Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with sale

I sold my car... sort of. Car sale gone awry... now what?

ecorrocio — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:04:38 -0800

As one enters one's second half century, one likes to think that one has mastered little things in life -- like selling a car. Apparently not. OK, I've made a bit of a mess out of a simple car sale. Here's the background:

The car: My old Soobie, broken 4wd linkage, leaks oil, bad shape. Not worth much. I was going to donate it to a charity car thing.

The buyer: A nice fellow appeared at my door asking if I wanted to sell the car. English not so good. Me, being such an expert in gauging people, immediately trusted him. (still do really).

The sale: I told him everything that was wrong with the car and suggested he and his buddy take the car for a few hours to see what it was like. Take it to a mechanic if he wanted etc. He did so, and when he returned -- in another car -- he said he still wanted it, had a brother that could fix it up. I asked where the car was. He said it was at his house. He clearly did not know what was involved in buying a car as he wanted to pay me cash there and be done with it. I told him it was OK to keep the car there for a day while I got the title for the sale.

I told him we had to do the title thing and that I'd need my plates back. A couple days later (they had the car all this time), he and his daughter came back, paid a couple hundred bucks, and I signed the title over (no notary required in CO). Here's where I got even stupiderer: He said the car was to be his brother's, and they would fill in the name. So I sent him off with the signed title, and no bill of sale. I told them I'd need a copy of the signed title and my plates back, along with any stuff left in glove compartment.

That was 3 weeks ago. I still do not have a copy of title or my plates back. I have called them (I have only his daughter's phone # and don't know where they live), and she insisted they have just been "very busy" and would get me the required items.

It has occurred to me that they are "illegals" and are trying to dodge the usual channels of procuring a car. Maybe, maybe not.

I am still insuring the car since I don't have real proof it has been sold, and were it involved in an accident with my plates and an unsigned title, I could be liable.

I'll be calling them again today. Thinking I'll say I must have the required items or I will report the car... stolen? .... plates stolen? I'm not really sure.

Does anyone have recommendations as to how to handle this mess?

Signed,
Still Naive Over 50

House for sale

nicolin — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 08:11:24 -0800

How to advertise a small French property in the classifieds ? As a follow-up to some of my previous questions, I'd like to ask where to advertise a house for sale in the UK / Irish / any English-speaking place media and Internet. I'm looking for cheap classifieds, of course, but would consider other options, if not too expensive.

The background : my mother has inherited from her father, she has done some refurbishing and now she's just crushed under her loans and debts. So, we want to sell my late grandfather's house. It's now completely refurbished and I think it might appeal to someone who wants to retire in a real quiet and rural place, or someone who wants to live in a very quiet, nice, pretty and secure neighbourhood.

The state of the economy here (south of France) doesn't leave much hope to find investors soon. So I want to broaden our prospects by reaching UK, Ireland and maybe people who want to change gears, wherever they are.

So, in a nutshell : could you give us the right place to put our ads, on the Internet or the press ?

Thanks !

How do I get rid of a used car in Toronto, Ontario?

jacquilynne — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 08:33:42 -0800

I am contemplating getting rid of my car, as it is expensive to insure and there is car sharing available in my building, and I mostly use public transit these days anyway. But I don't really know how to actually do that. It's a 2001 Honda Civic Sedan, with some moderate body damage (a dent in the passenger side door) and the usual assortment of minor nicks and scrapes a 12 year old can be expected to have. It is also overdue for a timing belt change, but I'm hard-pressed to want to do a $1000 service to a car that's probably not worth much more than that.

A possible complicating factor is that I don't know if I actually have the title to the car. Some things I've read suggest that Honda would have kept it until I paid off the car and then mailed it to me. Other things have suggested that there is no title separate from the green and white papers I've been thinking of as 'the registration'. If there is a different title document, how can I get one? If it exists it's likely that Honda mailed it to the wrong address 8 years ago, since they had my addresses super screwed up (buying a car the day before you move confuses people).

So, what are my options for getting rid of this thing? Would a Honda dealer just buy it outright rather than take it in trade? Or some other dealer? Can you recommend a specific place in Toronto? How pain-in-the-assy is selling it as a private sale, and if I go that route, what's the usual protocol for test drives, not getting scammed, etc?

