r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • Feb 21 '22

r/FirstTimeHomeSeller Lounge

6 Upvotes

A place for members of r/FirstTimeHomeSeller to chat with each other


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 8h ago

Agents Tone

10 Upvotes

My agent sends weekly messages and loves to talk on the phone. His messages are "no update" however when I followup with him about him marketing on his social media he gets defensive and says he is marketing the house aggressively. Today I followed up to see how his presentation went with a local realtor group last Thursday and he said he did it and got upset but why wasn't that on the weekly update? I asked him to enhance the description of the home to add basic specs and nearby landmarks like close to HWY, the college name that is down the street, the shopping center that is down another street and he said yes and never did it.

No open house scheduled either.

He jokes around on Instagram about drinking and playing pickleball.

The area where I am selling my home has agents that are pretty ego centered any push back or accountability is met with defensiveness and ultimately a COL within 24 hrs.

My last agent sent me a COL within 24 hrs after I asked to get an open house on the calendar after posting the house on MLS for 69 days with no open house or any of the marketing that was written into the listing agreement.


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 4h ago

Sell SF Bay Area condo or become an absentee landlord?

0 Upvotes

I have lived in a condo in Fremont, CA for the past 22 years, but it is quickly becoming time to move out of the state as the wife and I are just not happy with the current conditions. I owe $250k and the value should be close to $650k based on recent comps in other nearby complexes. However, the HOA has been slow to come up with a plan for SB326 balcony repairs. They have a multi-year plan now and the work has been going on since last year, but they are doing it in stages and won't be complete in all of the buildings until 2031. As such, the last 2 units that sold this year sold for close to $100k under value. For one buyer, they had to switch lenders at the last moment and come up with a higher down payment and were able to get a loan, but at a higher interest rate. The other was a cash sale, a couple of buyers were interested, but when they found out about the SB326 repairs not being completed, even though none are emergency repairs, one backed out, the other offered less than asking price and the seller agreed just do be done with it, but was very unhappy about it.

The wife and I are planning to move to Oregon, I would never by a home with a HOA again (lesson learned), and would prefer to just sell and be done with this place. I would prefer to not be an absentee landlord, but would also like to get full value for the home if and when I do sell and not have to sell at a reduced price due to poor planning by the HOA.

With as valuable as real estate is in the Bay Area, at least until things come crashing down again, I am considering keeping it for a few years, doing a cash out refinance to use as a down payment on our next home, if this is even possible with the SB326 mess, don't know if I could even refinance and renting it, probably using a management company since I would be out of state.

I realize this is a risk and there is no guarantee that things wouldn't fail miserably or it could remain a good family investment. Trying to figure out if this is something I should even consider, or if I should just get out with a decent amount of equity while I have the opportunity. Thanks!


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 7h ago

Selling a hoarder house to an "ugly houses" type buyer: Good idea or bad idea?

1 Upvotes

I hope you folks can offer me some advice and wisdom.

Sometime in the next five years or so, my sister and I will probably inherit my father's house. He is a dedicated and enthusiastic hoarder. The house is so full of crap, both inside and out, that it's very difficult to make it through the door, let alone to walk down a hallway or enter a room. (And this is a four bedroom house with one person living in it.) On top of that, home repairs have been neglected for a few decades with predictable results. We think the foundation is damaged, the wiring is definitely a problem, and there are lots of other trouble spots as well. We do NOT want to attempt to clean up the mess and make the repairs. We don't have the time, the stamina, or the psych meds necessary. (Well, we could get the psych meds, I guess, but we'd rather not have to.)

Our plan is to sell it to one of those "We buy ugly houses" outfits as-is and let them deal with the problem. We realize that cleaning it up and putting it on the market ourselves might net us more money, but we're definitely not going to starve for want of this additional income. That said, I will note that, in good condition, my Realtor dot com app thinks the house is worth 250k. Google thinks we'd pay about 25k just for the clean-out and we would not be at all surprised if the repairs cost us an additional 75k. If the "ugly" buyer's math matches ours, then, according to Google, the offer will be around 90 or 100k.

And like I said, we are fine with that amount. But...

I saw a news story the other day about a Dallas-area "We Buy Ugly Houses" franchise owner named Charles Carrier. He defrauded a number of his investors, for which he was sentenced to 15 year prison sentence and ordered to pay 24 million in restitution. The journalist emphasized that Carrier ripped off his investors, not the home owners from whom he bought the properties. However, after reading that news story, it did occur to me to ask...

If we choose to do business with a company like this, are there any scams, pitfalls, or other potential problems we should look out for? Neither my sister or myself have ever dealt with a business like this before. Maybe there's something we should know before we go down this path?


