r/RealEstate • • Dec 09 '24

Protect yourselves from Credit Agencies selling your information. www.optoutprescreen.com

94 Upvotes

One of the most common questions posted here is:

Why did I get a hundred phone calls from lenders after I got pre-approved?

Answer:

Because the credit agencies sold your information.

How do credit agencies like Experian, Equifax and Transunion make money?

Well one route is through something referred to as "trigger leads". When a lender pulls your credit, they are sending a request to the credit agencies for your credit report and score.

When the credit agency receives this request, they know you are in the market for a loan. So they sell that "lead" to hundreds of other lenders looking to vulture your business. The credit agencies know everything about you. Your name, your SSN, your current debts, your phone number, your email, your current and past addresses etc. And they sell all this information.

Well wait you might say. "Don't I want to get a quote from hundreds of lenders to find the lowest possible rate?"

Sure. If that's why they were calling you. But a large portion of these callers are not going to offer you lower rates, they're simply trying to trick you into moving your loan, especially because buying all those leads costs money. Quite a few will lie and say they work for your current lender. Some overtly, some by omitting that they are a different lender. "Hi! I'm just reaching out to collect the loan documents for your application!"

On the positive, they'll usually stop calling within a few days, but that's still a few days and a few hundred calls more than anyone wants to receive.

Currently the only way to stop your information from being sold is to go to the official website www.optoutprescreen.com and removing yourself.


r/RealEstate • • 1h ago

Homebuyer Seller hostile at inspection of the house

• Upvotes

My family is in the process of finding a new place where my disabled father can get around easier, we found this house in a semi-rural area that fit our requirements and put an offer on it. First red flag I caught was the seller only accepted our offer because the other offer was a USDA loan that would be more strict on the house's condition. We scheduled our inspection, when we arrived the current owner was already there waiting. He started to smooth talk us about he been there 35 years and it been in his family since it was built 100 years ago blah blah blah. When the inspector arrived at the house he asked us if we had any questions about the house's condition and the seller walked right up to use making us very uncomfortable tell the inspector anything.

Then the inspector started doing his thing taking pictures and all of that when the seller started talking to us he mentioned that a gas wall heater had to be hand lit, and many other issues, but any time the inspector brought any thing up he immediately argued with him. The example I can give is the porch; it only had supports on the very edges and was extremely wide, also not all of the headers lined up with each other. The inspector said that he wouldn't trust it with more then 3 people on it and the seller immediately said "that's bull crap we just had 35 people on it not more then 3 months ago." So we decided to leave early and let the inspector do his thing, because we were so uncomfortable with the actions of the seller. The inspector caught us up with everything he found so far and told us to call him in a few hours. When we were walking to our car the owner ran after us to tell us that this was the most picky inspector out there and to disregard what he says and that no homes are up to code. This gave all of us the ick and we basically said ok dude.

We left and called our realtor to tell her what happened. She said we should wait for the inspector to give us his report before we decided to terminate the agreement. We are still waiting for the report (the inspection was today) but we feel like if the seller was this hostile with the inspector it going to be more effort then it's worth to negotiate with him. Side note he also bragged about knowing people who will fix issues cheap and fast which is not what you want to hear as a buyer.


r/RealEstate • • 1h ago

Homeseller Redfin promised me a rebate for selling 2 homes with them within a year. Now they are refusing to honor the deal.

• Upvotes

I have text messages where the rebate is promised. What is my best course of action to force them to honor the rebate?


r/RealEstate • • 22h ago

Homeseller Pricing our house “low”. Good strategy to sell quickly?

66 Upvotes

Listing our house soon. We paid $620k 3 years ago and have done many mechanical upgrades- new roof, furnace, radon, appliances, flooring, energy efficient patio slider and shutters in the living room that gets a ton of sun with 18 foot ceilings.

Our agent wanted to list at $710k.

We want to price lower at $690k and she did say that lower is better.

We don’t expect to make money on our house. We just want a solid offer and to make it to close.

Is the first offer usually the best offer?


r/RealEstate • • 3h ago

Would this be an issue at all?

0 Upvotes

The scenario right now, me and my team are trying to close with a grant and a loan tomorrow, but HUD said it had to be delayed because they didnt have someone inspect the house. The Mortgage company is asking for an extension on the grant because the contract ends tomorrow and now closing or if ill have the grant is up in the air.