If the car has some residual value, I'd like to realize that value, but I'm not necessarily looking to make the most money possible if there's a lower hassle way to get this done. The main reason I even still have a car is that the whole thought of dealing with this just ramps my social anxiety up to about an 11, and I don't want to think about it at all. But I also don't want to keep paying $130 a month to insure a car that I drive so little that I don't even put gas in it once a month. I occasionally daydream about ways to crack it into a tree without hurting myself so my insurance company will just write it off, if that gives you any indication of how much I don't want to deal with this. (Dear Insurance Company: I wouldn't actually do that. I know it's both dangerous and illegal. Love, Me.)

Nickled and Damned

Leezie — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:58:10 -0800

House Buyer/Seller Etiquette: is it legitimate for me to be tweaked that the seller wants to charge me for replacement HVAC filters and things that can only be used in the house but that aren't nailed down? We are purchasing a house from a retired couple who built the home originally. Negotiations on price and adjustments for issues found in the home inspection were uneventful. After those negotiations ended, we reached out the sellers to see if they were interested in selling some of their furniture to us (large, nice pieces like a piano, grandfather clock, dining room table that would be difficult to fit in the two bedroom apartment they are moving into from the house). We ended up agreeing on some small items but really haggled over price.

In the end, we ended up $145 apart. I had told the seller that we didn't want the items enough to pay what he was asking. Then he comes back and says, pay what I'm asking and I'll throw in the HVAC filters, old bricks, tiles, appliance manuals, blueprints for the house, floor mats in the garage, etc.

My first reaction to this was to be supremely annoyed as I thought this kind of stuff which obviously only works at the house would be left for us without us having to pay for it. Or, have I just been a schmuck all of these years leaving unused filters, appliance manuals and leftover tiles for the new owner without charging them?

I bought a business a few years ago, and now it's making me completely miserable.

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:17:28 -0800

I own an Apple reseller somewhere in the United States. I bought this company from the former owner a few years back, despite having no education in business whatsoever (other than what I've learned on the job.) When I first took over as owner, it was kind of fun, challenging, a lot of work, and just slightly profitable (though with a debt from the loan I took out to buy the business). It was like this for about a year. Since then, not so much. Most days, I feel trapped and hopeless. So now I seek ideas. Here's where I am today: almost a year behind in sales and use tax to two states; owing about half a million dollars (though the vast majority of it is what's called "good debt," and NOT like the back taxes I just mentioned); I've shot the business credit to hell, so NOBODY will loan us ANYTHING; I sleep poorly every day; the chronic depression that I had finally gotten some control of during the mid-2000s has come roaring back; I feel more and more apathetic and resigned to my fate as a failure; etc. I drink every day, when it used to be responsible, social drinking. This adds to my weight, which adds to the depression, and along with the reduced motivation to go to the gym, has lead to a gigantic circle of suck that just continues to feed on itself. My personal debt is also gradually climbing up (and it was already about $80K when I bought the business.)

(I'm posting anonymously, because there's only so many companies in my line of business, and I can't risk someone identifying my business. This post may be a bit risky, so I'm being vague on a number of details, though not so much that any advice would be irrelevant.)

We don't have enough money to carry proper stock of Macs or iPads, and regularly have to tell customers who want to buy, say, a MacBook Pro that although we don't have it, we'd be glad to take payment for it, order it, and have it for them in a day or two. Some will do this, but many decline and go to the Apple Store or elsewhere. It's only slightly less of a horror show for iPads, but with something like a gazillion different iPad SKUs, we can only really afford a tiny smattering of the most popular models. I struggle to meet payroll every other week -- and about once every six to eight weeks, it actually bounces (as it did this week). Overdraft charges are a near daily occurrence. We lost Net 30 accounts with the two major Apple distributors over a year ago, so virtually everything is on debit card or the occasional credit card that might have a bit of available credit on it. (I was finally able to beg one of the vendors to give us a much smaller line a few months back, but it doesn't carry us very far.)

We're thoroughly unprepared for any kind of big buy-in if we need to stock up for some kind of inventory surge (e.g., the holiday season), and by not being able to have decent stock, we lose out on sales, and develop a word-of-mouth reputation as a fifth-rate, "wanna-be Apple Store." A customer trying to buy a personal machine, and not being able to, could be a decision-maker in a company's IT department, so a lost sale could be the starting point for a string of lost sales we'll never even know about. We're losing out on the simple, organic things that should happen to slowly help a business grow, because we're constantly cut off at the knees.

