Rant: real estate agent commissions are freaking predatory and only contribute to the housing crisis Real Estate |
- Rant: real estate agent commissions are freaking predatory and only contribute to the housing crisis
- Send good vibes
- Seller asking to stay in home longer with only a week before closing - help needed!
- Is it possible to buy a small portion of land from a farmer for a house?
- Bought a house in Dec 2020, now have an opportunity to move to Switzerland…
- Pet owners- Is our insanely high security deposit justified?
- Is a Non-disclosure lawsuit worth it?
- Home sale proceeds/ when did your check clear?
- Allstate appliance warranty at Costco - don't waste your money
- (NC) Walkthrough ... miscommunication caused stove to be removed. What happens now?
- Would you select a highly respected, technically proficient, hard-working and experienced Real Estate Agent you did not like personally?
- HOA savings: Rule of thumb?
- Does 20% down Make for a "stronger offer" on a cheap home?
- 1.5 year old Heat Pump/HVAC stopped cooling - soon listing the house
- Walk Through Contingency...what?
- How to contact pending/new owner of my neighbors house?
- Real Estate Help regarding 2 side by side buildings
- Ethics of buyer throwing money at agents to push deal through?
- Insane Due Diligence Request (North Carolina)
- Home with existing tenant
- What should I avoid before starting renovations?
- Contrary to seller’s information we found out through appraisal that 1/5 of the house’s sq ft is only permitted as usable space rather than livable space
- Appraiser found something...
- Has anyone here purchased a home in the big bear area and rented it out as an Airbnb?
- Demolish home to keep location or buy new construction elsewhere
| Rant: real estate agent commissions are freaking predatory and only contribute to the housing crisis Posted: 12 Sep 2021 07:20 PM PDT I just went through the home buying process recently. About the ONLY value my agent provided me was helping me through the paperwork and process. But I could pay a real estate lawyer a flat per hour rate to do the paperwork for me. Rather than paying 3% of the sale price (I know, I know buyers don't technically pay commission; but you kinda do: it's just wrapped into the listing price). She didn't help me find properties nor would I need her help to do so. I know how to search a website and I can visit them. About all she did when I was looking was arrive and happen to know the code in the lockbox. That's not something worth $15,000+ of commissions. On the flip side, if I were to sell I could just as easily do FSBO and hire a real estate lawyer for the paperwork. But even then most real estate buyers agents will require a 3% commission just to "bring" their client to you even if they practically do almost no work. Real estate agent percentage based commission is predatory for what they do. Charge a flat per-service fee, I have no problem. But why am I paying you $15,000 to open a lockbox? Forgot to add: they contribute to the housing crisis by making it more expensive to buy and sell houses. If it was relatively inexpensive to sell your house or to buy a house, then we would see a lot more velocity in the real estate economy and a lot more availability. More availability == more stable appreciation. Edit: dear Realtors who think you don't operate in a cartel: [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 12 Sep 2021 06:37 PM PDT Husband and I submitted an offer on a home. We are in HCOL area in the PNW. Offered 50k over with an additional 50k over via escalation clause. Wish us luck! This is our third offer. First offer was accepted but fell through due to seller. [link] [comments]  |
| Seller asking to stay in home longer with only a week before closing - help needed! Posted: 12 Sep 2021 07:09 AM PDT We were just notified late last night that the seller of the home we are purchasing wants to stay in the home until the end of the month, if not a little longer into October. Closing is the 17th. We have arranged plans for movers, painting, etc that we wanted to do the weekend of the 17th and have our big move the weekend of the 24th. We are trying to be accommodating and are giving them the weekend of the 17th and asking that they be out by noon on the 20th. All of their stuff will be there for the final walk through - and while we realize that isn't completely uncommon, it's a big bummer for us as we have only been able to see the home once for a quick showing because of this crazy market. We won't be able to see the home empty until after closing at this point. They are not happy with us for not giving them more time and their realtor is being sharp with us. Shouldn't they have told us this sooner? Other than their hurt feelings over us not extending their time, is there anything else we should be considering right now? We feel like we have waived an awful lot and we want to move into our new home! We did check and the contract does at least say they would be responsible for any damages from their move. Any advice? Are they wrong? Are we? [link] [comments]  |
| Is it possible to buy a small portion of land from a farmer for a house? Posted: 12 Sep 2021 04:00 PM PDT I live in an area with a lot of farms and there are locations with some trees that are unused for farming that would be perfect for a country house. How would I go about trying to buy a piece?
