Can anyone recommend real estate agents that specialize in land purchases in Washington (right outside of Seattle or SW Washington near Portland) or Oregon (in Portland)?

Any other land purchase tips are welcome!! 🙏🏾

Location: Michigan (if the state matters)

Weighing out the pros and cons here, when i am ready to get a house, i would like to take advantage of the 10K down payment assistance my area offers.

What are the pros and cons to an FHA loan that a newbie might not know? I know to get the DPA, you need the first time home loan.

Hello all I’ve been looking at buying homes for a while and have started looking at foreclosures. I’ve never bought a home before and have only started to seriously look these last few months. I’m 25F and looking to buy a family home in IL.

Q1. Is the balance all I have to pay? I assume yes but I’m not really sure.

Q2. Can I get a loan to buy a foreclosure property? I can make a down payment of $25,000 on my own up front but will definitely need a loan.

Q3. Can I use my first time home buyers grant from the government for the property? If so this would give me at least another $10,000 for the down payment.

Q4. Do I need a realtor to represent me or will a lawyer be enough?

Q5. Are there any other websites that you could recommend me for viewing foreclosure properties in the state of IL? I’ve been using ILFLS, Auctions. Com, and Zillow. Not really sure about the credit of the first two.

Hubby and I are just now starting to think about moving to a little bigger town with more amenities, about 30 min away from where we live now. We haven't bought a home using a realtor since 2008 and it seems things have changed more than I expected.

I clicked the "contact me" button on a few places and have been surprised at how aggressive the contacts have been.

I clicked on 3 properties and was able to get my questions answered - one was pending already and the others wouldn't meet our needs. I have already indicated to the realtors that contacted me that I just want to peruse the listings and ask questions about individual properties and we won't get terribly serious until Spring, but am still getting multiple text messages a day asking for my "wish list," etc.

I realize realtors work on commission and winter is slow and probably boring in the Upper Midwest

1 - How do I politely say "leave me the hell alone and let me do this at my own pace" without burning bridges that I might want to use later?

2 - Do we make a wish list of what we want in a realtor and what we want in a house and email it to the agency we want to use?

3- Do we hire the same person to sell our existing home and help us buy a new one? Or should it be 2 different people?

Signed,

"Clueless about homebuying in the age of the internet."

I am 18F and I am currently an LPN in NY, and I am going for my RN. I love nursing but I want to branch out into other careers and investments. Recently, I learned that you don't need to go to college for your real estate license, you just need to take a course and the exam. I have been doing some research today and I'm interested in the field and starting a side career. Does anyone have any experience with this? I know that it may be over-glorified and built up to the aesthetics that people see nurses as so I am up for the challenge either way. I want to make some good investments for my future. Thank you!

I have never purchased a home before, however I am currently a homeowner, as my husband owned our current property when we married. I'm not sure of proper steps to take or preparations to make, so any advice on the information below would be very appreciated!

My husband and I live in WA state. There is a property (shy quarter acre) next to ours where a very nice, very old woman has lived her entire life. For the last year, she's been living with her daughter because she now needs round the clock care. Her family has mentioned that when the time comes, they will likely sell off her property, because it's relatively small, and her home is an old trailer (650sqft) which is in poor shape. Tarps on the roof, etc. Current zillow estimate for the property comes in just under 150k.

We are not close with the old lady's family, nor do I want to come off as vulture-like. But I am curious to know what steps I can take now to better position my husband and I to be able to purchase this property. Are there alerts I can set up to let me know when the property hits the market? I plan to begin discussions with my bank this month, but I don't know what I don't know... and curious about what else I could be doing now?

Thank you all in advance!

Hi all,

Just want to get people's opinions or personal experiences here. I'm 34 years old living in NYC. Minus retirement funds, the majority of my assets are in crypto currently worth about 1.8m. I also have an apartment that I can sell for around 700k or rent our for around $3,600 ($1000 monthlies).

