Questions tagged [real-estate]
A tag for questions on real estate or property.
1,125
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Tenant claims they paid rent in cash and that it was stolen from a mailbox. What should I do?
I own a duplex, live in half, and rent out the other half to college students. I have just made a mistake that cost me $750.
One of my tenants was late paying her rent. I'd thought it was still late, ...
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94
votes
8
answers
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How to deal with the credit card debt from family member that has passed away?
My father recently passed away and had some considerable amount of debt on his credit cards. House and credit card were in the deceased’s name only. The state that is happening in is New Jersey.
In ...
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92
votes
19
answers
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Are my parents ripping me off with this deal that doesn't allow me to build my equity in my home?
When I bought my condo with cash for $155k, I paid $40k of my own money and my parents lent me $115k. Our agreement was that when I eventually sold the condo, my parents would get 75% of the gross ...
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71
votes
9
answers
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How is early-and-often home buying as "get rich" advice feasible?
I am being told by this guy that the following is a guaranteed-to-work way to become rich and retire early.
He says to start early. 20 years, or near that age. Buy 1 house a year. Rent it out. Start ...
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67
votes
11
answers
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Why does it seem the best way to make a living is to invest in real estate?
I can't get past the idea that, if you work well in your job, you may get laid off or fired, and companies do not like to hire you when you get past the age 45 or 50. But if you invest in some houses ...
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64
votes
8
answers
20k
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Should I deplete my saving and buy a house with cash, or should I rent?
My wife and I are very frugal. We've been living abroad for several years and saved a decent amount of our salaries. We've decided to move back to the US this year.
We've found a modest home that ...
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57
votes
10
answers
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When is it better to move - before or after a housing bubble bursts?
My husband and I currently own our home and are looking at upgrading to a bigger house in the next year or two. The housing market right now in our area (US East Coast city) is doing really well, and ...
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57
votes
4
answers
19k
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Why would a home seller ask a buyer to offer LESS?
My brother-in-law is looking to buy a house. The house he wants has been on the market for a long time, and it's in pre-foreclosure. The owners are underwater on it. He submitted a lowball offer, ...
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56
votes
20
answers
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Are there any financial disadvantages to living significantly "below your means"?
By living "below" your means I'm asking about spending significantly less than you could, rather than living "within" your means which of course is sensible if you are able to do it!
So for example:
...
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55
votes
10
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Is it true that real estate prices mainly go up?
My father once told me that real estate was a good business because the population is always going up, therefore more housing is needed, and the space on earth remains the same, so house/apartment ...
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55
votes
6
answers
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Will I lose my paid-in-full property?
I paid cash for the land I put a modular home on which I financed. My husband is terminally ill and I am afraid I will soon be foreclosed upon. Will I lose my free and clear land which has been paid ...
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52
votes
12
answers
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Invest $50,000 in cash or borrow $100,000 and get a mortgage?
I have $50,000 saved and I'm paying $760 on rent right now. All my relatives are telling me to get a mortgage so I don't "throw money away on rent", but I just don't like the idea of getting in debt ...
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52
votes
9
answers
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When buying a property, is your agent's incentive contrary to yours?
My understanding is that buyers agents are typically paid half the overall commission of a property sale, which itself is some percentage of the sale price.
That means that as the sale price goes up, ...
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49
votes
14
answers
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When buying a property without using a realtor as a buyers agent, can you build a discount of the buyer's agent commission into the contract?
I want to buy a home, but I'm not interested in using a realtor as a buyer's agent.
I know that in MLS systems, when a realtor lists a house they specify what commission a buyer's agent will be paid. ...
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47
votes
8
answers
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How do you invest in real estate without using money?
I saw some infomercial with Than Merrill, a businessman, which claimed that anyone can, and I quote, "Invest in real estate and reap big money -- even without using a penny of your own cash."
I know ...
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46
votes
7
answers
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In general, is it financially better to buy or to rent a house?
I know this differs from country to country, from person to person (depending on how much you already have saved), but I'm curious about the simplest example.
Let's say I have little to no money.
I ...
Dan
45
votes
10
answers
21k
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I won USD 50K! Now what should I do with it?