I am in the United States. [link] [comments]  |
| Bought a house in Dec 2020, now have an opportunity to move to Switzerland… Posted: 12 Sep 2021 10:08 AM PDT My husband and I purchased a house in December of 2020 in Chicago. We were very lucky timing-wise because it was before the house craze really started and we offered asking and it was accepted same-day. We did renovations (about $125k worth), and moved in in April. My husband recently started a new job but then received an opportunity at another company to work in their Switzerland office. It's been our #1 goal and top dream to live in Europe, and Switzerland seems to be a beautiful place to do so. We doubt it's forever, but at least a few years. I remember back when we owned our last house (we were living in California at the time) we were told to wait 3 years before selling. We ended up having to move after 3 years anyways, but still made a great profit on the house. If we took this Switzerland opportunity it would start in January. So my dilemma is this: Do I sell the house? Do I rent it out? Airbnb it? Let it sit? Im worried about renters or Airbnb guests doing damage to things we just fixed (all new floors, etc.) and having to repair it all at some point, but also worry that just up and selling wouldn't be great investment-wise. Much of our money is tied up in this house, so it would be very difficult financially to just let it sit empty without passive income. What would you do in this situation? [link] [comments]  |
| Pet owners- Is our insanely high security deposit justified? Posted: 13 Sep 2021 12:55 AM PDT I always wanted to adopt my friend's cat; I absolutely love and adore her to death and want to keep her, but for so long the reason why I couldn't have her was because we were living in an apartment in a city, and it was just too small of a space for my family to take in a cat. Now, however, we are moving to a house with more space in Santa Cruz, CA. I was excited to adopt this cat and bring her with me, however the owner specifically outlined a strict "no pets (cats/dogs)" policy without having prior consent from the owner. This was in the leasing contract which has already been signed. I reached out to the owner who is really sweet and said that a previous tenant owned a cat that peed on wooden floors from the 1800s and to get rid of the cat urine odor that stayed, she had to replace a the flooring which costed her $10k out of pocket to repair in damages. Even though our cat is potty trained, she is still a huge liability for the owner and said that she'll think about possibly granting an exception, but it would cost us a very high security deposit in return. Any pet owners? Haveany advice? Is this really a legitimate issue/threat in housing or leasing? Pls help. ;/ [link] [comments]  |
| Is a Non-disclosure lawsuit worth it? Posted: 12 Sep 2021 04:06 PM PDT Our seller did not disclose HVAC issues or an electrical problem. We did a little digging on social media and have screenshots of the seller discussing the issues with our neighbor. [link] [comments]  |
| Home sale proceeds/ when did your check clear? Posted: 12 Sep 2021 07:05 PM PDT I know this is totally subjective, but just curious how long it took for your bank to cash your check?? We have BofA and they're saying it's gonna be a 2 week hold 😱 I need my money🤑 [link] [comments]  |
| Allstate appliance warranty at Costco - don't waste your money Posted: 12 Sep 2021 08:32 AM PDT TLDR - don't buy an extended warranty, for anything. The claim process is a ton of hassle and you get incompetent contractors. The insurance company tries every trick in the book to not pay any money. Instead, put some money aside to cover repairs, then find the best repair companies to fix the problems. And that includes home warranties during a house purchase. ************************************************* I'm generally not a warranty person, but I used to make an exception for Costco. I bought the Squaretrade warranty for phones and computers and I got items replaced a few times, no questions asked - Squaretrade was easy to work with back then, but not anymore. I purchased a refrigerator from Costco in 2018 with a 3 yr Squaretrade warranty. 