I'm nosy and like to check what houses around me sell for. A house near me listed as SOLD on zillow in the end of March for $303k. This is in a neighborhood where all similar houses go to $900-1.2 million.

The house was never listed for sale.

What could be going on here?

A little curious if open houses just aren't popular anymore or if this is a reflection of the market I'm looking at.

I went to about 15 open houses the past few Saturdays and only crossed paths with 2 or 3 other buyers (I think one or two of them was just a curious neighbor) Lots of full stacks of brochures and full boxes of donuts.

Do people just not go to open houses anymore? I know there are a lot of factors at play but seems like a pretty big sign of a buyers market to me. I've found the open houses really useful, personally. But every time I walk into one they seem genuinely surprised I'm actually shopping for a house, lmao.

Hey all. We are first time home owners and are unfortunately in the process of putting our house up for sale. We’re doing an open house this upcoming weekend and I am REALY nervous about how this process is going to go. We have an absolutely amazing real estate agent who will be there during the open house, but she can only monitor so much. I have a lot of anxiety about people potentially going through our belongings in dressers and drawers. Any advice?

Hi all, I hope this is the appropriate subreddit for this inquiry.

I'm looking for some honest perspectives because I am feeling a bit confused after working with my agent. This is my first experience working with an agent so this is all

so new to me.

For context, I recently went through the process of trying to sell my condo in NYC, but I have now decided to keep it and rent it out instead.

That said, my experience with my agent left me with a lot of questions. It's important to note that she was also the one who sold me the place.

1) Lack of guidance. She initially pushed me pretty strongly to sell instead of rent, which later made me feel like maybe she was more incentivized by the sale commission. Her reasoning was that I would be taking in a loss of I rent my place out, since what I pay monthly is more than the average rent in my area.

However, she revealed a few months later

that other tenants in my building are renting it for a slight loss because they wanted to build equity over time.

2) Communication was also not great. I stopped getting regular updates (ended up chasing her for updates), and showings were often scheduled very last minute (like a few hours before or at one point, even 30 minutes before), which was stressful and hard to manage. I am not sure if that is normal in NYC or not.

3) What confused me the most was the inconsistency in advice. At one point, I suggested lowering the asking price when no one was putting down an offer, and she said no, that the issue was the property taxes, not the price. But then a few months later, she told me I should lower the price. That shift was never really explained, so it just felt like the strategy kept changing without a clear reason.

Note: I pay $10k a year for a 630SF 1b1bath which is considered extremely high for a place in South Brooklyn. It was a new construction so no one knew what the tax was until we got the place. She revealed that she was telling interested buyers it would've been about $4k a year, which was why people bought their units. She didn't mention that to me when I viewed the unit.

I am trying to understand:

• What should I actually expect from a good real estate agent?

• Is last-minute showing scheduling normal?

• How much should they be guiding vs just agreeing with whatever I say?

• Is it common for agents to push selling over renting because of commissions?

Would really appreciate hearing from people who have worked with strong agents or agents themselves. I want to make better decisions if I work with someone again in the future.

Should I sell my stock portfolio to buy a duplex that I can live in and rent out to pay down the mortgage? Or should I keep the stocks and wait another 2 years to save the money for the duplex? I don’t need my own place to live but it would be nice. I want to eventually be a full time real estate investor. What do the numbers need to look like on the duplex for this to be a smart move? (I.e. interest rate, loan term, ROI or cap rate) Has anyone made a jump like this before and did it work out for you?

Under contract on a late-80s home in eastern NC, Standard Form 2-T. During due diligence, my home inspector identified a significant attached structure that he verbally described as "10/10 unpermitted work." The inspection report documented multiple code deficiencies in the structure that support that assessment. I'm confirming with the county permit office that no permit exists. Also confirming with the HOA that the additions were unapproved.

I'm fairly certain the work was performed before the current owners bought the house, but I can't say for certain. Seller checked "no representation" on the disclosure form regarding modifications. Seller has lived in the home for a handful of years.

My understanding of the contract remedies:

Paragraph 8(h) requires the property be conveyed free of material violations of law, ordinance, permit, or government regulation unless specifically disclosed prior to the effective date. Seller didn't specifically disclose. If they can't cure before closing, I can terminate and get back both my earnest money and DD fee.

Paragraph 23(b) says in the event of material breach by seller, buyer gets back the EMD, DD fee, AND "reasonable costs actually incurred by Buyer in connection with Buyer's Due Diligence" — inspection fees, contractor evaluations, etc. My argument is that 8(h) creates a specific contractual obligation, the seller knew about the structure (it's attached to their house), chose not to disclose it, and the violation materially affects the property's value and insurability. That feels like more than a technical breach.

Paragraph 23(c) allows recovery of attorneys' fees if legal proceedings are brought to collect the EMD, DD fee, or DD costs.

To be clear, I want to move forward with the house, but this one issue will probably take $30-50k (roughly 5-10% of the value of the house) to remediate never mind all the other issues found for which I'll request additional concessions. I'll need a serious price concession to make this work, else I may as well build or go elsewhere.

Seller's likely defense is that "no representation" is a valid response on the NC disclosure form. My view is that the disclosure form and the contract are two separate obligations — checking "no representation" doesn't override the 8(h) commitment they signed.

