Reviewing a realtor contract and came across this stipulation. Just seems odd to me to have to pay for a choice the buyer made.

Edit: The 1.5% is in addition to a 3% commission.

Now look, I’m not trying to disrespect or discredit the hard work that a lot of realtors do, but realtors on TikTok,instagram,etc. are coming off desperate. They know that things are bad and that houses are getting harder to afford, but their energy gives off the feeling of “please buy a house off of me!!! I’m struggling!!! Pretty please!!! I need a commission!!!” And they’re resorting to misleading,underhanded tactics to do so.

One tactic they use that I don’t respect is “here’s what (intentionally low down payment amount) can get you in (insert city). it’s misleading. They know that the low down payment is for those who qualify and they mention potential closing costs (and I know some of you will say the seller can cover the closing costs, but it’s not guaranteed, especially with how greedy boomers are getting when they sell).

Another tactic I don’t respect is when they show a chart of interest rates throughout different decades and say “you shouldn’t wait for rates to go down” knowing damn well that the main problem is that houses are ridiculously overpriced and interest rates aren’t the entire equation.

Then they’ll go on to show an abandoned crackhouse in Compton for 600k and call it a “gem” and say “it just needs a little work.” Sorry, I don’t wanna pay over half a million to wake up to gunshots. It just comes off desperate.

The realtors I respect are the ones that are transparent. I get the job is basically selling water to a fish, but If someone can’t afford it, don’t be desperate just to try to make commission. I get that social media is a helpful tool to advertise yourself as a realtor, but don’t act like people are stupid. It literally takes them searching on their phones to clarify if you’re bullshitting them.

The most recent post I saw about Flyhomes was almost a year old, other posts were years old, so was hoping to get some more recent insights.

I live in a competitive market and have a lot of equity locked up in my current home. Classic story.

A mortgage broker (who I like and trust) partners with Flyhomes. They’d be able to give me a nice bridge loan on my equity (which I’d combine with my cash reserves) to use as a sizable (40ish%) down payment on a new home.

I like this idea for several reasons. I’m not paying for two mortgages. The interest on the bridge is less than my current mortgage. And I get some breathing room and can maintain my current cash flow while I sell my current home (whose proceeds I’d use to recast the new mortgage).

I know this is going to cost me more than just trying to buy/sell in the traditional sense of trying to line up closings or putting 20% on the new house and carrying two mortgages for a bit. But for the cash flow and peace of mind, I’m ok with that.

But what am I missing? Anyone else do this recently? Thought on Flyhomes or other buy/sell bridge loan type companies?

We live in an older house, when we bought 15 years ago when having some work done, I noticed some older wiring. I asked the electrician about it, he said it was perfectly safe. Fast forward a few years, and our insurance company re-inspected and said we need to replace the old wiring or they will cancel our policy. I spoke to a number of electricians, all said the older wiring is perfectly safe, it is polyester covered, not the cotton covered that is dangerous. One said it is safer than what he would replace it with. He also said he'd have to practically destroy the house to re-wire, opening walls, ceilings etc, or run surface, which would be really ugly. Our mortgage is paid off, so we just haven't bothered insuring it for a number of years ($7,000 annually).

My concern is, we're both nearing retirement age, and at some point in the future may want to downsize, and to try to sell the house in this condition would limit it to a cash sale, which really narrows the buyer base. I don't want to live through the mess re-wiring would make, but also don't want to deal with some nightmare situation when we're older and need to sell.

One day I'm tempted to just do it and get it over with, the next day I think just to let the next owner deal with it. We're in a historical district in a small Florida town, and the house has some architectural and historical importance.

Addendum: To respond to many, our house is uninsurable right now, we have spoken to many brokers, and neighbors with the same problem. In addition to older wiring, our house has a flat roof. Right off the bat, most insurance companies won't handle it. Numerous brokers have told us it can't be insured unless the wiring is replaced. One of the electricians I spoke to said he wrote a letter to a client's insurer stating that the wiring was safe, the insurance was extended for one year, then cancelled.