This state of affairs is chipping away at my mental (and increasingly, physical) health. There are far too many times when I just shut down — I become very quiet, staring off into space, and just obsess over how everything just went to hell. I don't even go into the stores as often as I used to, because I don't need people to see me like this. But by not being as involved in the business as I used to be, little problems grow big, and that snowball gets bigger and bigger and rolls faster downhill.

A few months ago, I went to a conference for fellow Apple resellers, but ended up depressed, jealous, and angry most of the time. Though I know it's self-destructive and bad for me, I ended up hating other resellers and being violently jealous and resentful of their success. They seem to be so much better off than us, have better looking stores, can freely talk about making big sales, etc. Meanwhile, I can't even afford to stock more than one each of 2-3 models of Mac (when there are 10-15 individual Mac SKUs at any given time). This anger and resentment eventually turns inward and becomes depression, feeds into my feelings of incompetence, lack of self-worth, and failure. And on it goes.

I am working to slowly catch up on the back sales taxes, paying off a month at a time, but at a frequency that is slightly faster than once per month — so that we should be current with it, hopefully, in a year's time (if they don't bury me with more liens or penalties). I try to order what I can, and get what little stock of CPUs I can, on occasion. But a large amount of money is what's needed to really turn this thing around, and I'm done asking for it. Much of the aforementioned half a million is in family loans (part of how it got that big is that they insisted on paying off two bank loans and "refinancing" with them instead), and I've given up on asking. I don't even consider the idea, because I don't honestly have faith that they'll ever get their money back. There are (maybe) three possible ways out of this rut: (a) Maybe I can sell this thing; (b) maybe I can find investors (though I don't know how one does that); or (c) maybe I'll cash out most or all of the money I've set aside for retirement/children's college/long-term and just let it ride, gambling that the investment will pay off.

So I don't know what to do. Perhaps I could find a few people to become investors, but I (a) have no idea how one goes about getting investors (even though one of my employee's friends and one of my wife's friends have both approached me -- of their own accord -- to invest in the business), and (b) am leery about owing more people more money. Much of it would be used to properly stock up both stores, but inventory is almost completely "sunk" money — sure, a little bit of it comes back as profit with each sale (and I DO mean a little — Apple's margins for resellers are crap) — but much of it just gets cycled back into replenishing the same inventory. So how do I pay these investors back?

A little more on each option:

OPTION A: Selling the business. I have been approached by two different companies, each in the IT services/support field and each grossing about $60M annually. (We did $1.5M last year.) Neither does retail, nor do they have much interest in the storefronts (even though they both claim they'd keep the stores open for "branding" anyway) — their money comes from business-to-business and on the service contracts, etc. With Apple's rise in popularity over the last decade, they're realizing that many of their customers want to buy Apple products and/or have them serviced, and they can't do it.

That's because, about a year or so ago, Apple stopped taking new applications for resellers OR service providers. (We are authorized for both of those things, and are thus grandfathered in.) I'd say that this is why these large companies are coming to me, taking me to lunch and dinner at as much as $150 per person, and "just brainstorming" about possible acquisition. There's been a few meals together, and in both cases, it's come to mention of the next step being an NDA and opening the books. But in both cases, I've not heard from them after that point. Maybe this is part of the dance; I don't know. Maybe they ran our credit and saw the three tax liens (so far), and ran far, far away.

But my hope is that when Apple shut down the option for companies to apply to be resellers or service providers, the value of our existing authorization shot up overnight — ideally meaning that we hold the proverbial "golden ticket." (You could still apply to either of these channels back when I bought the business, so it wasn't so rare. And this was pre-iPad, too.) From what little I know of business sales, it seems to me that this makes us less a "financial" acquisition for a company than it does a "strategic" acquisition (or at least I HOPE this is the case). We have something that is in limited supply, and it could be of value to a larger, established player who happens not to have any Apple authorization.

But if we do the NDA, and I open the books, we'll look like garbage. The $1.5M in revenue is awful compared to what we would be making if we simply had product in stock and didn't have to turn away so many potential sales. Then throw in the nearly half a million in debt, and the fact that I struggle to even pay myself, and by conventional business valuation practices, I can't sell this thing even for enough to cover our debt. We are the business equivalent of being in an underwater mortgage.

