I have a second home that I’m interested in sharing with a friend. How complicated would it be to sell them half the property?

I am a first time home seller (FL, USA) and spoke with a Realtor yesterday. When we discussed the charges for the service, I was presented with a very long list of charges and fees. I wanted to ask if any of the following are considered fluff fees that actually aren't standardized in the industry:

-Doc Stamps - Deed $1,540.00

-Owner's Title Insurance $1175.00

-Settlement Fee $695.00

-Estoppel $299.00

-Lien Search $210.00

-Title Search $75.00

Are any/all of these fees negotiable/waivable? Are these "fair" amounts assuming my home is being listed around $200,000?

So after many tries looks like we are close to going under contract on a (stucco) home. On a hunch I asked the listing agent what kind of stucco was it. He proudly announces “EIFS” like it’s a good thing…arggggghh!

For those that aren’t aware, EIFS has been plagued with many problems due to improper installation which results in moisture getting trapped behind the “stucco” and causing havoc interior structures. In extreme cases folks have had to rip it all off and completely reclad the home using traditional materials.

I spent six years shadowing my ex in the 90s and working through about 100 transactions emphatically recommending that clients NOT buy an EIFS home for any reason. And now here I am 15 years later contemplating going against my own advice.

Home is in SE Wisconsin and it appears any kind of stucco is pretty rare there and EIFS even more rare such that most agents and thus buyers aren’t even familiar with it. This allays my main fear as our reasoning previously was that you should never buy it for the stigma alone. However, now there should be much less of an issue as most people just don’t know about it (it’s not even a discloseable item on the standard WI form!!)

Anyway, at a minimum I plan on doing a full, invasive EIFS inspection (where they drill tiny holes in the EIFS and insert a moisture probe). And you’d better believe seller will be on the hook to cover 100% of repair costs on that. Of course the sellers insist they have had zero issues in the 20 years they have been there. This is going to be a good example on how critical due diligence is and will be interesting to see how it plays out.

This is yet another sad commentary on the real estate industry. I have a buyers agent (22 years experience) who I’m paying $25k. She’s never even heard of EIFS. I absolutely don’t expect agents to be experts, but I absolutely expect you to understand the set of building materials you are likely going to encounter in your area as it is critical to be able to protect your clients. She seems to have adopted the same thinking I see from most agents which is this is all stuff to not be involved in and just let the buyers become aware (after they’ve blown $2000 in inspections)

Just curious if anyone has any advice. Don’t want to run into a resale problem down the road.

A brief conversation in this sub inspired this post. I’m curious what percentage of property owners found their property/properties because their agent made them aware of it vs finding it on their own. Idk how to do a poll so if someone else does let me know or post one. This isn’t a “bash realtors post” so save your wasted anger for something else.

You are and EU citizen but have a long standing green card and have lived in California most of your adult life.

And you will soon have a fair amount of money from a house sale. You are single with no kids and self employed. Immediate family is in California and extended family is in Northern Europe.

Where do you go and what do you do in this current crazy state of affairs? Do you leave the country and if so where do you go and start over? Or do you stay and wait out the madman’s reign and hope for the best?

Hello. It feels like I’ve been doing all the work actually FINDING the properties. I found a FSBO myself, and found one I want to tour myself with the owner.

How do I terminate my contract with my buyer’s agent? Can I terminate ?

Do I renegotiate and pay her a fixed fee for some other benefit of having a realtor? With this realtor, we have submitted many unsuccessful offers so far.

We are not first time buyers and feel confident navigating the offer and closing process.

Home is owned free and clear. …

We would rather pay 15% down. We aim to ask to pay off a balloon payment in 10 years with 5% interest. We are offering somewhat near full price and the home sat on the market in a nice area for over 100 days. Thoughts are welcomed!

If someone inherited millions of dollars and they want to make a real estate business in the future, will becoming a real estate agent give them good experience? Not only that, but networking with lots of other agents, real estate developers, investors, etc.

I took my classes and finished in late 2023.

****Not a necessary read but an explanation as to why I didn’t test > At that point in my life, the house we rented was being sold out from under us and we liked it here so we decided to purchase. The day we signed the contract, I found out I was pregnant with our second. Pregnancy and morning sickness was harsh, buying the house and my toddler had me busy when I wasn’t sick, and then my son was born in May 2024 and had some health problems which then gave me some really bad PPD. All is well now.

I don’t have a lot of money to spend on study material. But was wondering if anyone had any resources to help me study so I can jump back in and not let this go to waste? I know I’m probably screwed but I thought I’d ask. Any advice would be greatly appreciated or any similar stories of not testing right away and passing would be great motivation. 🥹

I heard that 4% (or 8% combined) is no longer the standard.

What % should I feel comfortable when negotiating with a realtor to sell a house?

Also, is only my agent fee negotiable? Is it possible to negotiate/put a cap on the buyer's agent fees?

Thanks!