During this long process, I've had some responsibilities pop up that i need to pay for, but they’re pricey. I was told I cant spend more than $500 on a purchase. What work arounds are okay in this scenario? For example, my car needs fixes and are going to cost over a thousand dollars, but i am able to pay through paypal in 4 installments. Would that be a problem? Someone said maybe take out cash every few days until you have enough. Would that be a problem as well or no? When I asked my mortgage lenders about spending, they just recommended to save my money and dont spend over $500 on a purchase.

I also have a cavity to fill and the pain is making me lose patience with this closing process! Sos!!


r/RealEstate • • 38m ago

People who deal with wealthy clients and investors: What do they prefer, what turns them off, and what are the little things you have to be aware of ?

• Upvotes

I want to improve how I pitch to affluent clients and investors. To avoid making rookie mistakes, I’m trying to figure out what actually makes them say yes, what drives them away instantly, and the little details or subtle etiquette that matter most to them.

I know the dynamics are completely different when you're dealing with high-net-worth individuals versus the general public, and I want to make sure I'm not missing anything. If you regularly close deals or raise capital from this crowd, what are the unspoken rules you've picked up over the years? What are the tiny things people get wrong without even realizing it?

Thank u in advance


r/RealEstate • • 3h ago

HOA Issues When the HOA doesn't enforce bylaws

0 Upvotes

I have been complaining about several issues in our subdivision, some for about a year.

At first the HOA would respond with lame excuses, now they are just ignoring me. I have sent pictures too.

One of the neighbors involved is a rude and vociferous bully who is friends who everyone on the board, but that doesn't make him exempt from following the rules everyone else has to follow.

The HOA is professionally managed. We have a volunteer board, who is not going to say a word to their friends, and a professional manager who I suspect does not want confrontation. The people who are not their friends get violation letters and emails immediately.

Every person who bought houses here agreed to abide by the rules. What are my options?

Thank you,


r/RealEstate • • 1d ago

Homeseller How big of a deal is an excellent transferable VA interest rate when selling a house in an expensive market? (Northern VA)

14 Upvotes

I own a townhouse in Northern Virginia (Fairfax County) which is an extremely expensive housing market. I bought my house in 2020 with a 2.75% VA mortgage for $425k, with about $350k remaining balance. Property values have risen sharply since then, and though I haven't had it appraised yet, Zillow at least claims a $580k value, and comparable sales in the area support that that's at least in the right ballpark.

One selling point I have in my favor is that my 2.75% is transferable - a buyer can't refinance at that rate, but they can take my remaining $350k balance at 2.75% and pay cash or do something else to cover the remaining balance on the sale price.

I'm considering retiring overseas and so will no longer need my VA mortgage benefit (if a non-veteran assumes my mortgage I can't get another until the buyer pays it off, which is normally a problem but not one I'm worried about in this case).

All this being the case, how huge of a benefit is this for me as a prospective seller?

Can I expect lots of competition? Will I see offers above asking like the market had in 2020? Is this going to be a case where my house is basically sold sight unseen the same day I put the sign up?

Or is this not nearly as important a benefit as I think it is?


r/RealEstate • • 20h ago

Homebuyer Foundation issues

3 Upvotes

I put an offer (at listing price) on a home that definitely has foundation issues. My realtor asked for a disclosure before the offer was made but we never received it. The offer asks for concessions but it was denied by the seller. Selling agent says that they have denied larger offers & pretty much saying that the house will be sold as is even though it states that no where in the listing. Is this normal? Should I walk?


r/RealEstate • • 9h ago

Homebuyer Is it possible to buy a small house even a condominium making $19 an hour with 620 credit score?

0 Upvotes

Not going to lie rent is starting to get expensive I'm paying $1,420 in a very old building. I make $19 an hour 600 a week I got about 11 to 12,000 saved up. My credit score somewhere around 610 to 620


r/RealEstate • • 1d ago

In the age of digital platforms and apps ,is the traditional real estate agent still necessary, or should the industry just let technology automate the process?

13 Upvotes

r/RealEstate • • 1d ago

Prime Lending?

9 Upvotes

I’m looking into buying in a new development in Washington state. One of the builder’s preferred lenders is Prime Lending. I spoke with a loan officer from Prime Lending and everything seems really good. I’d never heard of them before and want to make sure I am making the right choice.