So I'm hoping NON-conventional business valuation wins out. Our performance (or lack thereof) really isn't a relevant indicator of how a buyer with resources would do with this business. This is for a couple of reasons: (a) a buyer with a large existing B2B customer base (whereas ours is 90% consumer) can make a TON more sales, and take in a TON more machines for service than we do, overnight, just based on their existing relationships, and (b) the aforementioned "golden ticket" that is Apple authorization. They aren't giving these out anymore, so they only way to get in is to buy your way in. (Apple approval of the transfer would obviously be a contingency of any sale of the business.)

But I know every business owner thinks their business is a special snowflake, when that's usually not the case, so I've already steeled myself to be slapped down with cold, hard reality.

OPTION B: Getting investors. An employee has a friend who has money saved up and is looking to do something with it. My wife has a friend who's in much the same situation as well. And maybe I can find one or two more. But how do you go about doing this? How is it managed? How does one "advertise" to find other investors beyond these two possible ones? Hire a lawyer? Are there people who do this sort of a thing for a living (and won't be expensive as hell)? I know next to nothing about this.

OPTION C: This one will hurt, but it's the one I have most control over. I can take about $100K to $120K I have in managed stocks/investments and cash them all out (meaning my wife and I will have then have little to no retirement or college funds). About $30K will be eaten up overnight, just to get us caught up in back sales tax; another $50K to $70K will go into finally getting proper stock in the stores, and if there's anything else, it can go into just generally improving the cash flow picture. Part of what makes me even consider this course of action is that my parents will eventually leave us a decent sized inheritance -- more than the figures I just mentioned, but definitely nowhere near seven figures, either -- so it isn't as if my investments are all we have for the rest of our lives.

In the meantime, my quality of life has been declining for the last couple of years; my wife and I have had to put off trying to have a child because we have no idea of how we can support one; I drink too much, hardly ever exercise, am depressed damn near all the time, and hate to even wake up in the morning (if you define 11:30 AM as morning). I have to get out of this somehow.

Throwaway account, if you wish to contact me offline: appleiskillingme@comcast.net

Want to buy a twitter account from a complete stranger.

signal — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:14:00 -0800

How to succesfully buy a twitter account from a faraway stranger? I want to buy a twitter account from (a specific) someone I don't know. He seems like a bit of a douche. I'm worried that if I make an offer and he accepts, I pay him and maybe he takes the money and keeps the account and I'm screwed.
Would an escrow service solve this? How would that work?
We're not in the same city or country, so a face to face isn't feasible.
Has anybody had experience doing something like this?

Safety When Selling Things

These Birds of a Feather — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 15:02:29 -0800

I (mid-20s female) just sold a chair to someone in my apartment complex after posting signs up in some common areas. The guy saw me posting the signs and asked to buy the chair so I made him wait outside my apartment so I could wheel the chair out. He was very nice but he gave me the creeps a little and now I am worried that I put myself in a vulnerable position by allowing him to see where I live. What can I do to keep myself safe now that he knows where I live, and how can I handle transactions like this in the future so I don't endanger myself again? I did take a picture of his license plate just because it felt like the right thing to do.

Can you give an asset in lieu of cash when selling a small business?

miit — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 16:56:02 -0800

When selling a small business, can the owner accept an asset of the company in lieu of cash payment? The company is a California S-Corp with one owner. The owner has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and would like to transfer ownership of the company to his two employees. He does not seek to turn any profit and wants to make sure that neither he, nor the new owners, take on a tax burden in the deal. The company is a consultancy and basically breaks even or turns a very small profit each year. No debt or other liabilities. The value could be estimated anywhere from $0 to $750k (which is basically the owners current salary at a 4x multiple). The company owns a vehicle that's worth about $10k. So, can a stock sale agreement basically say the car will be given as payment for the company. Also, if it makes any difference, the owner will have an employment agreement with the company as long as he is alive to offer advisory services with a salary.

Google Maps House hunting in Paris

rom1 — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 01:14:06 -0800

There's an amazing timberframe house on sale in the heart of Paris-7ème arrondissement. I've been spending half-an-hour trying to locate it in Google Maps without success... so there's your challenge!

"Buying" my car from my mom in NJ. What's the best/cheapest way to do this?

carpyful — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 10:02:12 -0800

"Buying" my car from my mom in NJ. What's the best/cheapest way to do this? [posting for a friend]
So my family bought a car a few years ago under my mom's name. I've been paying the monthly payments for it ever since and it's finally paid off. I'd like to get the car under my name now that we have the title.

