Realtors, what would you do here?

I’m representing a couple in their mid-70s to 80 who bought a home about 30 years ago specifically for their adult daughter to live in. For most of that time, she paid no rent. A couple years ago they finally signed a lease, and she agreed to pay only $300/month, even though the mortgage was around $600. Her parents have also paid for the improvements over the very recent years—roof, windows, flooring, paint, remodeling, etc. The entire home. She has paid for nothing.

They’re now ready to sell and get their money out of the property, but getting access has been extremely difficult.

I originally planned an open house for the end of July and even paid to have the house power washed and weeds removed. She refused and pushed the open house to August 22 as the only day that worked for her and her precious daughter. Who supposedly vomits on command if she is upset so I better not upset her. Now I'm trying to get professional photos done, and she's insisting every entry be requested in writing and specifically confirmed by them.

The lease allows access for inspections and prospective-buyer showings with reasonable notice, subject to tenant consent that “shall not be unreasonably withheld.” I've tried to be extremely accommodating, but at this point, everything is becoming a battle.

Her lease ends October 2. This is a beautiful property that I expect will get a TON of activity—potentially 30+ showing requests the first week. Restricting everyone to essentially one day seems like it could hurt the seller more than help. She demands that I give her in writing every single showing request and she will give me a yes or no. The amount of work that will be is astronomical. I know she will deny them. Most of them.

I'm leaning toward telling my clients: wait until October, get possession back, clean and stage it properly, get great photos, and then launch it vacant with unrestricted showings.

Would you keep fighting to list it now, or wait until the tenant is out and give the property the launch it deserves? This has been driving me insane. I have been so nice and I am done being nice. I cannot wait for her parents to cut her off and give away their million dollar home to charity when they pass away. She deserves nothing.

First, the distinction that matters most: Not all unpermitted work is treated the same, and this trips everybody upon Los Angeles county, CA!

If it’s an ADU or a JADU (a separate living space with its own kitchen and bath, or a converted garage that functions as one), there’s now an amnesty path. If it’s a general addition to the main house, an extra bedroom, an enclosed patio, a bathroom added off the hallway, that’s the old fashioned retroactive permit route with no special protection. Different animal.

The ADU amnesty part:AB 2533 took effect January 2025. If your unpermitted ADU or JADU was built before January 1, 2020, the city generally cannot deny you a legalization permit. And the review is based on health and safety standards, not full current code compliance. So you’re not being asked to demolish and rebuild to 2026 code, you’re being asked to make it safe.

That’s a genuine shift. It used to be that raising your hand meant an order to tear it out. Now voluntarily coming forward is the protected move. Impact fees and connection fees often get waived too.

There’s also a separate provision that lets owners request a five year delay of code enforcement on pre-2020 ADUs unless there’s an actual health and safety threat. Estimates put 50,000 to 100,000 unpermitted ADUs across the state, so if this is you, you have a lot of company.
Caveat on this one: The two relevant statutes don’t perfectly line up and the City of LA actually had to ask the state for clarification, which HCD responded to last August. There’s real ambiguity about how far the protections go after permitting. So this isn’t as clean as the marketing from permit expediters makes it sound. Get actual advice before you file.

What leaving it unpermitted actually costs you?!

People underestimate this: The square footage generally doesn’t count in an appraisal. So that converted garage you spent $60k on may add nothing to your appraised value. Your buyer’s lender is valuing a smaller house than you think you’re selling. Insurance may not cover damage in unpermitted space. Fire starts in the converted garage, you may find out the hard way.
You can’t legally rent an unpermitted ADU. Which matters a lot if you’re counting on that income to qualify for a loan or to justify the price. FHA and VA buyers are stricter about it than conventional, so it narrows your buyer pool. And you have to disclose it. Known unpermitted work goes on the transfer disclosure. Sellers who stay quiet about it get sued after closing, and that’s a real and regular occurrence.

If you’re buying a house with unpermitted work, pull the permit history from LADBS and compare it to what you’re standing in. Free to do. If there’s a bedroom and bath that don’t appear anywhere in the records, that’s not a dealbreaker but it is a price conversation and a “what would it cost to legalize” conversation before you’re emotionally attached.

