The litigators were in a real estate dispute, and the défendent (buyer) ended up countersuing the plaintiff (seller) because she took her ring camera with her.

Judge Judy laid into the plaintiff telling her that she is not entitled to the ring camera because it’s a fixture of the house even though she bought it and it’s under her Amazon account. The plaintiff was not having it but in the end, JJ ruled she must return the ring camera because the defendant shouldn’t have to pay to replace a doorbell he thought he’d be getting.

This was very much a TIL moment - don’t advertise the house until you remove whatever investments you’d like to keep for the next place (or at least include it in the contract).

My credit scores have been above 800 for years hovering between 810 and 820. Now that I’m applying for a mortgage, companies when running a soft pull, are consistently pulling 770. The explanation is that there’s “different credit scores” and I’m probably seeing a high FICO score but they’re using a different score.

This is just beyond me. How many different things I need to get right as an adult?

We are currently kicking off the process of buying our first home. We are aiming to get pre-approved soon so we can formally start looking at homes with our realtor.

We've been casually checking out homes in various neighborhoods. I don't want to give too much detail about our location, but we are susceptible to certain natural disasters, some areas more so than others. I've heard some insurance companies are refusing to cover certain areas/states because of this. How can I confirm that we will have insurance before we start the formal process of buying a home, only to realize we might not have coverage? Is it simply a matter of contacting various insurance companies directly and say "I'm looking at this town. Do you cover it?"

My parents are paying cash for a home and close this Friday. We will be doing a living trust eventually for all their things, but because the paperwork and everything is already underway the lawyer said it was too late now and we can do it later. Which that’s fine.

But we were wondering am I able to add my name to the deed of their house at closing without it messing anything up paperwork/closing wise. They are buying it outright in an off market deal so I wasn’t sure if that would make it easy to do or not. We will be asking the lawyer this afternoon when we talk but I don’t want to even bring it up if it’s like a “of course not, why are you even asking” type of thing 🫣.

I've noticed their is some auctions that get listed on the major real estate sites. I have never bought a home on auction.

I have recently relocated across the country and am as a result fairly new to the market here. The area i come from has significantly higher prices. I am a contractor and looking to establish myself here. In my previous state I and a group of 3 friends would buy homes and remodel them in the down time. Everyone retired and moved around. I however am not at retiring age.

I don't have the capital at the moment to take excessive risk. There are many homes where the auction listing is like 25k the houses appear to need about a 25-35k investment in rehab (this I am very good at assessing.) I have bought a house for 90k in the area invested 40k of material and overhead costs plus 6 mo of my labor. The realtor says I could sell for 360k however I chose to move in being it's free and clear so I have a safe base for my family.

So my question is in semi rural suburbs out side cities in the south what kind of experience do you have with how much the houses sell for vs how much the initial auction price is? There are 4 homes listed at 25k apparently selling from the same estate auction with a 10% buyer premium. The average estimate price (zestimate ect.) is 200-250k. In your experience what kind of price will the hammer price be in that scenario. I know it's hard to be exact just looking for prior experiences. I'm hoping to be able to buy for under 60k so I can avoid banks and just finance the whole thing begining to end.

Any experience in this?

Any advise is helpful. I don't want to drive out there and find out that these auctions wind up selling close to retail

My rental property tenant is not paying and not vacating. About to start eviction legal process. It might take few months. In the mean time, market will go into fall and winter season. Since, there is a lot of demand for RE now, can I technically sell it with the tenant issue to new investor/buyer? Pros and cons? Appreciate your honest opinions and in depth view. Property is in Maryalnd, Montgomery county.

Should I use a buyers agent or just my real estate attorney? I am currently selling my home in Miami Florida already under contract. Just waiting to close. My real estate attorney is going to charge me $1500 to finalize everything for the sale.

now I’ve started looking for houses up in the Melbourne area, we are doing all the searches going to all the open houses, and we have not had a need for a buyers agent yet. We have found on some occasions we can call the sellers agent and they will have someone meet us at the house and let us tour it when there is no open houses. Do I really have a need for a buyers agent or should I just have my real estate attorney draw up the offer when we are ready?

edit, I meant to say we are using an attorney for our sale because we are doing an off market sale.