My income is roughly $225k with bonus and OT.

There is a dream apartment I would like to purchase that costs 2.1m, about 2.2m with closing costs and $2,500 monthlies. This is a new development, so there is also about a year of time for mortgage interest rates to go down and crypto to further appreciate before closing.

With all things considered, interest rates, upside for market, potential inflation, my age, would you liquidate your assets to purchase your dream home?

Two major scenarios I'm considering are 1) fomo of upcoming bull market and 2) lack of emergency funds.

If my portfolio were to grow to let's say 10m, I would still buy this current apartment. If I need emergency expenses, my options are to rely on my salary, health insurance, and family support to get through it. Another consideration is my because I'm 34, I still have time to rebuild my emergency funds.

Having a nice place to live in a good neighborhood is my #1 priority. I don't care for travel, or other expenses. I do want to have kids in the near future.

Any and all insight and thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Was sold a house a month ago with foundation issue that never should have passed for a VA loan. The seller was a well know contractor and realtor in my town. It’s a concrete slab house with a addition built onto it, when I first looked at it I noticed the floor was sagging in a back corner of it when I went outside it looked like a animal had dug up under it I asked him how long something had been under there he said he didn’t know I told him I wanted it dealt with before closing but he basically through dirt in the hole to cover up a even bigger issue. After my dog keeping me up at night 2 raccoons were living under it. At first look after ripping off the boards it looked like the corners were sitting on concrete you could see someone threw concrete on the corner and poured cinder looking pads to make it appear it was on something. Basically it’s sitting on dirt the floor is built out of 2x4s the seller is saying he had no idea which is odd because he redid the whole house including pouring a patio 2 inches from the fake footing and installing 72inch windows on nothing. Multiple contractors have gave me opinions and none of them have said it’s anywhere close to safe let alone pass for a VA loan. The seller now can’t seem to remember anything. And didn’t disclose the raccoon problem nor the sagging floor on property disclosure. I am a disabled vet and a first time homebuyer any advice on what to do would help thank you 🙏

Hi all,

My sister and I are seriously thinking about buying our parents a house. We're looking for some advice on the best approach/structure for such a purchase. This is our background:

• Nobody in our family owns property currently.
• My sister and I are very comfortable ($200k+ incomes each for the foreseeable future). We have significant liquid reserves on hand. We ourselves haven't pulled the trigger on buying our own homes because we live in VHCOL areas, and we also haven't decided where we each will be long term.
• My parents are not well off. (Barely $40k income, no retirement or down payment savings.) They rent in a LCOL area where we grew up. While their credit score is excellent (800+) and they have no debts, they don't have assets and a paltry income so they probably will get a bad mortgage rate if they applied for one by themselves.
• If/when shit hits the fan and parents can no longer draw an independent income, my sister and I will jointly take care of our parents. This is something we always knew we were going to do and in many ways guided our education and career goals since we were children. We are happy to do so and so grateful that their sacrifices (we are New Americans) put us in a position to be able to take care of them.
• My sister and I are each married.

We want to buy our parents a home because, while where they live is still a LCOL area, real estate prices -- and their rent -- have been rising steadily the past 10 years. Instead of letting their landlord get all of that benefit, we want them to capture some of that in equity and give them some piece of mind that comes with living in a home that is owned by the family.

With all that said, we're trying to figure out the best way to structure a purchase like this. Sister and I will be footing the down payment no matter what. Our parents will contribute in the amount more or less equal to their current rent (likely a little bit more), until they can't. After a little bit of research, it seems like basically the options are:

• My sister and I buy a house and rent it to my parents at FMV. We make mortgage payments with my parents' rent money, until they can't pay, at which point she and I take over the monthly payments.
• My sister and I put up the down payment and co-sign a mortgage with my parents to get them a better rate. However, it's their name on the deed.
• My sister and I form an LLC and have the LLC buy and rent out the home....?

