Monthly Archives: January 2023

Would you buy a house where someone committed suicide?

My husband and I are looking at a house. We love everything about this house: the location, the yard, the layout, everything. However, the current owner’s wife died by suicide in the shop building next to the house 5 months ago. We have a child, and the thought of our child playing in the shop building where someone died by suicide really creeps me out. I feel like I might be overreacting, so I just want some insight from others on what you think?

Edit: wording

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I have home building questions.

I have a question I'm hoping someone will have an answer for…

If I purchase a piece of land through a real estate agent and later build a home, am I required to pay the agent commission for both the purchase of the land AND construction of the home?

We plan on handling everything past the purchase of the land on our own, including finding our own builder. Years ago an agent told my mom that it's standard to do so, but that doesn't seem accurate to me.

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Closed on new construction but house in incomplete

I closed on a new construction home in July 2022 without a couple of things completed. The main thing was the fencing around our yard. It is now January 2023 and still no fence. I've reached out to the builder on multiple occasions and they keep giving me estimated dates of when the fence will go up but to no avail. Is there any threat of legal action or other ways that I can urge them to complete the fence?

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Tricky Family Situation CA

My mother-in-law and her sister are inheriting an old house (current value 950k-1m)

The sister wants cash and is uninterested in the property. My mother in law is interested in keeping the house for 2 years as her primary residence in order for Prop 19 to kick in and have the base property tax transfer to her next house. she has another house which will be a secondary property which she will be splitting her time with.

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She currently has some capital but doesn't have income so she wants us to take out a mortgage with her where she will pay a down payment and we pay the mortgage + property tax and live in the house until its time to sell it (in 3 years most likely).

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In order for prop 19 to kick in, my wife and I cant be on the title so we have no rights to any equity.

The end result of this transaction as is :

We get to live in a house for cheaper rent than most places and save about $700 on rent monthly for the next 3 years. The mortgage My wife and I responsible for is $350,000 30yr fixed at 5.8 but the plan is to sell the house 3 years

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Mother-in-law gets :

Full equity to the house (today value 950k-1m)

Prop 19 benefits

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Do you think this is a fair deal?

Are there things we have not considered

Bonus question:

Prop 19 allows an exemption of up to $1,000,000 when reassessing an inherited property.

Does this exemption transfer to a newly owned property or is it stuck with this one property

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Thank you for your time. I have no previous experience with real state and would really love to help my mother in law but also be fair to wife and I. If anything is confusing or unclear I am happy to clarify

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Contract Transfer for New Construction

Hi all, I'm in a unique situation but wanted to hear your thoughts:

  • Current buyers under contract (since September 2021) need to back out of new townhome construction (estimated May 2023 completion)
  • Current buyers are conducting an "After Contract Change Order", whereby I would be added as a Purchase to the contract that was signed in September 2021
  • We are also trying to figure out how to remove the current buyers from the loan without me needing to refinance There is currently no loan on the home; the current buyers have only but down an earnest money deposit
  • The closing price agreed upon in September 2021 was $450K, but homes around the area are going for $500k+ right now, so I am trying to jump on this opportunity to own my first townhome

Some questions:

  • Have you guys seen a contract transfer like this, prior to completion of a new build? What are your thoughts and experiences?
  • How would I go about securing a mortgage in my name only, even if the title has the current buyers' name on it?

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Terminating contract with a Property Management Company

Hi, I'm looking to terminate my contract five months after signing it, because they don't have my best interest. Here's what the contract states:

"Should Owner terminate the Agreement, Owner agrees all Management and other fees owed to Manager shall be paid in full. In addition, should the Owner cancel this Agreement during the initial lease term signed by a tenant, then the Owner agrees to pay Manager the sum of one-half of one month’s rent per unit as a cancellation fee."

I understand that I have to pay half a months rent.

What I don't understand is this: "Owner agrees all Management and other fees owed to Manager shall be paid in full".

Does this mean, given there's 7 months left in the current tenants lease, I owe the property management company 7 payments of what they would have otherwise made?

Please help me understand this.

Also, are they legally obligated to return the security deposit paid by the tenant to me?

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p.s. I would've persisted with them, but they clearly don't have my best interest. In so far as implying that I sounded unhappy and I could leave if I wanted. Unfortunately, I don't have this in writing. The estimates they've given me for repairs far exceeded what I had them fixed for. One repair, they forgot for 4 months.

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