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 9h ago

Best path forward?

1 Upvotes

Bought a home earlier this year, unfortunately the location isn't working for us. I'm strongly considering listing next spring and absorbing the loss. The house is turn key, I've been keeping it maintained, making small repairs and doing inexpensive curb appeal updates.

My issue is trying to figure out what the next move is. I'm considering renting for a couple years as a reset. The alternative is to port the mortgage towards another purchase though I'll have less buying power. Anyone here been through this?


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 1d ago

Selling Early

11 Upvotes

So my I am in a tough spot right now - my wife and I bought our first house in early 2025 in Kitsap County, WA, and it was wonderful for about a year. However, we now have neighbors from hell and are looking into moving but are feeling stuck because our equity isn't where we want it to be, we are pretty overextended on credit card debt on home projects that needed to be done, and the market looks pretty bleak.

What advice do y'all have for positioning ourselves for making this work, sooner than later? We would love to move within the next 6 months, but it'll obviously take as long as it's going to take.


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 1d ago

I listed my 4Bed/2Bath house in Massillon, OH on Houzeo.com

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1 Upvotes

Open House Sunday Oct 25th 1-4


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 2d ago

Feasibility of breaking even on my home

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1 Upvotes

r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 2d ago

First time buyer in San Jose around $1.1M. Which buyer’s agent would you pick?

0 Upvotes

Hi all, first time buyer here. Right now I'm looking for a house around $1.1M - $1.2M in Blossom Valley / East San Jose, putting 20% down, and getting pre-approved. I’ve narrowed it down to 3 agents and would love a quick feedbacks from people who bought recently.

Agent A

  • Around 5 years licensed, same brokerage the whole time (big franchise)
  • Santa Clara County association Top 1% (2025), Top 3% in 2022
  • 9-11 deals/year, average $1.1M, mostly in East SJ / Evergreen / Blossom Valley
  • A lot of her deals are listings and < 10 online reviews
  • Speaks my language so easier to communicate

Agent B

  • Around 5 years licensed, but has switched brokerages 3-4 times in the last 2 years
  • Santa Clara County association Top 3% (2025)
  • 5-8 deals/year, average $1.5M, mostly West SJ / Santa Clara
  • Mostly buyer side, 50+ reviews, all 5 stars, lots of first time buyers

Agent C

  • Around 3 years licensed, small local boutique brokerage
  • 3-4 deals/year, average $1.2M, East SJ / Evergreen
  • Finance background, very responsive so far
  • No reviews yet

My questions:

  1. Which one would you go with for a first timer in a competitive market if you get to pick?
  2. Does an agent being mostly listing side vs buyer side actually matter when you’re buying?
  3. Should frequent brokerage switching worry me?
  4. Did your agent agree to non exclusive, a cap on what you pay if the seller won’t cover their commission or a rebate? What’s realistic in the Bay Area right now?
  5. Anything you wish you’d asked your agent before signing the buyer agreement?

Anything extra helpful tips would be appreciate.


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 2d ago

Real estate investors: Would you sell or hold a home in Liberty Hill, TX?

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0 Upvotes

r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 2d ago

I listed my 4Bed/2Bath house in Massillon, OH on Houzeo.com

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houzeo.com
1 Upvotes

r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 2d ago

Your agent’s commission is based on the full sales price. Your share is what’s left.

0 Upvotes

Your agent’s commission is based on the full sales price. Your share is what’s left.

Have you ever thought about that when figuring out what it will really cost to sell your house?

Say you sell for $500,000 and owe $450,000 on your mortgage. You have $50,000 in equity before selling expenses.

A 6% commission is calculated on the full $500,000, including the $450,000 you still owe the bank. That’s a $30,000 commission coming out of your $50,000.

You’re left with $20,000 before other closing costs, repairs, or concessions. The commission is 6% of the sale price, but it eats up 60% of your equity.

If you bought recently, that could be a big chunk of the down payment you spent years saving.

And before the agents here jump in about 6%, yes, commissions are negotiable. At 4%, you’d pay $20,000, or 40% of your equity. Use whatever rate you’re being quoted. The commission is still calculated on the entire sale price, regardless of how much you owe.

I’m not saying an agent can’t be worth the money. But sellers should understand what that fee means for the money they’ll actually walk away with.

Selling by owner takes work and has costs too. Photography, an attorney, marketing, and any buyer-agent compensation you agree to pay should all go into the comparison. Then you can decide what makes sense for you.

Sellers, have you ever thought about commission this way? Have you calculated how much of your equity would go toward it, rather than just looking at the percentage of the sale price? I’m curious whether seeing that number would make you reconsider your options.


