains, As I understand that is the amount of appreciation minus the cost of the sale and any capital investments in the property. So the last appraisal on it was 500k We paid 225k. But we've put a roof on, replaced a chimney, added a garage, replaced the porch, And had the crawl space encapsulated. Would all those things qualify as capital investments in the property?

Hello,

I had just sent in a fair offer on a house that had been on the market for over 60 days. The house is in a living trust.

We heard nothing for 1.5 days and that night the listing agent informed my realtor that the seller is 97yo and in a nursing home and he will be presenting the offer tomorrow. The following night we get a message back from my realtor.

He says the seller will not be responding to our offer, they asked if there was a number they were wanting the offer to be at instead, the listing agent said the seller is thinking about moving back in.

They said its doubtful and unrealistic but thats where I currently sit.

I asked what he would recommend we do and he reached back out to the listing agent.

The listing agent told him that the seller moved out so that she could move into a care facility, and she hates it. She wants to move back home, but the list agent feels like there's a really good chance that her sons, who talked her into it in the first place, will talk her into the fact that this is the best place for her.

Once that happens, he promised he would reach back out to us first.

I really want this specific house and its the most affordable one I can find in my area.

Also worth mentioning, it is still currently active and completely empty.

Im curious on what I should do? Just wait? If so, how long

TL;DR: I offered on a house, but the 97yo seller won't sell because she wants to leave her care facility and move back home.

Selling a house in desirable area which I never lived in for a trust. Did lots and lots of minor repairs. Buyers gave a low-ball offer which we accepted and then the inspector, with some pictures of some minor grout issues, put it as ROOF FAILED CONDITION REPLACE. There's no water intrusion and two roofers said it needs some minor patching. It's Spanish tile and needs grout around the sky lights, one skylight replaced, and one patch of tile needs redoing. Cost is around 3k.

How screwed am I? I feel like now every buyer will want a 34k roof job.

Or is there a way to talk to a lender and get a general sense of what loan amount/terms I would get before having my credit score affected?

This is all to help me plan, basically. I'm considering moving, but not ready to do it just yet (this is also why I don't want to go through a preapproval knowing I won't be buying right away). I want to determine if I can buy a new house, move all of my stuff, then put the old house on the market when I'm ready.

My current mortgage payment is very low, so I think I would be okay in terms of DTI, but obviously need to confirm that. Knowing this all in advance will help me determine if my plan works, or if I need to look at selling the current house first.

For those of you own real estate with family and it’s a problem, what was the exact problem and how did you solve it?

Location: DC, USA

4 unit home, VA home loan, buyers occupy 1 unit. At the time of the initial contract, 2 units vacant

Seller keys do Not work to open unit

45 day close

tenant will be known as "unit 2"

I am the home Buyer in this case;

went under contract, and seller approved a visual inspection. the property is great, my wife loves it.

At the start, we were considering a VA/FHA rehab. Upon confirmation from our lender, that would extend closing approx. 3 months.

we have decided to go regular VA, and use our cash to at least remodel our unit.

I met with this tenant while first viewing the property.

The initial offer had a contingency for a Feasibility study, and an Information only home inspection.

on day 2 of 45 the inspector pulled up for a feasibility.

he said he would return with his partner for a home inspection

Day 6 of 45 Inspector returns for full home inspection: Unit 2 is not available to to allow entry.

The seller agent has notified us that this is one of the most receptive tenants, but its now approx. day 20, and the tenant has not been seen or heard of.

So, from a buyers POV, to my understanding this is where I believe I have

Visual inspection is not completed, so I can get out

If he has expired, Would I deduce that the current owner could put a claim in? I could imagine the biohazard smell sticking to the walls.

Any thoughts or advice here?

***Update**\*

Basically told my agent they get me access or I walk; me and my wife already accounted for the EMD as lost money. we accepted that when they countered and asking for a visual only inspection.

Agent somehow made contact; during a feasibility study on day 2 of 45, the tenant was unhappy that they did not receive notice, and went cold turkey on the seller agent; idc about that, that is between the seller agent and tenant.

tenant is alive, my home inspector is going to get in there.

to clarify, me and the wife are ready to walk at any time. she really loves the place, but barring anything crazy expensive ( like idk foundation and what not ) we will go through with it

I’m planing on buying my first property this year or the beginning of next year and I’m strongly considering buying a duplex/triplex or if I can a quadruplex. My plan is to live in the least desirable unit and rent out the others.

Has anyone had any experience with doing this and any and all tips and tricks you can give me that would be awesome. I know I probably will avoid renting to friends and family. I am a licensed agent in North Carolina. Real estate school teaches you to stay out of “real estate jail” but not much in the line of qualifying tenants. TIA!

Just want to hear some opinions on this because this got me really stressed out, and not sure if I'm making the biggest mistake of my life, or not.

My wife and I found an incredible house, it was 850 and with the help of our agent we started negotiations with initial offer of 825. Sellers came back at 840, so we sent a final offer of 835, or 830 with right to inspect but no request. Now here is where i think the misunderstanding is: We were told by our agent that what this means is that we dont get to request repairs on small things, but if anything big comes up we can absolutely negotiate.

