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Amish Heart said:
We had a rental 4 bedroom house in Albuqerque near the University that we rented out rooms in. When we decided to sell it, and the agent was showing it, someone came in at night and took the washer and dryer. They were both new, we had just replaced them. We should of changed the locks, because I'm guessing it was one of the room renters.
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Or the agent/realtor! When a house is vacant, the sleazy types are tuned in and take advantage.
 
Just a few FYIs for you @Double R

What is Attorney Approval Clause? | Contractbook
and

"You've found the home you picture yourself living in and now you're ready for the next step - making an offer. Today I'm going to talk about one of the standard contingencies to a purchase contract. - the attorney approval period.

These contingencies are designed to protect the parties to the contract, namely buyer and seller, by detailing conditions that must be met before the closing will take place. In this series, I'll be covering them in chronological order (for the typical transaction), starting with the attorney approval period.

The attorney approval period is typically between 3 and 7 days, although it can be longer. I counsel my clients so they understand that during this contingency period, the contract can be cancelled by either party for any reason. If the contract is cancelled during the contingency period, the contract deposit (also called earnest money deposit) is returned to the buyer, under normal circumstances.

So, imagine this sellers. We have a 5 day attorney approval date and your buyer gets cold feet on day 3. Their attorney can cancel the contract by notice to your attorney and they will receive their deposit back. I counsel sellers to wait out this time period before making any potentially costly decisions - like putting a deposit on a moving truck etc.

And you buyers out there, if the seller gets a better offer on day 4, they can cancel your contract and go with the higher offer. You will usually be given the opportunity to improve your offer, but not always. The seller is not morally or legally required to stay in the contract during this period so please, make sure your dates match your needs!

An important strategy for buyers and sellers is to set the length of this contingency period according to current market conditions. As an example, if you are buying and there's a lot of competition, set the date short - 3 days. You'll have less exposure to being bumped by a better offer."
http://www.mariabarr.com/blog/2014/...hase-offer-contingencies-mortgage-contingency

This is me now.
1. Sister was a top realtor (and attorney) and we bought 9 homes (rented many more). Realty contracts are written to grossly favor the seller because in most states, the State Realtors Association DRAFTS THE FORMS. Ex: WI -- Wisconsin REALTORS® Association: Real Estate Forms

because most realtors make their money from sales (not by being the buyer's agent).
So know that what you will be told verbally is not binding and that the form will not favor you.
2. Disclosure forms which are mandated in WI and many states DO NOT cover many items. They are broad brush.
http://www.ptitle.com/docs/condition.pdf3. Besides these 11 questions the writer lists, ask if the seller or (to the best of current seller's knowledge) the previous seller EVER dumped any chemicals such as unused pesticides, herbicides, toxic wastes, barrels, oils, fuels anywhere and in any amount on the property.
https://www.landhub.com/land-news/11-questions-to-ask-when-buying-land/
Ok tons more out there on this topic -- it was and still is common to "midnight dump" on the back 40...
 
What state are you in? In Washington a buyer can hire a real estate agent but the agent works for the seller unless there is a written contract that specifies otherwise. Here you can't buy real estate without the realtor or an agent unless you have a lawyer. The lawyer gets paid by you while the realtor and agent get paid by the seller at a total of 7% of the sale.
 
SheepDog said:
What state are you in? In Washington a buyer can hire a real estate agent but the agent works for the seller unless there is a written contract that specifies otherwise. Here you can't buy real estate without the realtor or an agent unless you have a lawyer. The lawyer gets paid by you while the realtor and agent get paid by the seller at a total of 7% of the sale.
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Vermont is a socialist state. The governor is a moderate Republican, but that seems to be because he is competent, and there have been a series of obviously incompetent socialist candidates. It doesn't really matter what current real estate practice is, it will soon be state controlled 99.9%.
 
I brought a house in September 2021.
No realtors.
Lawyer in town , cost me about $600 cost seller about $1000 . Not a dime spent until closing . Then I paid lawyer and seller. He paid lawyer...done.

Same thing in October , when I sold my farm and house. $100 from me $600 from buyer, lawyer sent my pay to my bank.
Done
Took 30 minutes.
Keep the realtors out if possible.

Easy peasy.

Jim
 
It only holds true if the seller doesn't already have a contract with a realtor. The realtor gets paid by the seller no matter what. The buyer can use a realtor who gets half of the commission or the buyer can stick with just the lawyer. The seller's realtor would than receive the full commission provided there were no ammendments made in the contract to say otherwise.

There is also the clause that even if the seller's contract has expired, the realtor still gets the commission on any sale for another six months, if the buyer was shown that property while it was under contract. If the buyer has never been shown the property, while it was under contract by a realtor, than lawyer to lawyer is back on the table.

It is very important to read every single line of a standard real-estate contract. Realtors are required to read through it with you, and you should pay attention. Every real-estate board could have some small differences that could be important to know before signing.
 
ClemKadiddlehopper said:
It.....

It is very important to read every single line of a standard real-estate contract. Realtors are required to read through it with you, and you should pay attention. Every real-estate board could have some small differences that could be important to know before signing.
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M father taught me it was very important to piss people off before signing any legal document , but he didn't put it that way. He said to read and understand every word. I perturbed many people by insisting I read every word.

