DO NOT USE Redfin's Title Company "Title Forward" they're the WORST! Real Estate |
- DO NOT USE Redfin's Title Company "Title Forward" they're the WORST!
- Coming into land, advice on how to proceed.
- I read that the only people who know anything about real estate investing are actual real estate investors, and of those investors, only a handful are actually good enough at it to offer good advice. Thay being said, where would a kid like me find a good real estate investing mentor?
- Appraiser was given a repair bid from contractor from prior appraisal
- Advice? "Rent to own"
- (GA) As a buyer, should my agent give me access to MLS listings?
- Interested in flipping homes or manufactured homes.
- Advice needed! My home for sale is not getting any showings at all
- Buyer missing close date by 5 days -- required to formally extend escrow?
- Under contract on home, inspections show only a couple major items (septic and chimney, specific to furnace flue, lead paint in bilco doors). Looking for suggestions on how to approach seller.
- Contingencies related to smoking
- House loan and title without living in the property?
- Whoops?
- Tellus App
- Chances of a counter-offer going through?
- How to split bills when renting one room in my 3Bd House?
- USDA Rural Development - under contract for home marked with private road during appraisal in MI
- Sellers “too busy” to reach for now-expired offer
- Need Advice on New Homeowner's Rights (Texas) on Remodel When New Home Floods & Sellers Covering Costs on Their Insurance.
- Why are leasing agents at apartment complexes so snobby?
- California Real Estate Agent certification to handle my own home sales/purchases - your thoughts
- Buying adjoining property just because it's cheap?
- Advice needed: Low offer because of low commission?
- Logistics of Buying then Selling - Bridge Loan?
| DO NOT USE Redfin's Title Company "Title Forward" they're the WORST! Posted: 31 Jul 2019 06:25 AM PDT My colleagues and I have had consistently bad experiences with Redfin's title/settlement company Title Forward, but this one really takes the cake. Here's the story: Buyers under contract, everything goes smoothly toward settlement. Buyers show up, sign all their documents with Title Forward, but NEVER BRING THEIR DOWN PAYMENT! (about $700k+). Turns out the buyers are trying to scam and never had the money, but that's a side note. Title Forward completes the transaction, even goes so far as to record the new deed with the County, so these buyers are the new owners of the house, even though the transaction is incomplete. This screw up is incredibly egregious and is a complete shitshow to unravel and pull back. Attorneys are obviously involved, there are a number of lawsuits resulting. Any reputable title/settlement company would have never allowed this transaction to close. Colossal neglect and stupidity. Silver lining is that the sellers have an excellent agent (not me) who knows what they're doing and has the place back on the market and will get it sold again, but there's a natural stigma to any house that goes on/off and it does cause the sellers financial harm, especially since the market has cooled and was sold the first time in the 'hot' spring period. Redfin has their place in the market, if you're using a RF agent to purchase DO NOT USE TITLE FORWARD as your settlement company. Just don't allow it. If you're selling to a RF buyer, make sure to get your own settlement/title representative. [link] [comments]  |
| Coming into land, advice on how to proceed. Posted: 01 Aug 2019 04:49 AM PDT A family member has been trying to sell a plot of land in New Hampshire with no luck. If it does not sell in the next few months she is giving it to me. I am sure even that process will have its problems but as someone still with his parents I hope for advice with how to use the land. It has a well and electricity. It has been used in the past for two mobile homes and has not been used in years. Since it is just me I originally thought of buying a tiny house, if those are allowed. My dad suggests digging a foundation and buying a modular house. A more expensive option but one with more space. Both options include the fact I need to set up septic. I could try selling the land but the current asking price already seems low with no takers. I am not planning to do anything with the land right away since there is alot of planning to do and the land itself probably needs cleaning up. But any advice on what to look into or prepare for is appreciated. If more info is needed say so in the comments. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Jul 2019 08:32 PM PDT I'm just a 20 year old who has the pipe dream of investing in real estate one day. I've learned over the years that I'm an "obliger" which is a term that basically means that I am super good at doing what other people expect of me, but I don't do anything that I expect of myself. Translation: all of my goals are simply pipe dreams, even the simple ones like drinking water every day. Anything that SOMEONE ELSE asks me to do, though, I'll do it in a heartbeat, and chances are I'll do it really really well. I thrive in work and school environments where expectations are layed out clearly in front of me for me to meet. So I figure if I ever want to make my pipe dream of investing in real estate anything more than a pipe dream, I'll have to find a mentor to coach me through it. I had someone I thought could do this for me. He's a business real estate broker that I've been working for over the summer. He's convinced my to get my RE license, and he's been giving me other types of advice, too, like about building my credit and what my first investment should be. However, his advice on credit cards made