Obviously we want the decision that's going to be the most tax-efficient and all, but we also want to know how our choices will affect us when my sister and I each buy homes for ourselves. For example: I know there are a host of tax advantages for first-time homebuyers. How can we keep those advantages open for ourselves? Also, since we are each married, is there an advantage to just my sister and I putting our names to mortgages, as opposed to including our spouses as well? Many such questions.

Thank you all for reading and for all your advice!

P.S. I know this question is braided with, shall we say...heavy emotional choices. Perhaps your gut is telling you all this is a Very Bad No Good Idea and everything will blow up and we will all hate each other. Fair enough, but at the end of the day my sister and I simply will, and are able to, take care of our parents when they no longer can take care of themselves. All this flows downstream from that. So, I would be grateful for real estate advice people have, advice that assumes that the personal stuff won't get in the way.

I’m starting the exciting (and slightly overwhelming) process of buying a home and want to make sure I find the right realtor to guide me through it. There are so many big names out there like Keller Williams, RE/MAX, and Coldwell Banker, but I’m not sure if one is better than the others for buyers.

For those of you who’ve recently bought a home, which real estate company or agent did you use? Did they help make the process smoother and find the right home for you? Or is it more about finding an individual agent you click with, regardless of the company?

In contract with a fixer upper home as a first time homebuyer. Seemed to have strong bones and a convenient location. At the price we were prepared to make all cosmetic upgrades. House being sold as is, but our contract has some contingencies for structural and electrical issues. The inspection came back with several ( upwards of 10) flags for repairs, not including the aged roof. The appraisal is up next. Wondering how likely it is to negotiate a lower selling price should the house appraise for much lower. Seller already had a previous deal fall through and has been on the market for over a month.

Bought a house maybe two months ago from a Guy that is a well known house builder and realtor in my area. When I first came to look at it I noticed a Sag in an addition built on in the back corner, it is a slab concrete house which is kinda unusual for a midwestern town. I asked the seller what is underneath it he said he didn’t know which was odd since he had remodeled most of the house. When I went outside to look I noticed a hole under the corner that was sagging I asked him how long something had been living under there he said he didn’t know. I said that he needed to deal with it before I close he agreed but basically threw dirt in the hole to cover up an even bigger problem. I ended pulling a board off a month after closing because I could hear a coon under there banging, the Real PROBLEM the addition was built some time ago the whole addition is built on basically a few cinder blocks sitting on top of dirt the floor is built out of 2x4 after digging it out multiple contractors have told me it’s not safe and the seller had to of known due to the fact he put two 72inch sliding windows on top of basically nothing sided it and poured a patio right up against it. Now when I question the seller he can’t remember shit and had no idea but admitted knowing there was a coon and sag there but never pulled one little board off to look nor did he mark it on the disclosure. I’m not really sure how it past the VA appraisal in the first place. Any recommendations on if I have a law suit or advice period. I’m a disabled Vet on limited income. Thank you 🙏

My wife and I were looking at a house for her parents. They didn’t like it, but we really did. We have an FHA loan on our house and it’s worth about $220k. The house we looked at is priced at $169k. The problem is that it looks like someone bought the house and tried to flip it so there are no floors and it needs a ton of work. We don’t mind putting in the work, but the realtor told us that nobody would give us a loan for a house without flooring. Do we have any options to buy the house and flip it ourselves?

So, ten years ago I bought a house on 23 acres from a family of 10 children (adult children) who had inherited it from their late father. The portion of land where the house sits (about 2-3 acres flat and grassy) was mostly all I concerned myself with. The other 20, expanded into the vast 3000 acre wilderness behind my home.. So I thought. Being an avid hunter, I was okay with this. There was no fence so I never really looked into it until I downloaded landglide last week and saw that I was listed as only owning 11 acres. I then noticed two adjacent parcels with no owner listed, and when combined with the 11 acres listed as mine, total 23. If this is the case, my property does not in fact consist of only forest land, but a rather large pasture field, and an unhabited cabin with rental opportunities after a renovation. What I'm here to ask is how do I find out if those two unnamed parcels are actually mine? Can I visit my county courthouse to find this info? Any advice is great. I'm fully aware that this is all info I should've known before buying. But I was 23 and very naive when I made this purchase, I was just excited to own my own place.