2 weeks ago the ice maker started dripping water inside the ice box, causing the ice container to get stuck frozen inside; it's not shutting off when the ice tray is full, and the water overflows. I logged into my Squaretrade account to start a claim - had some trouble, had to reset my password, then eventually I saw that "Squaretrade" is now Allstate Insurance. So I started a claim, then eventually got on the phone. The agent told me I should try a manual defrost first. I didn't think that was going to help, but I played along. I didn't actually do a defrost, but I called back after 3 days to say that didn't work. During the second call things started going south. For the first 25 mins, frequently getting put on hold, they reconfirmed all my information, like I was starting a claim for the first time. Then the agent said they wanted me to send them a picture of the ice container frozen inside the door! I'm not making this up, they wanted pictures and video "to help diagnose the problem". I immediately asked for a supervisor, who eventually agreed to schedule a visit from a service company, as "a one time exception". The whole call lasted one hour. The company they were planning to send was AVA Appliance Repair. I looked them up on Google Maps - https://goo.gl/maps/CSLp4KQGv58jQzcp9 - they are rated 1.7 stars out of 5, on 100 reviews. Mostly 1-star reviews telling stories of guys showing up with no clue, no tools. So right then I decided I wasn't going through that again. A couple of years ago I made a claim on the home warranty we got with the house purchase. My dishwasher was down for about 3 weeks because the first repair company was awful. They didn't fix it but the second company was much better and fixed it - and I still had to pay $75. Then I googled "when did Allstate buy Squaretrade" - it was in 2016, 2 years before I got the fridge. But Costco were still selling it as a Squaretrade product. Turns out Squaretrade had been losing money for 4 years when they got bought. BUT, Costco is the best!! I just went online/chat and they refunded the cost of the warranty I purchased almost 3 years ago! [link] [comments]  |
| (NC) Walkthrough ... miscommunication caused stove to be removed. What happens now? Posted: 12 Sep 2021 09:43 PM PDT I told the crews helping me move everything out of my house "everything goes except the refrigerator". They didn't realize if its bolted in that automatically stays and doesnt apply. So, long story short, walkthrough is tomorrow at 1pm and the stove is missing. (I live 30 minutes from this property and couldnt oversee the whole thing). The house is otherwise perfectly moved out and 100% ready. Can they just add that stove as an additional fee I have to pay at closing? Or is this a much bigger deal. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 12 Sep 2021 11:35 PM PDT We are looking to buy a home in a fast-growing mid-sized southern city with a very competitive real estate market. Prices are going up fast and there are multiple bids for the few houses that hit the market. I expect it is going to be a long stressful housing search with many emotional highs and lows, rejected offers, and tough decisions. Two very experienced hard-working, technically proficient real estate agents came highly recommended. We meet with both of them to do a chemistry check to see if we clicked and to talk about their backgrounds and see how they could help us find a home. We were impressed with their background, resumes, and knowledge of the local real estate market. Though both agents were cold as ice. Completely without any warmth, personality, ability to engage in any small talk or interest in us as human beings. If they were doctors, people would say they did not have any bedside manner. Should this matter? Maybe. Is it important that they would not engage us in any small talk, greet us warmly, smile, or be able to support us personally (emotionally) when we get stressed out after losing bidding wars? Or should I be bothered when I feel uncomfortable talking to them because they are so cold? Or should I be happy to be working with one of the most respected and technically proficient agents in the city and ignore their negative personality? FYI: I am not looking for a friend or a lot of small talk. But maybe a little bit just to show that I am a fellow human being not just a $sign. Maybe their extreme coldness in a town that is known for southern hospitality and regular small talk between strangers is a sign of how they would treat us when things get tough. Or maybe it means they are cutthroat businessmen who will fight for us. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 12 Sep 2021 06:20 PM PDT Hi! Is there a rule of thumb about how much HOA should have in savings? I imagine there's a correlation with the condition of the property, recent renovations and number of units for example. I'm considering to buy a condo with 10 units in West LA that has $100k in savings but I don't have comparables to assess if this is a lot of not. [link] [comments]  |
