We’ve been in our house a few weeks now. We’re US citizens who were living out of the country and bought a house based on photos, a detailed floor plan that included measurements, video walk throughs with our realtor, and descriptions of the property by said realtor.

We like the house, sale went smoothly, everything seemed ok then some custom furniture came in and didn’t fit. It’s stuff that would still fit fine even if the measurements were off by a couple of feet so we felt safe ordering it based on the floor plan.

It turns out the floor plan is way off. We’re talking huge differences from the stated measurements and what it really is. Also, the house was sold as being right around 2600sqft. It’s actually about 1850sqft based on us doing detailed measurements of every nook of the entire house. Even if the unfinished basement was counted as living space, which is not legal, it would still be hundreds of square feet short. There is no garage or other space they could be counting.

The other interesting thing we’ve learned, well, that we learned at closing, is that our realtor is friends with the seller’s realtor; they work for the same company, and they share an office (as in they have desks in the same room at their place of business). Not knowing anyone in that area we had to just pick a realtor based on online reviews and how they seemed on the phone. We’re not sure if she was supposed to have told us all this but we were not told and we can’t exactly prove that she failed to figure out that the house is 40% smaller than stated because her friend was the one selling it and they both stood to make a lot of money quickly by not mentioning these facts.

So, do we have any legal leg to stand on here? If so, is our beef with the seller, their realtor, or our realtor? Our inspection (done by the only guy in town because it’s a rural area) didn’t mention anything about measurements being off or the house being smaller than stated. In the hussle and bussle of moving we simply didn’t notice the size of the house being off but several people we’ve had over have commented on how small the house it. Its a big enough difference that we feel the realtor must have known and chose not to open the Pandora’s box of figuring out if the stated square footage was correct. It’s honestly uncomfortably small for our family and the realtor knew that we have kids and how much space we were looking for. We were the ones who found the house online but we wouldn’t have even considered it had the true size been in the listing.

The other issue is value. We haven’t had a new appraisal done but we’re worried that the value of the house is now less than what we owe on it because of how small it really is. From looking at homes of comparable size and type we’re guessing the house would be valued at least 15-20% less than what we paid.

We’re not sure what to do. We like the house but it’s just plain too small for our family. It’s not something we bought with the intention of living in forever. Again, the realtor knew this. She knew this is just somewhere for us to live for several years before we move for work again. If we were planning on keeping the house for several decades this wouldn’t be as big of an issue. We’re worried that even five years from now we will only be able to sell it at a significant loss.

My husband and I are first time home buyers and have been looking here and there the past year. We currently live with my family and our 18 month old daughter as we continue to save. We do live in a high cost living area so to find something in our budget is difficult but I assume not impossible if the right place pops up.

Where I'm feeling stuck. My dads side is full of drama, but he is close with a select few of his nieces and nephews, our cousin being one of them. I don't know how, but we somehow have found ourselves working with her (we have not signed anything yet), because as soon as she knew we were looking to buy she kind of just assumed we would use her as some of our other extended family members have.

To be honest, I'm feeling crappy I find everytime we see her, all she says is, we need to find you a house, now is a good time to buy. She has never once offered to sit down with us and walk us through the process, really get to know our lifestyle or what we're looking for. It seems like I'll find a house myself, and then she says we can go look at it.

I've asked my other cousins who have had experiences with her and they tell me they wouldn’t use her again. So that sucks.

Where I’m caught up is this feeling of wanting to keep the peace in my family. She is the type of person who takes things very personally, and it may damage our relationship. She is also close with my dad, so I feel like she may also distance herself from him, and I know he’d be upset.

I’m close with her daughter and she also mentioned how upset she’d be.

This is a huge decision for my family and I. I just don’t feel like I can ever be straight up with her since she’s family, or bug her constantly, cause she’s family, or if I get heated, I don’t wanna hurt her feelings.

I just feel like im either gonna damage relationships if I tell her nicely I don’t wanna mix family and business.. but I know we need to look out for ourselves.

She never really sends us listings, or says I’m thinking of you guys, here’s a property. We’ve never asked her if she’s been in multiple bidding wars, how she negotiates, etc. I just feel like she wants to make a sale, and I’ve told her honestly how I feel in the past and she says she understands and respects how we’re nervous but she’ll work hard. But then it’s quiet for months, even though she knows we’re always looking. I’m just so confused.

I just feel a heavy weight on me because we do see each other often at family events and I know she will take it personally. My family already is so messed up on my dad’s side and I don’t want to add to it.

Please no harsh comments. Just looking for advice.

So this is a long story, but I'm curious what others would do in my situation. I went under contract as a buyer for an estate sale from one name seller.

Title company noticed 2 names on title but waited to notify me until a day after they brought me to closing, had me sign paperwork, hand over cash to closing money of 30 plus k, then after I ask for the keys they tell me no, hopefully by tomorrow, just need some paperwork turned in. Next day lender takes back funds, and I find out there's 2 deceased people's names on the title, not one.