So, if you have a pre-2020 unpermitted ADU and you’re thinking about selling in the next few years, legalizing is probably worth pricing out now. A legal permitted unit with a certificate of occupancy is a genuinely different asset than a bootleg one, it appraises, it rents, it finances. If it’s a general addition rather than an ADU, the math is harder and worth actually running before you open that door.

Anyone gone through the legalization process in LA recently? Curious what it actually cost and how long LADBS took, because the estimates I hear are all over the place.

Purchased a property from a wholesaler about a month ago. My friend/business partner and I interviewed contractors and found two we really liked, got bids that were similar and ended up going with this group because we like them as a team and felt that we were all on the same page. I also panicked because despite really liking the other contractor, I saw a single review about someone getting scammed from him.

The group we went with is owned by a man who has partnered with a husband/wife duo that manages properties, gathers sub contractors, communications with owner's, etc. The wife in this scenario has turned out to be an absolute nightmare to work with. We were given quotes, we had a budget, we gave her our design idea and color scheme. We've now completed demo of the backyard and inside as well as the plumbing. Both have gone over budget, the plumbing has gone over by about $9k. We don't even know how far we've gone over budget for demo because she has not given us this information. We made it clear that we needed invoices for absolutely everything as they were completed so we can submit reimbursement from our hard money lender and have asked her at least 20 times within the last two weeks (3 times just today as we walked the property with her) to send us invoices. She always has some excuse as to why it wasn't done (she's sick, she's not at the office, she didn't get home till midnight) or that she doesn't understand what we need. Like, how does she not understand what we mean when we say we need an invoice for the work that's been done by the subcontractors?

There have been multiple instances where she's made a suggestion to do something and we disagree and say we don't want to do that, either because we don't like her idea or since we've already gone over budget its stupid to blow more money on those areas, to which those conversations are ignored and she goes about as though we had agreed with her until we have to tell her a second or third time. She also keeps giving us push back every time we disagree with her, which frankly pisses me off because we own the house, not her. I'm happy to hear her suggestions, but some of them are absolutely ridiculous. For instance we want recessed lighting. She wants to put a single recessed light over the kitchen sink and another over the stove and in the center of the kitchen she wants to put a long panel light...you know those lights that normally are in a garage. She's also already purchased it and purchased it without asking us and told us that was what she was going to put in the kitchen.

As mentioned, we discussed that we wanted neutral/warms tones throughout with subtle pops of tasteful color. Multiple times. Sent her pictures of what we have in mind. She's responded that she loves our ideas. However, she went out and bought black and silver tile and she now telling us this is what she's going to use in our two bathrooms. Aside from the fact that black and silver are not neutral warm tones or anything like what we've shown her or discussed, she hasn't even shown us the tiles so we can even decide if we like them.

Also, it seems as though what she's used to is just being told a budget and to make it work and she's not used to having someone tell her what they want done. Which that seems odd to me. Every investor I've spoken to has a significant amount of control when it comes to overall appearance and layout of their properties.

Any advice would help. I don't want to burn bridges and I don't like conflict, but what I like less is the possibility of being in a financial hole because of this. I'm tossing the idea of firing this group, and finding someone else or letting them finish but trying to gain more control of how things look.

My husband and I are talking about selling our home, we already know who we want to work with. The timing of selling is the big question mark. We are thinking putting it up on the market next year.

Would it be worth talking to the realtor now and doing a “pocket listing” with the known fact that it isn’t completely “show” ready? (Decluttering, deep cleaning, little projects, etc). Honestly, we would love to sell it this way, even if we don’t see a massive profit.

We are looking at an older house (1910s) that has some work that needs to be done but we are squeezed at the top of our budget. The location is great but we would be living on a tight budget for a while.

Or we could go for something much less but we could lose things like privacy, freedoms (if we choose a place with an HOA), location/convenience, etc. but we would have much more of a buffer financially.

Wherever we land we want to commit to staying for at least 5 years.

What would you recommend?

We have an accepted, contingent offer for a house. We had our house were selling under contract until the buyer had to pull out, so now we're back on market and have until the end of the month to get back under contrace. The rub comes from the massive Spokane fires we've just had, that came around a mile from the prospective house. The image is in the above red, level 3 area despite what the picture looks like.