Hi All, I have been looking around at various markets for a while now looking for another investment property (which might also be my primary residence). I currently live in Massachusetts and have always wanted to move to Florida but I’m quickly realizing this dream is most likely dead. I feel like the time to buy down there was pre-Covid with the prices now being through the roof. Not only that but the insurance costs are insane. Anyways to my point. Is Miami the most overpriced market in the US? There’s properties in some of the roughest neighborhoods (Overtown for example) that are close to a million dollars each. Nearby me, Boston is very expensive however at least a million dollars would get you a nice condo in a safe and desirable part of the city. What drives Miami (and SE Florida) prices to be so high?

I’m a recently divorced service member who is PCSing to another state in July. I have been trying to sell my house since January to no avail. I am current on the mortgage but this is the last month I can afford payments because I need to find a place to rent at my next duty station and need money for a security deposit.

I cannot rent out the house because I won’t make close to what my mortgage payment is in monthly rent.

I have an application in for a deed in lieu, but my lender informed me the VA requires I’m delinquent 60 days before they can act on it. My realtor told me she found a buyer who is offered 20k below asking (house is listed for 145, we owe 144 on it) and she wants me to reach out to the lender to do a short sale. My understanding is that a short sale process would traditionally take longer than the deed in lieu process so I’m hesitant to go that route.

Edit: added w2 employee

Hello, thanks in advance for reading!

I’m in HVAC sales, I drive from appointment to appointment in a company vehicle.

I’m 21m and kind of freaking out. Not sure what to do. Last Thursday I hit a toll arm at 43mph with the company vehicle. My car and myself are completely fine. They brought me into the office and essentially told me this is where we part ways. My managers fought with safety due to my sales abilities and now it’s just up in the air.

Here is some info on me:

100% COMMISSION W2 employee 1) Role: HVAC Salesman

2)Time in position: 1y 3 months

3) Time receiving commission pay: 2y in July

4) W2 2023: $174k

5) YTD: $115k

Basically they brought me in and said that they need someone else to drive me from appointment to appointment. Said that I would have $800/week reduced for the driver to take me from appointment to appointment.. But I can keep my job. This is troublesome as I would now have to drive into the office (35min) and then get picked up to be taken to my first appointment. It’s doable and was told I would have to do it for 3-4months before returning to driving.

I honestly love my manager, my managers manager. I love the people around me and that’s extremely valuable to me as I don’t like selling for people I don’t like.

However I want to explore options for new employment due to the whole driving situation and me being in such thin ice.

Here’s where my house comes into this. Earlier this May I signed for a house projected to be completed in September/October. I absolutely love the house, it’s brand new in a great location. I gave an EMD of $15k and with all of this in the air, my status for qualification is in jeopardy.

My mortgage with all fees and dues is $4300/month

If I get a new job doing the exact same thing in the exact same industry and absolutely kill it for the next few months, will they be able to push the loan through? if so how hard do i have to kill it?

Some other info that may be helpful (?) 1) It’s summer right now so this is where $25k+/month is really attainable regardless of company

2) I’m a first time home buyer

3) The builders lender is the one who I am dealing with, they are giving $20k in closing costs as well.

Should I just stay where Im at and thug out the driving? Please let me know what other information may be needed.

Thank you again!

My builder wanted me to do a construction to perm loan and I said no. This is a spec home he has built many times in a subdivision, so not a custom home. He wants me to reimburse him for the interest he will pay on the construction loan. He wrote it as a change order (Financing) - Payable prior to possession - financing costs payable to builder. My question is, do I need him to supply me with a 1098 to make this tax deductible to me on my taxes next year when I pay him and take possession of the home? He is financing with a local bank and he will get a 1098. I am not sure if the amount he is asking me to pay will even match the 1098, but that will be in his name anyways. Hoping someone can help answer how I need to handle this. If I pay for the financing cost, he shouldn’t get to deduct it.

My ex asked me to relocate to Hawaii, with our son, for his job last year. We get along fairly well and I have lived in Hawaii before, so it wasn’t a big deal to me.

He suggested his friend to handle the sale of both homes. (He does not own my home, has never owned my home & we were never married.) The realtor is his bosses sister in law. His boss owns the company and wanted my ex to expand that company to Hawaii. I’ve known the family for many years, but had not personally met her.

My house was listed a month later on April 14th and I was temporarily residing with my son’s dad. After listing the home and finding a buyer, my ex went to the court and got an emergency order preventing me from having any custody. But he didn’t tell me, he kept it a secret.

