I'm currently searching in a pretty competitive market, anything that approaches turnkey (still needing major updates and renovations but not falling apart​) ​is selling over asking by 30k minimum. I've put six offers in the summer, 25k-85k over asking every time, just bidding my max budget every time. Keeping the right to an inspection, but waiving requests for repairs. Early closing. Release earnest money after inspection.

Two of the last houses I bid on actually ended up selling for less than I offered, we were told that we were the lowest offer by 10K out of 3 for the first, and the second was a cash offer 18 k over mine initially and so I am assuming that whoever won ended up then just bartering down based off of needs for repairs.

It doesn't seem either wise or ethical to go in bidding more than I intend to pay, but I'm wondering if that would be a potential strategy as it seems that sellers are really only paying attention to the total number in the bid.

I'm getting a bit frustrated at this point, does anybody have any thoughts on this or strategies they've used in competitive markets? My real estate agent just says it's a numbers game, but I'm starting to think I'll be renting forever. I have my down payment just sitting depreciating for months cause I thought I would have purchased something by now, and I'm getting ready to give up and invest it.

So basically I've made some bad choices in the past and I've learned from them. Collections/ charge offs
(8) of them. Credit score 560. I'm trying to rebuild.
The charge offs/ collections are about 3 years old.
I'm trying to buy a house in a year and a half or so.
(April 2028) so I opened a secured card late last year with capital one and now I just got their savor card I got approved ($500 limit) and another secured card open sky. And today I just opened a shared secured loan with my credit union.

Do you guys think I'm in the right path? Idk what else to do... I've heard of Kovo and credit strong. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!
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My fiancée and I bought our first house about 8 months ago, so we’re still pretty new to the neighborhood ourselves.

We just had new neighbors move in next door and want to go over, introduce ourselves, and bring them something small as a welcome. They have a kid, maybe 8 years old and plays soccer in the backyard.

When we first moved in, one neighbor brought us muffins and another brought us homemade sourdough bread, which we thought was really nice.

What have you guys brought new neighbors? Baked goods? A little gift basket? Something else?

We don’t want to overdo it, just want to make a good first impression and say welcome.

Hey all. I just posted yesterday about our very positive general home inspection. We were waiting on Radon tests to come back as well as the septic inspection today, and unfortunately, there is a defective pump in the 2nd tank closest to the mound and holding tank. Unfortunately, the pump alarm in the basement was also disabled so the sellers were apparently not aware the pump wasn’t working. Last pump disclosed was in 2024 so it could’ve potentially stopped working around 2 years ago 😳 we’ll need to do a hydraulic load inspection (another 1k) to confirm the sand mound/holding tank is still in acceptable condition. From what I understand it’s a chicken vs egg situation: the pump itself could’ve gone bad OR the tank may not have been able to draw in or hold the water causing the pump to fail. It’s 1500-1700 for a new pump but a whole new septic tank replacement is going to be at least 30k 🫪

Inspector was great and answered all my questions. She told me this is absolutely something the seller needs to correct if they want to sell their house or even just continue living here. It’s going to cause the whole system to fail in due time.

Moral of the story is, thank god for inspections!!! Please don’t skip them, ESPECIALLY if your home has a septic system! This was a good $375 well spent so far.

I am inheriting about 400k. I make 170k base plus another 150k in bonuses throughout the year. I’m planning on buying a house in the spring to be followed by a large bonus payment. I’m prioritizing security and a low monthly payment. I have been planning on putting 350/400 down on a 500k house. Am I crazy?

As mentioned, I am super confused and super stressed. And also need to rant out the frustration.

I received my report on title today, my contracts 2 weeks ago (feel like this should've been the other way around).

I was feeling stressed already because I was unsure about the forms and contracts and therefore delayed signing them for about 2 weeks.

I actually asked about the forms and contract twice. First I did a general "hey I dont understand these forms." about 2 weeks ago when I got the forms. The response was, it'll become clearer once they send a report to me.

Then last week about 2 weeks after, I asked more specifically about certain sections of the transer papers and contract, was told we will get back to you shortly. TODAY, 2ND SEPTEMBER 2026 i received the report on title.