Hello, I found a house (new build) i want to buy listed at 550k. The seller is a builder/flipper. I am currently selling my home now as-is for 375k. It needs alot of work to be completed as it was damaged from hurricane. Is it possble to offer say my current home now plus 200k for the new home? I currently owe about 150k on my current home. Any information on if thus is possble or not?

Hey r/realestate,

I've listed my home for sale as I have to relocate for a great job opportunity. I live in Aurora, CO and I have a 3 bed 1 bath, we have a 7000 sqft lot and no garage. Livable space is 1300-1400. I know that this type of home is outdated, so looking for any creative strategies that I can anticipate talking about with my agent to get this home sale moving. I'm quite frankly up against it when it comes to the interest rates right now.

I've gotten the feedback that a second bathroom is desired. I've engaged a few contractors to get quotes, one which was too high for me to justify the price (18-22k before materials). Waiting on another quote.

I haven't been listed for too long, not even close to the avg time to go pending. The strategies I'm thinking about are:

- 3% price drop

- Applicable drop according to quotes for bathroom.

- If I find a buyer that is interested but second bath has them walking away, offer a higher price but with the contracted agreement to give a credit back for a bathroom (I do have my agents fishing for this type of discussion with the people who have come to see).

- Just kinda chilling for a second because I'm just having a hard time acknowledging a lack of control.

Ultimately I'm going to need this money to buy a new home in the future with where I'm relocating. Not going to buy immediately but I'd rather have that money in a CD for 6 months or something, or just quite frankly buttoning up loose ends in a home I don't occupy anymore.

As for the listing price - I went exactly with what my realtors said to go with. I added a brand new roof onto the home and also installed central air. The initial showing feedback and that the home is beautiful and extremely well maintained. There are other homes at this price point but are in far sketchier areas or are severely outdated.

TLDR: I don't know what I don't know and I am willing to hear out any professional suggestions if anyone would be open to sharing. I am aware that in this housing market that buyers are picky, but ultimately the feedback is that the price is definitely not a concern from who has come to see the home....so far.

In my new house layout, the utility space is allotted in the passage area (the stretch from living room to bedroom).

Is it safe to have utility space and store washer dryer there? I usually seen that utility space is next to kitchen.

The listing on my rental house expired yesterday, November 30, 2024. We had an agreement with the tenants to only show the house on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. A few days ago, the realtor asked if she could show the house virtually this Sunday (today), the day after the listing expired. I said yes. But now I’m wondering, what obligations do I have with regard to realtor commission etc. for a house that is shown after my listing agreement expired? In the past, I’ve heard that if someone sees the house before the listing expires with a realtor, and then shortly after the listing expires that person makes an offer to you and buys the house from you, you are obligated to pay the commission. However, the buyer did not see the house during the listing period.

Hello I paid a deposit to a title company for a purchase which didn’t close due to issues with the property. Do title companies normally charge for expenses they had during the due diligence period?

So cal townhome built in 80s selling now about 900K-1M for 3B3B 1400sq.

Will this continue to appreciate like it has been?

They are already ~40 years old and I think townhomes are not as flexible as SFH when it comes to upgrading/maintenance due to HOA restrictions etc.

EDIT: i forgot to mention th listing did not have a set sale price. They treated it like a private sale (not sure if that's the right term) but it was listed on their website. However if we move forward with more term they will listed on MLS

I've had my home listed for over 9 months now (Canadian market), and the listing agent is a developer-focused agent meaning, the firm he works for focuses on selling to developers.