me take a step back. He told me that to build my credit I should only pay the minimum on my purchases because I have to carry credit to build credit. My parents had told me the opposite, that when I get a credit card I should be careful to pay back my debts in full every single month. I told him what my parents told me, and he launched himself into a lecture about how building credit is a privilege that comes with a price, and the price is paying interest on your credit card purchases. Naturally, I took to the internet and discovered that that simply isn't true. You CAN build credit paying your balance in full, and that is the method that pretty much every single online source recommended. So then I questioned whether I should listen to my current mentor, get my RE liscence, etc. Then I read the quote mentioned in the title on a real estate blog post. The blog specifically mentioned that no matter what they say, real estate brokers have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to real estate investing. So now, I feel like I'm back to square one when it comes to finding a solid real estate mentor. Do any of yall have any advice for where I should look to find real estate investors that might want to share some knowledge? Do yall have any stories about where yall found a worthwhile mentor? [link] [comments]  |
| Appraiser was given a repair bid from contractor from prior appraisal Posted: 31 Jul 2019 06:47 PM PDT So we're almost at the end of the home buying process, (not our first), but the appraisal has me annoyed. We won a house at auction, signed contracts. With our first lender we paid for the appraisal, it's 2 weeks late, appraiser recommends repairs to be made and underwriter required all. Seller won't fix anything and first lender doesn't do rehab, so we picked a new lender. Talked to the new lender about repairs needed and they said no problem, we can do a repair escrow. Paid for a second appraisal because they said they can't use another lender's appraisal, fine. Loan officer asks for all financials, even a contractors repair bid based on our first appraisal just to get the ball rolling (used him before for other projects and he did it from photos only). Second appraisal comes back and the loan officer gave the new appraiser, the repair bid from the old appraisal we were told they can't use, it was scanned in as a page in the appraisal. So in my mind, the new appraiser did not have an unbiased opinion. Is this normal? Legal (ridiculous)? I ask because now the underwriter is requiring everything on the repair bid and more. We're doing much of the work ourselves and our contractor will bill us low so we get most of our cash back, but it just seems shady when the job of the appraiser is to give their unbiased opinion independent of the transaction. And I'm annoyed my cash will be tied up in escrow for nearly a month. We are already past the closing date, so really trying to push this through, but any thoughts? Talk to the loan officer or call the appraisal company? Stop worrying about it since the contractor is willing to work with us to get our money back? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2019 01:39 AM PDT My dad's friend who lives across the street from him has a townhouse that inherited from his father who passed away. He wants to get rid of the house and move to a different state. He wants to offer rent-to-own, 100% goes to my equity in owning and no interest rate. The problem is my wife and I just signed a lease 5 weeks ago. What would you do in this situation? Ignore offer or figure something out? [link] [comments]  |
| (GA) As a buyer, should my agent give me access to MLS listings? Posted: 31 Jul 2019 03:55 PM PDT I've bought a home before, and my real estate agent gave me access to the MLS. He made a filter based off of what I was looking for (e.g. 3BD home with at least 2BA), but I could also search outside of those parameters and browse for myself. It was the FMLS if that matters. Fast forward 1.5 years, and I can't use my old agent because he's out of the biz. I'm chatting with a different real estate agent and she's saying that she'll look around based on what I told her I'm looking for and email me some houses that she thinks will fit. I asked her about access to the MLS and she says that the MLS is for agents only and there's no consumer-facing site/app for it. She also says that I can just send her links from Zillow or RedFin and she can set up showings (I guess by then plugging the address into her agent version of the MLS). This doesn't seem like the most efficient way to do things. Is she blowing smoke/doesn't have the right tools to do the job? Should I try finding another agent? [link] [comments]  |
| Interested in flipping homes or manufactured homes. Posted: 31 Jul 2019 09:48 PM PDT Hi guys, I just closed on the sale of my home and ended up walking away with 200k I'm wanting to invest in real estate by flipping homes or manufactured homes. My credit is pretty much shot and I have no proof of income so I can't take out a loan to purchase a home. I used to own a restaurant for 20 plus years and lost it recently. I have the money to start another restaurant but I just don't have the passion for it anymore. What I'm truly asking is how can I flip a home if I can't even buy a home because of my credit. Are there ways to flip a home bad credit? [link] [comments]  |
