r/RealEstate

Listing our house soon. We paid $620k 3 years ago and have done many mechanical upgrades- new roof, furnace, radon, appliances, flooring, energy efficient patio slider and shutters in the living room that gets a ton of sun with 18 foot ceilings.

Our agent wanted to list at $710k.

We want to price lower at $690k and she did say that lower is better.

We don’t expect to make money on our house. We just want a solid offer and to make it to close.

Is the first offer usually the best offer?

I own a townhouse in Northern Virginia (Fairfax County) which is an extremely expensive housing market. I bought my house in 2020 with a 2.75% VA mortgage for $425k, with about $350k remaining balance. Property values have risen sharply since then, and though I haven't had it appraised yet, Zillow at least claims a $580k value, and comparable sales in the area support that that's at least in the right ballpark.

One selling point I have in my favor is that my 2.75% is transferable - a buyer can't refinance at that rate, but they can take my remaining $350k balance at 2.75% and pay cash or do something else to cover the remaining balance on the sale price.

I'm considering retiring overseas and so will no longer need my VA mortgage benefit (if a non-veteran assumes my mortgage I can't get another until the buyer pays it off, which is normally a problem but not one I'm worried about in this case).

All this being the case, how huge of a benefit is this for me as a prospective seller?

Can I expect lots of competition? Will I see offers above asking like the market had in 2020? Is this going to be a case where my house is basically sold sight unseen the same day I put the sign up?

Or is this not nearly as important a benefit as I think it is?

We are on the market as sellers for the first time outside of Covid craze and I'm trying to get a better idea of where we stand with our house.

We are in a MCOL area, we listed this past sunday for $300k (been on the market about 2.5 days right now). We've had 4 showings already, and a 5th scheduled tomorrow.

We also recieved an offer from the 2nd showing, though it isn't exactly what we wanted. They originally said no wiggle room, we declined, they offered again and found $7k of wiggle room. We are now only off of what we want by about $5k and are making a counteroffer to try and get that to around $2k.

From the other 3 showings, 1 provided no feedback, the other two said it showed well and is priced right but not interested for various reasons (walkout is in the basement instead of main floor, room size is slightly smaller than wanted, etc.).

My biggest question is given all that information how do we stand in the current market conditions? I was nervous heading in with the current rates and know it isn't covid get 4 offers the first day times anymore. So wanted more insight if things look postive based on this, if we are getting a healthy amount of showings and if it's a concern to only have 1 of 5 offer (personally I still feel it's good but I could be off base).

I'm just wondering if fighting for 1% more is potentially costing us a chance to close quick and close close to full price vs waiting and the house sitting and therefore getting lower offers? However, we haven't had a real weekend for traffic either, so that may work in our favor. Thoughts?

I listed my house for sale in June. Listing contract ran from 060126 through 093026.

Personally, I thought my realtor was terrible. The amount she said to list the home at was too high $345k, when new construction homes are going for $340k. My house is only 10 years old, well maintained and looks new. Neutral interior. Prior to sell I replaced roof with class IV architectural shingles, replaced the AC unit and had exterior of house repainted. She did not list any of these items in the listing. My home insurance dropped 50% because of the new roof. We had minimal showings.

She used AI enhanced photos (fake fire in the fireplace, exterior shot at night). The photos looked grainy and were not flaterring.

In August she called and we discussed status. I told her I know the market is not great. We will leave price (as is) and let listing expire. I will either relist in the spring OR rent the house out. A few weeks later she sends me a docusign document to terminate the listing in august???? I emailed her back and said the listing agreement expires end of September- no reply from her. I felt like she wanted me to cancel the listing so she could get paid for photos or marketing costs?

On October 4th she calls and says she has a showing lined up??? I declined and told her my understanding is the listing expired end of September and I had a family member who just returned home from the hospital. Why would she do this when the listing is expired and we have no contractual agreement?

Her sign is still in my front yard and she has not taken the lock box off the door. This is my third home I've owned. Her behavior is weird. Advice.

