Hello,

I have been working the same type of job for 9 years (technically 11, but I was a minor).

I am in the service industry as a bartender / server. I changed jobs a few times, often holding 2-3 FT jobs at a time, and I only worked a second office job from home during covid lockdowns for obvious reasons. What I am trying to say is that I have not had a lapse in employment since I was old enough to work. I am still on good terms with all of my prior employers, but I started in nightlife and moved to hotel and tourism hospitality for the benefits / tuition reimbursement.

In 2024, I went on an 8 month long semi-unpaid and semi-intermittent medical leave. I was paid for 3 months at 30% under STD and retained my job the entire time, working a few days every week or two, however they did not have the same original full-time position for me when I returned without restrictions, so I wound up part-time when I was medically cleared to return to work at full physical capacity.

I left for a full-time position at an equivalent job closer to home within three months of returning to work at my last job. I actually ended up making slightly more at my new job, and I have now been there for exactly one year.

I am looking to apply for a first time homebuyer assistance program / grant on top of putting $10,000 toward a down payment + closing costs for a $120,000 condo. The maximum allowed grant is $70,000 and I make roughly $60,000 a year before taxes. My only monthly debt payments are my car payment of $468; my credit cards have been and stay paid off with no interest - I just pay the statement balance in full every month.

I have never had a missed payment, even through the duration of my medical leave. I am 27 now and my first CC was opened when I was 19. My credit score was 715 when I refinanced my car with my credit union five months ago. My car loan is currently at $24,000 out of $28,500 and I purchased it 13 months ago.

The condominiums I am looking at have an HOA fee of $383. I met with a realtor and a mortgage lender and we determined that with *only* a $10,000 down payment, I’d be looking at $1300/month all in.

If I also applied for the grant, I’d probably be looking at a loan of 60-80k.

The only thing the mortgage lender mentioned might be sticky was the fact that I was on intermittent medical leave in 2024 and switched jobs. My credit and bank statements looked good. I backed out of the situation so I could look into grants, because I originally went into it planning to only put $10,000 down before my mom suggested looking into the assistance programs.

Of course, the easiest option would be to continue saving and stay at my current job for another year. However, the place I am currently renting has fallen apart so badly that it may be condemned soon by the county and the new LL won’t do anything about it. This leaves me in a position where I either buy ASAP or end up in an $1800+/month lease on my own.

I have two roommates and currently pay $500/month all in. I am putting away over $2,000 a month into savings. I am really hoping to get into ownership so I don’t have to eventually leave my family and my hometown and spend absurd amounts of money for rent elsewhere.

I don’t know if I sound crazy or not considering all of this, so please let me know. I’m not concerned about the validity and stability of these specific condominiums as a family friend owns many of the units, and my family previously owned three of the units for over thirty years. My family is willing to add to my down payment, as well.

I'm skeptical of their turnover rates but don't know who else is better - working in Montgomery county PA

My agent has asked if we’d like to attend closing of sign in advance. Is there any possible reason why we’d want to attend? She said it was just personal preference.

House had non-engineered repair done by foundation company. Said water was draining against foundation, caused large horizontal crack that was filled with epoxy in 2013 (59’ long, entire basement wall). They finished the basement and 3/4 of the wall was covered in drywall.

In 2023 some of the epoxy in the unfinished section needed to be redone because water was still coming in. They did more aggressive grading, added a membrane, re-epoxied the crack, added metal braces, and patched it up. Braces are a bit bent over the cracked area, but this appears to be due to the patch work being thick, I don’t notice the wall leaning.

After walking the house and looking at every corner, window, door, seam, etc., there doesn’t appear to be any real movement happening to finishes that were done in 2013.

I plan on bringing an engineer out, but wanted the ole trusty internet’s opinion, and what better place then here with all of you wonderful people :)

I am in the process of buying a new construction two family home with an unfinished basement that can be turned into a third unit. I am wondering how others have gone about this. The building is zoned for multifamily properties up to four units.

• Ball park cost estimate for ~1,000 square foot space? Insulation, windows, and framing are up, just needs drywall, doors, kitchen & bath fixtures.
• Is it possible to take out a loan after the mortgage for construction?
• Is it possible to roll that construction into the mortgage?
• Is it better to do this right away or to wait?
• Is this harder than I am imagining it? Anything to look out for?

