Category: Home Selling
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Four great tips to negotiate home offer
Reader Question: Monty, the same buyer has made several offers on our home but none acceptable to us. This has been going on for two months! What can be done to get them to be more reasonable? Josh and Sarah G. Monty’s Answer: The success to negotiate a home purchase contract involves circumstances like motivation,…
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The best tips to prepare your home “for sale”
Reader Question: Monty, we are getting our house ready to put on the market. The advice from different agents has generated a variety of contrasting opinions about how to prepare the house for showings. We feel like two of the agents are asking for way more tasks than is necessary. Do you have a specific…
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Full service real estate vs. FSBO
Reader Question: Full service real estate vs. FSBO. We are a retired couple planning on selling our home this spring. We have no mortgage and believe the house is worth about $350k. How would you approach the sale, with an FSBO agency or a traditional Realtor? Monty’s Answer: There are many different service offerings, pricing…
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7 tips for discovering the best use for property
Reader Question: How does one go about finding or creating a buyer for a potential group home? The highest and best use for this building is a group home. The city permitting appears to be doable. I want a Realtor who can/will market the house to buyers who are interested in this specific use. There…
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Elderly seller avoids remodeling
Q: What are the pros and cons regarding selling as a fixer-upper in a very desirable building and neighborhood? A: Hello Mary, and thanks for your question. This question will generate a variety of answers from anyone you ask. Most opinions will boil down to this: Two homes are virtually identical. They are both the…
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Using the same agent when downsizing
Q:Should I use the same agent for selling and buying?A: In many circumstances using the same agent for both assignments are appropriate, yet there are situations where this may work against you. A bit of background will be helpful.
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To move or not to move… the house?
Reader Question: We own a one-acre lot on a street with mostly half-acre lots. We are considering splitting the lot into two half-acre lots. The only problem is the house is in the middle. It would cost about 75k to move the house to one side. Would it make sense to divide the lot? Elizabeth…
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Converting the garage to living space
Reader Question: Hello, my house has the garage in the lower level basement. We would like to transform that space in a family room with bathroom and a bedroom but some people tell us if we do, the house loses value if we sell in the future. Is it true, or not? Michael S. Monty’s…
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Occupancy at closing is risky for home seller
Reader Question: my property is for sale. It has been my primary residence for 40+ years. My Realtor wants to know ‘If an offer were made would I be willing to vacate the premises upon the day of closing?” What if I move all my belongings into storage and the buyer backs out of the sale at the last…
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A senior housing dilemma
Reader Question: Hello Monty, my wife and I are in the late sixties. We are in good health and have no home mortgage. We have no trouble keeping busy, but as we look to the future and the options, sorting it all out in a logical and efficient fashion seems complicated. There is so much information and fluff out…
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Presto! Change a one family home into a two family home
Reader Question: We have been remodeling a single-family country home and right now we are at a point where we have to decide on either a 1 bedroom apartment or extra family room/office. We are looking for the best resell options. We could have a 1 bedroom-1 bath apartment along with a huge 3 bedroom 1 1/2…
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A perfect storm – How to create poor real estate decisions
Reader Question: My mother wants to have a home built. She has been advised that she should not sign the purchase agreement before she sells her home to avoid a large tax. She is 85 years old. She was also told to keep all utilities on at old home until sold. Are these points valid? Thank you,…
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A home seller’s checklist
Reader Question: Monty, we are going to be selling our home soon. The word has gotten out in the neighborhood, and conflicting advice is pouring in about which agent to use and how to go about selling the house. How do we sort this out without upsetting the neighbors? Randy and Susan P. Monty’s Answer: Hello Randy and Susan,…