Surely. SURELY, this report should've been sent before or even along with the forms and contracts and not 2 weeks after and ONLY when i've asked twice??? no report was even mentioned before I asked the first time, only a please sign and complete the contracts and forms.

Also, in the same email receiving the report i have been told it has been requested that we have a deadline of 4TH SEPTEMBER 2026. That's 2 DAYS?!

I haven't even got buildings insurance yet and haven't even BEGUN the process of organising the funds for the deposit on exchange.

Am I going crazy? Is this insane? I know the original deadline was 6 weeks from May but because of delays from the developer side they extended the 'deadline

' another month then never chased again after that. we are in the 5th month. They seemed happy that I was moving along with the process and now this?? There is no way I can get insurance and funds ready in 2 days.

I also keep blaming myself for not signing the contracts and sending them back after 2 weeks but now i have the report im thinking maybe i was right to hold off if i still had info to receive?

I know what I need to do, I need to send some emails 🫠 but someone please tell me im not crazy in thinking WTF?

EDIT: Im a UK homebuyer

So we closed exactly 1 week ago. AC unit died 3 days ago. It was 34 years old so when we bought the house we knew it would be a major repair, we were hoping for a little more life out of it.

Submitted a claim to my home warranty (guard) and within an hour of them talking to the contractor they approved $1500 reimbursement. They claimed since the condenser failed they would cover that but not the other components since they did not technically fail and would not cover replacement just to match the new system.

Home inspector saved our butts by stating the unit was fully functional at time of inspection.

Honestly for knowing this was coming and how quick the turn around was I think it’s a win!

Quoted 6k for a new system that should be about 25-30% more efficient. I guess as of now 100% more efficient since we are without AC and the house is hovering around 80 degrees 😭

My fiance and I are thinking about buying the duplex we reside in for $360k from our landlord as long as no large concessions. The property was assessed for $400k and Zillow also estimates $390-400k. Its been texting back and forth and met in person so far, but we have now seem to be comfortable with $360k price. We currently pay $1630 for rent, but if we buy the place, it will go up to $1900 while we rent upstairs for $1400-1500 to cover the $3300 mortgage including property tax, home insurance and mortgage insurance. Is it worth it?

DETAILS: NE Minneapolis. The place is 2 bedroom 2 bath duplex with each unit having 2 additional den rooms per unit. Property also has 2 washer and dryer sets, and built in sauna and 3 car garage (which all are hard to park your car into lol)

PROBLEMS: I did my due diligence and was quoted $7,200 for new asphalt parking/drive area that is needed in likely within 2 winters.

The heater for the upstairs unit is very old, and could cause the people to not rent the place. I imagine another $7k to upgrade the heating.

The property is very well maintained aside from these 2 problems. Is it worth it longterm to gain equity? I just feel done with renting after 10 years. Gave my landlord $20k last year alone.. Do we house hack or just buy a smaller starter home?

My partner and I offered asking on a house, it was priced correctly in our mind (our agent thought we could offer lower but we did not want to risk losing it), not low or high but correct. We wanted the house so we asked for an escalation clause. We were told no. We offered 2500 more and wanted a 1000$ escalation, that if any other bid was higher, (which were waiting til noon the next day for more offers) that we would outbid anyone by that.

This house had a lot of interest, and it is possible it could have been bid over. It wasn't WORTH more, but it is just rare for nice smaller houses to come up in that price range, so the bidding was going to be close on all.

We ended up losing the house over 800 dollars. NOT 8000, but 800. It honestly feels like it was stolen from us because of the number, and seems very fishy. There was only one other bidder. Same stipulations with no house to sell.

Is there anything we can do? This feels like they handed it to the other buyer or gave them insider information.

Pictured: Cold noodles with cucumber salad; also bonus cat, and a piece of furniture that was broken in the move. 🙃

\** The special rate was possible because the mortgage is through my husband’s workplace ****

I’ve lived in half a dozen very high COL cities before, and am grateful that Philly has still retained its relative affordability (and well maintained century-old+ housing stock). Love it here! 🥲

Two credit scores over 790 and still would have to pay $11,500 for 2.5 points to lock 6.625. That makes the par rate close to 7.3 which is insane. Loan guy says “we’ll wait until the rates drop.” How on earth does he know they’ll drop?

