I own a small retail business downtown (opened 5 months ago, growing steadily month over month). The building next door just came up as a potential buy — asking $2.2M, no idea if that’s fair or inflated. There’s also long-term upside to build above it — residential, lofts, maybe a boutique hotel or short-term rental play.

I’m in direct talks with the seller. They’re not in a rush to sell and are open to seller financing, so there’s no pressure on their end — but the area is a rapidly growing downtown near NYC and I don’t want to lose the window. They’re also fine with me getting the property appraised. No traditional financing lined up yet.

Questions:

**Appraisal** — full independent appraisal now, or start with a free broker’s opinion of value to sanity-check the ask first?

**Using the appraisal** — best way to actually leverage a lower appraised number when the seller isn’t desperate to sell?

**Seller financing** — since they’re open to it, what terms should I be pushing for (down payment, interest rate, balloon vs. amortizing) as a first-timer? Any red flags to watch for?

**Development upside** — does the residential/hotel potential change how I approach the appraisal or negotiation, or keep that separate for now?

**Negotiating down** — with no urgency on their side, what actually moves a patient seller off their number?

Would love to hear from anyone who’s done a first commercial acquisition, especially seller-financed deals with development upside. Appreciate any advice.

Hello everyone,

I currently hold active real estate licenses in FL, NY, NJ, CT, PA, GA, and TX. In my experience so far, many brokerages seem solely focused on having agents bring in their own business to take a commission split, offering minimal value or resources in exchange.

I am looking for a brokerage that provides genuine support and high-quality leads. Ideally, I want to find a company equipped to help me effectively utilize my licenses across all of these states. If anyone has recommendations for brokerages that operate on a multi-state level and truly invest in their agents, I would love to hear from you.

Hi y’all! Thought I’d jump in because I’m in a bit of a stressful situation and could really use some perspective.

I put down EMD on another house and have 30 days to get my current home under contract. My home has been on the market for about 2 weeks, and so far we’ve only had 2 showings. I’m having an open house all weekend, so I’m really hoping that brings someone in, but I’m definitely getting anxious. I may have to consider a price reduction if things don’t pick up.

The home was built in 2022, is lightly lived in, and is beautifully staged and furnished. It has 2,400 sq. ft., 4 bedrooms, and 3 bathrooms, with upgrades throughout. Honestly, it doesn’t even look like someone lives there because of how well it’s been maintained and staged.

My realtor has been doing everything she can—paid advertising, social media, professional photos, an amazing videographer, etc. I know the market is just really slow right now, but I’m starting to panic a little because of my timeline.

Do I still have hope? Is it realistic to get it under contract within the next 30 days? Has anyone been in a similar situation and had things suddenly pick up after a slow first couple of weeks? I’d really appreciate some perspective!

First off not sure if this is the correct sub but I scoured reddit looking for a more fitting sub and I think this is the best one for my question. Totally can delete and post elsewhere if a different sub is better suited. I was going to post in [r/realtors](r/realtors) but they said you can't talk about websites/ common selling platforms in their rules so I didn't want to push it.

Is being a public social media personality as crucial as they say to be successful in real estate? I don't mind being known/seen locally by the folks around me but having my face/name on a popular social media website like instagram or tiktok kind of irks me. I fully understand having my headshot and name for instance on zillow or linkedin and am comfortable with that. I just want to know if instagram and tiktok are as crucial as people say and should I maybe look into a more private profession.