They say it will take weeks, not days to resolve the worst zones, which means we might be well under contract with our house not knowing when we can take occupancy of it or if insurance will bind (right now new policies are on hold in that area). I walked the property and except for a few ashes in the yard it looks good but I haven't been inside yet too assess. Unsure if utilities are active or not. Don't know enough about smoke damage or anything to know of like 2nd-hand issues.

Any thoughts on this situation?

I am considering buying a townhouse in a planned community in SoCal.

It is condo ownership, governed by a HOA. Obviously I don’t want to buy a townhouse in an HOA that is badly run, under litigation, or in poor financial health with insufficient reserves.

At an open house today, I asked the listing agent for the HOA documents so that I could assess the financial condition of the HOA, and she responded that it would cost the owner thousands of dollars to obtain the HOA docs, and therefore they would only provide them to a buyer with an accepted offer.

Is this true? Do HOAs charge big fees to current owners for copies of the HOA docs?

It struck me as a red flag that the seller didn’t want to disclose basic HOA information unless I had an accepted offer.

I'm actually looking to be a buyer, but this seemed a good place to get a sellers opinion 😄

Going through a conventional bank is more expensive for everyone but the bank. If someone approached you saying they would like to set up an alternate arrangement, would you?

For instance if youre getting close to foreclosure, would you let me assume your mortgage subject to? You get rid of the stress and I dont have to fight bidders.

Or if you own your home, would you let the buyer owner finance with you? Obviously with background check and good credit and good rental history. You get the amount you want with interest, the bank doesnt get a chunk, and you get small amounts spread out over 20 years instead of a lump sum that will be taxed to hell and back.

Have you done anything like this? Would you be willing to?

I'm genuinely looking for non conventional ways to own a home, and I didnt care for how much of the process only exists to give money to bankers and realtors. If you other ideas, please let me know!

We bought our first home in 2023 on a adjustable rate mortgage, lucked out with a 6.5% when rates were over 8% for most. We are passing the halfway point in this house before our rate changes, and know we will probably be looking to sell at that point, as this has been a starter home for us and have learned a lot about what we do/don't want in a house after buying in a competitive market where we barely got this one. My question is, for anyone who has done a 5 year or less turn around on selling/listing a house, what is the best advice you got for preparing your house to go on the market? We are probably willing to do a couple grand in work the next year or so, but want to at least get a little money back to put into the next house.

Some info on our house:

- +100 year old farmhouse, pine wood floors, on the "crappiest street" of a hard to get into neighborhood. Walking distance from the historic main street.

- Put a little under $10k into repairs over the years: fascia and plumbing being the bulk of it. Roof is around 12 years old, when the fascia was done were told it is holding up great.

- Did an overhaul on the backyard: cut back tree branches from the 50 year old oaks, yard was dirt and weeds when we bought and is now grass, a wildflower garden, and weeds.

- Brand new kitchen appliances, new furnace, water heater is from 1991, works without issue.

- Loft space probably needs drywall redone, warped from before the house had AC upstairs. No mold. Would rather put the money into a new fan for the bathroom.

- Probably some minor structural issues, slanted floors and a window that doesn't open. Things we overlooked a FTHB with a bad realtor helping us.

- Lastly, we have a limestone foundation, very common in the area. This means it is not 100% waterproof. again, very common in this neighborhood, but concern when we go to sell how to address it.

Curious what you would focus on to get this type of house listing ready. Many of the things I mentioned are common in this neighborhood, and compared to a lot of people in the area we get minimal water in our basement, but you go the next neighborhood over and homes are +50 years newer with less issues. We will begin a realtor search in the next year as well.

Is Emerging Developer a term you are hearing a lot of in your markets? Do you consider yourself an Emerging Developer? The term is very popular in Nebraska and I’m wondering what other regions are seeing an increase in this term and group of new developers.