I say "new" because I technically own a property in another city and mortgage, but my parents live there and are paying for everything. I went into that deal kind of blind, my sister dealt with the realtors and lawyers and everything, I just signed the papers (my sister couldn't because she had her own in addition to the one on my parents' old place).

My parents are now looking to downsize within a year or so, taking over the mortgage and freeing me up to be able to get my own. I honestly have no idea what steps to take, how I can help them along, and what I should be looking for and worried about in the coming economy. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Resident of Ontario, Canada, if there would be any local benefits I should also be made aware of.

My fiancé 38F and I have a 1-year-old child together. Before we got together, I 32M was gifted a $1.5 million house by my family. I used it as both a rental property and my primary residence. It’s been a huge financial help and a source of stability for me.

When we found out she was pregnant, I asked the tenants to leave and had her move in with me. We’ve lived together since and have split expenses like utilities and taxes. She works full-time and currently makes more money than I do. I’m active-duty military and was deployed for a while, during which she stayed in the house with our child and continued paying her share of expenses.

We’re not legally married. I just got new orders to move, and she’s known for a while and agreed she wanted to move with me. The plan has been to sell my current house and buy a new one for us to live in. However, she’s now saying she won’t move unless the new house is titled 50% in her name.

I don’t think that’s fair. I’d be using the proceeds from the sale of my current house (a gift from my family) to buy the new house entirely. She wouldn’t be putting any money into it, and I’ve told her I wouldn’t expect her to contribute financially to the house unless she’s working. I’ve also said I’d be fine with her staying home with our daughter if that’s what she wants. We’d have no rent or mortgage, and I can cover our expenses with my income.

Her point is that she’d be giving up her job to move with me, hasn’t lined up work in the new location, and needs some security if things don’t work out between us.

So now I’m stuck. I want her to feel secure and valued, but I also feel like it’s unfair to give up 50% ownership of a house that I alone am paying for, especially using money from a family gift.

Am I being unreasonable? Should I compromise? Is there a way to structure this where she has security but I’m not giving away half of a major asset?

Update: To clarify a few things—I’m moving because my partner and I mutually agreed that I’d do a few more years in the service. I just returned from deployment and came up on new orders. We had the option to stay put, but we chose to move—mainly to be closer to her family and because we didn’t feel this current state was the best place to raise our daughter.

This wasn’t a one-sided decision. We chose this city specifically because it’s near her father, who’s dealing with serious health issues. I also selected a non-deployable, low-tempo job so I could be more present and supportive at home.

She’s fully capable of working and already does—mostly from home with a flexible schedule. This city is just two hours from where she grew up, and she has a local support network here. I’ve told her I’ll support her whether she wants to stay home with our daughter or keep working. The move and the job were chosen with our family’s stability and her priorities in mind.

Why aren’t we married yet? We got engaged a few months ago. We both agreed not to get married just for military benefits—she already has health insurance, and our daughter is covered under Tricare. We want to take that step out of love, not pressure or convenience.

Future Plans: After these next set of orders from this new location, I plan to transition out of the military. The goal is to settle down near her family and start building a new career post-service while raising our daughter in a place we both feel good about long term.

So I'm looking into selling my home in Riverside CA with the zip code being 92506.

I currently have a 2 bed 2 bath 1100 sq ft condo and is worth an estimated 305k.

Now, is the 305K price, maximum value, means the home is turn key ready which means no improvements need to be made?

The condo does need the following:

Probably fresh coat of paint New kitchen flooring New kitchen range hood Updated kitchen cabinet doors New bedroom and bathroom doors totalling 4 New faucets

Now if I decide NOT to do all this, is the property still worth 305k or how much should I go down to ?

Not sure how this thread feels about opendoor but they've offered a median price is 277,000 before fees and taking a closer look at the property.

First time trying to sell a home btw

This is just a question I am curious about. My home was built in 1978, tri level, cul de sac, about .20 acre lot size, 4 bedroom and 3 full bathrooms.

Remodeled kitchen 5 years ago, granite counter tops, new appliances, not white (lol). Also remodeled all 3 bathrooms completely about 7 years ago.

Front yard is small and kept up. Nothing flashy or overly cute. Backyard has a raised garden. Otherwise it is a mess. 3 grandkids and 4 dogs are destructive. Lol.

I imagine we will sell in 5 years to downsize. I would prefer to completely empty the house of all furniture and belongings to sell. Of course we will do the fresh coat of paint.

My question: is that enough? Do we have to do the staging and all the bells and whistles? And does that qualify as turnkey? If you can immediately move in and live, even if the walls are white and the floor may not be what you want, is that turn key?

I live near Sacramento, Ca in an area that is bursting with growth. I am not expecting to quadruple what I paid for my house. Just looking for advice so I can make a plan. I appreciate any advice you can offer.

Are these two sentences contradicting each other?

Or, is it saying what I think it says in that if a new home is not under contract by May 1 the seller can break the contract without consequence?

Thanks.

Replacement Property. This Agreement is contingent upon Seller finding and securing a purchase contract for the purchase of a replacement home to purchase, on or before May 1, 2025.