What's the best way to do this and how much will it end up costing? Is it possible to claim the sale of the car for $1.00 (my mom essentially selling the car to me) or should we mark it as a gift? Basically, I'm looking for the cheapest or easiest way to do this.

Additional info: I'm in NJ and the car is a 2007 Civic.

Home is where the 'for sale' sign is.

Ziggy500 — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 04:02:48 -0800

My flat has been on the market forever, and nothing has worked out. Advice and encouragement requested. My flat is a studio in a London burb which has been on the market since February (so, not forever exactly, but it feels like it). It is in good condition, in a nice complex, and other flats nearby exactly like it have been sold recently. It's priced realistically (around the same price as the similar flats got sold for). On the minus side, it's a studio flat, and the lease is about 77 years, so not terribly long.

I've had 3 offers for the flat in that time. 2 were later withdrawn by the prospective buyers (they changed their minds). I accepted the 3rd, and we went quite a ways towards exchange and completion before the buyer backed out with no words of explanation, leaving me completely disheartened and a few hundred pounds in legal fees poorer.

I don't know what to do. It is currently still on the market but I'm not having many viewings requested at all. I think that as we get to winter I'm going to have to take it off the market. I don't think it's good for a property to be on the market forever. It is only listed with 1 estate agent.

I like the flat but do not want to live there for ages longer - I need more space. I am feeling extremely discouraged by the thought of being stuck here for months and months. I am looking for practical advice in how to sell it off quickly. But in the absence of that, anecdotes and words of encouragement would be good too!

Help me get rid of this awkward thing

dgran — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:18:35 -0800

Years ago I acquired an authentic German Nazi flag and I don't know how to properly get rid of it. What is an appropriate way to handle a ~80 year old historical item that I don't wish to keep and also don't want it to end up on some skinhead's wall? It was sentimental to the owner (his grandfather fought in WW2 and it belonged to him) and I bought it to help a friend when he needed cash. If I could I would just give it back to him today, but that isn't possible for reasons I'll not go into here.

I'm not really interested in money for it. Are there historical societies that have interest in this sort of thing? For a little more information, the flag was meant to be hung in a small window, not on a flag pole. This is about the extent of my knowledge about its provenance.

In case it needs clarified, I have no nazi sympathies. I want to make sure the next caretaker of this doesn't either.

I swear I'm not an Afghan weapons smuggler

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:53:28 -0800

Selling an undocumented gun in Washington state. How do I do it safely, legally, and quickly? I am ignorant about this in every way. I don't know much about gun laws, which seem byzantine and intimidating to me. My dad gave me an old .22 rifle many years ago. It doesn't have any paperwork that I know of, certainly nothing in my possession or on file anywhere in Washington state.

I've never used the gun and want to get rid of it, but I'm worried that if I try to sell it I'll get in trouble for not having the required registration, licenses, etc. I know the gun's not stolen. There's a pawn shop nearby that buys guns... can I take it there?

Please let me know what's involved in the gun-selling process and how long I can expect it to take. Money is very tight for me right now and I'm hoping I can get a few bucks in my pocket ASAP. I also have a box of ammo that goes with the gun. Can I sell it at the same time? Any extra hoops to jump through?

Additionally, I don't have a case for the gun. Suggestions for transporting it to the buyer? I know better than to carry it out in the open.

Sorry, I'm completely clueless. I just want to get rid of this thing and not worry about it anymore. Posting anonymously in case it turns out that I'm unknowingly a horrible criminal or something.

Can you use a co-op to fight a monopoly

Toekneesan — Mon, 28 May 2012 14:28:07 -0800

If a bookstore were a co-op, would the exemption provided to co-ops in the Robinson-Patman act allow publishers to offer different sale terms for them than they would to say, Amazon or Barnes and Noble? The exemption seems to have been included to protect agricultural producers, but could it be used in other areas?

How best to sell a junker car?

UbuRoivas — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:37:06 -0800

What's the best way to (legally) get rid of a car that's currently running, but beyond economic repair? It's time for the mandatory annual roadworthiness certificate, and our 10yo (125,000 Km) basic Hyundai needs about $2000 in repairs, for a transmission that makes a god-awful clunking noise whenever we take a corner.

The residual value of the car after the repairs wouldn't be above $2000.