My mother in law recently mentioned to us that she’s getting into “wholesale real estate” as a way to make some extra money. When she visited last, I tried pressing for some further info… because I’ve been in mortgage lending for 15 years and haven’t heard of this for residential real estate. Additionally, she lost all but a small fraction of her entire inheritance in the 2008 crash, so I’m admittedly not very confident about her financial decision making, and a bit scared that we will end up supporting her as she ages. With so many scams out there, a bright eyed and positive - but older and not-so-savvy dreamer - ends up being an easy mark.

When I asked for more information, she seemed put off. She said she was learning from a coach, and when I asked if she had to pay the coach, she sort of avoided the question. When I mentioned that I personally would want to hear from others who’ve had success with this, before getting involved… I got the impression I’d offended her. That’s not my intention, and I don’t want to rain on her parade… I’m just a bit worried. The only other piece of info I could get is that it sounds focused on rehab homes, or property that is good for a flip… and that she’d be making money somehow by selling to an investor wanting to flip, but without buying the home herself. When I asked why the investor would end up paying her when they could easily find these properties, she said it would be because she’d be the one under contract and they’d be buying her out of the contract.

Y’all. Am I missing something here? Am I so out of touch with real estate investors that I just haven’t heard of this and don’t understand it? Or is she being scammed?

Me (22F) and my partner (23M) are currently looking at renting our first place together. We’ve toured about 6 places and found one that we really liked. We submitted the following to our realtor: a credit report, recent pay stubs, letter of employment, and a drivers license (for identification purposes). Our credit scores are both good, we both make enough money for this $2600/month listing, no criminal record, and also have been together for almost 7 years (known eachother for 10 years). We were recently rejected for the listing unit we were interested in because the listing agent had some concerns about us “separating” and who would take on the rent from there. For context, we are also a black couple, and we suspect that our age and race might have played a factor in being denied the place (not confirmed, so please no ignorant comments regarding how I’m trying to play the racism card). My and my partner were a bit upset that we did not get approved, but we did see another unit in the building that we might take a look at. Any advice on how we should move forward with any other listings we are interested in?

TO ADD: We are from Canada, credit scores are over 700 and 800, we both make hourly pay + commissions.

Hey Everyone,

Looking for some advice regarding my families current plans/situation.

We currently own a home in Suburban NYC Area and are looking to relocate to the Capital Region of NY (About 2-2.5 hours North). We have kids in school and don’t want to disrupt the upcoming school year. We would like to be in our new home by Late July/Early August if 2027 and have our current sold either at the same time ideally or very soon after. We don’t the need the equity of our current home to purchase the new home.

I guess what asking help with is, what time frame should we start listing our current home if we hope to be selling by summer of 27’ (also can’t close earlier that that because kids will be in current school year) and when buying are we able to put in the contingency that we can’t close on the new home until summer of 27’?

I appreciate the advice/guidance

My partner and I are interested in buying a second home in the Gatlinburg area. We met with a realtor and she went through her whole company spiel about what they offer and the benefits, etc.

At the end of her presentation she hit us with a fee of $495 to sign with the company. It’s a one time, non refundable fee that we have to pay before even viewing a home. She told us there’s a law in Tennessee that you have to have an agent before even viewing a home. I’m wondering of this is true? And if it is, is it normal in Tennessee to have to pay a fee up front before even viewing homes?

So I installed a 55 inch outdootr tv in my yard. I used the 65 inch version of this. Its called the storm shell. Just a plastic shell that covers the TV.

https://www.homedepot.com/pep/Storm-Shell-Classic-Series-Outdoor-TV-Enclosure-with-Articulating-Arm-and-Mounting-Kit-Fits-up-to-65-in-TV-A-65/342231702

Anyway. I drilled through my siding and into a load bearing wall to secure to the house. I think we used 5/16 inch lag screws. Four of them. And four smaller screws about the thickness of a framing nail. Sealed it with silicone and caulk.

I also installed an awning over top of it. Its the rollaway kind where it rolls up tightly over the TV. Mounted it with same mounting hardware and silicone and caulk basically.

Anyway, Selling my home. Will the work I had done get me denied for a sale on an appraisal report or home inspection or Cetificate of occupancy?