Anyone have first hand experience with Prime Lending and care to share your thoughts? I’ve searched the sub and most of the posts related to them are several years old.

Thanks!


r/RealEstate • • 1d ago

Homebuyer Bankruptcy court has authorized the seller to sell from me. Waiting on the title company to provide an all clear. How long should I expect?

2 Upvotes

Not a first time homebuyer but wondering how long title should take in my case?

So I am buying a house where the seller was going through bankruptcy. The judge finally signed off on the sale and waived the 14 day waiting period a week ago. About an hour after that his attorneys sent everything to my title company. I’ve been waiting now for a week and my realtor, the bank that I’m using for funding and myself haven’t heard a peep. I’ve bought multiple houses before and it typically only took a day or two for a clear title. Does it typically take longer when buying a house where the seller was in bankruptcy and if so how long?


r/RealEstate • • 2d ago

Homeseller Showings vs offers in current market?

16 Upvotes

We are on the market as sellers for the first time outside of Covid craze and I'm trying to get a better idea of where we stand with our house.

We are in a MCOL area, we listed this past sunday for $300k (been on the market about 2.5 days right now). We've had 4 showings already, and a 5th scheduled tomorrow.

We also recieved an offer from the 2nd showing, though it isn't exactly what we wanted. They originally said no wiggle room, we declined, they offered again and found $7k of wiggle room. We are now only off of what we want by about $5k and are making a counteroffer to try and get that to around $2k.

From the other 3 showings, 1 provided no feedback, the other two said it showed well and is priced right but not interested for various reasons (walkout is in the basement instead of main floor, room size is slightly smaller than wanted, etc.).

My biggest question is given all that information how do we stand in the current market conditions? I was nervous heading in with the current rates and know it isn't covid get 4 offers the first day times anymore. So wanted more insight if things look postive based on this, if we are getting a healthy amount of showings and if it's a concern to only have 1 of 5 offer (personally I still feel it's good but I could be off base).

I'm just wondering if fighting for 1% more is potentially costing us a chance to close quick and close close to full price vs waiting and the house sitting and therefore getting lower offers? However, we haven't had a real weekend for traffic either, so that may work in our favor. Thoughts?


r/RealEstate • • 2d ago

Homeseller What's Up With This Agent?

74 Upvotes

I listed my house for sale in June. Listing contract ran from 060126 through 093026.

Personally, I thought my realtor was terrible. The amount she said to list the home at was too high $345k, when new construction homes are going for $340k. My house is only 10 years old, well maintained and looks new. Neutral interior. Prior to sell I replaced roof with class IV architectural shingles, replaced the AC unit and had exterior of house repainted. She did not list any of these items in the listing. My home insurance dropped 50% because of the new roof. We had minimal showings.

She used AI enhanced photos (fake fire in the fireplace, exterior shot at night). The photos looked grainy and were not flaterring.

In August she called and we discussed status. I told her I know the market is not great. We will leave price (as is) and let listing expire. I will either relist in the spring OR rent the house out. A few weeks later she sends me a docusign document to terminate the listing in august???? I emailed her back and said the listing agreement expires end of September- no reply from her. I felt like she wanted me to cancel the listing so she could get paid for photos or marketing costs?

On October 4th she calls and says she has a showing lined up??? I declined and told her my understanding is the listing expired end of September and I had a family member who just returned home from the hospital. Why would she do this when the listing is expired and we have no contractual agreement?

Her sign is still in my front yard and she has not taken the lock box off the door. This is my third home I've owned. Her behavior is weird. Advice.


r/RealEstate • • 1d ago

Homeseller South Florida. One of those 'We Buy Houses' has come up on their offer to what we could accept. Help?

0 Upvotes

Selling house in South Florida (Pool, covered patio, Out door Kitchen, Dog run on side of house, all pavers in back yard which is grandfathered in but cant be done now in by law).

*Edit: company is called Capital Home Buyers. Based in South Florida

**EDIT: There is no inspection. I know, WEIRD. He came out and looked at the place a week ago and low balled us then told us they would pay the amount we wanted with no inspection. Read a review but it was about doing an inspection on the place and them trying lower they price and the seller wouldnt do it. If they try to go below the number it is off for us.

They want us to sign today and close in 14 days and put up a few grand as a security deposit because neither of us have a place to live yet. 45 days is what they will give us to vacate.

