I'm moving to a new town. I'm ... 90% sure I want to live there. I was planning to rent for a year or two before buying, but the rental market is a little nuts. Very much a landlord's market. Weirdly, the condo market is a buyer's market. (Or not so weirdly considering the HOA fees average like $800/month.) I found a condo offered at $240k. I can afford that easily, even with with added 800. However, I worry about buying and then regretting the move. My possibly-stupid question is, can I suggest a deal where, like, I pay 20% down now, move in, don't pay a cent for 24 months, and then after that point either pay the owners teh balance or just say thanks and we both move on? They'd have made $2k/month in 'rent'. So no real harm done to them, except they'd be stuck with the hassle of putting it on the market again (and owning it for those two years). And my risk is lower cause if I'm like, 'nope, hate it here,' I'm just out rent-equiv...

In 2017 I inherited outright a family vacation property in the 'lakes region' of southern Maine. I am the 3rd generation owner. The property consists of 4 lots, two on the water and two 'back lots' on the other side of a 1 lane dirt and gravel road. The two waterfront lots each have a seasonal use only cabin. The back lots are mostly wooded. Total acreage is a bit over 1 acre, with 275ft of water front. One of the cabins has been mostly a rental for many years. The rental cabin has been used for the entire season for the last 6 years by a single tenant--and it works really well. I've given them a break on the rent in return for maintenance labor. Anyway, the tenant has offered to buy that cabin, the lot that it's on, and the connected back lot. Here are some details, and some questions: The deeds are all in good shape after probate was completed in late 2017. Each cabin has it's own septic system, and they are both working fine--and have been regularly...

So we are looking at buying a house that has a septic system and we were able to get the last septic report which was done on 1.9.26 and the house has been empty since then. They actually had the house listed at 800k back then and its now down to 559k. Anyways, in the back yard they have an old storage shed that's been there for years, apparently its on a cement slab, which I didn't not see as it has a wood floor. Should we be concerned. The report did not mention any other major issues except trees that are on the perimeter of the field. I have no problem removing the shed, although it would be nice to keep, its been there for a very long time from the looks of it. submitted by /u/theboz14 [link] [comments] source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/1w4r1ny/question_about_buying_house_with_a_septic_and_has/

Our HVAC failed at inspection (not a shocker - 26 years old). We need a replacement ASAP. A highly recommended journeyman installer (hes done several neighbor's systems and was recommended by coworkers as well) is available to do the job for thousands under the next bid. He can provide an invoice with his license number. He did advise that, with journeyman status, he cannot pull the permits. My realtor said we wouldn't be able to get the permits in 13 days anyway. The buyer addendum states the system must be new and in working order. What would your level of concern be here? I'm not even sure the expensive regional company would be able to get permitted either. submitted by /u/Subby13 [link] [comments] source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/1w4m4xx/permits_for_hvac_swap_maryland/

I'm so beyond tired of looking at homes online, then seeing them in person, and they look NOTHING like what the online photos are. These are wasting everyone's time. Agents, if you can't learn to to, or don't want to fork over for professional photos, find another line of work. Trying to sell an inherited property, and the highly recommended agent insists on using these cartooninshly fake generated images. submitted by /u/CrotalusHorridus [link] [comments] source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/1w4e5yl/can_we_please_stop_using_ai_generatedaltered/

Hello! My husband and I are preparing to put our house on the market. Our biggest hiccup is that we have 8 cats that live indoor/outdoor. We do live on a 10 acre lot and the cats have a tree house that they spend a lot of time in during the day. Truthfully they are not in the house much except t night. Our agent has walked through our house and said that there is no smell but to have the carpet in the bedrooms professionally cleaned. Otherwise everything else is perfect as is. My questions is what to do with the cats when people come to view the house. I do still keep five (5) litter boxes in the laundry room for them at night. Has anyone else encountered anything like this before? I recognize people are on a spectrum for their feelings with cats. They either love them or have visceral feelings for them. I do not want my cats to hinder the selling process but do understand some people will make their decision not to buy bc we have cats. Thank you. submitted by /u/Chee...

Hey all, sorry for the novel of a title. There’s a long back story here, but it boils down to this: Sale price $255k Mortgage balance $273k We have a loss draft balance of $134k (house fire insurance funds, will be paid back to us). Regarding #3, I already gave the mortgage company my letter of intent to apply that to the balance of the mortgage. Additionally, the payoff quote already states they will pull from this in the event the sale price isn’t sufficient to cover the mortgage. However, they can’t put that on the payoff quote itself. Meaning, unless my title company says differently, I’ll need to go to closing with around $30k (I don’t have the draft closing document yet, that’s my guess). My question: first, is it possible to negotiate with my title company on letting me closing without bringing that money (since it’ll be coming back regardless)? My guess it’s most likely not. Second, what are my options if I don’t have the funds to bring cash to closing? I cant imagine...

Before I started, I thought I could do open houses to find people to work with but that’s not the case. A lot of people coming through are either looky-loo neighbors, people already working with agents, or people that are significantly older than me. Why would they want to work with me when they have someone more experienced on deck? I’ve held a bunch of open houses and still haven’t picked up a client. Have any of you done well with open houses? What’s your strategy? submitted by /u/juicydreamer [link] [comments] source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/1w3oj05/open_houses_arent_the_goldmine_of_clients_i/

I'm relocating to the Ohio area within the next few months. I'm not sure what city I want to end up in. So on the weekends we are visiting different areas and looking at houses. I was not aware that by viewing the houses we are agreeing to stay with one realtor. I understand the purpose of this law but how are you supposed to look at homes in different areas? So far the original agent has been good about canceling the agreement, but will they all be? submitted by /u/mtbguy1981 [link] [comments] source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/1w3cqwe/ohio_hb_466_im_stuck_with_one_realtor_law/