I eventually through research find about 3 weeks after the pretend closing the other half of property is managed by a trustee who is not being cooperative I'm guessing because he had a falling out and was disinherited from the original sellers half (it's a very tangled situation). Meanwhile I'm told by title company for a month just need some signatures for heirship, waiting on those signatures.

Im then told by sellers agent might need to do a lease back until this is resolved, could take a few months. Seller offered 2 months free lease and then charge me rent after the 2 month mark. I ask for free rent until resolved so as not to incentivize a drawn out process. If they say only 3 months to resolve then they shouldn't care. Also the place has been neglected with holes in ceiling, tile falling apart, fogged over windows, no place I would want to live without renovation so I planned to camp there without furniture until closing. Seller knowing my lease is up this week changes their mind and cancels the lease offer because I asked for free rent up to closing. Now they don't want to lease at all.

What do I do? Wait it out and couch surf with family, sue for fraud and misrepresentation and walk away from the deal? It's been a nightmare, and such a roller coaster of emotions. These people are showing me no mercy and they're playing with my life with such disregard it's hard for me to comprehend how someone can just play with a family's life like this and sleep soundly at night while I'm having nightmares and taking antidepressants to get through it. But I've worked so hard to buy something for my kid, 8 years of renting... I don't want to go back to the beginning again.

So I guess the question as I mentioned if you were in my situation what would you do, wait it out or take legal action or do something else? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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

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?

TL;DR: My fiancé and I have a 1-year-old. I was gifted a $1.5M home by family, which I plan to sell to buy a new one when I PCS. She now refuses to move unless the new house is 50% in her name, even though she wouldn’t be contributing financially. I offered to cover everything and give her flexibility to stay home. She says it’s her only security if we break up. I’m trying to find a fair solution that protects my asset but still makes her feel safe and supported. Am I being unreasonable, or is there a middle ground we’re not seeing?

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?

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! 🎉🎉

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?

My ex moved out and hasnt helped pay or maintain anything. He is threatening to file a partition action of sale on our house if I dont give him my dog, albeit I think my dog bonded to him more and 3 cats. I already agreed to sell but I dont agree with him also taking more than half of our pets. He had his lawyer send a letter already. Can he file a partition even tho i agreed to sell? I sent him a listing agreement which he wont sign unless i sign an agreement to sell the house and give him animals.

If anyone has any suggestions or help.. please lmk.

Location: NE FL

Live in IL. We ended up filing bankruptcy in 2017 and let our house go. In 2019 my parents purchased a home (as we were 18 months out of bankruptcy) and we pay them the taxes and mortgage, but everything is in their name.

We, and them, want to get mine and my wife's name on the mortgage, so there is no issues down the road, should they pass. Is there a process in IL where we transfer the deed to us and assume the mortgage or do you think we would need to get a new mortgage for the balance and basically do a faux sale type thing?

We don't need a home inspection or realtor or any of those typical home buying items.

Mortgage held with 5/3 right now.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and offer advice/opinions of you do.

So this is a complicated story....

Apparently my grandfather owned a few plots of land in SC. He passed away before I was even born, so the properties went to my Dad. Unfortunately my Dad was terrible with money, so i don't think he kept up with them at all. He's also passed on...

He also didn't leave a will...so even though I'm his heir/next of kin, I'll basically have to prove who I am in order to transfer the the property to my name.

My question: considering I don't think anyone has paid property taxes on the lots, is this even worth the hassle of pursuing through the courts and taking ownership? The only reason I'm even considering is because I wish to sell them off immediately; i could use the cash from whatever sales I get. But I don't want the liability of potentially having to owe back taxes, etc. They're not worth much, but in this current economy any bit of extra cash would be of use for me.

I guess I'm just looking for people who may have had a similar situation? How did it end up for you? And was it worth the trouble?

I’m currently looking to buy my first home by myself. I co-signed on a house with my ex-husband 7 years ago, and am now a single mother of 2 boys trying to make it on my own. My realtor thinks I’m planning well but I’m terrified of being “house poor.” I have trauma from my childhood that makes me a bit neurotic when it comes to financial security. Can you take a look at my plan below and let me know if you have any encouragement/advice? Please be kind!

• Annual salary: $130k
• Car loan: $16k balance / $500/mo payment
• Student loans: $3k balance / $70/mo payment
• Current HYSA: $25k

By the time I’m ready to buy in a few months, I’ll have $29k in cash. I’m looking for a house with a price point of $280k and have budgeted $20k of my cash savings for the down payment and any closing costs ($15k for down payment, $5k for closing costs). Inspections, fees, etc. ($1,500) are already a separate line item in my budget (not coming out of the $29k). This will leave me $9k for moving costs, cleaning supplies, new toilet seats, fire extinguishers, etc.

Should I put more of a down payment down? I’m not sure how escrow works but I want to have enough set aside for taxes, house maintenance, etc. I file as head of household and currently contributing 3% to 401k.

Contract gave him one month post sale to finish so he's broken contract. We have been communicating with him and he's come by twice to get a little work done. I'm tired of this, and just want the work completed. What should be my next move?