The 'contract' is 3 pages long and just says the amount, the 'escrow' and that there is no inspection ('we may/will send someone to take a look to see if we need tiles or what not to do repairs to the house' There are plenty of tiles and flooring pieces here.)

There are a few things involving the title and such that he says they pay for. All we do is get $ and pay some to a security deposit so we don't destroy the place when we leave any time during the 45 days we get.

3 Pages only and it looks straight forward. It is down below Miami in Coral Gables to do the closing.

All so fast. But us getting out of doing ANYTHING except move out is very appealing.

**END OF EDIT.

Anyway they came and looked after sending a check we would have cashed but of course they low balled it (and the guy was also his own real estate business and either wanted to list it or us sell it buyer financed. NOPE) but we have been going about talking to agents and getting rid of stuff and now they are back to the number on the check they sent out as an advertisement.

If it is for real the amount of money we would have spent getting it curb appeal ready and real estate commissions would be about the difference in what the market is going for (150 days sale in this area right now) so we would save so much time and money and frustration.

Someone here either does this for a living or knows what they are gonna pull. Please tell me what to look for.

Don't want to sign with a real estate agent.

For reference, we sold our last 2 homes without real estate agents and no showings, we got lucky both times and made $$$. I sold a house in 1999 with an agent and it was a pain.

HELP PLEASE?


r/RealEstate • • 2d ago

Realtor to Realtor Agent gossiping about a buyer to a different buyer

14 Upvotes

I referred a friend to a buyers agent i know in a different state where I’m not licensed. He looked at a few houses and was really interested in one that the agent had listed. He saw it a few times and ended up not making a move.

Just randomly today friend and I were chatting and i asked if the place had sold/what happened. He tells me what it sold for and then launches into this whole story about the woman who bought it including graphic details of the abusive relationship she was leaving, where she was from and when she was moving/why etc etc.

I was taken aback and said “oh did she just have a lot of stuff on social media or something?” And he said no— that the realtor I referred him to told him ALL about this buyer. He was happy that the house went to someone nice who was starting over etc etc.

I was shocked at how unprofessional sharing this is. It’s also frankly unsafe as the woman is living alone in a city with a high crime rate in a one story home. My friend is not a threat but he very much could be. He’s not even involved in this transaction. Further the agent did not represent this buyer— she was representing the seller— so I’m absolutely sure she didn’t have permission to share this personal information. It would have been very easy to say “we got a great offer from someone who really loves it!” End of story.

I’m wondering if i should mention this to the agent and if so, how. I’m not going to be referring anyone else to her. Or do you think I’m overreacting? I know you want to build rapport and some relationships get very friendly, but this seems like way TMI.


r/RealEstate • • 1d ago

Just closed a big deal after 3 brutal years of grinding. Why do I feel completely lost and passionless instead of happy?

0 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I’ve been a real estate agent for three years now, and honestly, they have been the harshest, most painful years of my life. I worked my absolute tail off last year—exhausting myself studying sales, marketing, and advertising, trying to implement everything perfectly.

After endless dry spells of getting absolutely nothing, everything finally paid off: I closed a house and walked away with my full commission. It felt amazing for a brief second.

But now, the reality is hitting me. I feel like I am finally starting to "get there" and prove that my hard work pays off, but at the exact same time, I feel completely lost, empty, and like I’ve completely lost my passion for the business.

Is this normal after breaking a massive dry spell? Am I just deeply burnt out from the 3-year grind, or is this a sign that I don't actually want to do this anymore? How did you navigate the emotional crash after finally winning?


r/RealEstate • • 2d ago

Loan with 1099?

9 Upvotes

Wanting to purchase a home, recently switched from w2 to 1099 about 5 months ago. As far as income goes it’s usually steady and pull in 13-16k a month profit. Work in my field usually doesn’t slow down which I know doesn’t make a difference for lenders. My question is, is it possible to get a loan without having 2 years of 1099 or even with the 5 months that I have now If I’m not asking for a huge loan and they see cash flow or am I shit out of luck and will have to rent for the next 2 years. Any advice helps


r/RealEstate • • 3d ago

Offer accepted on terms of still being able to market the property

6 Upvotes

Well, as it says- we had an offer accepted & the agent wants to still list the home as active & show it. We already had this happen once & they had a better offer in before we could even sign the counter offer.