The problem I'm having now is if I should move forward with him for additional 9 months or look for a new realtor.

About the listing: situated in the best area of the town (close to shopping center and elementary school) as well it is one of the very few property that has a vacant land + a home on it. Our district plan for the area our home is in the process of getting townhomes approved however that is delayed until feb

We have gotten a lot of interest in the past from random ppl knocking on our door and I feel like our home should have sold by now. I'm lost and not sure what to do.

He said the market is brutal right now (I agree) however it seems like he could do a better job in terms of getting more interest and keeping us in the loop. He states that there should be more interest when the plan gets approved for town homes.

Do we move forward with him by trusting him that listing will have more interest or do I find a new realtor who is more passionate?

Also his commission is 7% on first 100k and 2.5 on the additional amount of selling price

The only benefit of me sticking with him is the face that he has a list of developers

Would love to hear some thoughts that can get my mind thinking.

Please no negative comments.

I see a lot of contract and procedure questions here, and want to inform people with real estate questions that real estate is practiced differently in every state. It's important to say what state the property is located in our you're going to get answers that don't apply to you. Also, some states use attorneys for contracts. If you're in one of those, you should be asking your attorney contract questions

This might come across as a strange question but I am genuinely curious how do you ensure that your immediate neighbors are decent people while buying a house?

One of my buyers (non-white) told me that their next-door neighbor put up a blue Lives Matter/liberal free zone flag the same week they moved in. They have been very rude to my buyers for no reason. We checked with sellers and they had no issues (the sellers were white).

Another buyer said that the neighbor in the back throws dog poop into her yard.

Is there a way to make sure that your immediate neighbors are decent people? What are some of the red flags?

I live in Cape Coral FL and am ready to purchase a home here after the new year but completely flexible on time after 1/1/25. I feel like anything I look up is being published my biased real estate companies, does anyone here have actual objective opinions on the forecast on real estate prices next year for my area?

We are considering purchasing a home for a major renovation. The house has no electric or heat, private well and private septic. It's 3.34 acres and most of what is behind it is a state park. We are thinking we could do a major renovation to the home to increase its value. But when I look at some of the sold properties in the same neighborhood over the last three years, they go from 338k (3bed, 2 ba, 2000sq, .87 lot) to 550k (4 bed, 3 bath, 3210 sq, .75 lot) to 810k (4 bed, 3.5 ba, 3504 sq, 2.5 lot). In other words, there's a lot of variety despite they are all in the same general location (a county which has high school ratings) and not HUGELY different in what they have (or maybe it's the sq ft). I worry that we might buy this property for 300k, put 200k into it, and perhaps not make a lot of profit on the sell. What are the major things that increase home value? Is it square footage? Look? Certain features? I don't think we're buying this as a business investment per se (we'd renovate to move in for a period of time) but I do want to consider how much/if we can make a profit once we actually sell.

I offered asking price on a house. The buyers can’t see the remarks, but the realtor can in a certain subsection on the listing. It states that seller wants the buyers to take over their solar loan which is tens of thousands of dollars for the solar panels they installed a few years ago.

So instead I offered exactly what the listing price is, but the seller pays off their own solar loan.

There’s 0% chance I take over their loan- they wanted it to enhance the house, that shouldn’t be a buyers problem. Plus a lot of lenders will have a problem with taking over an additional loan.

They came back with a counter that paid for 1/3 of the solar loan.

There are no other offers at this time, house hasn’t been up long though and will probably get more. When is it appropriate to counter a counter offer by increasing initial offer by $5-$10k, or just say I offered what you asked on the listing so I am sticking with my original offer?

We’ve been in our starter house since about 2011/2012. It works but it’s a townhome style with really no yard . We have 2 kids and our mortgage is very cheap in today’s market which allows my wife to stay home. We’re at the point where we may need to do some updates/upgrades but have been holding back as we want to move and don’t want to sink too much money into this one. We’re in the northeast and it’s very expensive here. Looking for a yard, better school district , etc. current school district isn’t bad - more middle of the pack. Areas surrounding us are changing and getting worse though.

