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Author: Monty

  • Neighborhood Due Diligence Checklist

    Reader Question: We found a home we are very interested in buying. We hear a lot of different opinions about how to check out the neighborhood. Do you have a neighborhood due diligence checklist? Monty’s Answer: Consider a conversation over a checklist. The reason you hear so many opinions is that people’s circumstances and life…

  • Inheritance creates multiple choice decision

    Reader Question: ​My wife is selling a home she inherited. It has been shown multiple time with no results. The house needs updating, and it has a bowed basement wall. It was listed for $69,900 which was below the market value. We’ve had several offers, but they are flippers who have offered $20 – $25…

  • Buyer lost a dream home and seller loses equity

      Reader Comment: ​We lost a dream home when we didn’t understand the significance of what you recently wrote that there are “…no standardized rules in the industry” and that “the nature of the real estate transaction and how the sales develop is very fluid.” We had first made a written offer on the house…

  • Home seller left items behind at move-out

    Reader Question: We recently moved into our first home. The contract called for the seller being out on a specific date with all of their possessions. We also contractually agreed to allow them to harvest some outdoor plants after they come up this spring. The seller left items behind at move-out and has not picked…

  • Variable Rate Commission Must Be Disclosed in MLS

    Reader Question: We want to share our variable rate commission experience. Our agent and the listing agent both wrote offers on the property. We are friends with one of the sellers’ children, and he told us the listing agent had agreed to cut his fee if he found the buyer. We informed our agent, and…

  • Do listing tactics bring the best price?

      Reader Question: We will be listing our home for sale soon. We received three estimates from agents on our home’s value, and they are all different. Also, each of the agents has different tactics about how the listed price is presented to get the best price. For example, one agent suggested we use “market…

  • Home seller finds buyer; who gets or keeps the commmission?

      Reader Question: I’m the homeowner. I listed my home with a real estate agent; however, I found an interested buyer on my own. If that buyer purchase​s​ my house with no help from the listing agent,​ “Who gets​ or keep​s​ the commission?​ ” ​Monty’s Answer: Your question is one that someone else in America…

  • Seller asks buyer to occupy early – a switcheroo

      Reader Question: ​I have signed a contract with a seller. I had ten days due diligence to have the home inspected. I did that, and the house looked like a good deal. 21 days later the closing attorney calls and says the home is in probate, and it will take a minimum 6-8 weeks…

  • Tips for testing real estate agents

    Reader Question: I envision the real estate service is delivered differently than a physical product. I can touch a product, examine it, use it according to instructions to “test” if it works. Outside of the legal documents, much of the real estate service is oral. I cannot “test” it in a traditional sense. Can you…

  • Sample Agent Deliverables

    Sample agent deliverables. Useful real estate agents are honest, knowledgeable, and efficient. Every enterprise in every field of endeavor seeks these qualities in individuals with whom they choose to associate. There are many reasons the real estate industry has set the bar low, which is why the real estate service consumer has to be alert…

  • The Impact of the New Tax Bill on Homeownership

    Reader Question: We now have the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. We are considering changing homes. This move would not job related, or created by any lifestyle changes; we just want a change. What has changed regarding homeownership as a result of the new tax bill that may affect us making this move? Monty’s Answer:…

  • Five tips for dealing with an unrealistic seller

    Question: We are dealing with an unrealistic seller. We made a good offer on a home. The seller countered with forty-thousand dollars higher than our offer. According to our agent, the house is not on the market, so they are saving about three percent with a lower commission. The house needs significant upgrades. The bathrooms and…

  • Need to buy a vacant lot to build a house?

    Reader Question: We want to buy a vacant lot. After looking for resale homes for more than a year, we have decided to build a house. We have tried to buy a pre-owned home, but the lack of choices, bidding wars, and unsatisfactory home inspections have helped us realize that paying a premium for the…

  • Nine tips for real estate investing

    Reader Question: We have spent the past two years reading for real estate investing. We have a plan laid out that we believe is achievable, and we are ready to buy our first two-to-four family fixer-upper. Once we identify what we think to be the right property, what are your best buying tips to ensure…

  • Eight Helpful Actions Homebuyers Overlook

    Reader Question: We sold our home last year to downsize and rented an apartment for a year to try the lifestyle and give us time to consider what we would do next. We are now going to buy a home, but being out of the home buying market for thirty years, what are the big…