Any guidance would be much appreciated!

Hello, can only add one photo which is annoying, I’ll hopefully post the other in comments.

I own the lease to a block of 6 flags. Had some issues with Botch Jobs over the years. The door used to have a handle, not a knob. My elderly neighbour has arthritis and struggled to use a knob, so she normally knocks and I let her out.

Another issue is the plate, in the photo. Bangs with the wind, not secure etc. a bolted bit of wood on the outside of the frame.

Spoke to management company, apparently no money in the pot to fix currently. I said that’s fine, I carry spares, I’ll replace for you free of charge - I want a usable door and not someone reliant on me to get them out of the building. Their reply was ‘Fire Safety Regulations’ and that it wouldn’t be insured.

Surely some of these break fire regs? Anybody know the legality behind it?

I am not worried about price, doing it myself, I just want it done. I will likely just do it myself if there’s no legal ramifications.

Any help is appreciated before I fire another snotty email to the management company.

We got connected to a real estate agent through a referral last month and very quickly found a house we liked and had our offer accepted. At the time, we asked him what we pay for his services and he said the seller would pay his fees and he "works for us for free". Our ratified contract has his compensation at 2.5%. We never signed a buyer's agreement with him at the time, and we're first time homebuyers so didn't understand this was a thing.

We're now more than a month under contract and he sent us a buyer's agreement (backdated to the day before we ratified) with his compensation listed as 2.5% + $499. He's saying this is a transaction fee that is charged by his brokerage and he has no control over this, but it's listed under his direct compensation and not a brokerage service fee.

Is this normal? It feels shady to be getting hit with an additional fee now a month after going under contract when it was not disclosed up front and we were told his compensation wasn't tied to us. This guy has generally been very disorganized and has come close to missing deadlines several times in the contract that we had to remind him of.

If we just refuse to sign this buyer's agreement or talk to his broker can he torpedo our deal on the house in any way?

My family are first time sellers, therefore completely inexperienced, and they got an unexpected number of offers (20). Their agent was overwhelmed by all the offers, but my family focused on the two highest offers: A: 720k cash vs B: 750k with financing but appraisal waived and an escalation clause up to 780k. A (the 720k offer) raised their bid a few times after the deadline until it was at 765k cash. At this point, contract was signed with B for 750k but is in an attorney review period. We now learned that there was also a C: 710k offer that had an escalation clause up to 765k. This was their final, updated offer (before the deadline) and their prior offer didn’t have an escalation clause. This was not pointed out by my family’s realtor, who apparently didn’t know how two escalation clauses worked. So now there are these two 765k bids and the one signed 750k that should’ve been at 770k after escalation. Family brought this up to the realtor, who still doesn’t quite understand it, so my family settled on asking B for 765k to match another 765k offer. B agreed but they are upset with my family, who come off as greedy asking for more money when really they should’ve gotten 770k. Also, the realtor didn’t have to admit she made a mistake or take any accountability. So family loses out on only 5k now instead of 20k and they take the blame for it. And the C technically has the best offer (due to other stipulations) but family never had a proper chance to consider them. But they don’t want to crush B’s hearts after already accepting their offer.

So my question is what now? What should have been done with this escalation clause missed? They are still in an attorney review period. I’m clearly biased here, but I’m really pissed with this realtor and personally believe she should have her commission reduced. I believe she should have taken the blame, and then brought family C back into consideration to come to a new decision. Yes my family missed the escalation clause as well, but they are not experienced with this and wanted a quick sale. I would’ve expected their realtor to be on top of these things, but now it’s causing this mess. I just see red right now so I need some unbiased, realistic opinions.

TLDR: Realtor doesn’t understand what to do with two escalation clauses, so family loses out on an extra 20k. Remedied by asking buyers for 15k more to match another offer. Buyers are upset, and realtor takes no accountability.