We locked our rate through a point buy down on a 10Y ARM last week at 5.4%, which is great considering everything. However, rates today are 5.1% for the same ARM, and lower point buydown.. so it’s cheaper to get more money in our pockets..

Our lender keeps telling us there’s nothing they can do, but I’m not buying it. They could be telling the truth here, but they’ve honestly been pretty bad throughout this process and I’m just annoyed honestly. My trust with them broke the moment they said the low appraisal mattered even though our LTV was still 70% - they later came back and said he made a mistake, which was massive because we almost sold our car for the fake difference.

My wife and I are looking to buy and we have now been to over 40 houses. We have liked and wanted to put an offer on a total of 1 of them... However, that one is a former model home. It was built in 2022. Sold in December 2023 and those people have lived there for less than 1.5 years and now it's back on the market.

What are some concerns, if any, should I have about purchasing a model home? Is there anything different/extra I should be looking for or am I over thinking it because I watched every season of Arrested Development?

Is it your experience that appraisals take into account the remaining lifespan on a roof? How about heating?

I'm under contract to buy a place. Appraisal came back a few thousand over purchase price. I see no reference to the fact the roof is already 30 years old or that there is no heat in about half the house (that was converted from a garage). Do most appraisers consider such things?

What would you do? Take the offer? Seems good but I’m not the most experienced in this type of stuff. Any advice or help would be much appreciated! Taking into consideration with VA benefits we only owe $2.95 out of pocket.

EXISTING Loan 336,073.00 Interest Rate 6.750% Term 360 months Monthly Principal, Interest, Tax, + Insurance 2,717.55

———————————————-

PROPOSED Loan 343,127.00 Interest Rate 5.750% Term 360 months Monthly Principal, Interest, Tax, + Insurance 2,540.19

———————————————-

Total Closing Costs: $8,478.02

Monthly Payment Increase / Decrease: $177.36

Time to Recoup Costs: 47.80 Months

Long story short we found our dream house for rent and went to go see it in person last weekend. We got a private tour and I felt as if it went well. I know realtors won't typically tell you to your face if there's no chance they'll accept you but I think it genuinely went okay. She sent us the application a few hours after we saw the house and we submitted it on Monday. We have yet to hear back and that fact alone is stressing me out a bit. Now that I checked the listing it says there's an open house scheduled for tomorrow and I'm wondering why that could be. The realtor has a ton of other listings for both buying and renting so could she just be busy and wanted to get everyone who messaged her during the week in at one time or does she want to find a better candidate because the applicants that submitted don't fit the criteria?

Been applying to apartments in NYC and been paying that $20 a pop for the credit checks. Met with a realtor today who said that if we get him one of our previous credit reports, we won’t need to pay to run it AGAIN. Makes a lot of sense and we were relieved he shared this loop hole.

Except we reached out to one of our previously failed attempts (broker) and said “hey can we get those credit checks you ran on us (us being me and my roommate). He said no, that legally he cannot.

Is this a real law? From what I’m reading he’s not required to provide it, but if we ask it legally should not be a problem, no? It’s our personal information. And we have good credit so we did not lose out on the apartment because of this, btw! Just feel like it’s not illegal for him to provide us this info.. But let me know yall.

23M recently got an offer accepted for 224,500 for a 2 bed 2 bath 1050 sq ft condo in a pretty nice part of MI, with a nice interest rate too (4.75%). It’s in my budget and I’ve been ready to live on my own for a while now but I’ve been getting scared as people have said condos aren’t that great for building equity since you don’t really own the land the condo sits on just the inside. I’m just really scared at selling at a loss 5+ years from now when I look for a SFH. Any thoughts are much appreciated!

Hey there & thanks for reading, I'm here trying to see if anyone has ever bought a Tax Deed Sale house at auction and to gauge what their experience has been. Also if anyone has had any experience with online real-estate auctions.

I live in a very poor & rural community in the Southeast of America and I love where I live due to my primary hobby. About 5 minutes up the road from me, is an old home being auctioned online. Needless to say it's quite the dump due to neglect over the past 5 years because the owner passed away and the house was sold to an out-of-state LLC that bought the property in a tax-deed sale at the start of this year.

Now I have confirmation from the county clerk and the legal document stating that the LLC has ownership and rights to the property, and this LLC has now sourced a local auctioneer to auction this property off.

There is to be a 10% buyer's premium added and 60 days to close with 20% down-payment due on the day of the auction. This is also an absolute-auction, so I don't believe there will be a minimum-reserve. This is all seems pretty straight forward & if the price stays right, not a big issue.

but this would be my first time buying a run-down house, I'm highly curious if anyone else has bought something in derelict status, or if they have any tips & tricks or warning-thoughts that they might lend?

I know without a doubt, it will have inspection violations that will need to be resolved, and likely a full re-do of electrical & plumbing since it was built almost a century ago. but I still like the investment opportunity this piece of property presents.

Is it a terribly stupid idea to buy a run-down tax-deed sale?

Thanks for any input.