Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with buyer

Do you have to pay taxes on money paid during a seller rent-back?

unclezeb — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:31:20 -0800

You buy a house in California. You agree that the seller can stay up to 2 months after escrow closes (a "seller rent-back") if they make your (PITI) payments. Do you need to pay income taxes on the money they pay toward your PITI? Also, what was your "seller rent-back" experience? We are buying a house in California. The sellers (who are very nice) want the option to rent the house beyond closing while they look for a house to buy (e.g., a seller rent-back or Residential Lease After Sale [RLAS] agreement) for up to 2 months. If they stay beyond escrow, they will pay our PITI, say $100/day for the sake of convenient calculations.

Suppose they stay 20 days and pay $2000 toward our PITI during that time.

Is that $2000 considered our income for tax purposes? In other words, would we (in the 25% federal and 9% state tax brackets) need to pay taxes on that $2000, effectively reducing it by one-third?

I understand we can deduct our interest and mortgage insurance payments from our taxes, does that mean this comes out in the wash?

What was your experience with a "rent-back" or a Residential Lease After Sale agreement?

First-time home buyer seeks help making a good investment

mintchip — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:08:57 -0800

First-time home buyer seeks help making a good investment I am interested in purchasing a short sale property. I am a first time home buyer. I'm hoping to buy an undervalued condo, live there for a few years to build equity, and hopefully trade up in a few years if (when?) prices begin to bounce back. The places I've been looking at would cost approximately the same or slightly less than renting the same type of unit...so my hope is that this is a low-risk proposition since I need somewhere to live anyway.

I am just learning about all of this so I have a lot of questions.

1. How can I tell if a property is undervalued? For example, I recently saw one that sold only a few years ago for approximately twice what I could get it for now. Assuming the inspection is clear, can I reasonably conclude that this short-sale property is undervalued?

2. What do I need to know about purchasing a short sale property? If they are a good value, why aren't more people buying them?

3. How much does the "assessed value" tell you? For example, I looked at one property that will sell for $150k less than last year's assessed value versus one that's only $35k less than the assessed value. In other words, if the sale price is close to the assessed value, am I less likely to make a profit upon resale?

4. I have substantial fixed-rate student loan debt. I can lower my monthly payments by consolidating over a longer repayment term (25 years). However, this will cost me more interest in the long run. What would make a bank look upon me more favorably--lower monthly payments or my attempt to pay it off faster?

5. What are the best resources to learn what I need to know?

Our buyer's agent is selling a house we like. What to do?

Sun, 03 May 2009 17:32:19 -0800

We've been working with a real estate agent to buy a house. This agent has just listed a house we like. What do we do if we want to make an offer on the house? We have been looking at houses with a real estate agent for about a year now, here in Portland, Oregon. This past week, the agent listed a house that we really like and we are considering putting an offer on it.
We have never signed a contract with her as our official buyer's agent and we know that her loyalties (by contract) will lie with the seller.
If we want to put an offer on this house, what should we do?

Help with House

CollectiveMind — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 07:29:25 -0800

Under financial pressure. My house isn't selling. I want to avoid foreclosure and don't care about making a profit. It's the original mortgage; a 30-year fixed at 5.5% in good condition (attractive older house and well maintained) in a decent neighborhood (property values steady as those in more expensive neighborhoods fall). If I price it only to pay off the mortgage and cover commissions, would it attract buyers? Doing so would drop its price 20% below comparables. This would undercut the neighborhood, but not like a foreclosure would. Advice?

eBayfilter: Dealing with unwanted foreign sellers

rjacobs — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:51:08 -0800

I'm new to selling on eBay. I listed a microphone, and only gave an option for U.S. Shipping. I didn't actually list "U.S. buyers only" in the text of the auction. Someone from Brazil asked if he could buy, but without waiting for an answer, he bought it with Buy It Now, and asked for an invoice. I don't want to ship to Brazil, period. So, (a) do I have any recourse, and (b) what can I do so this doesn't happen in the future?

Buying land and building on it. What's the deal?

Scottk — Sat, 27 May 2006 17:14:35 -0800

I am thinking about buying an acre or so in Western NC on which to build a home and I am wondering if anyone has relevant information regarding building prices of homes, such as the average price per square foot and any other fees I may not be aware of as a first time buyer.

I'd like to hire a contractor to build the home (2bed/2bath; ~1500 sqft). Is anyone familiar with this process? Value wise, it all seems too good to be true, so I would like someone to burst my bubble in giving me the straight dope on the subject.

Real estate buyer's agent

Blue Buddha — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 08:56:59 -0800

We're looking to buy a condo/house and wanted to know what your experiences with a buyer's agent were. The sellers of a particular place we're interested in have their own agent, but we heard it was a good idea to have your own representative, looking after your own interests, and the agent's fees would be split among the seller's agent and ours. Is this the case? Most resources I've look up only talk about one or the other, having a seller's agent or a buyer's agent, but not what happens when there are both involved in a sale/purchase. Any information on the process would be greatly appreciated!

How do I find a buyer for my house when I can't show the place myself?

SeizeTheDay — Sat, 22 May 2004 11:05:15 -0800

So let's assume I own a house in MD. It's completely empty, clean, and requires no beautification. The catch is, I don't live anywhere near MD. What's the best way to find a buyer since I can't show the place myself?