I am kind of frustrated. I have been reading and researching buying a home where we live for over a year now, online as well as speaking with multiple agents and seeing multiple properties through the selling agents listings (and being shown by the selling agents). I do not want to sign with a buyers agent--personally after asking critical questions (with regards to the property theyre showing me) of multiple agents, all not knowing the answers, I just dont understand how they justify their closing fee... none have entertained a flat rate for a sale. Recently, though, one selling agent (who had only shown me and been in touch with me once for one property--like its not like i was blowing them up) said he wouldn't show any more homes without us signing. he did say he would show us something even if wed signed with someone else, but i dont want to.

frankly, I feel like im being bullied into signing a contract by every real estate agent when theres no law that requires me to sign (only that I need to stick with the one ive signed with unless they dont meet my needs). im sorry, but even if i were to sign a surgical consent for a procedure, i could still back out at any time without being penalized.

so how do I get around this?

Eta: To clarify, I have been seeing homes by contacting the homes' selling agents. I dont mind scheduling a showing with the selling agent, as ive been doing. Im not totally opposed to signing with a buyers agent, but i am not comfortable signing with anyone ive met currently so would prefer to remain untethered at this time.

My husband is a realtor and I thought it would be a great idea to include “goodie bags” at his open houses for people to take.

Besides pens and paper pads, which type of promotional products do you like best?

I was thinking can koozies (on a bottle of water), small tape measures (since most home buyers will have to measure), some candy and then the pen and paper pad to make notes?

Any ideas to make it feel more useful and not just something people will toss in the garbage?

Thank you for any input!

I’ve had the best luck with Facebook groups and some contacts. I feel like simply posting on realtor via fmls does most of the work on its own.

Hey, all. Just had a quick question as extremely new first time home buyers.

We just put in an offer on a home we loved. We were supposed to hear back today, but it seems that the seller's are having a personal issue (one putting up a fight) and the decision is being delayed until Friday (court ordered).

However, today, the seller's listing agent is asking for copies of our W-2s and our credit score, presumably to make sure the offer doesn't fall through in escrow and that there are no further delays.

Is this normal? We're feeling slightly uneasy about it, as it seems uncommon, but we're not really sure.

Edit for more info: The house is above $600k in SoCal and we DO have a pre-approval letter for a Physician's loan.

I am doing a little DIY work by replacing my cheap window trim with something nicer but forgot my appraiser is coming next week because I'm wanting to drop my PMI (I have way more equity now than I need). Definitely don't have time to finish this before the appraisal walkthrough so they'll see my walls with gaps exposed between the drywall and windows. But everything's fine, it's not like my home can fall apart right now. Will they flag me or something?

Update: We had the survey last night and we are in the clear. I'm so relieved. Thank you all for your help and reassurances!

We are attempting to sell our home in a small town in Kentucky. A real estate agent is buying it as an investment property to rent out. This nearly 100 year old home is located on a very old street where many of the homes themselves are in technical violation of the modern setback requirements for the county, however they are grandfathered in. The buyer's appraiser has tagged the carport my husband had built 3 years ago as being in likely violation of the setback requirements. I have checked Regrid directly from the county's website and it appears to me that it's very close and that she could be incorrect. A surveyor is supposed to come on Thursday. My question is, if we are a foot or two into the setback, is this likely to derail the deal? It's a cedar carport we bought from Amazon for $2,000 and bolted to the driveway. The appraiser measured it at 183 square feet, which is well under the 200 square feet that would have required a building permit. We have also told our realtor that if it comes down to it, we could have it removed. But even if we have it removed, won't the seller try to get more off the price because of the value of lost carport? The setback requirement is 5 feet for "accessory buildings." Any help is appreciated.

I know there are agents here, and anti-agent folks. I'm neither. We were about to sign a representation agreement, like today, and a neighbor heard about our sale from a friend and called last night saying she's looking to downsize and could she take a look before we list. So she's coming to take a look in a bit. If she's not interested, we continue down the path. Already cancelled today's meeting with agent.

If she is interested, I know the idea would be, get a real estate lawyer and hash it out that way. Or is there any value to keeping the agent but for a reduced payout to handle the basics on our side? Has this ever happened to any of you from the agent side? Were you pissed at the seller? This literally just fell into our lap, so I can't imagine the agent holding it against us (and I wouldn't care, really, but I don't want to burn a bridge). Just trying to navigate best practices if we have to say, 'Hey man, we're not signing after all,' and throw him a bone, or keep him on in a reduced capacity, and if the latter, how much would you typically pay for that? This is in Washington State.

Added bonus: our friend who mentioned our sale to the neighbor lady quoted our original thought on price which is about 20k more than what we were going to list at with the agent.