I won a sweepstakes and will be getting USD 50k...it is verified that it is legitimate although no taxes have been taken out so I will have to claim this income on my taxes next year, they will send a ...
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44
votes
11
answers
17k
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What can I do with a property that won't sell following divorce?
My wife and I bought a property just over 2 years ago for €114,000.
We put down a 10% deposit (€11,400) and so took out a mortgage of €102,600.
We took the mortgage on a short term (15 years) to ...
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44
votes
8
answers
5k
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Should I buy a house with a friend?
To give some background, I currently live with a couple of friends in a 3 bedroom apartment. The living arrangement is good however I'm tired of not building equity. I've tossed the idea out for two ...
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44
votes
12
answers
14k
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Should I buy a house now before prices rise even more?
We rent an apartment in Frankfurt, Germany and we are contractually bound to it for another 1.5 years. We are 33 and 35 years old and there will be children soon. We make around 110k € annually (...
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40
votes
13
answers
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Is there a price point beyond which it no longer makes sense to buy an apartment or house?
I am in a very frustrating situation right now. I have accumulated a decent amount of value in cash and stocks. My wife and I however are still living in a rented small flat in our town in Austria ...
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39
votes
7
answers
13k
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Why does Warren Buffett consider real estate as productive asset?
In the Berkshire Hathaway 2011 letter, Buffett said:
My own preference – and you knew this was coming – is our third category: investment in productive
assets, whether businesses, farms, or real ...
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39
votes
9
answers
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'For Sale by Owner' - who pays the Buyer's realtor?
If I list my home and hang a sign out 'for sale by owner', and a realtor brings a buyer in, who wants to buy it, who's going to pay the realtor?
I did not hire him, so I don't want to pay for him. ...
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38
votes
4
answers
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What happens if you can't pay at an auction?
Based on this question about wholesaling homes - what happens if somebody purchases a home at auction, places their down-payment, cannot find a buyer, and backs out of the auction? I'm assuming they ...
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37
votes
6
answers
9k
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How risky is real estate?
I have a friend who plans to retire by putting all of his money in local real estate. He makes a huge return on investment on the property he has now - something like 25%. Fundamentally, I think ...
37
votes
3
answers
8k
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Home inspection for home owners insurance revealed damage my inspection and my lender's appraiser did not see
I recently bought a house in Iowa. I hired a company to inspect the home, they found a few minor things but nothing major. My lender had an appraisal and they didn't note anything either.
I purchased ...
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37
votes
5
answers
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How does 'upgrading' from one house to another work?
Consider this scenario.
For a given neighborhood, a small house is $100K. A big house is $150K.
For simplicity, assume that you purchase the small house with all cash. 5 years later, it is now worth ...
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36
votes
7
answers
10k
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Why do some small-time real-estate owners struggle while others thrive?
This is something about this field I'm trying to understand. Whenever I talk to a regular person who managed to save up and buy an apartment building or a duplex or something like that for rental ...
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35
votes
8
answers
12k
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High income, sudden windfall
I currently earn quite a good salary (around $250,000 Australian dollars per year). Due to a recent investment coming good I am expecting to be receiving a windfall of around $1.2 million Australian ...
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35
votes
8
answers
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What's the catch in investing in real estate for rent?
I can see a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom $100k property on Zillow (est. mortgage $375/mo) next to a university so rent prospects are good. Rent estimate by Zillow, confirmed roughly by Craigslist: $972/mo. ...
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34
votes
5
answers
9k
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How to avoid being scammed while purchasing unimproved land online?
I am currently in the process of purchasing a piece of land I found for sale online, by what looks like a small business that buys and sells land. I have had a friend in the area check out the ...
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34
votes
7
answers
13k
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Selling a property - multiple offers of same value?
In the U.S., when selling a residential property, is there a rule or law regarding how to handle multiple offers of the exact same monetary amount? Is this the kind of thing that would vary state-by-...
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33
votes
3
answers
9k
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What Is The "Real Estate Loophole"?
I'm seeing a lot of articles this morning about political discussion regarding a "real estate loophole" though none of the articles actually say what this loophole is and the only one that I'm aware ...