| Advice needed! My home for sale is not getting any showings at all Posted: 31 Jul 2019 10:18 AM PDT This is my first time selling a house so I'm not very familiar with what to expect. My house has been on the market for 28 days now without a single showing (not counting people that have showed up for open houses). I was hoping I could get some advice from some of y'all. I don't have any issues with my realtor, but I'd like to get some other opinions. I am in a very good but old neighborhood in a large city. Right now, there are a ton of 20/30-somethings moving in, buying 50-year-old homes, and either gutting them or rebuilding from the ground up. I bought the house and have done a bunch of upgrades in addition to taking good care of it. For what it's worth, I think it's a great house. Some more info about the house:
It seems like, up until the day I listed the house, the neighborhood (even just my little street) was hot. There were numerous demos/new builds/complete renovations in the past year and those houses sold for much higher rates. The houses that sold that were not completely upgraded sold quickly too. I'm just perplexed as to why there hasn't been a SINGLE showing. My realtor has us listed on every website under the sun, has sent out direct mailers, mass-contacted agents in our city, etc. There have been 2 open houses with a few groups showing up each time - people have made good comments about the house and one group even stuck around for over an hour. Is there something incredibly obvious I am missing here? Is July just the worst possible month to list a house? (For obvious privacy reasons I'm not disclosing the address but if you send me a message I can share a little more...) Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Buyer missing close date by 5 days -- required to formally extend escrow? Posted: 31 Jul 2019 09:30 PM PDT After a lot of stress and whack-a-mole'ing problems and generally taking 10 years off my life through this whole process, I'm told my buyers finally got their clear to close today. Our scheduled close date is tomorrow 8/1, but now everyone is telling me our close date will be 8/6. I'm fine with that, I just want the whole process to be over with, but I'm wondering if we should be formally extending the escrow closing date. When I threatened NOT to agree to that yesterday because I felt like my agent and the buyers were playing games, everyone just about had a heart attack. Today I said I'm willing to sign an extension and now my agent doesn't seem to think it's a big deal. So... Is it a big deal? Everyone seems committed to hitting the 8/6 close date, so will it be a problem if we just let the original close date slip without some kind of documentation saying that we all agree to it? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Jul 2019 08:15 PM PDT House was built in 1967, Rancher that had a major renovation in 2005 which extended the kitchen and added a master. We just completed all the inspections and only major items were with the chimney, septic draining, and lead paint on the bilco doors for basement access. Chimney: The previous owner installed a wood stove which connects into the furnace flue, not code, and the flue needs a new steel lining plus removal of that line. Plus fireplace needs some work on the flue. Septic: Inspection found that the tank is sealed properly but the water didn't drain as it should. They think it's possible root damage to the dry well or drain field but needs more investigation. Bilco Doors: Found to contain lead paint. Didn't look like it was peeling so not sure how concerning this is. Any suggestions on how we should approach this with the seller would be much appreciated. Our thought was to request an escrow or something be setup upon sell of the house for these fixes and we would work to get them addressed. Anyway, let me know. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Contingencies related to smoking Posted: 31 Jul 2019 07:59 PM PDT Just finished touring an older home and really like it. Only drawback was a musty odor, which we couldn't quite place -- was it from smoking, from the recent paint job, or simply from the elderly nature of the home where it hadn't been ventilated in a while in a hot climate (or all of the above?). Our agent wasn't sure, and their agent said she "didn't know if they smoked or not." We absolutely don't want to live in a home that was smoked in for years, but we are in an extremely competitive market and don't have the luxury of going back for a second look, testing the air on our own, etc. Does anyone have any suggested contingencies to include in our offer to cover an air quality/tobacco exposure inspection and being able to back out if such is detected? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| House loan and title without living in the property? Posted: 31 Jul 2019 03:50 PM PDT Hello guys, I really need some help on this. So, originally I was going to move in with my parents to this new house that my parents are still waiting to have it finish closing (papers and all). So I decided to change my mind and stay in the northern VA area since this is where the jobs are and I have few options for colleges. However, my mom wanted to transfer the loan to my name eventually (long story). Do I have to physically live in the house to have the loan and title transferred to me? This is for the state of Maryland btw. If I do, is there any way around this like a power of attorney or something since the house isn't for commercial use it's just my parents will be living there but I won't. Thank you to anyone who can add some enlighten on this :) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Jul 2019 07:22 PM PDT So, I was out looking for a place to be done with apartments and may have put myself in a bind. It was my first time going through the process and I didn't notice the option period was blank on the sales contract, I'm in Texas. Anyways, I found an "as is" property and decided to move forward but after getting quotes on the repairs I've had a bit of a change of heart. Can I get out of the contract now or am I gonna be on beans and rice for a while? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Jul 2019 06:21 PM PDT Anyone using Tellus app? I'm a landlord and have been using them for a while to manage my property. I'm wondering if there are any other landlords using this and if they could share their experiences. [link] [comments]  |