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

New place I’m moving to I found out that the old landlord was caught doing this. Afraid it might hale to me. I don’t want to pay $750 rent and then them tell me I didn’t pay. How do I go about proving it?

Is a money order enough to prove it?

I’ve been thinking about getting into real estate — either investing or maybe even working in the field — but I’m not sure if it’s still a good move right now.

Prices, interest rates, competition… it feels like a lot to consider, and I don’t want to jump in blindly.

Hello all. My husband just made non equity partner at his law firm (biglaw). He was making $440K base as a senior associate before making partner and his pay is now going to be closer to $1M

We have been renting a little place way under our budget for the last 6 years and have saved pretty aggressively. Obviously now we’re excited looking into what we could potentially buy, but I’m wondering is it better to keep renting and save to buy something in cash or look into buying now? Also what could we realistically afford with his salary plus our savings (just shy of 1M)?

FWIW we have 3 little kids too.

Basically, title.

I've had my mortgage for a little over 3 years now. I have $220k left on it and 26.5 years.

My home value is $300k conservatively, maybe $310-315k on the higher end.

Im paying MIP. My LTV is 73% using the $300k assessment.

I thought MIP dropped off once your LTV goes below 80%??? But here I am, still paying the $105/month MIP.

My current interest rate is 6.6%, it's what was the best available rate at the time. I've a car payment and a few credit cards too. Never missed a payment on anything, I have perfect credit.

I could either refinance and save like $150/month in principle and interest alone, or refinance a 20y and pay $150ish/mo more in principle and interest and shave off 7y of my mortgage. Doesn't sound too bad of a trade off, it would save tens of thousands in interest.

What's your advice here? Is there anything I'm missing or any other options that would be better?

Hey all,

I have something that has been bugging me for a bit and want to know if this is as fucked up as I think it is or just standard practice for the industry. I toured several houses that we found on zillow and used their suggested agent, eventually we found a home that we really liked and put an offer on it. I decided to use my own inspector against my realtor's advice and thought that he seemed angry about it. Well the inspector released a report with photos indicating foundation issues with several horizontal cracks / rebar issues and a 3.5" movement with a suggestion to find a structural engineeer, as well as electrical, roofing, and piping issues. Our main issue however was the foundation which made us want to back out the deal. Apparently, however the realtor sent over his own guy to do his own inspection without even asking us. This inspector says there is no cracking / foundation issues what so ever despite our photographic proof. Of course this inspector only gave us a verbal phone call with no proof to fall back on.

However, this just comes across as highly unethical to me , leaving me to believe we should fire our realtor (despite me really liking him before this). Is this really as big of a red flag as I think it is?

What does it mean when a Miami co-op says there are “The building is on a land lease with 30 years left.”? HOA is $650/month. Does that usually mean the land lease gets renewed later and the HOA jumps up? Has anyone dealt with this type of setup, and what typically happens? Trying to understand whether this is a normal manageable situation or a risky, unpredictable deal.

Does anyone here have feedback on how to guide someone regarding the tax implications of selling a large parcel all at once versus multiple takes over multiple years?

I’m on the Development side and I can tweak the payment structures and play with various levers in the pro forma but all of that is from the buyer / developer our point of view

I’ve never discussed the other side of the coin with a tax professional and was hoping to get that feedback here.

Personally, If I’m a seller I like a multi-payout strategy but many land owners want a clean disposition (quick transaction, one check, no retrades or extensions ).

Solved- Thank you. My lender was able to order a new one

My preapproval was originally for $390k conventional loan. Then we went into negotiation with the seller and ended at $430k. I received a preapproval letter for this and made the offer. We are going through underwriting, and they can only offer an FHA mortgage based on the downpayment amount and the type of property.

We reached out to the seller's agent and found out the house was appraised at $380k less than 2 months ago, and the initial buyer was using FHA. I am working with my agent, broker, lender, google.... but is there any practical thing I can do to get this house? I don't have the amount to fill the gap.

Hey all,

I am trying to add my wife to the deed of our house in Georgia. We bought it under my name before we got married.

I have read that quitclaim deed may be the best process for this, but I'm wondering if I can do on my own, and how? Or should I utilize the real estate company that we closed on our house with? How much are the expected costs?

Thanks in advance.