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32
votes
6
answers
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Why do real estate agents always ask me whether I am buying property to live-in or as an investment?
Trying to buy a house.
Along with -- what is the maximum you are willing to pay -- this is the most frequent question.
Why do they care whether I will live in it or rent it out? The two are not ...
32
votes
8
answers
16k
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Math Behind Buying a House
Is following calculation correct?
I spend $1500/month on average on rent. If I rent for the next 3 years, I would be spending $54,000.
I can buy a house for $220,000 today and spend the same amount ...
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32
votes
1
answer
3k
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Do I have to withhold money when buying real estate from a foreigner?
I have recently purchased a house in the U.S. for ~$375,000 (and I'm a U.S. citizen). It was disclosed to me about a week before closing that the sellers were from China. Aside from a few headaches, ...
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31
votes
9
answers
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Is it a good idea, to buy a flat with a loan, whilst using the rent to pay it off? [closed]
I have been thinking about taking a loan to buy a flat which I would rent out. My reasoning is that the loan would be paid off over time by the renters. After perhaps 30 years, I'd be left with a ...
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31
votes
4
answers
8k
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'Gifting' a house in the UK
In UK news recently, there has been much talk about so called 'dementia tax', that is, the government using assets (such as property) to pay for social care in old age.
Whether or not people should ...
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31
votes
4
answers
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Does a larger down payment make an offer stronger?
I'm a first time home buyer, buying in the Jersey City area. My realtor insists that, given two similar offers, the one with a higher down payment is viewed as a stronger offer. My realtor even said ...
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votes
7
answers
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Long Distance Landlording
I hate for this question to be overly general, but I think the problem is that I don't know what I don't know. My wife and I are thinking about becoming a long distance landlord/landlady, but having ...
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votes
5
answers
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Why are residential investment properties owned by non-professional investors and not large corporations?
This question is relevant for Australia but I would think that it would apply to other countries too.
I've noticed that nearly all residential investment properties are owned by non professional ...
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27
votes
5
answers
12k
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Buy house with down payment, no loan, sell instantly
I just read Rich Dad Poor Dad, and I have no idea about mortgages, loans or real estate.
The author of the book describes a scenario in which a property is found for a cheap price (auction in this ...
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27
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5
answers
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My father has passed away and I want to buy his home
My father has passed away and I want to buy his home. There is no mortgage left and I will be paying off my sister half of the house value. Do I need to get a new mortgage?
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7
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Why would a rational buyer offer to buy with no conditions precedent?
Assume that the Canadian Reddit commenter beneath is rational. I corrected typos.
As an investor, I have a tactic where I only buy houses via the
listing realtor, and do not use my own. Why?
...
user102055
26
votes
7
answers
11k
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Why do people use mortgages, when they could just pay for the house in full?
I would like your recommendation on whether you should buy a house with a mortgage, which you would pay as you go, or should you buy it in full.
Alex
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10
answers
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Is giving my girlfriend money for her mortgage closing costs and down payment considered fraud?
My girlfriend is in the process of buying a home. We're not married, common-law or otherwise.
I was planning to help her pay for the closing costs and down payment, with my contribution being about $...
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26
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16
answers
11k
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How to best invest 90,000 EUR with zero knowledge in investing?
I have 90,000 EUR and difficulty figuring out what to do with it. This money is in a savings account with an interest rate of only 0.05%. Here in Netherlands, I pay around 600 EUR each year on this ...
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25
votes
8
answers
5k
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Does this sound like a great idea regarding being a landlord and starting a real estate empire?
I want to build a small empire of my own over time in real estate. I want to pay 20% for a house and rent it out for a small profit (hopefully make around 3 - 5k a year in profit) and then pay it off ...
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25
votes
2
answers
7k
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I cosigned on a house for my brother
I cosigned a mortgage for my brother 9 years ago. I was young and he convinced me that it would be good for my credit. Recently my credit dropped 70 points because he was 60 days late on the payment. ...
- 259
25
votes
8
answers
8k
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What's a good strategy for offering low on a house?
We are in the UK and interested in purchasing a house, but the highest offer we could make is substantially below the asking price by around 5%.
However, we have some advantages over other ...
- 1,229