Ben
 
SheepDog said:
What state are you in? In Washington a buyer can hire a real estate agent but the agent works for the seller unless there is a written contract that specifies otherwise. Here you can't buy real estate without the realtor or an agent unless you have a lawyer. The lawyer gets paid by you while the realtor and agent get paid by the seller at a total of 7% of the sale.
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Colorado
 
Colorado real estate laws were revised in 1993 and modified the representation rules in 2011. They have a truly singular ability to represent both parties, or either party as specified in the agreement of representation. They always get paid by the seller. Even in Colorado I would get a lawyer fighting for me.
 
phideaux said:
I brought a house in September 2021.
No realtors.
Lawyer in town , cost me about $600 cost seller about $1000 . Not a dime spent until closing . Then I paid lawyer and seller. He paid lawyer...done.

Same thing in October , when I sold my farm and house. $100 from me $600 from buyer, lawyer sent my pay to my bank.
Done
Took 30 minutes.
Keep the realtors out if possible.

Easy peasy.

Jim
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Jim, can I ask how your property was advertised? When we had the auction for grandma's farm, the land auction company advertised it nationwide and had a budget set by the seller (the Trust) to come out of the sale proceeds. I know the realtors typically handle advertising the property in most sales. How does it work with a lawyer and no realtor?
 
Spikedriver said:
Jim, can I ask how your property was advertised? When we had the auction for grandma's farm, the land auction company advertised it nationwide and had a budget set by the seller (the Trust) to come out of the sale proceeds. I know the realtors typically handle advertising the property in most sales. How does it work with a lawyer and no realtor?
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@Spikedriver ,
In the real estate market last fall , you didn't need advertising, just word of mouth, was working , the market was so hot.

We bought the little farmhouse, planned on taking 2 years to remodel it while we stayed on our farm.

My big mouth daughter (JK), told a girl she worked with we would eventually be selling, that girl told her brother , he bugged my daughter for a few weeks about it. I finally gave in to let them come look at the farm. I knew I would price it so high they would walk away.
They came , spent 2 hours , I gave them a price double what the market price was .
They called me back in 2 hours and said ok and cash.

Soooo, we moved in 6 weeks.

Never advertised.
BTW , I bought the little farm house from a "For sale by owner " sign in front yard next day after I seen it. But I knew the house and neighbors.

No advertising.

I'm more than blessed.

Jim
 
It's been an interesting day. Our family has grown, Lori, my DW, bought a horse drink buddy I knew it was coming, it got him out of a less than desirable situation. Meet Toby:

1643255726650.png


Not our Barn, not our farm, but that is her situation to work with. We will see , we live in interesting times.
 
I bought my first house at 19. Since then I bought a lot of homes, fram/ranch land, timber land, apartments (turned in to condos) and even my parents house and land. Bought real estate in several states, some were site unseen. I've always used a realtor. Never had a problem. I dont listen to their BS and I do my own due diligence and make an offer based on what I'm willing to pay and what I think the property is worth. Like with any investment; don't get emotionally attached to it and be prepared to walk away if something doesn't seem right about the deal. Just like with a car salesman, if the realtor gets too pushy just walk away. I've never lost money on any real estate deal that I've ever made.
Real estate prices are very high right now but I don't see any indication that they'll be dropping any time soon.
 
Housing prices can not be sustainable. I paid a premium price for this house 6 years ago, and now the estimated sale price is double what we paid for it. Unless you are buying or selling, the estimated price is irrelevant. Once you sell, then buy, it becomes extremely relevant since you pay property taxes on the sale price. Hell, I couldn't afford the taxes on my home if it was given to me.
 
Real estate values depend a lot on where one lives and the type of property you want. If its just a house in town you want then reasonably priced places are easy to find. If you want acreage, 100 - 1,000 acres or more then that's another story. I live in a state where over 85% of the land area is "owned" by the government. That means there is relatively little land available, and the prices are high for what is available. And will continue going up with no end in sight.
My real estate strategy started when I was still a teenager. Bought my first house for $32,000 in the mid '70's making $5.36 an hour as a welder. My plan was to double the house value every time I bought a new house every few years. Then when I'm "old" I'd sell my high priced property and scale down to a small house on 20 - 40 acres somewhere near town and bank the difference. So far the plan has worked out as designed. The only minor set back was a divorce in the '80's.
 
havasu said:
Also a nice barn the horse is in, I just cringe seeing that power cord wrapped around the front of the stall.
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phideaux said:
I thought the same thing.
It's too accessible to the horse.
Hang it up high.

Jim
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Me too, we will have to correct that little situation. The barn owners thought ahead on many items, but not a heated water bucket.
 
Mountain trapper said:
Real estate values depend a lot on where one lives and the type of property you want. If its just a house in town you want then reasonably priced places are easy to find. If you want acreage, 100 - 1,000 acres or more then that's another story. I live in a state where over 85% of the land area is "owned" by the government. That means there is relatively little land available, and the prices are high for what is available. And will continue going up with no end in sight.
My real estate strategy started when I was still a teenager. Bought my first house for $32,000 in the mid '70's making $5.36 an hour as a welder. My plan was to double the house value every time I bought a new house every few years. Then when I'm "old" I'd sell my high priced property and scale down to a small house on 20 - 40 acres somewhere near town and bank the difference. So far the plan has worked out as designed. The only minor set back was a divorce in the '80's.
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That's exactly what I did .
My first house in 1972 was $19,000.
I doubleD and tripled, 4 times, and now in the smaller , last one.

Jim
 
dademoss said:
Me too, we will have to correct that little situation. The barn owners thought ahead on many items, but not a heated water bucket.
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Easy fix. Unwrap the cord from the bars put something to hold the cord, above and below the bar frame. The cord on the bucket is already wrapped in coiled wire.
Or
Zip tie a piece of conduit to a bar and run the extension cord through it.
 
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