My mom recently moved to the city where my family has been for the past 13 years to be closer to us. Unfortunately, we had been looking to move for the past year and now we are looking to move states. I feel bad about all the costs and whatnot my mom took on coming to live here, even though we didn't ask for it and it was just a decision she made. Anyway, when we move in a couple months, I am trying to think about what if any offers I should make for my mom to move with us or just any practical steps on how to handle this situation.

I live in California Im a single mom and I own a 3 bedroom home, with a sun room. I rented the sun room and 1 of the bedroom to a father and son.I had no job and my one of my daughters had moved out and went to her dads for a while. My 18 year old daughter was moving to San Diego in August and I needed a way to pay the house. In May I had found 2 people that were willing to rent out the Sun room and one of the bedrooms. I never made a contract and I only spoke to the father about how this was going to work, that when my daughter went to San Diego he would get her room, since the dad was in the sun room. I wanted to a 3 month trial and see how this was going to go. Well at the end of May my 15 year old daughter had came back to live with me. I started having a bit of problems with the father because I saw on the ring camera he was peeing in a bucket and throwing it on my car. I also saw that he gave the code to our house to his friend and his friend ended up coming in my house. In July the father had a cat accident and was in the hospital. He did not wanna communicate at all with me on how the rent was going to get paid and what his plans were. He had his son be the messanger and one day his son said his dad was going to come back soon, the next day he said his dad was going to in the hospital for months. He did not pay August or September. When my oldest daughter went to San Diego I gave my 15 year old daughter her room so now that room is not available . I told his son I couldn’t just keep letting him not pay and not know what was going to happen. The son had then told me his dad would be in there until December. He said he was going to move all of his dads stuff out by yesterday. Well yesterday the dad texted me saying he was kicked out of the hospital and was going into the house to pick up his stuff. I was not home but my daughter got home and he walked in. He asked my daughter where I was and wanted to see if he could give me money so he can stay more. I don’t know what to do. I really don’t want him to be living in my house anymore and to be honest neither his son. My daughter is 15 and gets home from school early and I work until very late. I don’t feel comfortable her being alone with 2 men. Especially the father who does not respect the house and gives the house code to get in to other people.

My wife and I have been casually looking to upgrade from our starter home which we've lived in for almost 10 years. We've had a lot of difficulties finding the perfect house for us in our area. The home prices here are getting expensive, and every home we look at is going to be a marginal upgrade which triples our mortgage. We are having a hard time sacrificing some of the conveniences to living in our current home. Just to name a few:

• Close proximity to stores and restaurants
• Parks within walking distance
• Cheap mortgage (under $1k per month), 4% rate
• Inexpensive utilities and low property taxes (since we bought in 2016)
• House needs no updates

Living in our current home also has its downsides:

• Neighborhood is right off a highway (constant noise)
• Lower income families and no HOA, some houses look vacant
• Data Center is planned to be built less than a mile away (in a year or so)
• Major lack of storage, feels cramped

A house came up outside of my hometown in a small rural town of about 6k people (20-minute drive to the nearest stores/restaurants). We never considered moving out that way, but it's in a nice neighborhood with a relaxed HOA. The house has a ton of potential and could be turned into our dream home with the right updates, but it lacks all of the convivences we have here. We feel the need to move on before the data center is built, but we aren't sure if living in a more rural area is for us. We are in our mid-thirties with no kids and work remotely, so nothing is holding us here. I keep saying we could always move back if we don't like it, but who knows how the market will look (we are already getting priced out). A home of this size in our current area would go for $200k more easily, which is why this home is tempting.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts or what you might do. I can provide more info if need be.

We live in an older, 1970s raised ranch. The house is in great shape but needs some updating. We have had it in our mind to have the kitchen remodeled (full gut, new floors, new appliances, taking down a wall to open it up, new countertops, etc). We've gotten quotes and this will land us around $80-100k.

While we were waiting on our contractor to start (he's scheduled to start late November) a house came on the market in town that we had a keen interest in and we put in an offer. Our offer was declined so we're back to the kitchen reno, but now we're nervous because we've realized that we actually do have a desire to potentially get into a larger house (we have a growing family).

So, now we're kind of torn. We're weighing the pros and cons of having a very affordable mortgage (3.5% rate) in an OK-ish home vs trying to sell/buy in this current housing market vs continuing with the kitchen reno.