(My inclination would be to just spend the $2K & drive it for a few more years, but Ms Ubu feels that this is the beginning of the end. A year or two ago there were other unrelated repairs worth about $1500, and the fear is that at this point these kinds of repair bills will just keep coming in.)

Anyway, the question is: what's the best option for selling the car? I can think of:
- private sale
- trade in (although we're planning to try going carless for a while so this option isn't preferred)
- get some quotes & take it to a wrecking yard?
- other?

(is there some clever alternative I haven't thought of? Auction houses? Strip valuable spares out & sell them on eBay then junk the rest? Paint it pink & sell it on etsy as an object-d'art? Some kind of tricky tax write-off?)

We're in Sydney, Australia if that affects anything.

adventures in used car selling

wutangclan — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:31:26 -0800

Selling a car on craigslist -- are there any drawbacks to including the VIN in the ad?

Help me rock out this yard sale

stormygrey — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:18:11 -0800

Tell me all you know about throwing a successful yard sale! I am having a yard sale the first weekend of June and I am ready to get rid of some stuff and make a little scratch. I have been a part of successful yard sales as part of a larger group, but the one that I staged on my own was a disaster, I maybe made $25 bucks and only really suceeded in getting my stuff sorted and out into the yard, expediting donation later.I just got married and will be moving soon and I have a lot of stuff to unload, all kinds of vinyl, nice clothes, thirft store t-shirts, knick-knacks, silverware, the list goes on and on.

I live in a hipster/trendy downtown neighborhood (veering on the gritty rather than twee side) where there are a lot of young people on foot, bike, and scooter going by. My next door neighbor and an across the street neighbor may be interested in setting up on the same day. There is lots of street parking, but a rather small actual front yard to display on, so the sidewalk and retaining wall will have to be incorporated as well.

So what are your yard sale secrets? How do you price? Display? Advertise? Collaborate? Do you incorporate craigslist/social media etc? Any specific strategies that have worked amazingly for you?

Sell our House or Not? We are at an impasse, HELP!

damiano99 — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:17:09 -0800

Sell our House or Not? We are at an impasse, HELP! Extended explanation inside. We have a realtor and I know you are not our realtor but we need some objective, outside opinions.

My wife and I bought a charming 1600sf home in our town soon after marriage and we've been in it 7 years. It's a simple bungalow but has a large office space, the three bedrooms we need for our now 4 person family and a huge backyard with trees which is rare in this part of the city. We've updated the paint, trim, and maintained it quite well. It'll need a new roof in the next 2 years and last year we put a new a/c unit into it. We've paid down the house from 124 to 104 in the past 7 years.

I would like to move elsewhere as we are moving out of storage space and I'm afraid we're going to have to do more work on this house before long. Nothing has really shown up other than having to snake the pipes and we'd need insulation but I tend to be a worrier. Plus, having an actual laundry room and not having the washer/dryer in the garage would be fantastic. My wife likes our house and is attached to the area we live in. Unfortunately, to move up 400-800 sf in this area doubles the house prices. With the difference in interest rates, we'd only pay 200-400 more a month, which is stretchy/doable (until the kids are out of daycare in 2 years) but the sticky issue is this:

We found houses last year that we liked (we put our house on the market in the late fall and only managed to get 3 showings) but no one bought our home so we lost the one liked to another buyer. This year, we put it back out and within 3 days have a firm offer with no haggling. With realtor fees and what not we'd still walk away with 20-25K which we're very happy with. However, we haven't signed yet and we're going to lose the buyers if we don't soon. The reason is that my wife is frightened we won't find one she really likes in our price/area range before the close date AND she doesn't think we can manage an intermediate move to an apt both financially and easily considering our toddlers and home office. Also, she flat refuses to go along with the idea as she feels it's too chaotic. She wants to pull out and find one and then take offers/relist/etc.

This was a our first house, so we have no experience in this area. Our realtor says more homes will pop up in our area (Tulsa/Midtown) in the next month and the buyers would give us 8 weeks of closing time. We're not sure if that's true or hopeful thinking because she's obviously out for commission and we've looked at 50 houses and NONE work. Should we jump forward or pull back and sell first? If we wait till next year do we screw ourselves of the good interest rates and the soft market? If we waited the 2 years until our kids are out of daycare (freeing up 1500 a month) would we be in a better position or worse due to IR and market move? Our mortgage right now is roughly 920 a month if we went with a house that ran 225-250, we'd be dealing with 1390-1500. Again doable, just tight. We're just afraid the house we want isn't out there yet and we are still comfortable in this house, minus the storage issues. We're just lost and need any and all opinions.

