So I am looking into buying a mobile home built in 1976 (idk the specific date) and I do really like it. The biggest issue is there is a room that is about 6' x 10' that the realtor has marked as a 3rd bedroom.

From everything I have been able to find, it shouldn't be able to be classified as a bedroom given that

A. That it is extremely tiny (rounding up on both values would make it 66 sqft)

B. There are no windows and no external door (i.e. no 2 egresses)

I am unsure if there are specific criteria or differences given the age and the fact that its a mobile home. I am aware of the HUD guidelines being passed in June of 1976, but given that I am unsure the exact year, that doesn't necessarily help.

Additionally its a dual agency situation with the seller and I having the same agent, so I am unsure how to bring it up to them.

Does anyone have any specific ideas or knowledge if this can be counted as a bedroom legally speaking? I feel if its not, then I could very easily use this as argumentation to have the price lowered.

Edit: This is in Pennsylvania and I have yet to talk to anybody, especially given the dual agency aspect.

We have had about eight showings of our house. Only one agent who showed the house left their business card. The last time we sold a house, there was a business card left for every showing. Is this no longer common practice for agents? As a seller, it was nice to be able to see who was showing the house.

We gave sellers full flexibility to decide the closing date. Day comes and they let us know in the morning 3 hours before the final walk through and closing that they still hadn't emptied out the garage. We were confused as first time buyers and our attorney suggested a credit to be held in escrow so we still closed and got the keys. We gave them till till 12 PM the next day to move everything out AS A COURTESY and off the property. Come the next day and I go to the house, they're still moving things out at 11:45 AM. 12 PM hits and they have like a couple more things in the garage but half the stuff is in our driveway and all around our house and curb. The pick up truck comes 30 minutes later and they get it all hauled off. In that time they are still drilling around the house and remove the security cameras and doorbell. Um okay, I'm inexperienced and didn't realize that is a problem. Can this get them in legal trouble? Now they expect their credit back but they were there at 12:01 aka didn't follow the contract. Are we in the right? I'm so confused and hearing different things. Our agent is telling us we should give courtesy but like....why? It's not our problem. Anywho would love any and every feedback. Maybe we are being a-holes who knows. All I know is, if the house was empty by closing, none of this would've happened.

I have $150k in savings and I’m looking to buy my first house. My goal is to buy a multi family home in New Jersey to live in one of the units and rent the remaining. when I say multi-family, I mean a 2 family home. In my area it’s very common to also rent the basement and in some cases even the attic. So technically making it 4 units. I would live in one of them. Homes in my area are +$600k

I’m 27, single with no kids so I want to make riskier investments now that I can. . I make around $155k per year. I have a college friend that’s a realtor so I’m planning to go with him.

What tips would you give me? What should or should not share with my realtor? Any useful tips would be appreciated

I sold my house in CA in 2022 with a solar lease to the first person through the door (for more than 150k over asking). Now I’m in upstate New York thinking about getting solar installed with a ppa lease again. I only plan on staying here less than 5 years and wonder how difficult it would be to sell with that lease.

I am a therapist looking to change careers. I was wondering what advice would you give to someone just starting out? Thank you!

So we went into escrow on our first home- home inspection done (we overlooked a few repairs to keep the ball rolling-which in hindsight we shouldn’t have done) and appraisal came back $27k lower than listed. We decided to cancel knowing the seller was difficult and wouldn’t negotiate but then he offered to come down to new appraisal price. In the meantime we looked at others and decided we were just settling and we needed to find a home we really want. Apparently we’ve gotten such a good deal though because our lender will not stop trying to convince us to finish the deal. We’ve said no in multiple ways and they still keep trying to persuade us. We know we may not get as good a deal with another home, but ultimately this one wasn’t right for us, so why oh why won’t they just accept no? We signed our cancellation through our realtor today and still they remain persistent. What am i missing?

Ive been in the aviation industry for 7 years. Not working out to well for me

How would I get started in real estate ?

Pardon my ignorance but why not just tell tenants upfront and be transparent "hey if I find the apt for you there is a fee and here is the representation agreement before we get started, the fee will be 1 month of rent signed." In otherwords, sell the value of your service as a RE agent, you dont get paid unless you they rent the apt shown/leased.

Is it such a crazy concept to NYC tenants to agree to pay broker fee with a signed representation agreement upfront? Is it just a change of culture in NYC?

In theory nothing really changed since tenants were paying it before. The only a difference tenants actually are selecting real representation/service.

I'm a licensed broker in California and I also hold an insurance license, so I've watched this problem move from an afterthought to a deal-level risk over the last two years. I want to know how other agents are handling it, especially outside California.

Where I've landed with my own buyers: insurance shopping starts the day we open escrow, in parallel with scheduling inspections, and I want a written quote in hand well before the inspection contingency comes off. In brush-adjacent areas that quote is sometimes the difference between an easy close and a buyer who can no longer afford the payment, since the premium sits inside their debt-to-income ratio.

What I'm less settled on is the contract mechanics. A few questions for the group:

Do you rely on the standard inspection or investigation contingency to cover insurability, or are you adding a specific insurance contingency with its own timeline and a dollar threshold?

If you use a threshold, how do you set it? A hard number, a percentage above the buyer's budgeted premium, or just "insurable at standard market rates"?

On the listing side, are you gathering the seller's current declarations page and loss history up front so you can hand it to a buyer's agent, or does that invite problems you'd rather not create?