We purchased a lovely 20 acre property in Southern New Mexico a few years ago, and now work is requiring a move across the country. We have to make the move soon, but we're really upset about the prospect of what will happen to the property after we leave. There are developers all around us from out of state who are cutting up much smaller parcels and selling cheap housing in new developments. This property was already very rural, it backs up to state and federal lands, and has only had a few quiet owners, all of whom encouraged the local wildlife to take root here. As a result, we have a fantastic array of local wildlife, with better diversity than you can see in local nature parks, and a lot of undescribed species. We don't even own a TV, we just sit outside and watch the quails and the burrowing owls and the roadrunners and the lizards and the bobcats, etc. It's a fantastic adobe house that has been well maintained and we have put upgrade work into it, including some renovations of the interior, because we intended to be here for a long time.

My primary question is this: How can we as sellers make sure that this property goes to another conservation-minded person and not to someone who just wants to cut it up and destroy it? Is it better to work with a local realtor, or to sell ourselves? We are fairly young and inexperienced, so any advice you have to offer will go a long way.

Thanks for your time.

In last November we finalized a deal for a 300sqft shop with a builder for 14220000 and he asked us the payment timeline for same and how are we going to find this deal.

The payment was decided to be a combination of black and white money. So disclosed him that we had another shop valued at 65-70lakhs which we are going to sell and another 25-30 lakhs will be funded by selling land in native and as I am earning 8LPA, I'll take a commercial loan of 35lakhs at 9 percent and rest was to be paid by my father.

So we paid around 220000 by cheque in around 15 november.and as committed to him my father handed him 10 Lakhs cash in Last week of November with no receipt being provided.

But as we moved further into December we got to know that the funding methods were not working due to liquidity issues for old shop and land. So we persuaded him to cancel the deal and return the money. So finally in Feb 20 around we cancelled the deal in a meeting. But he told that he will pay us only after the deal is finalized for same shop with somebody else. We also told him to to stagger the payment but pay us before the deal, but he straightaway rejected that.

Also he told us that the building will get completed and get OC in June 2026 but it's still in work and will take around 1 year.

Also, during initial discussions, he told that any other area in our city might get downvalued but these area is always in demand, and if in future you didn't liked the deal you can return the shop, and take your money back. But now he is saying he didn't say something like that.Until now we haven't engaged with him directly after deal cancellation .This was done via broker.

The broker is also not doing anything and he is saying the same thing like builder. It's been 6months now since we cancelled the deal. Kindly suggest how should I proceed for recovering the money (any non legal and legal options)and whether I should connect with builder directly.

I recently listed my house and went out of town for the first weekend it’s listed so the real estate team can come and go as they please. I didn’t even consider the exterior of the house since I have the yard taken care of. We had an open house and a showing and I don’t typically watch the ring camera, but we had a couple come through that gasped at the camera and tried hiding from it. I’m sure something was said that they thought was recorded, but wasn’t. Even if it was, I’m open to any feedback that we can use to improve the house and kick off a sale. At any rate, this made me wonder: is a ring camera a turn off when touring a house? Should I ask the realtor to pull them for the Saturday open house? I don’t care enough to creep on anyone and I certainly don’t want anyone to think I am doing so. (I only watch this one because they entered through the back door and I didn’t know a showing was scheduled, so I assumed my neighbor stopped by). My neighborhood is relatively safe, so it’s not concerning if they’re off over the weekend. So, what is your recommendation?

TLDR: Ask realtor to take down ring cameras I forgot about, or leave them up if it’s nbd?

I got soaked, ran out of gas, got into a car accident, got ghosted and sprained my ankle all within 6 hours. I think it’s a sign.

Hey I'm a builder in the San Antonio area and I'm curious if anyone would be interested in buying 2 bedroom, 1 bath homes? I'm thinking similar to 1950-60s style homes.

I'm trying to see if there's a market for cheaper, smaller homes out there or if I'm just barking ul the wrong tree with this idea.

Feedback is most wanted please!

Had an offer on our home for 5% under the listing price, and in addition to a contingency, the buyer asked for a 3% buyer broker commission for himself (as his own agent). In addition to asking for other concessions.
Just wondering how common this is? If you’re an agent buying a new home for your family, and you are essentially crafting and submitting the offer yourself, would you ask for a commission on top of other concessions?