How to clean a foam mattress topper?

cupcakemuffin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:56:34 -0800

How to clean a foam mattress topper? I'm going to be moving soon and selling my bed (wooden frame, mattress, box spring, and potentially a memory foam mattress topper). The problem is that over the years the foam topper has become sort of gross - no stains, but there's a lot of lint, hairs, etc. Functionally, it works just fine (and I think it makes the mattress much more comfy), but I'd be reluctant to try and sell it in this condition. Is there any way to clean an item like this?

Is this a Short Sale dream, or nightmare?

bricksNmortar — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 07:15:29 -0800

Is this a Short Sale dream, or nightmare? I put an offer on a house back in September, a short sale. It was approved by the owner in September and selling bank in December. 10 days before closing, the loan officer I had been working with discovered that his bank doesn't write mortgages for anyone that has had a loan modification in the past 4 years. I modified under making home affordable in 2009. My credit is stellar, over 800. I have no debt and am putting 20% down on this house.

So, I found a new mortgage broker, who lined me up with yet another bank. That bank requested that I make some improvements before they would lend. So I did. (yeah, I know crazy -- fixing a house owned by someone else. The broker told me that there was a risk, but I assumed the risk believing that the onus was on me to get the repairs done in time. Which I did.) One new roof and floors throughout the whole house later - the house is ready to go. Except that now, 4 days before closing, the second bank's loan officer 'discovered' that her bank doesn't lend for homes that are in a redemption period. It's confusing I know. There should be no issue of redemption period with an accepted short-sale offer, but apparently there is. It has something to do with the amount of time this has taken.

So, I got another extension to close from the selling bank, I now need to close by the 29th. A new apprasial was ordered last week, completed Thursday and will go to the bank on Monday. I need the new bank to turn everything around in time to close on Wednesday, about 48 hours. The broker says it'll work if there are no snafus. I believe I've already used up any available snafus, so I'm optimistic it'll go through in time. But, it's going to be close.

-- Now for the question --
If it looks like this latest bank cannot pull the loan through in time for a Wednesday close, I'm considering placing a lien on the property to protect my investment of time & materials, about 20k. I really want this house, and am wondering what the hive thinks placing a lien on the home will do for my chances to get it down the road, should the deal fall through this coming week.

I know a lien will make other buyers shy away from the property, and complicate things for the selling bank as well -- but I'm wondering how complicated it will make the purchase for me, in the future?

My attorney says no problem placing a lien on the property. I have a mtg tentative with him on Tuesday afternoon.

Somewhat related: I divorced in December and am still living with my ex and two kids. This house is 2.5 miles away & will be great for our 50/50 parenting time arrangement. The kids helped with the cleanup & fixup. Formerly owned by a lady with lots of cats -- stench mitigation was a high priority & has been successfully completed.

"I think that we may safely trust a good deal more than we do." --Thoreau

RolandOfEld — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:20:38 -0800

I want to buy a widget in Fayette, AL in the next few days. I am not there, don't know anyone there, and can't get there. Am I out of luck? So, weird situation right? Basically, I need a proxy buyer who is A) trustworthy, B) available, C) affordable, D) able to act/reason, at least somewhat, autonomously, and E) trusts that I'm not a Nigerian scammer [I'm not].

Finding that sort of person seems like a long-shot but askme has came through in the past, and never fails to educate/entertain, so I figured why not ask.

There is nothing illegal about said transaction. There will be receipts, bills of sale, and all that. They will be expected to pack and ship it, at my expense of course, as well. The widget is smaller than a breadbox and 100% innocuous.

Anyone have family/friends out there? /longshot

Company sale: are we there yet?

dayintoday — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:48:06 -0800

What is the timeline of the sale of a business? I'm pretty sure that my company is going through the process of being sold. Despite being in upper management, I am being told nothing about the process. However, from about March 2011 onward I have noticed many offsite business meetings, audit-type questions/documentation that suggest the due diligence process, and (in the past two months) huge offsite presentations.

What sort of timeline does the sale of a relatively small (20 or so people, maybe a couple million dollars/year) company have? Once announced to staff, how long does it take for changes (layoffs? culture changes?) to start going into effect?