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 3d ago

Should I consider a credit to Seller to help with loan/buying expenses?

5 Upvotes

I am selling my home in northeast Greater Dallas area (suburb). I have an offer but buyer, among other things, wants a several thousand dollar "credit" to help cover closing costs associated with loan and etc. My realtor says this is becoming more common and that, according to county data, roughly 60% of sellers are giving credits right now. Is this something I should even entertain?

Additionally, why not just offer less for the house to begin with?


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 3d ago

Trying to sell a flat in Birmingham

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1 Upvotes

r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 3d ago

Sell or rent?

2 Upvotes

I am in the process of buying our forever home about 10 minutes from our current house. I’m fortunate enough to not need the home sale to buy the new one, but I want to sell to replenish the coffers and bank some extra money. I have about $250k in equity, assuming I get around what I think the house will sell for. I’m in the Northeast in a HCOL state.

Our current house has been on the market for 4 weeks and isn’t generating a ton of interest. It’s priced fairly and competitively to the market, but it appears nothing is really selling in my area other than sub- 300k investment or tear downs. Im in the $500k range which seems to have frozen out the first time buyers with current rates.

However, what I didn’t really consider was renting the house. I have a 3% mortgage with a PITI of $2000. Based on some preliminary research, housing rentals of detached SFHs in my town/school district are very uncommon and transact quickly. My town has a 88% homeowner rate and a highly-rated school district. I believe I could rent my house for $3000-$3300/month. After expenses, potential vacancy, and repairs I think I’d net $600/month. My hesitation to renting is that I work 60+ hours per week with a SAHW of 2 young kids. I don’t necessarily have the free time to manage the rental house.

Would you sell your house for (potentially) $250k now, or become a first time landlord for $600/month?


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 4d ago

How do you sell and then move?

21 Upvotes

I know that question sounds stupid. We have been trying to buy a new home for a year now before selling. We put in 9 offers and have come up empty handed. So then we decided we would just sell so we would be able to have cash in-hand, so we listed and are looking at rentals. Our house has gotten a lot of traction online, but 2 weeks and no showings. We canceled the apartment we got approved for and the moving truck as it is a cross country move. I just feel stuck and like we are never going to get out of here.


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 3d ago

Pre-sale home inspection

1 Upvotes

Did you complete a pre-sale home inspection before listing? Why or why not?


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 3d ago

House for sale

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0 Upvotes

Zestimate®: $769,900
# 5 beds 2 3 baths
= 2,500 sqtt
16279 SW 90th Ter, Miami, FL 33196
Est. refi payment: $4,095/mo

Send mail if you’re interested

diazjj1974@gmail.com


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 3d ago

Trying to terminate exclusive buyer contract

0 Upvotes

hi reddit, this is actually my first time posting & it'll be a long post so bare with me.

my husband & I have been looking for a home to move to for roughly 2 years now. We have been very specific about what we want & our price point, so homes in our range come far & few between. in December 2024, I saw a home on realtor.com that I wanted to see, so I clicked the interested button & an agent reached out to me. I told her I'm not house hunting, just wanting to look at very specific homes when they pop up. Anyways, she did us a solid & took us to look at the home without signing any contract, but we ended up not liking it. After that, she kinda just became our agent. She'd send us homes with our criteria & in these 2 years, she's showed us 5 homes.

this past August, we found a home that we put an offer in but ended up backing out due to some things that came up with the house. during that process, we signed a 1 year exclusive buyer agreement with her. I take full responsibility for being excited & not reading that it was a year. I know, it was royally stupid on our end so please don't tear me a new one 😅 either way, after we dropped out of that deal, we decided to just take a leap of faith & list our current home. We decided if it sells before we find something else, we'd just move in with my parents for a bit. We are using the same agent to list our home.

So here's the problem.. my uncle's neighbor is selling her mother's home (FSBO)...and it's PERFECT for us. absolutely everything we want but we have to stretch our budget by quite a bit to get into it. The house is definitely worth 230/240k but she's giving it to us for 200k because she really wants a young family in it that'll take care of & love the home & she's known my uncle for 30+ years so she's happy that it's not going to a stranger. anyways, I told my agent about the house (I didn't give her the address or anything) but she said she highly recommends us not go into this unrepresented & she brought up our contract. I kindof just played it off like she might have a chance to represent us because our current home is still listed with her and I didn't wanna make it awkward. I told her I'll have to get more info on the house and talk to my husband. But the seller (uncle's neighbor) has a family friend real estate agent that'll be writing up a purchase agreement for the transaction. As far as I know, he's not representing them but it seems like he's just doing them a solid. Not sure of any commission agreement that they have, since it's between them and not me. When I talked to my agent, she mentioned that I can ask the seller to pay the 3% commission or I could pay it. I know for a fact that my uncle's neighbor isn't going to pay commission because they're trying to avoid as many costs as they can. That's $6,000. for a home that she had nothing to do with finding....