We attempted to look over the years but just never found anything that we liked and unfortunately the market has gotten worse. We’re now priced out in most areas but keeping our eyes open for the random affordable house that pops up here and there.

Just wondering what others have done/are doing. Do we just take the plunge and take on the higher mortgages ? I’d get second job if I have to but also want to be around for my kids.

Will the prices come down? Seems there is just no supply which keeps prices high. Need something done about this!!

Been just under an hour commute to and from work via bumper to bumper highway for nearly ten years. Our house isn’t on market , but unless we can sell word of mouth to neighbors we list in few months.

Wanting to stay under 500k with 300k equity to use as down.

Currently there is a house on market 1/2 bt work and my current home , big house, top of budget. Frankly I’m still shocked on market.

In the area that puts me closer to work, houses are smaller and prob 50k less which helps, but rarely come on market and when they do, under contract in a day for over ask.

Admittedly location better on option 2, closer to work, but chances of beating out ppl trying to get in neighborhood seem low.

Location option two is great, lake community w huge brick houses , higher prices but still 30 drive to work.house is also 3600 sq ft for two ppl, no kids, which is large .

I’m a bit torn. In town , smaller but may have bidding war or still 30 min drive to work, higher price bigger house meaning more utilities and insurance too (right??)

Thank you!!!

We are getting ready to sell our house in the spring (never sold a house before), and I was wondering...what are some tips for a family with kids?

Should we book a hotel for the open house weekend?

After the open house weekend, we are hoping to pack up our trailer the following weekend...is there a way to let MLS know that there won't be any showings allowed on those specific 3 days etc.? Also, can you block off certain times of the day that showings are not possible? Not sure how quickly we can get out of the house with the kids etc.

We are moving cross country, so we're planning on doing an open house, hoping to get an offer or two, then packing up and leaving while we are under contract. Of course it's possible that we might not get an offer that quickly, but we having housing with family at our destination, so we won't have a huge time crunch.

We are still in the process of finding a realtor, so thought I'd ask this community in the mean time. Thank you for reading!

EDIT: Since people keep telling me that I don't know what I'm doing, I wanted to clarify that we are not selling right now, but in the spring, and we will indeed have a realtor.

And just because I have not done a house sale doesn't mean that I don't know anything about real estate. We live in a competitive housing market, and we were under contract 4 times before we got a house...trust me, I get how the process works. Just wasn't sure on logistical aspects of selling, which is why I was asking this community.

EDIT 2: Lots of great advice from people on here, so I appreciate it!

One thing to note, we're already decluttered heavily, and have boxes packed in the garage. We're donating/selling/trashing anything that isn't essential. The only things for the open house will be furniture, rugs, bedding, some generic art etc. No personal items or drawers full of stuff. We're not planning on doing an open house/showings with ALL our stuff.

Based on what I've read here and other places, I think we'll likely try to stay with friends for a couple of weeks after we list the house, so that we can keep the house clean, and make sure potential buyers have every opportunity to see the house. After that, we'll hopefully be under contract and work on moving our stuff.

We were originally scheduled and ready to close early last week, but the sellers need more time to move out and have delayed the process by putting off signing the necessary paperwork. Closing and funding are now scheduled for next week, but we’re feeling unsure as to whether or not it’s even going to happen. Our realtor expressed doubts about the sellers’ motivation and warned us that there’s nothing to prevent them from staying beyond their stated move-out date (which is supposed to be after our closing and funding date). On top of that, she’s questioning the value of doing a walk-through we have scheduled before funding if we’ll need to conduct another one right before the sellers leave. Should we really put off the walk through? Is there actually no consequence to the seller for continuously pushing back closing and refusing to leave by the date they say they’ll leave by?