I know that every company sale is different, and I have read the great advice on this question, but I'm curious if there's anything resembling "typical" for the timeline of a sale, or your specific experiences in regard to the process and timing.

Going out of business... again.

eschatfische — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:20:37 -0800

Why do furniture stores rely so heavily on the advertising gimmick of “going out of business” sales? OK, OK, so I'm stealing this question from Slate's 2011 Explainer Bafflers. But every year I vote for that one question that I've said "Yes! That's what I want to know about," only to find that everyone's voted for some question about cats.

The full question:

Why do furniture stores rely so heavily on the advertising gimmick of “going out of business” sales? It seems obvious that they aren’t actually going out of business, but are just trying to drive traffic to their store. I can understand why they might do this, but the real question is, why is this so prevalent among furniture stores and no other industries? It seems the same principles that apply for furniture could apply elsewhere, but I only see these with furniture stores. I’m guessing the answer has to do with some furniture industry pioneer and his lasting legacy.

Advice on selling collections from an estate

Luke Skywalker — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 10:29:35 -0800

I'm looking for general and specific advice about striking a balance between value and ease in selling a few disparate items from an estate. My father died recently. It was unexpected so little thought had been given to the disposition of his possessions. He had a will in place that transfers everything to my mom so I expect no issues there. We are a small and tight knit family with excellent communication and we will talk out issues of what individuals want to keep versus selling so I don't need advice there.

Dad had a few fair-sized collections in a few areas that we probably will not want or be able to keep most of. I'm thinking about how to sell these things with a few considerations in mind:

1. Value. My mom is retired and on a fixed income. Her position is secure but certainly not luxurious and I'd like her to enjoy the benefit of as much value from these possessions as possible.

2. Ease and speed. My siblings and I live in the same state as our mom but not so close that we can manage day trips unless we take the whole day off or on weekends. Transporting or storing these things away from Mom's house would be difficult. I'd also like whatever we do to impugn as little on Mom's life as we can manage. Finally, my mom is most likely going to want to sell the house within a year or so (that's a whole other topic these days but for the sake of argument assume this won't be a problem).

The specifics: probably the most substantial issue is a large collection of very high quality woodcarving hand tools, some dating back to the 40s/50s. Given how they have been kept and used the value in these is likely to be most as tools rather than as antiques/collectibles. They in many cases are of the highest quality, thoroughly used but well maintained. None of us know much about tools.

Another significant collection is of film photography equipment: a number of cameras, lenses and related tools/accessories/luggage. Again, nobody has a lot of knowledge about this.

Finally, a library of books. I'm guessing most of these are worth little, but it dates back again to the 40s/50s and there may be some rare philosophy books, first editions etc. in the mix.

In general the options seem to be to hold an estate sale, or an auction, or to try to bring in dealers to take on whole collections. Trying to piece stuff out and sell it individually doesn't feel like it is logistically possible. Are there options/approaches I'm missing?

We'll have professional financial advice but just looking ahead, any idea how the taxes in a situation like this work out? Does Mom pay taxes on the possessions up front or would we wait to pay taxes on the income from their sale? This is in MN in the USA.

Any input about how to publicize/seek dealers etc. for the specific types of items is appreciated. I'd like advice about whether we should try to single out any items of particularly high value for individual sale, and any advice about how to approach that if so. If you've been through a process like this, any advice about how it went, managing the logistics, unexpected issues is welcome. Thanks for your input.

Help me move into a new Mac!

sourwookie — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:07:48 -0800

Being neither satisfied with a laptop nor a desktop I have decided to ditch my iMac, get a refurb Macbook Pro with a Henge dock and I have some questions regarding the new Macbook, the migration, and what to do with the iMac: 1) I just purchased Lion for the iMac. Does the refurb Macbook Pro come with Lion, will my license transfer, or do I just need to buy it again?

2) I trust there's a way to migrate my files and settings to the new computer. What is it? Is there a process that will move my 3rd party software as well?

3) How do I prep the iMac (OS Lion) for sale (security and privacy)?

4) What is the best way to sell the iMac? I live in Springfield, MO so I don't have the largest local market, yet eBay makes me skittish. What would be a fair asking price (2008 model, mint packaging, 21", RAM maxed to 4G)? I hope to get 600-700. Is this reasonable?