| Does 20% down Make for a "stronger offer" on a cheap home? Posted: 12 Sep 2021 10:32 AM PDT Let's say something that's 100k. Let's also say it's not such a seller's market. Something that's a hundred grand with a 30-year mortgage shouldn't be as concerning if it will be paid for, in terms of 20% down being more attractive. I guess just in general is 20% down over 10 or 15% down going to make a big difference and being able to close on a cheap property like this? Side question... What does the seller really care about how much you're putting down as far as accepting offers? Aren't they going to get paid from the mortgage loan you take out regardless? [link] [comments]  |
| 1.5 year old Heat Pump/HVAC stopped cooling - soon listing the house Posted: 12 Sep 2021 05:39 PM PDT We bought our home in Virginia last year and the previous owner installed Goodman heat pump and HVAC system in 2020 as well. The HVAC unit stopped cooling and previous owner said "he does not know who installed it". We are pushing him to provide this info and also planning to call the manufacturer to see if they know who installed it. I neglected to get this information last year. Another wrinkle is we are relocating out of state and selling this house next month - will lose some money after all fees. So trying to minimize anymore house expenses. A tech made a quick visit & found the refrigerant was low - meaning possibly a leak somewhere. Fixing will cost ~2k per their estimate so only choices are:
Are there some other choices that I am missing like giving credit to buyer to repair themselves? Or is it more cost-effective to repair it ourselves and sell for max price? Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| Walk Through Contingency...what? Posted: 13 Sep 2021 12:31 AM PDT Walk through happened on an as is home. Contract stated sold as is. Contract stated Seller was still removing personal items from home pre-closing. Occupany given at closing. During walk through 24 hours before closing, Buyer decided excessive personal items remained. Buyer (my uncle btw) got earnest money returned. Like is that normal? As is sale? I don't get it. (ETA: Buyer = my uncle & excessive personal items = two moving boxes in a corner of one room = reason to back out bc he found another property he preferred) (Also ETA: my uncle is kinda a jerk. And I want to become a realtor after graduation. So really trying to learn here.) [link] [comments]  |
| How to contact pending/new owner of my neighbors house? Posted: 12 Sep 2021 08:26 PM PDT So I have this piece of land that when I first bought it, it had no borders or line/fence that say how much of it I own. So I eventually hire a surveyor and find out my neighbor next door is occupyin a nice chunk of my land by parking his cars there. Eventually I confront to him and say what I just mentioned and he's cool and all and we agree (verbally) that he can keep using it since I'm not doing anything with my property (for now but I will set up a shop later down the line) until I find out he's selling his house and im not sure if he has disclosed to the new buyers (the house is currently on pending) that my land is not part of his property. I'm trying to get in touch with him but he's never around, is there anything I can do to get in touch with the pending new buyers to let em know or something? I will set up a fence this week and hope nothing serious comes out of it. Im sorry if this post breaks the rules. TL:DR neighbor is occupying my land and is now selling his house. Im trying to get in touch with him or the buyers to let em know that I own that part of the property that he's occupying [link] [comments]  |
| Real Estate Help regarding 2 side by side buildings Posted: 13 Sep 2021 12:02 AM PDT I had 2 very important questions regarding real estate. First off, do I have to sell my home to if I have equity. I invested in my property in 2011 and it's worth double the price now. But rather than selling the property and investing in another property with the profit I get and then getting into a better position because I already have most of the house paid off, it would be better for me to just stay at the house I purchased. So if I was able to use equity to better my financial position rather than selling my house it would be much better. Second off, there's a property next to mine so I was wondering if things don't work out, if I will be able to get out of the situation somehow so I don't mess up my financial stability. I am not the greatest at this stuff so thank you all for sticking with beginner me and reading this through, any help is appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Ethics of buyer throwing money at agents to push deal through? Posted: 12 Sep 2021 07:27 AM PDT I know someone that bid on a competitive house, but knew he wasn't going to be the highest offer, so he offered to pay each agent an undisclosed amount of cash under the table and got the house. Is this ethical or even allowed? [link] [comments]  |