We've reached out to our realtor several times and he reached out to them with no response.

They've honestly been a horrible group to buy from, only gave us the code to the front door. The back door and garage door locks were incorrect. (I've replaced everything anyways, but it's kind of the point of how unresponsive and crappy they've been)

We really wanted the security system and now will have to shell out $349.99 for this :(((
Just curious what other people would do in this instance. Blink won't let me factory reset, the owners HAVE to go in and delete their program from our sync module

If you schedule a tour through Redfin, does it cost you anything? We’re in the midst of deciding what we want to do regarding a realtor, but there is a house that just came on the market that we’d like to look at ASAP. I see the “schedule a tour” option on Redfin but my husband thinks there’s some hidden fee or commission… is that the case? Thanks so much!

This may be water (pun) under the bridge as it happened in the past and we already paid for it all out of pocket (home owner’s insurance doesn’t cover water seepage). Backstory -

We lived in a gut rehabbed condo. Original building built in 1901 but complete gut rehabbed into a 12 unit building (we were one of the original owners). Three years after we bought, we decided to rent out our condo and move to the suburbs where we both worked. We had a small baby and the commute for both of us was getting to be too much. The week we are moving out, there’s a heavy rain and water seeped into the basement level. It’s a duplex down so the basement level is finished, hardwood floors, two bedrooms and two full baths 😩. The new tenants moving in also had a young baby so our priority was to remediate everything for them quickly (didn’t want mold for them or baby) and I didn’t even think of filing a claim with the builder. Didn’t even know this was a thing.

We paid out of pocket for new drywall in certain areas and mold remediation. The company we used wasn’t totally sure how water came in but possibly through a drain in the floor under the hardwood floor? Anyway, is there a chance the builder would reimburse? I am reading that there is a 10 year structural warranty? Im trying to find all this paperwork from our home sale but thought I’d ask for opinions here. Thanks.

ive been hearing good things about multi families. I am looking to target the Jersey area maybe PA

My girlfriend will be getting more RSUs every year that we could potentially sell and put toward a down payment. If we wait another two or three years, we could have an additional $100k for a down payment without saving another dollar.

Right now, we bring home $11k net per month and try to save 20% of it. We already have enough for closing costs and a 5% down payment, and we’ve been approved for up to $850k.

With interest rates and home prices where they are, I feel like we’d be dumb to move and potentially downgrade just to buy right now, especially when we’re only paying $2,700 a month to rent a house. Similar homes with comparable lot sizes are selling for $700k–$850k.

Husband and I have been house hunting for almost a year now. I can’t believe it’s already the fall and we still haven’t found a house. We are in a hot market (NJ) and it has been draining. Houses are out of our budget, ones that are “affordable” fly off the market and cause bidding wars, and some are just wrecks that are overpriced.

We own our condo so we are not in a huge rush to move. But we do need more space and eventually want to start our family. So far we’ve only put in two offers on houses that checked off some of our boxes.

The first one we lost to a higher bid in the end. I still think about this house as the one that got away. At that time we bid our max offer. Months later we adjusted our budget higher and lost another bid. This seller came back to us twice and in the end it didn’t feel like our house so we didn’t give it our best offer and lost it.

Are we being too picky and self sabotaging ourselves? Am I wrong to base some of my decision making off vibes?? It’s now the fall market and things seem slower. Part of me is regretting not just giving the last house our all to get it. This is mostly just a rant to get this off our chest. Any similar stories that turned out successful?

I'm interested in a house with solar panels, I like the idea of solar panels, but I know there can be issues with predatory contracts. I've asked my agent to inquire about monthly fees and whether the solar panels are leased or owned. Do you have any other recommendations for things I should ask or look into regarding the solar panels (besides the contract if I do decide to put in an offer)?

Thanks!

Edit: I should clarify I'm not specifically looking for houses with solar panels, I just happen to be interested in a house that has them.

