We're closing on our house at the end of August after a year of looking. We wanted to be in a very specific area near the water, so there wasn't much inventory. There were five other offers on the house, and I feel lucky that we only had to go 100K over asking. I saved a bunch of houses on Zillow thinking "They're never going to get that" when I look at the asking price, and then I see them sell for hundreds of thousands more. I get that LI is an extension of NYC and there's a lot of money here, but how high can it go? Some of these houses were purchased no more than five years ago with some remodeling and are selling for almost $1M more than they were purchased for. It's crazy. There are definitely some houses that are sitting if they're priced astronomically high from the jump, and I'm seeing price drops, but a price drop from $1.8 to $1.7 on a house purchased for $750 in 2018. Just an observation on the hyper-local nature of the RE market. ...

I had a 9 month old baby when we first toured our current house ten years ago. I liked how the house already had high-quality child locks installed on all the cabinets. it also had little those soft bumper pads already installed on the sharp countertop and cabinet corners. as a new mom, I felt like the house was just so ready for our family. we loved the layout, location, schools, but I also loved seeing those little child safety things everywhere. of course, those things would have cost like $20. but they made the house seem extra welcoming to me as a mom. we bought the house. loved it. now ten years later we are selling. I’m finally unscrewing all those locks, but thinking I’ll keep them on the cabinets under the kitchen sink. is there anything that charmed you into buying or almost buying a home? submitted by /u/SitaBird [link] [comments] source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/1v2tbmi/weirdunexpected_things_that_influenced_your/

Attended an open house and noticed mold in the finished basement. It does look like it’s seeped into the wall, cabinet, and tile floor. Listing agent seemed surprised and texted the seller while we were there. Turns out the seller said the mold has been there from the original owner. A small appliance on the floor leaked in the bar area in the basement. The original owner lived there for 20 years. The current owner/seller has been there for 5 years. I’m kind of concerned because my agent and their agent are pushing us to make an offer with contingencies. It just seems like a risk if the mold damage is extensive. Is this a red flag for the property over all? That both sellers just let the mold there? Like what else has been neglected? This is almost a $1m house. We love the house location, layout, and finishes but I’m weary. submitted by /u/GlitterBombBomb [link] [comments] source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/1v2rg5w/is_this_a_red_flag_mold/

Hi everyone, I've renewed my license a few years ago and I've jumped back into the Real Estate world. I did join a smaller independent brokerage that doesn't have much training but they offer 100% of my commissions while they get $500/transaction and extra if I use their escrow and title. They don't have any real training. Most of their agents are all seasoned and know the drills. My request is for suggestions to links and sites that may help me catch up would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. submitted by /u/sidesaladdressing [link] [comments] source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/1v2oici/renewed_california_re_license_requesting/

question in title. House is on a hill. front of house faces east. Back faces west. huge wall of windows facing nature from 2nd story, get a stunning scenic view of sunlight through trees spilling into 2 story great room. Circles of light dance everywhere due to pinhole effect of sun through thousands of fluttering leaves. Absolutely magical. she seemed hesitant and said people don’t come to afternoon open houses. But imo, seeing that would be one of the biggest selling points of the house. WWYD ? submitted by /u/SitaBird [link] [comments] source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/1v2amuk/listing_agent_wants_only_morningearly_afternoon/

My husband and I signed a buyers agreement with a family friend (she provided professional childcare to my sister’s kids). We figured the buying side is pretty straight forward. Since signing with her, she has cancelled 1 showing 3 hours before we were scheduled. She has called me by my sisters first name once or twice in person. She has texted me multiple times by my sisters name. And this morning she actually texted my sister a response we received from a listing agent about a house we are interested in. She’s local to the area but I mentioned a specific house and she responded with an entirely wrong town name. As well as not looking up a house location we are interested in and said it would have a city inspection (when it doesn’t in this particular city). Do we shrug it off and hope her brokerage/team can handle the important paper work part? Or do we escalate and ask for a different agent? submitted by /u/GlitterBombBomb [link] [comments] source https://w...

Dream home is available- location and neighborhood, pool, layout. Everything we want. It was custom built in 2005. It’s a VERY specific taste. European inspired. Sitting on the market for over 3 months now. No offers. Listed at $910k, seems fair with comps. Reduced $70k one month ago. We just did a walk through and found an area of mold in the basement. It was left from the original owners so who knows how much damage it has done, potentially 6-21 years untreated. What would an offer be that would potentially include mold remediation? Or would you just walk away? submitted by /u/GlitterBombBomb [link] [comments] source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/1v1rmum/starting_reasonable_offer_to_not_offend_seller_or/

I've been doing a ton of research on homes in the greater Boston area, and have come to understand that appraisers mostly base pricing on comps (i.e. sq footage, bedrooms, bathroom count) and not on build quality. It's no secret that the vast majority of new construction homes these days are built by speculative flippers or large tract builders like D.R. Horton. What I don't understand is how a high quality, 1930s colonial built by experienced craftsmen and can objectively last for 200-300 years, is priced the exact same as a millennial gray, OSB-sheathed, quartz counter-topped new construction of the same square footage that has an expiration date of ~50 years. I've been looking at some new constructions and flips in my area, and I've noticed many of these getting relatively few views and sitting on the market. Whereas 1900s colonials with tons of character but priced roughly the same are getting 150+ saves on zillow. Is it possible that there's a shift occurr...

Okay I’m going to try and make this as short and simple as possible. I need advice really bad. I’ve been looking for a home for ~ 6 months now. It has to be VERY specific because I have 2 businesses I run from home (one dealing with horses and one dealing with dogs). So it’s been hard to find something comfortably in my budget, and also laid out right without needing a TON of adjustments to make it work. Found said house a week ago. Toured it twice. It’s been on the market 37 days, has 79 saves on Zillow. Starting price was VRM $275,000 - $295,000. They dropped the price to $265,000 on July 1st. They have had one couple that toured it twice, but never made an offer. My realtor thinks that’s it. Here are my issues. The layout is almost perfect. It’s on 6.5 acres of ~mostly cleared land. Already all fenced in. I wouldn’t have to do hardly anything to make it workable for my businesses. Some quick notes about the house and at the end I’ll give my hold up. - Built in 1962. Purchased by ...