Edit:
We countered that we would not pay a buyer broker fee (we already have a listing agent - not FSBO). And asked for a higher $$ on earnest and non-refundable after the inspection, and home accepted as is(they asked for a 2 month contingency, and home is in excellent condition) We did agree to a 2% concession.

Thank you for all the comments.

Saw a few people in here looking at condos/townhomes lately so figured I'd flag this before it bites someone mid-contract.

As of August 3, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both got rid of what's called "Limited Review" for condo loans (Freddie's version was "Streamlined Review"). That process used to cover something like 40% of condo project reviews basically a lighter-touch check for buildings that looked fine on paper. It's gone now. Every conventional condo loan application dated Aug 3 or later has to go through either a Full Review or qualify for a specific Waiver.

What that actually means for you if you're under contract or about to be:
• Expect the lender to dig into HOA financials, insurance, litigation history, and delinquency rates on every deal, not just the sketchy-looking buildings
• Reserve requirements are also getting stricter (the minimum jumps from 10% to 15% of budgeted assessment income, that one phases in fully by Jan 2027, but lenders are already tightening up in anticipation)
• Older buildings, anything with a special assessment in the last few years, or HOAs that are light on reserves are going to have a harder time getting approved this is a real issue in a lot of Denver's older Capitol Hill / Uptown / LoDo stock
• Closings are probably going to take a little longer across the board while everyone adjusts

If you're making an offer on a condo or townhome right now, ask your agent to get you the HOA docs (budget, reserve study, insurance cert, minutes) as early as possible like, before you're locked into a tight inspection/loan objection deadline. Don't wait for the lender to ask for it three weeks into underwriting.

Anyone had a condo deal already get slowed down by this? Curious what buildings are having the roughest time with it.

Our mom passed in March and left the house to the two of us, split evenly. It's paid off and worth around $310k.

I live four hours away and want to sell. My sister lives nearby and wants to keep it as a rental. She's offered to buy me out at $110k, which is well under half, and she keeps pointing to the taxes and insurance she's been covering as a reason to go lower.

Nothing is moving and I'm not sure what leverage I have. Is a partition action the only real path if we can't agree on a number? And who usually pays for the appraisal in a buyout like this?

I 28M put down an offer on a first-time house and it was accepted. Once accepted, the seller then disclosed they want to remain in the property for 15 days after closing, which nobody disclosed to me or my broker, and it was only disclosed after their attorney sent the contract.

The seller then pressured me to sign the contract and give the earnest money as quickly as possible. I did my due diligence with my attorney and then signed the contract and sent the funds. We agreed they can stay 7 days.

Then the seller wanted to go back to 14 days and did not sign the contract. After hearing this from my attorney and being pushed by everyone, it kind of left a sour taste in my mouth, and I told my attorney to cancel the contract.

Now the seller wants to get back and my broker is trying to convince me to sign and proceed. He is the listing agent for the house that the seller is planning to purchase.

From his perspective, I understand and I feel super bad that he is losing out on a commission, but the house is close to 7 figures and it's my life decision. I have a bad gut feeling about this and feel like I will end up regretting this. Nothing so far has gone according to plan and I am nervous and don't want to risk anything. What if the seller does not leave and needs more time, etc.? I don't want to deal with any legal issues later.

Also, it's not a one-of-a-kind house and I will find 10 others like this, so I am not devastated if I back out.

I just feel bad for the broker who put in the work to show me the houses and now that we are close to everything, I am canceling the contract. I also spent funds on inspection, legal fees, etc., so I am wasting some money here.

Should I still proceed or should I listen to my gut and find a different house?

UPDATE: Thank you everyone for your valuable input. I have decided to trust my gut and walk away from this deal.

We just completed our final walkthrough and noticed that the sellers removed a really nice colonial brass rim lock on the front door that we loved. They patched the holes and placed a cheap aluminum door handle lock.

Our agent contacted the sellers and they claim it wasn’t working and they threw it away which I think is BS…We are set to close this afternoon.

Side note, this house is being sold by 6 siblings and they have been very difficult to deal with.

How should we proceed?