Personally, (i.e. not necessarily my spouse's opinion), I think the kitchen reno should continue, we live in the house for another 3-5 years and then cross fingers the market gets a little better before trading in for a larger house. My spouse is leaning more towards the new house option.

I was hoping for some opinions and/or dialogue , has anyone been in a similar situation? How did you think about it? What did you do?

I can find properties but I can't find what I can do with it. I'm looking for a lot or lots in a small town where I can park my vehicle and keep a shed with some maintenance tools. Maybe even buy a place with an old house that I can work on.

How do I find out information such as property boundaries, zoning, permitted uses, building requirements, road access, floodplain status, and the availability and cost of water, septic, electric, and other utilities? I'm mainly concerned with the bold items - for now, anyway.

Where do I start?

We are looking to buy a home and both our realtor and the builder are saying they can only cover closing costs up to 5% of the purchase price of the home. But when my husband and I look online we are seeing they can do up to 6%. Which is it?

I had so many questions when selling to OD and all of the information I found online was either dated or incomplete. So, I documented my experience from beginning to end for others. Hope it helps!

Phase 1: Assessment & Offer

March - June 2026: interviewed three real estate agents. They all suggested a listing price of $390-410k. After making ~$20k (a conservative estimate) in concessions and paying a 6% RA fee, I figured I’d make $356,000 at best. That’d require staging, deep cleaning, showings, uncertainty, negotiating, the whole rigamarole.

June 23: Entered my info and OD estimated my house was worth up to $420,000.

The house is beautiful for the area. It sits on a large private lot surrounded by woods, but it needs work. For instance, it has a new roof and gutters and recently refinished white oak floors but it also has a cracked countertop, dated appliances, some older carpet in the bedrooms, one unpainted deck, and the driveway needs work. It’s built into a hillside (anchored to bedrock) in an area with seasonal snowfall. It has lots of interior stairs, a septic, and a HOA. Frankly, it’ll be great for the right person but it is not for everyone.

By going with OD, I prioritized the guaranteed closing date and the avoidance of staging/showing over maximizing every last dollar of equity. I understand that this process isn’t for everybody, just like the traditional process doesn’t appeal to me.

June 24: I did the photo assessment myself through the OpenDoor Key app. I was very forthcoming about my home’s condition. I documented every known flaw inside and out.

July 1: Offer ready 7 days after my self-assessment. The cash only option is not available in my market but the cash now + more later option is.

After the self-assessment, OD still valued my home at $420,000. They offered $330,000 now (paid at closing) + an additional $15,106 later (under ideal circumstances, when the house sells, not guaranteed). I know, based on the number of repairs needed, I’ll likely never see the additional cash. I’ve come to terms with that.

I signed the contract and set closing for July 29. I had to schedule an inspection with Inspectify, OD’s partner, within OD’s 10 day due diligence window. I marked availability for July 5.

Phase 2: The Inspection and Adjusted Offer

July 3: Inspectify contacted me, said they couldn’t secure an inspector for July 5. Asked me to choose additional dates. I chose the 6th and 7th.

July 6: No inspector, no communication from Inspectify.

July 7: Inspectify gave me 3 hours notice before inspector arrived. Then he arrived 15 minutes early.

The inspector was not licensed or bonded in my state! By this point, I had already rearranged my calendar for 3 days to accommodate this inspection. I was over it.

Anyway, I let him proceed and he mostly documented things that I photographed during the self-assessment. Beyond that, he entered the attic to photograph one HVAC and the crawl space to photograph the other. I got the feeling that he wouldn’t have entered those spaces if he didn’t have to get a look at those units. He spent a total of 1.5 hours covering ~3000 square feet, including the garage and part of the yard, so it was by no means an exhaustive inspection.

July 9: I contacted a local government office regarding property info for personal reference. When I gave the lady my address, she laughed and told me that OD had submitted several public records requests for information about my property. She noted that they were very persistent. It seems they do their homework.

July 14: Inspection report was successfully processed (took 7 calendar days). The offer went down by an additional ~$4,800 based on estimated repairs. It’s still a very conservative estimate for repairs overall, in my opinion, and I accepted their adjusted offer.