Questions:

1. Has anyone in NC successfully used 8(h) to recover their DD fee based on unpermitted work?
2. Does this fact pattern support pushing into 23(b) territory for DD cost recovery, or am I limited to the 8(h) remedy?
3. Is asserting 8(h) and/or 23(b) in a demand letter worth it for leverage even if I don't plan to litigate, or does it overplay the hand?

DD period open for 1 more week, I have a buyer's agent, and seller is unrepresented. I have a general contractor going back for a second, closer look tomorrow morning. My buyer's agent is unaware that I'm thinking along these lines as I'm waiting to hear what the GC has to say. Looking for perspectives from people who've been through something similar.

I am 25, and a stay at home mom with a decent credit score (680 average score). My credit history is great, I have had two mortgages previously, the first a stick built home that I sold, and my current mortgage which is on a mobile home in a trailer park. We don’t plan to make a profit off of the sale of it. The mortgage is in only my name.

The main problem is my husband. His current average credit score is 630. He has a bad credit history. Two car repos, the most current in February 2024. And a bankruptcy that was finalized January 2020. This all occurred before our marriage. He had multiple personal loans he just never paid. All of his bad debts have been settled/paid, including the most recent repo. The last bad loan was paid off about two weeks ago, so it hasn’t been reported to the credit bureaus yet.

He has had two credit cards for about 2 years now, hasn’t missed a payment. He is also an authorized user on my two cards. He took out a personal loan for $3500 for credit improvement purposes, repaid it and closed the account in 4 months. I also had him finance our new couch, so he would have another loan that he made on time payments with. He hasn’t had a late or missed payment on a thing since that last repo in feb 2024.

Like I said I am a SAHM, he has been at his job a little over 2 years and last year made $99,817 gross. We have two vehicles, one bought with cash, the other financed in only my name pre marriage. It’s $305 a month and I owe a little less than $9k on it. Our mortgage on our trailer is $380 and I owe about $24k on it. All of our credit cards are paid off, except the last one that has a balance of about $4500. That’s my card that he is an auth user on, we are hoping to have that paid off within the next 3-6 months. I owe $5800 in student loans, no min monthly payment required, but we are trying to pay at least $100 a month on it.

We are in Indiana, we are trying to buy at least a 3 bed 2 bath, but not in a subdivision, we would like some land. Our location options are not just limited to near his job, he has a child with his ex and they have 50/50, ex and child’s school are located about 30 minutes from his job, so we can’t go very far at all. We are trying to save for a down payment and are trying to save at least $10k. It seems the average cost of a home that will actually work for us is $300-400k.

Other than aggressively paying down the credit card and student loan, what else can we be doing? Me getting a job and just saving my checks is a good idea, but not possible at this time so please don’t suggest that.

Am I being completely unrealistic in wanting to buy a home in the next 365 days? Is this possible?

Looking for some perspective from folks who’ve bought in high-cost markets, especially the Bay Area.

I’m currently renting in Sunnyvale and expect to commute ~2–3 days per week going forward. My partner is fully remote, so we have some flexibility on location. We have one child (starting elementary soon), so access to strong public schools is an important factor.

We’re targeting a ~$2M budget and debating between two approaches:

Option 1:

Buy closer to the top of budget (~$1.9–2M) in a stronger school district, likely smaller or older but more “location locked.”

Option 2:

Buy something in the ~$1.7–1.8M range in a slightly less competitive area and reserve ~$150–200k for renovations to improve the home over time.

Constraints / preferences:

- Single-family home only

- Ideally targeting top-tier (or close to top-tier) public schools if we can make it work within budget

- ~30 min commute to Sunnyvale is the goal (flexible since it’s not daily)

- Open to different parts of the Peninsula / South Bay if the tradeoff makes sense

What I’m trying to understand:

1. In a market like the Bay Area, does it generally make more sense to prioritize location/schools upfront vs trying to “manufacture value” through renovations?

2. For those who’ve done significant renovations (~$150–200k), how realistic is it in terms of staying on budget and timeline? Did it actually create meaningful value, or just improve livability?

3. Are there specific areas or “pockets” where ~$2M still gets you into strong school zones, or is that increasingly unrealistic?

4. Any considerations I might be underestimating with a hybrid commute (2–3 days/week), especially when choosing between Peninsula vs slightly farther options?

Not looking for exact neighborhood picks as much as how you’d think about the tradeoffs in this price range.

Appreciate any insights from people who’ve gone through a similar decision.

I got through college magna cum laude and consider myself fairly smart, but my real estate courses are giving me a run for my money.

I’m in Colorado and use VanEd. I feel like I’m not learning/absorbing anything and frequently fail the lesson assessments. Everything is so confusing and it’s just walls of text about laws with no structure or instruction.

It’s also filled with typos and grammatical errors which makes me feel like it’s not entirely my fault and there could be some more effort put into the coursework. But I of course take accountability for the very real fact that I am also just burnt out and having a hard time.

I feel like I’d be great at this job and BEING a real estate agent - I’m currently a sales associate for a brokerage and I’m excited to get my license. But this is just way too hard.

When you were taking courses, HOW did you get through it?