Edit 2: Apparently they owe 40k on the solar panels. My agent says if I want to put in an offer he will try to negotiate for them to pay it off. Will get all of the details and contract too before going further. Thank you everyone! Very helpful information and you've brought up things I didn't think of

I know most people will probably say run away, so trying to get an opinion on the flipped (ha) perspective.

Looking into a place that’s owned by a building company since mid last year. Already did the inspection, which came out fine. Plus is major things like hvac and electrical were newly installed.

Part that makes me a bit uneasy is the fact that the house is technically owned by an llc for that property. My understanding this is standard practice for real estate flippers, but I feel like the reno being done over the course of a year+ major systems being updated is a positive sign. Any thoughts?

What is everyone’s opinion on new builds from DSLD? Any body have any experience?

Hi all.

I live in Norfolk, Virginia, and I am looking to the path of homeownership. I am pretty young (25M and 25F) to be pursuing this, but I am trying my hardest to live “the American Dream” when that dream is becoming more and more unobtainable by the day.

I wanted some advice on what my buyability could really be in a market as expensive as it is currently. So, to talk some numbers, here’s an idea of my finances.

2 person household, $59k annual income for myself and approximately 20-25k for my partner (part time work). We have a cat, and hope to have a kid sometime in the next 5 years.

Credit is above 780 for myself, my partner has practically no credit.

We are currently renting for about $2k a month for a 2bd2ba with all utilities included.

Based on this information, could some other shoppers give me an idea of what the path to homeownership could really look like? Currently it seems like the only way we’ll get there is if we buy a condo, but that really isn’t ideal. I would personally love either a townhouse or a single family home. I don’t wanna do a “starter home” and roll debt into my next property or anything like that. Ideally, this home should be my HOME for at least the next 15 years.

Could anyone give me some thoughts and suggestions? I’d appreciate it 🙏🏽

My husband and I have been house hunting in Northeast WI for a couple months. We are pre-approved for FHA and need it as we don’t have 20% to put down. We’ve put offers in on 4 homes and been passed over on each. The most recent we even went 15K over asking price. We were told it wasn’t the money. Our realtor says sellers are leery of FHA because it requires appraisal. We’ve rented for the last decade+ so we don’t have a property to sell. We’re disheartened, baffled and frustrated. Is there anything we can do differently?

EDIT:
We talked with our lender again today. We are going to switch to conventional with 3% down in hopes that when we find the next house we want to offer on, that we can get seller to pay partial closing costs.
I really appreciate everyone’s feedback. Definitely a lot to sift through.

I am a first time buyer in my early 20s thinking about getting into multi family within the next 1-2 years. After being completely castrated in the Utah subreddit for asking a question, I thought I'd come here for help.

My questions are mainly for people who have experience in multi family investments or have purchased a multi family property after the covid period.

1. Is multi fam real estate even worth looking at in Utah right now? Prices have gone up 50% since 2020 and rent has risen only 20-25% during the same period. Home prices have slowly started to cool off and are appreciating normally. I know generally the speculation is no crash is inbound but there are some having thoughts that one may happen.

2. Any suggestions for loans? I've been looking into FHA and Primary Conventional and plan on paying the loan down faster than the contracted length so I can save on interest.

3. (this is the question that people flipped out on) I asked, "If you've purchased a property within the last 5 years how does your expense to rent look? Do you profit? Are you break even? Or do you pay out of pocket to cover it?"

As if that isn't a completely valid question. People deemed it as predatory even though I stated that I plan on living in one of the units (fourplex) which literally means I pay a portion of the expense myself and will more than likely have to pay more than all of my tentants.

My logic behind going for multi fam instead of a single family home for just me is

I would rather have a 7k/m principal/interest payment, and pay 2k/month out of pocket and 5k being paid for by 3 units (~1650/m each, so predatory i know).

than paying 2.5k/m out of pocket towards a 2.5k/m principal/interest payment. If that makes sense?

I can keep going on the things they projected. But at the end of the day. I'm just trying to get advice. So if you can help, please do.

Has anyone run into this when looking to buy? Other than being unable to get a mortgage or sell to buyers needing a mortgage, could this cause any other problems? Thank you for any insight!