Selling house in South Florida (Pool, covered patio, Out door Kitchen, Dog run on side of house, all pavers in back yard which is grandfathered in but cant be done now in by law).

*Edit: company is called Capital Home Buyers. Based in South Florida

**EDIT: There is no inspection. I know, WEIRD. He came out and looked at the place a week ago and low balled us then told us they would pay the amount we wanted with no inspection. Read a review but it was about doing an inspection on the place and them trying lower they price and the seller wouldnt do it. If they try to go below the number it is off for us.

They want us to sign today and close in 14 days and put up a few grand as a security deposit because neither of us have a place to live yet. 45 days is what they will give us to vacate.

The 'contract' is 3 pages long and just says the amount, the 'escrow' and that there is no inspection ('we may/will send someone to take a look to see if we need tiles or what not to do repairs to the house' There are plenty of tiles and flooring pieces here.)

There are a few things involving the title and such that he says they pay for. All we do is get $ and pay some to a security deposit so we don't destroy the place when we leave any time during the 45 days we get.

3 Pages only and it looks straight forward. It is down below Miami in Coral Gables to do the closing.

All so fast. But us getting out of doing ANYTHING except move out is very appealing.

**END OF EDIT.

Anyway they came and looked after sending a check we would have cashed but of course they low balled it (and the guy was also his own real estate business and either wanted to list it or us sell it buyer financed. NOPE) but we have been going about talking to agents and getting rid of stuff and now they are back to the number on the check they sent out as an advertisement.

If it is for real the amount of money we would have spent getting it curb appeal ready and real estate commissions would be about the difference in what the market is going for (150 days sale in this area right now) so we would save so much time and money and frustration.

Someone here either does this for a living or knows what they are gonna pull. Please tell me what to look for.

Don't want to sign with a real estate agent.

For reference, we sold our last 2 homes without real estate agents and no showings, we got lucky both times and made $$$. I sold a house in 1999 with an agent and it was a pain.

HELP PLEASE?

I’m looking into buying in a new development in Washington state. One of the builder’s preferred lenders is Prime Lending. I spoke with a loan officer from Prime Lending and everything seems really good. I’d never heard of them before and want to make sure I am making the right choice.

Anyone have first hand experience with Prime Lending and care to share your thoughts? I’ve searched the sub and most of the posts related to them are several years old.

Thanks!

I referred a friend to a buyers agent i know in a different state where I’m not licensed. He looked at a few houses and was really interested in one that the agent had listed. He saw it a few times and ended up not making a move.

Just randomly today friend and I were chatting and i asked if the place had sold/what happened. He tells me what it sold for and then launches into this whole story about the woman who bought it including graphic details of the abusive relationship she was leaving, where she was from and when she was moving/why etc etc.

I was taken aback and said “oh did she just have a lot of stuff on social media or something?” And he said no— that the realtor I referred him to told him ALL about this buyer. He was happy that the house went to someone nice who was starting over etc etc.

I was shocked at how unprofessional sharing this is. It’s also frankly unsafe as the woman is living alone in a city with a high crime rate in a one story home. My friend is not a threat but he very much could be. He’s not even involved in this transaction. Further the agent did not represent this buyer— she was representing the seller— so I’m absolutely sure she didn’t have permission to share this personal information. It would have been very easy to say “we got a great offer from someone who really loves it!” End of story.

I’m wondering if i should mention this to the agent and if so, how. I’m not going to be referring anyone else to her. Or do you think I’m overreacting? I know you want to build rapport and some relationships get very friendly, but this seems like way TMI.

Not a first time homebuyer but wondering how long title should take in my case?

So I am buying a house where the seller was going through bankruptcy. The judge finally signed off on the sale and waived the 14 day waiting period a week ago. About an hour after that his attorneys sent everything to my title company. I’ve been waiting now for a week and my realtor, the bank that I’m using for funding and myself haven’t heard a peep. I’ve bought multiple houses before and it typically only took a day or two for a clear title. Does it typically take longer when buying a house where the seller was in bankruptcy and if so how long?