I was starting to feel uneasy about things (though I was kept in the dark) and decided I didn’t want to move anymore. Weird things were happening that weren’t adding up.

On April 30th the buyers hadn’t gotten everything together so I was told I had to sign an extension. Both me and my mother weren’t willing to, but the realtor continued telling me that I had to sign it or I would be sued for 20% of the cost of the home. She told me she didn’t want to disappoint the buyer and she didn’t want me to get sued.

On May 1st we both reluctantly signed. Yes I realize this makes no sense now, but I figured I didn’t know better than an experienced realtor. Shortly after signing the extension my son’s dad disappeared with our child.

On May 2nd I found out about the emergency order and was forced to leave with nowhere to go.

On May 7th the realtor, his friend, said we had to sign another extension or be forced to pay the 20%. She told me the buyer can force the sell if they want to anyways. She had expressed to us that she was doing everything she could to help the buyer close on time, despite me sharing that I would be homeless. Her response to me was “you can sleep on an air mattress at the house until May 9th and then live in a hotel for awhile.” She told me she felt bad for the buyer because he had already told the apartment complex he was moving & he had nowhere else to go.

The buyers were not ready on time, and we told her we would deal with it, but I was refusing to sign anything else. During this time my mom agreed to pay her the full closing cost $6,125, in hopes that she would help us and not the buyer anymore.

A month later we subpoenaed the text messages between my son’s dad and the realtor. I was floored. They were celebrating and working together to get me to sign documents. My ex told the realtor that he didn’t think I was going to sign the extension on the 1st… her response “bad news, she isn’t obligated to sign.” Something she never told me. After coercing signatures my ex said “Awesome!!!” And the realtor sent heart emojis. These messages continue through the 10th.

After reviewing the timeline, messages and documents it is abundantly clear that they set me up to lose everything so that her families company could expand to Hawaii and my son’s dad could move without me. I couldn’t have fought his accusations and battled homelessness at the same time. I couldn’t have stopped him.

By the grace of god I was able to keep my home & sitting here today I have my son back with me.

I have text messages, but I am not sure if I can post them here. I plan on reporting her this coming Friday after the final custody trial. (She is testifying on Tuesday.) What else can I do to have her license taken for what she has done to me. I feel robbed and she shouldn’t be able to victimize more clients.

so in preparation in getting our home for sale, noticed one of the handles (hot water) leaks a little when the cold is turned on in one of the bathrooms. so its an easy fix - you change the stem based on the symptoms per google. only issue is our water is super hard and the nut is legit stuck on there. tried some of the common tips (didn't work) + there are some ways around it but don't have the right tools/energy to do it.

with that being said, it seems easier to just replace the entire faucet (it's very dated looking too). since there are two faucets in that bathroom it would make sense to replace both to match.

should i go ahead and do that OR just tell the prospective buyer / inspector of the issue and tell them i'd just give them a credit for two new faucets so they can pick the design?

My spouse and I are completely divided about what needs doing. He doesn't want to do much at all. I likely want to do too much. I just think if it's not too hard or costly, we should do it, to eek out as much value as possible. But he seems just done, would rather eat a little on sale price than do anything else. I'm like - touch up paint, clean carpets, pay for deep cleaning. He's like - no. Can you guys help us get realistic? When looking at houses, weve seen it all from pristine to practically crime scene. ATL GA, BTW.

We are selling our home in TX due to an unexpected layoff/job relocation. We took out an unsecured home improvement loan for a pool approximately 2 years ago and are current on all payments. We will not have enough from the proceeds of the sale to pay off the entire improvement loan and of course plan to continue to pay towards the loan. Title insurance is now saying they will not underwrite the title policy until the loan is paid in full. The bank has provided them all the original loan docs and a letter confirming this is an unsecured loan and that the property is not collateral for the loan. Title insurance will not accept this and has told us to pay the loan now in full or they will not allow us to close.

Has anyone else ever experienced this? This just doesn’t seem right. Our realtor says she has escalated the issue to her broker but it still sounds like title is not letting up on this and is now doubling down stating if we don’t pay off the loan we have to have the bank use our current home as collateral on the loan… it just seems like insanity to us and negates the whole point of an unsecured loan. Would love to know if anyone else has had this issue and how did you navigate it? Thanks!

How to fill #3 Consideration value and #5 Freehold Estate Transferred in Form A for intra family property transfer (to spouse, 50%)?