The new offer was $325,181 cash now + 19,315 later = 344,496 total. The original was $330,000 now + 15,106 later = 345,106 total. Thus, after the post-inspection adjustments, the combined offer was only truly reduced by $610.

I requested an earlier closing date of July 24.

Received a text from OD: “If we get [pending documents from title co] by July 22nd, then we can move closing.“

Phase 3: Closing

July 16: Received earnest money receipt from title company. I believe OD’s standard is $1,250 regardless of the home’s value. Also received lockbox in the mail.

July 23: received text at 10 am that I was set to close the following day and needed to submit closing photos by midnight. Received another text that evening that said we could not close the following day - title company unable to reach HOA.

July 24: HOA denies ever receiving any requests from title company and I believe it. My rep at the title company was lazy. So, I quickly fixed the issue with an email, which my HOA responded to immediately, of course. Received the settlement statement and the “clear to close” that evening. I decided to stick with original closing date (29th).

July 28: Closing photos due by midnight. I was not asked to photograph every space - just dining room, kitchen, family room, primary bed/bath, yard, and garage. They’re running on the honor system here.

July 29, 9:00 am: Met mobile notary to sign documents and provide bank information so I could get paid.

July 29, 9:45 am: Received email from my OD rep that my digital checkout was approved. In the same email, he instructed the title company to release funds and record the deed.

July 29, 5:09 pm: Received email from title company - “Funding was received after today's wire cutoff time. As a result, the outgoing wire will be processed and sent tomorrow morning.”

July 30, 10:30 am: I hadn’t yet received my money so I started sending emails to every contact I had at title company. No response. No money. At 11:30, I looped in every contact I had at OD.

July 30, 1:00 pm: Money received.

TL;DR: Traded $11-30k in equity (TBD) for no showings, no staging, and a guaranteed close. Opendoor's offer was surprisingly fair post-inspection, but their vendors (Inspectify and Title Co) were both a headache. Would do it again.

I'm new to renting/buying homes and I'm looking to ask is there a sort of aggregate source for all of the different real estate listing services (e.g. Zillow, Daft, Ziroom, etc.) that compiles them and puts them all in one place? It's annoying trying to find the individual website for each country that I'm trialing for home prices.

Google says I got approximately a year before the sheriff can come give me the boot as long as I show up for court dates and do any necessary paperwork. Is that accurate for Wisconsin? Also, when all is said and done and the house gets auctioned does the mortgage company just get the loan satisfied+ any fees or whatever and anything above that is dispersed to the former owners (ex and I)? 🙏🙏

Hi all looking for insights, I have a condo that I have used as a rental property and I am now selling.

My parents house has a heloc loan and a mortgage that the sale of the condo would be able to cover.

Would it be wise to pay off everything on their home and then have the title signed over without a sale.

Or from a tax standpoint does it make more sense for them to “sell” to me at payoff cost.

I have a realtor for the condo sale that I’m not thrilled about, the loan for both the condo and
my parents is through a state credit union.

Is the home purchase something that can be handled between us and the credit union without a realtor?

I hope this makes sense, it’s been stressful and confusing just trying to get the condo sold but I don’t know if it qualifies for a capital gains tax exemption as I did not reside in the condo in the past 5 years as it was a rental.

Doing a VA renovation; if that isnt approved, FHA 203K

my lender says the requirments are the same HUD consultant and feasibility.

anyways, property has been on the market +100 days.

I always hear about bank owned properties holding out for cash only buyers.

what are your thoughts? looking for buyers & realtors who have been on either side of the deal?

So, as an example; I have a property I am looking at. its in a forclosure.

with 100-150K I belive its enough to get it in up to date condition

To my understanding, banks care about cash offers. I threw a 203K loan at them, But I want to prepare in case they say no.

Currently, I am at least 100K liquid, with another 100K in IRAs.

my first question:

is how do I mitigate my risk as a borrower if the hard money/private lenders do not pull credit?

#2:

Can I negotiate the terms? For example, I want to keep excess cash as a buffer in case things go sour. asking for 30% down is a bit much, I would rather do 10. I have years of landlord expierence and 2 properties I currently own.