| Chances of a counter-offer going through? Posted: 31 Jul 2019 09:10 AM PDT Hi there. My apologies in advance if this question is dumb. My fiance and I are just very anxious. We have been trying to sell his house for 7 months now (we live in Las Vegas). There has been several visits from potential buyers but no offers. We finally got an offer last Sunday. The buyer offered $200k with a deduction of $3k for closing costs so $197k in total, which we are fine with since the house is listed for $199k. However, the issue is buyer did not list in their contract to buy the house "as listed". So my fiance's real estate agent said to counter offer, the price would remain the same just the contract would be revised to include "buyer is buying the house as listed". Our real estate agent came by on Monday to have the paperwork signed and he would submit the same day. He gave them a two day response time. Today would be the last day to respond. I'm just curious as to how often counter offers go through. The buyer made the offer on the house the same day they came to see it (Sunday). Thanks for reading, I am just itching to get out of this house so we can upgrade. Edit: So it turns out they accepted the offer, our real estate was too busy yesterday to call us. Thank you guys for the answers. [link] [comments]  |
| How to split bills when renting one room in my 3Bd House? Posted: 31 Jul 2019 05:49 PM PDT I own a 3 bedroom home and have started to rent out one of the spare rooms. In our lease I state that Electricity and Internet is additional to the rent. This is the end of the first month so I am trying to calculate the utilities he owes. I am a bit new to this and want to be fair but also treat this as a business. Is it fair to split the electricity bill and internet straight down the middle? I only occupy one bedroom and may consider renting out the other extra bedroom. Would it make more sense to charge him a third of the bills only? Not sure how to proceed. I use a little more electricity than him due to my electric car as well... [link] [comments]  |
| USDA Rural Development - under contract for home marked with private road during appraisal in MI Posted: 31 Jul 2019 05:44 PM PDT We are currently under contract with a home in MI - using a rural development loan. Appraisal came back at value! (YAY! If you read my post history, we lost the last home due to a very low appraisal) It was marked as a private road and I'm not sure what happens next. The home is off of dirt roads next to a private lake and other houses. I'm trying to ease my mind that we won't lose the house because of this. I don't think a private road agreement is in place and from what I read it's not required but an easement must exist..? Is this something only the sellers can provide and will it delay us greatly? We are so close to the finish line :( [link] [comments]  |
| Sellers “too busy” to reach for now-expired offer Posted: 31 Jul 2019 05:30 PM PDT We put in an offer on a vacant rental that's now listed for sale. Listed on 7/22 for $250k, we offered $240k contingent on selling our house (it was listed earlier this month). Initially it seemed the sellers' agent didn't even want to present our offer since we are not loan pre-approved (we are only pre-qualified and will be pre-approved when we accept an offer on our home) and contingent. Now we hear that the listing agent says "the sellers are really busy" (sounds like he hasn't even gotten a hold of them) and he still has no response from them and suggests because of our time frame, maybe we should look elsewhere. So our offer has now expired. We are currently negotiating an offer on our home, so we are considering reissuing an offer on the rental when we are under contract and pre-approved. It seems to us like the listing agent wasn't trying too hard to reach the sellers. Or is it normal-ish to list your home for sale and bail? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Jul 2019 01:27 PM PDT I am designing a kitchen remodel for a client who just purchased a home in Texas. Their home had a leak and flooded into kitchen, and the seller's insurance is covering "replacement" costs since it happened right after closing. The Seller's are claiming the Buyer's cannot be in charge of their own remodel and are paying the insurance companies suggested suppliers and contractors directly. The buyer was going to remodel the kitchen anyway as it is outdated and the layout is awful, but wants to have that money go toward materials/labor of their choosing so they actually get what they want and don't waste money putting in sub-par materials with no input on design. Insurance companies "preferred" providers I have worked with are notoriously awful as the insurance company is trying to pay the least amount possible, so they don't get anywhere close to good quality work/materials. The money the sellers are putting into the fix is not going to cover all of what they actually want, but it will be a decent chunk and allow them to get things that are better quality than what is there now. The sellers are pushing back and saying they aren't allowed to do that and are essentially forcing them into a new kitchen they don't want. The value of other homes in the area completely warrant an actual quality upgrade so the ROI would be totally shot with this crap replacement. Bought for $435k, other comparibles in upgraded condition are $550k. Some houses nearby are $600k to over $1.2 Million. Anyone have advice on what their rights are and if the seller's truly can dictate what goes into the new kitchen even though it's not their home anymore? This seems sketchy and completely unfair, and such a waste of money and materials that they would want to rip out anyway (which they probably won't now and just live with a kitchen they hate). [link] [comments]  |