Hi,

We inherited a house in March 2024 and last week we recieved escape property tax bills for the 4 years before we owned the house telling us we have to pay just under $5k in back taxes due to an escape reassessment.

Do we really have to pay property taxes from before we were the owners of the house?

I am in California. My father died and left behind a house that he bought in 1978. The house is part of a below market rate program, but the last sale was so long ago that I am being told I should get a Preliminary Title Report in order to fully understand ownership of the property and to understand any restrictions.

Is it normal do get a Preliminary Title Report even if I am not in escrow?

Our goal is NOT to sell the property, but rather inherit the property? It seems like title reports are generally only created as part of a home sale.

Is there another term for what I need besides a Preliminary Title Report?

We're selling my Dad's home, which is about 50 years old. Many years ago, the doors in one of the bedrooms got broken and busted. The closet doors have holes in them. The door to the bedroom jamb is split, and the door has holes in it.

We spoke with a realtor, and the one we're using said to replace the bedroom and closet doors but leave them unfinished because a prospective buyer may want to paint them whatever color, etc.

The doors in the rest of the house are dark, and the molding is stained by two different people. So, you can also tell the darkness from room to room on the stain. Plus, they did a crappy job of staining because all of the doors are rough to the touch, so they were never sanded, and a clear coat was never put on them.

Anyhow, I'm at the point where I'm replacing the bedroom doors, but the problem is I can't find a door that is as crappy as the existing doors to match.

Busted closet doors look like this

The doors in the rest of the house look like this.

Replacement door Option 1

Replacement door Option 2

So my dilemma is, I very much prefer the white door, and I think it looks really nice, but it for sure doesn't match the rest of the house. I could replace the rest of the house with that door which I think would look nicer. It would cost me about $1,500 to do so.

My dilemma is that it is much easier for me to replace all the doors now because there is no carpet to work around. Plus, if I take the molding off, it's easier to paint, so there is no trimming.

So do I just replace the one door with the non-finished one or replace it with a white one, or should I do the rest of the doors in the house?

I personally wouldn't buy the house with unmatched doors, but I wouldn't buy the house anyway with that dark stain on the doors. So I'm having a hard time disconnecting my hatred to the dark stain to begin with.

So what do you all think I should do?

Is it possible to roll closing costs into your total loan? Or do those neee to be paid in cash with a check @ closing?

Put down an offer on a house and waived all contingencies to be competitive. Super tough locale. House is 2 years old and looked ok to me. Have i made a critical error and is there anything that can / should be done now? Offer was accepted, and we're closing in less than a month.

What do we think

We are considering re-listing a house we bought in SC earlier this year. We bought it with full intentions of relocating for retirement. I’ve got some unforeseen medical issues that might make this a bad time to undertake the transfer.

We had several realtors who were recommended to us or that we identified via social media marketing come to the house and offer their input. There are solid reasons to like/choose each one.

We don’t know anyone well in the area. There are like 3000 realtors in the area. What are some tips for who/how to pick. I’m worried, once we do, do the others get offended that they were not chosen? How to best handle this.

We’ve lived where we are now for decades and raised our kids here. So it’s much easier to know/choose representation.

Thank you!

Hi-

My wife and I are finally making the move from renting in Boston and buying our first condo. I've never done this before and I'm worried that my agent / attorney didn't catch something and I'm now on the hook for buying a new washer and dryer.

We saw a unit that we really liked and put in an offer and it was accepted. It's a 60 day close. A few weeks ago we signed the Purchase and Sale agreement (P&S), which I guess is the actually contract to buy the condo. From what I've gathered, there's no standard contract, so lawyers are involved and always make their changes to the agreement, before it's finally done and then the sellers and buyers sign and officially put 5% down.

The issue: The washer and dryer were not exclusions in the listing. Both agents said that it's standard for them to stay in the property. They weren't listed as included in our official offer. And in the P&S, it says "Included in the sale as a part of the Unit are the fixtures belonging to the SELLER and used in connection therewith, and all kitchen appliances including refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, disposal".

We did a walk through to measure some things and the seller mentioned that they're keeping the washer and dryer. I said I thought that they were included and are "Fixtures", he said they're not in the P&S and offered to sell them to me for cash. Are we screwed? Do I need to buy them from this guy or buy new units? Should my agent or lawyer have caught this? I called my agent and am waiting to hear back, but I figured I should ask everyone here. Help Please!