| Insane Due Diligence Request (North Carolina) Posted: 12 Sep 2021 05:30 PM PDT Put in an offer for a house in North Carolina. Details: Original asking: $169,000 Offered: $160,000 Counteroffer: 165,000 Paperwork signed, offer accepted. Due diligence - $500 Earnest money - $5,000 Down payment 20% Contract signed, seller responded, everything is good to go. Tomorrow morning I was scheduled to get a cashiers check and send it over to the realtor. A few hours before I'm ready for bed the realtor contacts me and tells me that the seller read the contract wrong and wants a substantial increase on due diligence, after counter offering and lowering our due diligence period by 5 days previously. He wants $5,000 in due diligence and $5,000 earnest money. Originally we noticed a bunch of errors in the original contract regarding the condition of the house and reached out to the realtor, the realtor went back to the seller and got the "errors" corrected regarding issues with HVAC / ELECTRICAL / PLUMBING. The original contract stated that there was issues with all three of these things, we wanted to follow up and ask about it. We were told these were all errors, they fixed the contract and sent it back over to us. Now after all these errors in the contract that we had to have fixed prior to signing (thank god we actually read what we were signing) the seller is pressuring our due diligence period and wants a crazy increase and stated "it was read incorrectly" The contract was signed, the seller accepted, and now were being asked for a crazy increase in non-refundable money. I'm backing out of the deal, I don't feel comfortable and I'm starting to think there's something wrong with the house that isn't worth repairing. Anyone have any experience with this type of insanity? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 12 Sep 2021 03:53 PM PDT Hey guys, I am looking at a property in SF bay area that has an existing tenant where the seller said they can "either stay or go" depends on new buyer preference. Supposedly the lease is month to month now My understanding is that this type of a situation is a instant nope out given the protective law in California. My agent says it maybe possible to do close of escrow after tenant move out. Any thoughts? [link] [comments]  |
| What should I avoid before starting renovations? Posted: 12 Sep 2021 06:17 AM PDT My wife and I are (hopefully) closing on a house Wednesday. The inspection brought nothing to light and the appraisal looked great noting no repairs necessary and appraised $13k over the price were paying. Come Wednesday, we are moving in and wanting to start some renovations. The house is in good condition, basically just needs updating (needs new paint EVERYWHERE, bathrooms need updating, the deck needs paint removed, and the kitchen needs a few small updates) but nothing structurally needs fixed. My question is, what is a good rule of thumb to not spend more than what its worth? We plan on living here 5-8 years. I know the market is unpredictable so taking that out of the equation, are there things we should spare some cost on that, when repaired, wont bring much value to the house? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 12 Sep 2021 07:00 PM PDT TL;DR: Sellers seemingly unknowingly gave us wrong information, yet we are the ones having to pay for the mistakes made by various people involved. What can or should we do? We're currently in escrow and only a couple days away from closing. Our appraisal came in short, and we found out through the appraiser that the ground floor is only permitted as usable space rather than livable space, resulting in around 500 sq ft that can't be counted towards our property's valuation. The entire floor is accessible through an interior staircase, has windows and doors to the backyard, central AC, as well as an additional bathroom. The quality and overall finishes are in line with the rest of the house. However, public data is missing the additional sq footage. When asked, the seller's agent advised us that the work was fully permitted. Our agent (and we) took their word initially, and received permits and certificates of occupancy upon entering escrow. The permits submitted match the additional sq ft missing on public records, though the appraiser noticed that they are for a different addition that was made. The sellers seemingly didn't know about this, and similarly bought the house about 6-7 years ago thinking it was fully permitted (their appraiser happened to use the full sq ft). While it seems this was an honest mistake on the seller's side, and similarly our agent's side, we end up being the only ones paying for this mistake by having to cover the gap between the appraisal and selling price. And, down the road, running into risks that come with unpermitted space as well as having to pay for getting the space properly permitted. We feel a bit betrayed here - even if unknowingly - since it increased the value of the property and the money we and others bid (they had multiple offers around the same price). What's the right way of handling this situation from our end? Our agent has at this point acknowledged mistakes on their as well as the sellers agent's side but both show zero remorse or intent to do anything about this. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 12 Sep 2021 04:47 PM PDT We are waiting for our second appraisal for the house that we are under contract for. The appraiser has included notes saying that his opinion will be subject to tearing down the back porch. Our realtor is encouraging us to wait it out. Can you help me understand why? Here's our scenario. Our lease is up in less than 60 days. Neither the inspection or first appraiser saw any issue with the porch. At first I felt like maybe the appraiser was being overly cautious as the work wasn't professionally done. However, in reading the verbage, the notes are clear. It's not safe. The way I see it now was that the second appraiser actually saw it after rain. Looking back there is no furniture or anything on the porch whereas the house is beautifully furnished everywhere else. To paint a clear picture, the entire porch is almost half the size of the house. It's a large area and it was a selling point for us. Our realtor was a bit optimistic when he told my husband the news and when my husband asked questions he said that he would have to get clarification. After asking a couple of times, our realtor sent us the email with the exact verbage and we were so disappointed and upset. It feels like our realtor has been totally downplaying the situation. The email was extremely clear. It does seem like the seller would be willing to drop the price. Ironically, what we feared the most is a non-issue. However, the "subject to"....They are actually out of the country. They are unlikely to tear down the porch, and frankly I don't want the house with a torn down or unsafe porch. That porch was THE reason we were willing to go for a smaller house. I have seen the listing from the last time the home was for sale ten yrs ago and it said that the porch needed to be torn down. This is a newer porch, and now the same thing is being said. This does not sound like a good situation to me. Am I over reacting? Would you continue to wait or would you move to cancel the contract? If you would continue to wait, what for exactly? (Honestly asking) [link] [comments]  |
| Has anyone here purchased a home in the big bear area and rented it out as an Airbnb? Posted: 12 Sep 2021 10:39 PM PDT |
| Demolish home to keep location or buy new construction elsewhere Posted: 12 Sep 2021 10:20 PM PDT My wife and I bought an old 1930s lake home several years ago in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul). I did an extensive, costly renovation on the home which required new plumbing, electrical and HVAC. In retrospect I should have torn down the home and built from scratch. The home is worth about 1.1 million today thanks to the strong real estate market. If I sold it now I'd probably break even or have a slight loss. Homes in our area sell for around 600-900k (off the lake) to 1.5-3 million (on the lake). Our home is on the low end of lake homes around here. In our home we have beautiful lake views from nearly every room. The school district is one of the best in the state. We live in a walkable area with a grocery store and movie theater within about a 10 min walk. There are biking and walking trails nearby. It's a short commute downtown or to the airport, which is a major hub with direct flights to everywhere from Tokyo to London. Our suburb is highly desirable and homes frequently sell above asking with multiple bids. It would be very hard to find a similar lake home in this area. Having said that, I don't like our home. I had no idea what I was doing when I hired my contractor. My costly renovation wasn't done well thanks to some subpar subcontractors. Due to several additions to the home over the years, the home's layout is a bit odd and we don't fully utilize the 3700 sq ft layout. The home has a one car garage (most homes around here have 2-3 car garages). There are foundation cracks that need repair. Additionally, the large lot size is difficult to maintain and I spend a lot of my weekends doing yard work. My wife and I love the location, but would prefer a smaller, newer home with a better layout. I've thought about two options that I'd like to follow 3-5 years from now:
Which option would you choose and why? [link] [comments]  |
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