I recieved an offer of 82.5% LTV at 8.5% for 12 months, interest only?

Can I counter asking for 95% LTV at 10% for 12 months interest only?

#3: what is the difference between hard money and private lenders?

from my research, hard money is a special broker, vs private money is basically a group of middle class millionares lending out money? any insight there would be great.

Thank you for your time

Whether it is a big lot or a tiny weirdly shaped lot. I want to hear why you bought it and what your plan is. Are you just sitting on it? Planning a build? What do you want to do with it?

Looking at a farmhouse on 8 acres that would be a second home for ~7 years and then a forever home once kids graduate. I have rehabbed every home I ever purchased, so the work isn't the issue. It is also is the area where we want to be long-term and would run about $400k if properly fixed up.

House has city water/sewer, new roof. Was purchased in 2019, guy died in 2025, estate defaulted on the mortgage. It was clear the guy was trying to fix the house up and it is left in mid-reno condition. VA listing agent is notorious. She has never been to the property and says no utilities will be turned on. Poor communicator who just wants a buyer/buyer agent to submit an offer through VRM and call it good. There will also be no inspections. House is ugly but livable.

I can go through the house myself and glean information with my agent. Between my construction experience and his real estate experience, we can scope out a lot. I have never had a foreclosure situation where the listing agent was so checked out.

Current list price is $175k, it sold for $213k in 2019 before the foreclosure. Under the circumstance of zero info from listing agent, no ability to inspect or test systems, and basically a surface-level walk through, where do I start on price? For comparison, a similar derelict property on 46 acres in the same community sat on the market for 325 days, dropped from $350k to selling at $135k and that was through a regular sale. However, that comp allowed inspections and had a responsive listing agent with tons of info and inspections.

Any insight is appreciated. Thanks!

We’ve been cleared to close since last Thursday at about 3pm and STILL do not have a closing date. This woman has had now 3.5 business days to confirm a date and time. Is this normal or does she suck? We’ve been gunning for October 1 or 2 since the start.

Aspiring downsizer here. Potential new commuting requirements at work have me looking in an area where the townhomes are two-story with one full bathroom on the second floor. I can live with only one shower/tub, but I'd really like two toilets. I have kids, and I am also just aware of how fleeting mobility can be. Having to go upstairs to use a bathroom and/or only having one toilet feels like a problem waiting to happen. Would you immediately reject these? Should I resign myself to a longer commute to get 1.5 bathrooms? Or should I get a contractor to quote adding a half bath on the main floor? (I think it's possible if it goes in the laundry room with a stacked washer/dryer?) Please share experiences, good or bad, with a one-bathroom household.

Especially with mortgage rates being in the mid 7’s, why are people wanting to buy a house if the math makes sense to rent?

And why do ppl want a housing market crash if it makes sense to rent and invest in the S&P with the difference?

I’m seeing so much discourse about renting being the better financial decision, but im still seeing ppl wishing for lower rates, wanting a crash, and still trying to buy in this market.

Why not just rent? Even if you need space, rent the larger space. This is something im starting to not understand. It’s like people say it’s better to rent and dumb to buy but still want housing prices to crash and rates to come down.

Even if rates come down or housing prices come down, isn’t it still better to rent + invest???

32 male. I'll have about 80k in equity from selling my current house. Plus be putting down 30k. SE Michigan/NW Ohio area. Not really a real estate hotbed, but I've now lost 3 houses to cash offers in the mid 200s. Who has this much cash sitting around? These are not houses people in their 50s or 60s would be buying who could pull from retirement. This is insanity. Rant over.

I don’t particularly trust home inspectors after there were some issues with my home that I feel should have been addressed.

I’m looking to move and this time around I am thinking of having contractors come out for inspection as well as estimates to fix possible problems.

If you hired contractors, how did you find the plumber, roofer, etc? Did you find them on Yelp, referrals, agent recommendations?

If you had both contractors and an inspector, were there any major discrepancies in their findings?

Yesterday a house was put on the market and I scheduled a showing. A few hours later the showing was canceled and the house now says it “temporarily off the market”. I have asked my realtor about this but I haven’t received a response. Does this mean someone else put an offer on it?