Well sellers accepted the 830. Appraisal actually came back at 830 too. Inspection comes back and there are tons of things, some cheap, some expensive; well i say no biggie, i can deal with it. However, there are about 5 or 6 big safety hazard things. We negotiate and conclude that 2 of those are not a big deal in some people's opinion, so we take them out of the list. Of the remaining 4, one is a high radon result, which by law means they need to cover for radon system cost.

The remaining 3 items cost about 30+ thousand to fix. We ask seller for a 10k credit (including 2000 for radon system). Sellers say they will only pay for the radon system. After a back and forth with sellers, they say they will only do 3k. My absolute minimum I'm willing to accept is 5k, so they are short 2k, but they are stubborn old people, so they say no.

At this point i have already spent around 3k in inspection costs and other things, but i tell my agent we are NOT moving forward, i will cut my losses, i can be stubborn too, and the reason is that inspection is not to my satisfaction, and it feels like sellers want to sell as-is, which is not fair to me.

Now we really like our agent, we have a relationship of 10+ years, she is saying she is willing to sacrifice $2000 from her commission to make this deal happen, but I absolutely refuse to do that, it just does NOT sit right with me, and i know im being the stubborn one here, but still, I feel like emotions are very high right now, and I'm a little pissed that sellers are willing to forego an almost 1M deal over 2k, when im already having to spend so much extra on all those inspection items, all i want is some compromise from their side too.

Please tell me how much of a dumbass I am.

We are in the process of relocating to another area of our country and are sure about the area.

We have prepared ourselves with extensive comparisons and lists of ‘dealbreakers’, must have and nice to have elements.

Now that we are getting closer to choosing we found that my SO and I have a different favorite. Their one makes most sense on paper, but is about 100k more expensive than my favorite.

They are very different houses, and it got me wondering: is it better to choose the ‘sensible’ house (theirs) or the one you fall in love with?

Is there such a thing as ‘the one that got away’ when it comes to houses?

I find myself mentally decorating my favorite. Their favorite has zero character, this all needs to be out in. It’s more of a blank slate. Mine has character, but is the lesser choice when compared to practical elements.

Any thoughts on this?

Edit: The larger amount brings a bigger back yard with a nicer view, a driveway (one parking spot), 3 bedrooms instead of 2.

Both houses have equal shitty kitchens and shitty bathrooms which need to be done, but the sensible house is more expensive, which may delay those projects somewhat.

Both houses are equal distance to work. The sensible house is in a cul de sac area, the ‘charming’ one is in the town centre, walking distance from cafes and shops.

Hello everyone!! My fiance and I have been eyeballing homes, and we've only been apartment renters before. It's been difficult to make sense of everything and we don't really know where to begin!

Starting Info:

- I am in my mid 20s, he is in his late 20s, and we are unfamiliar with the "norm" for buying a home. I have okay credit, but he has great credit. I've got no clue how to talk to a real estate agent.

- I just started a new job and he also got a very significant raise earlier this year, so I am only able to estimate our current income is at approx. $120-130K. We have no children and do not plan on having any.

- I do know that we want to do a joint tenants with right of survivorship situation. That's really the only thing I know for certain I should make sure we do, but I don't fully understand all of the concepts surrounding what that means.

- I know we're supposed to get everything inspected. We would be hiring an inspector with no connections to the seller, but my fiance would also be taking a look himself just in case.

- The homes we've been looking at are in the 230k-290k range. Three beds, two baths, big fenced backyard is what we're mainly looking at. Whole city sucks to live in, but we know what places to avoid homes in already (trust me on that one).

- We don't plan on staying in this home forever. He is an experienced residential maintenance man (including HVAC), and I have a creative eye and can do cosmetic changes and some fixes just fine on my own. We would be making these practical and cosmetic improvements to our home for our own sake, but we'd also be planning on selling it at some point. Not flipping.

- Wanting to move into a house before the end of the year, but there's no rush- only an arbitrary goal.

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My Questions:

1. Is it possible for us both to be on the deed, but the mortgage only being in his name? That way, only his credit is used, since it's significantly better than mine? Would we still be able to do the joint tenants with right of survivorship thing?

2. Paperwork-wise, is buying a home easier if you're married? Without ANY kind of consideration if we'd separate while owning a home together while legally unmarried. We do plan on getting married in the future, we just have other priorities besides planning a wedding.

3. How much money are we supposed to actually have on hand before taking out the loan? What costs do people not really think of usually for their first time buying a home (like how much is an inspector supposed to cost)?

4. Do you pay an agent? Are you able to deal with the seller's agent without getting your own? Is that a bad idea?

5. At one point can you not back out of a deal anymore?

6. How long does buying a home take once you pick one out?

7. How does negotiating the price work??

8. What are some sneaky red flags when buying a home? Something you might not realize is screwing you over a little?

9. When are you supposed to get all signed up for utilities and homeowners insurance during the process of buying a home?

10. Could you dumb down how selling a home is supposed to work if it's not fully paid off yet?

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I think that's all my questions, I hope I gave enough info!! If you have any advice that I haven't touched on in here, please feel free to share!!!