Settlement Date. The settlement date shal be on or before May 1, 2025, or as agreed between the parties. If Sellers do not secure a purchase agreement of replacement housing by May 1, 2025, the settlement date shall be renegotiated.

We’re looking at a 2019 William Lyon home in Colorado. My understanding is they were acquired by Taylor Morrison during the pandemic. I know all spec homes are going to be lower quality than custom homes, but we don’t have 1.7-2M for a custom build in the area. We plan on swapping out a few of the appliances for better quality ones in our current home that we’re keeping as an investment property. The same owner has owned since it was built and it’s got solar added and $$ landscaping. They did a lot of upgrades when they built it but not many updates since (new carpet, paint, fancy heated toilets but nothing major). I just want to know how it holds up in the long run cause I don’t want to move again in the next 15-20 years.

We’ve been in a really competitive market for over a year, and we finally got our offer accepted, so we definitely don’t want to be petty and risk losing this house. We made an offer below the asking price, and my realtor mentioned that the sellers “aren’t looking to negotiate any other concessions.” They are fixing one issue that came up in the previous inspection (since we were the backup offer). However, what if our inspection reveals more issues? Is it completely off-limits to try and negotiate? I understand my realtor’s concern about not wanting to lose the sale, but I can't imagine the sellers would want to go through the process again, especially since they’ve already gone through attorney review twice.

We are selling our house in CT, listed for 350k and accepted an offer for 390k. We were so nervous about under appraising because the buyer only would cover a 10k appraisal gap (we knew the risk accepting the offer). Appraisal came back today right at the sale price! 🎉🎉

Hi all!

Looking for any knowledge or opinions here, I’ve been reading former threads about the topic, but posting some different questions:

Yesterday my husband relator and I were looking at homes. Not first time home buyers, but still pretty inexperienced. We had a handful to look at then had extra time so we went to a home last minute house. I had seen it on Zillow but from the first few pictures I swiped on thought “this is great, it’ll get bid up and out of our budget.” It was great, exactly what we’re looking for. Very well kept up, very clean, so on. Until the basement - full on 3 room grow op. Note: I’m in a state where it is legal and has been for a few years.

Had a bit of a smell when you went to the basement, but we don’t know how long it had been since the owner stopped growing. Everything was gone and very clean. Electrical appears to be upgraded and done by a professional/correct, but would need that thoroughly checked in an inspection. The owner had a drain in every room. They also had the walls finished with PVC wall paneling and sealed at all edges. From what we see walking through it seems as though the grow was setup very professionally, but we know that we won’t know for sure without a good inspection for mold/mildew, electrical, and air quality.

Handful of questions: with a good inspection as long as it comes back clean any reason to not purchase? We’re considering asking for a concession/ or a lower offer to have it all ripped out and returned to just an unfinished basement. Assuming no issues, do we need to disclose to insurance/ our lender? How would this impact the offer you put in on a home? The home is truly great! It’s just the basement and it’s not really a big deal to us, but we think it may hangup other buyers. Any experience or things we should consider?

It was our last house of the day and both us and our agent had to jet right after so we didn’t talk much but texted that we’re interested and wanted to talk today because we had questions. Appreciate any input!

A house hit the market today that meets a lot of our criteria. It is at the end of a very short dead end street. It’s actually sort of the only house on the street, the other house on the same side of the street fronts onto the Main Street and then across the street is a block of newly built affordable housing units. There are 16 units (1- and 2- bedroom apartments) for extremely low- to moderate-income households, three of which will be reserved for youth aging out of foster care. These are not public housing but were built with a low income housing tax credit.

Does anyone have experience actually living near something like this? I think affordable housing is great and I’m not opposed to the house on these grounds but I just don’t know what the expect. It seems like they were completed a year ago so they still generally just look like new construction at this point. Any happy endings? Horror stories? Let me hear it!

Anyone familiar with NorthGroup Real Estate out of Charlotte and Raleigh NC? What has your experience been?

Looking to out our house on the market, but if it doesn't sell we plan to rent it. Currently rental rate is estimated to be twice the monthly mortgage. My thought is even in a recession if rents drop it will still cover the monthly.it's a nice home in a desirable neighborhood.

Any insights as to owning during a recession?

We are looking to make an offer on a home in Ventura County, CA. The house currently has renters in it. They are month to month and were given a 60 day notice to vacate due to the house being put up for sale, so if we make an offer in the next few days and it gets accepted, with a 30 day close of escrow we'd be taking possession with the renters still in the house.

How does something like this usually work? Do I have to temporarily become a landlord for a short period of time? I am assuming that it is safer to say that the escrow closes once the house is fully vacated. Or is there a more standard of dealing with something like this?

Thanks!

We are currently in underwriting with a mortgage broker for a 6.99% 30 year mortgage. Since rates just dropped we asked him to see if he could float down the rate. He said he could not. So I did some shopping and found a bank to finance directly through for a 6.624% rate. All rates and terms are equal and we are not buying any points. Is it worth switching?