| Why are leasing agents at apartment complexes so snobby? Posted: 31 Jul 2019 04:58 PM PDT I've visited 4 apartments in the past few days in a large metropolitan city. Each agent was very snobby. For example, one was always on her phone while giving me the tour and very unfriendly. The other was boasting about the price of his apartment. It just seemed VERY unnaceptable, especially for these so called "luxury" apartment complexes I was looking at (in the 1500-2200 1 bedroom price range). Has anyone else experienced this? [link] [comments]  |
| California Real Estate Agent certification to handle my own home sales/purchases - your thoughts Posted: 31 Jul 2019 04:54 PM PDT Seems like a simple question but those are often misleading: I'm interested in getting a sales cert (have a broker-friend who'll sponsor me) to handle my own purchases and sales, is one online exam prep school as good as the next ergo shoot for low cost or is there a preferred company that has exceptional information? I tend to educate myself for knowledge, not just to pass a test, so information takes precedence for my values however if they're all the same than I'd just as soon not pay top tier prices for the same product. Any thoughts greatly appreciated. Further info about me: disabled combat veteran, connected with a great network of construction, finance and property management, coming into a good chunk of working capital and keenly interested in avoiding working with the low-quality individuals who seem to saturate the market in my region (as well as their non-value-adding fees). I realize the hubris in this statement but I could literally do this myself but for some fundamental knowledge and I guess a license. TIA [link] [comments]  |
| Buying adjoining property just because it's cheap? Posted: 31 Jul 2019 01:03 PM PDT I own a 2 acre lot with a commercial building on it. The owner of the lot beside it reached out to me to give me first right of refusal. It's 3 acres, with an older house, a barn, and a post office which he leases to the town. He's asking $160k, which seems too low. Would it be a bad idea to buy land that I will have to get a loan for, that I don't need, just because it's cheap? Or will I regret not buying up adjoining property? I realize this is kind of open ended and vague, but I'm really torn and would like any opinions you have. [link] [comments]  |
| Advice needed: Low offer because of low commission? Posted: 31 Jul 2019 04:38 PM PDT Hi all. First time home seller here. Our house has been on the market for 60 days now. It's currently on the market at $485k and it had a $10k reduction a month ago. It's had a couple open houses and 26 showings so far and is still getting showings about every other day. The first and only offer came in yesterday for $450k all cash. The buyer also happens to be a customer of my agent so I would only be paying the seller's agent commission on this. While the all cash offer with short escrow is appealing, our neighbor in the same community with the same floorplan and square footage closed last week at $477k and another neighbor just listed theirs at $550k. So it doesn't seem like we're priced unreasonably. Factoring in the fact that the commission is cut in half, this offer would be effectively around $10k below the most recent sales comp. So I guess the question is, should I accept the offer due to the lower commission (which my agent seems to want me to take) or hope that my agent is able to get a better one in light of recent activity? Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Logistics of Buying then Selling - Bridge Loan? Posted: 31 Jul 2019 02:59 PM PDT My wife and I plan on upgrading our home spring/summer of 2020. The kind of property that we want (large lot, slightly rural) don't go on sale very often. So I don't think we'll have the luxury of selling our house and then finding something new to move into. That being the case, we are planning on waiting for a house we want and buying and moving into the new house prior to selling our current home. This will allow time to find the right property for us, but obviously provides some logistical challenges financially. We're looking for some guidance on our options to pull off buying the new house before selling the current one. We talked to someone at our bank (not a loan officer) who said our only option was a contingency on our offer, but I think it'll nearly impossible to pull that off in our market. Some details on our situation:
One strategy that I've thought of to this point was that we could use the $25K in savings to make a minimal down payment on the new mortgage, move into the new house, sell the current house, then put the money from the sale toward the second mortgage and have them recast the loan. The issue with this one would be getting approved for the new mortgage. DTI with the existing home's mortgage, the new home's mortgage & cost of childcare (if they include that) would be around 49% if they include all 3. If the don't include child care, we should be good. So what are our other options? I've seen bridge loans mentioned, but don't understand how this can help. Any guidance on the above or new suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
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