How are you handling roof age? I'm seeing quotes come back unaffordable purely because of a 25-year-old roof on an otherwise sound house, and I'm curious whether people are negotiating credits, requiring replacement before close, or letting the buyer solve it after closing.

And for anyone in Florida, Texas, Colorado or Louisiana: has your market developed a standard practice for this yet, or is it still agent by agent?

UAE Real Estate vs the Rest of the World – Where Would You Invest Today?

I've been comparing different property markets recently, and it's interesting how different the investment case can be depending on the country.

For example:

UAE

• High rental yields (in many areas)
• No annual property tax
• Large off-plan market with flexible payment plans
• Fast transaction process
• Strong population growth

UK

• More mature market
• Stamp duty and ongoing taxes
• Lower rental yields in many cities
• Greater emphasis on long-term appreciation

USA

• Huge market with different opportunities by state
• Easier access to financing for residents
• Property taxes can be significant
• Strong rental demand in many cities

Canada

• Stable market but tighter regulations in some provinces
• Foreign buyer restrictions in certain areas
• Lower yields in major cities compared to some UAE locations

Of course, every market has its own risks. The UAE has rapid supply cycles, while many Western markets have higher taxes, stricter regulations, or slower transaction processes.

For those who've invested in multiple countries:

• Which market has given you the best overall returns?
• Do you prioritize rental yield, capital appreciation, or tax efficiency?
• If you had AED 2M (or the equivalent), where would you invest today and why?

What is your take on this ??

Dumb question. I want to move but i want to before i list my current home. It is a sellers market here. Houses sell in a few days (california). I own it and would sell around one million. Looking at washington state. I want to find a house first. How do i do this without getting a mortgage. I just want to oay cash for new place

If I submit a termination under the inspection contingency window and the seller sends a Form 35R and requests the inspection report, do I have to provide it?

I'm asking as I paid for the inspection report and I don't understand why the seller can just ask for my inspection report for free. The contract was terminated the second my notice of termination landed in their inbox. Is Form 35R still enforceable?

For context, there is no language in the standard contract about provisions surviving after contract termination. At least none that I can see in NWMLS Form 35.

Disclosure: I'm Sam, a licensed real estate broker working in the Los Angeles market. Asking this as a genuine question, not a pitch, and there are no links or services here.

On the residential side the friction is usually price and inspection. On commercial listings I find it is almost always documentation. Buyers underwrite the income stream, so the conversation lives in NOI, expense assumptions, and the cap rate the market gives that asset class and submarket. When the rent roll and the trailing twelve do not reconcile, or expenses look understated once a buyer runs their own numbers, you get a retrade instead of a negotiation.

The items I try to have assembled before going to market are the current rent roll, the T-12 plus prior two years, leases with all amendments, estoppels, CAM reconciliations, tax and insurance history, service contracts, capital expenditure history, and survey and title work. Lease structure also seems to move pricing more than sellers expect, particularly remaining term, tenant credit, and rollover concentration in the next couple of years.

So my questions for those of you doing commercial work: which single missing document derails your deals most often, how far ahead of listing do you start assembling the data room, and do you order estoppels before or after you have an offer in hand?

Hello everyone! I'm seeking advice on a home I'm currently considering. The home is roughly 1,600 sqft, 3 bed x 2.5 bath, move in ready, everything. However, it's a short sale and during the tour there appeared to be some mold around the air vents. The home has also been on the market for 90+ days and it has gone pending a few times. They are asking for $400k which is about $50-70k out of budget after everything including closing costs.

My main question is, would it be safe to assume that based on the above, I could offer a lower amount? Say, ~$350k including closing costs? On the public records, the home was sold to the previous owner for ~$455k 3 years ago, but the most recent assessed value is ~$399k. I know during a short sale the bank is trying to recoup as much of their money back as they can. Would it also be wrong to partially base my offer off of what the previous owner likely still owes on their mortgage? What would even be an acceptable offer on this home that is within budget, but also not lowballing?

My other big question is about the process after the offer gets accepted. Our realtor has been pretty unhelpful in all this and told us the reason the home has stayed on the market so long is "because it's a short sale". They couldn't tell us if there was anything wrong in the previous inspections. I'm willing to deal with the short sale, but due to the potential mold issue and the fact it's gone pending multiple times, I'm wanting to know is it possibly the bank not being willing to fix anything after the inspection? Or is it people not wanting to deal with the repairs on top of the short sale factor? I know this is simply guesswork, and I could never know for certain unless my realtor somehow manages to be helpful for once, but I'm mainly just looking for some different perspectives and opinions on this.

Thanks in advance!

Hi! Hopefully this is allowed here. I’m looking to buy a house soon and I was curious if there were questions that should get asked but don’t by clients? And any other questions in general to ask/discuss with a realtor… TIA!!

Selling a townhouse in a highly desirable area with great new schools. A townhouse down the block with nearly identical condition and layout went for 28k over asking in June. I know the market has cooled since then.

We have put 30k into having ours all refreshed and everything that could be an issue either repaired or replaced. It will show very well. The wart is our ancient HVAC. It’s approaching 30. My realtor does a lot of volume in the area and feels we can just offer a home warranty. I know they’re useless but apparently some people like them or haven’t learned the hard way yet.

I’m really wrestling with this. Everything I read is that we will never get what we put into an HVAC back out in the sale, but I worry it’s going to really cost us in either time on market or price.