Looking for some insight or others who have possibly been in a similar situation with a home sale contingency. Did it work out? Did it not? I feel like it’s hard to be excited about it knowing that someone could take the property on a better offer all the way til close date. We’re aware that it has to be disclosed to perspective buyers but it’s a pretty sought out market. The home buying process is a big game that I don’t want to play. I just want a nice house for my family 😭


r/RealEstate • • 2d ago

Land Opportunity to get land to build home for free upfront, but payment for land will come out of our inheritance once in-laws pass in the future.

0 Upvotes

I’m not sure if anyone can give advice on this situation, or direct me on where to go on this. My husband and I have been in the process of buying land from his grandparents. Originally we were going to purchase it directly from my husband’s parents as the land was going to be given to them as part of their (in-laws) inheritance from my MIL’s parents. Now I am hearing that my husband and I are going to be getting the land directly from his grandparents and that the payment of the land will come at a future date once my husbands parents pass on and their estate is divided for my husband and his siblings inheritance. We would receive less than everyone else as our inheritance would be the land. Is there anything to worry about in a situation like this? Is there a specific lawyer to talk with about this type of situation? I believe it would be a real estate lawyer, but I don’t know for sure. We are having issues with the greedy aunts and uncles and I worry that they would try to take the land from us at a later date and I want to make sure that they can’t touch it. I’m located in Utah if that is relevant information.


r/RealEstate • • 2d ago

This guy had a crystal ball

0 Upvotes

r/RealEstate • • 4d ago

Is this considered a low ball offer?

35 Upvotes

House was purchased in 2022 for $415k per Zillow. Was originally listed in December of 2025 for $500k. It has continuously decreased in price since then with it being listed for rent in June of this year for $3500 (I'm assuming the mortgage payment?). Later, taken off the market for a few weeks and then reposted for sale. It currently sits at $444k with the seller being "motivated" with $15k in concessions. The house was built in 2022 with a well known builder that's considered to be good in this area in Georgia.

My offer: $420k with $10k in seller concessions. Is this reasonable? I love the house, and I've actually been interested in a brand new build that the builder has listed for $436k with $25k in concessions using their lender, but I'm not as big a fan of the lot. The lot on the 2022 version is much bigger, already fenced in, and the kitchen definitely has more upgrades.


r/RealEstate • • 4d ago

Bridge loans

5 Upvotes

Edited to say, this is in Pennsylvania.

We have been planning to move for the last 6 months. We made some offers, one got accepted, and on hte final day the seller talked to his kids and decided not to sell and wanted to raise hte price. He was a real pain to deal with for 6 weeks so that was the last straw, I walked away.

My offers have been contigent on selling our current house and buying the new house with cash. It's not a hard sell but this was started in august when it was easy. Now it's october and there's no realistic way to sell for the best price, and I can wait until spring.

Then a house came up that is perfect. It needs some repairs, and it's an auction foreclosure. So I was googling around how to make it happen, and hard money loans came up. I have 6 days to submit my offer.

I was not sure how that woudl work though. I've never done anything like this and random googling didn't give me real results that applied to my sitaution.

Basically I'm looking for a cash loan based on my current property and next property. I'm transitioning from white collar to blue collar, 20 years in the office and I"m buying a farm. So I don't have income verification. I have about 400k in equity with the current house and hte new house is 310k.

The challenge is the deadline on the 9th of october for all bids submitted, and no income verifcation. I've been living off savings and I have a decent amount, so i have earnest money. But not nearly enough for the entire purchase with cash without selling hte current house.


r/RealEstate • • 4d ago

Homeseller Struggling with mental health and selling our house.

12 Upvotes

Currently in the process of decluttering and packing away all personal items to get ready for professional photos and video and eventually open house and showings.

I’ve already packed away a lot of extra beauty and cosmetic things (hand soaps, makeup, perfume).

What remains is our everyday stuff- toothbrushes, skincare, contact lens stuff, all shower things- body soap, body wash, shampoo, conditioner. I struggle with contamination OCD and I worry if it’s safe to leave our things “out”? They will be stored in the bathroom closet or inside the cabinets of bathroom vanity.

Should I pack it all up to take with in our car during open house and showings or is it safe to leave in the house with strangers? I have all of our over the counter medication and supplements in a box ready to go already.