My husband & I talked about it, and since she did nothing to find this home for us, we want to go into it unrepresented. And I feel horrible about it because I know she's done work to find us a house & it's not really her fault that it's taken this long because we have been picky. But for us to already be stretching our budget by 20/30k and then pay out another 6k, it's a lot for us as we're a 1 income family of 4. We just can't let this deal slip away & we love the house. Am I the asshole for asking her to terminate our exclusive buyer agreement so that we can go into unrepresented? She's already getting the sale of our current home. We accepted an offer & are in contract with somebody & hopefully this sale goes smoothly. Am I able to compensate her in any way other than paying her 6k? Can I ask to compensate her for the work she's done to help find us a home & then move forward without her?


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 3d ago

Stop walking away from your homes with nothing

0 Upvotes

Has anyone in Metro Detroit walked away from a house and later regretted it?

When you’re behind on payments, I can understand wanting the calls and letters to stop. But how do you figure out whether walking away means leaving money behind?

I’m a local Realtor, and this is something I want more homeowners to feel comfortable discussing. If you’ve been through it, what do you wish someone had explained sooner?


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 3d ago

Tentata truffa immobiliare: se l'acquirente scopre l'inganno prima del rogito, il proprietario può essere condannato?

0 Upvotes

Vorrei conoscere il parere di avvocati penalisti e di professionisti che si occupano di diritto immobiliare su una questione specifica.

La recente sentenza della Cassazione n. 32131 del 27 agosto 2026 affronta una vicenda di truffa aggravata nell'ambito di una compravendita immobiliare, nella quale ha assunto rilievo la rappresentazione non veritiera della situazione urbanistico-edilizia dell'immobile da parte della venditrice.

Mi chiedo se condotte analoghe possano integrare anche il reato di tentata truffa immobiliare, ai sensi del combinato disposto degli artt. 56 e 640 c.p., quando l'inganno viene scoperto prima del rogito e la compravendita non si conclude.

Immaginiamo questo scenario.

Il proprietario è consapevole di una grave irregolarità urbanistica, potenzialmente incidente sulla commerciabilità dell'immobile. Nonostante ciò, decide di venderlo, omettendo deliberatamente informazioni decisive, minimizzando il problema oppure fornendo spiegazioni fuorvianti. L'obiettivo è indurre l'acquirente a formulare una proposta, assumere obbligazioni contrattuali e, infine, pagare il prezzo.

L'acquirente, tuttavia, incarica un tecnico, esamina la documentazione e scopre la reale situazione prima del rogito. Decide quindi di non procedere all'acquisto. Il proprietario non incassa il prezzo e la compravendita non viene perfezionata.

In queste circostanze, la condotta del proprietario può integrare una tentata truffa, oppure il mancato perfezionamento della compravendita impedisce di ravvisare gli estremi del reato?

In particolare, mi interesserebbe approfondire quattro aspetti:

Atti idonei e diretti in modo non equivoco: in quale momento della trattativa immobiliare la condotta può superare la soglia degli atti preparatori e integrare il tentativo ai sensi dell'art. 56 c.p.?

Silenzio e omissioni: quando l'omessa comunicazione di irregolarità rilevanti può assumere valore di raggiro penalmente rilevante, anziché configurare soltanto una responsabilità civilistica?

Dolo e prova: quali elementi possono dimostrare che il proprietario conosceva il problema e agiva con l'intenzione di ottenere un ingiusto profitto attraverso l'inganno?

Giurisprudenza: esistono pronunce della Cassazione specificamente riferite alla tentata truffa immobiliare, soprattutto nei casi in cui l'acquirente scopra l'inganno prima del rogito? E quali principi della sentenza n. 32131/2026 potrebbero essere pertinenti?

Non intendo sostenere che qualsiasi irregolarità edilizia, omissione informativa o trattativa interrotta costituisca un reato. La questione riguarda esclusivamente le condotte dolosamente fraudolente, valutate alla luce dei requisiti previsti dalla legge.

Mi interesserebbe soprattutto un parere giuridico motivato, possibilmente corredato da riferimenti giurisprudenziali, che distingua la mera configurabilità astratta del tentativo dai presupposti necessari per una concreta condanna.

Grazie a chi vorrà contribuire alla discussione.


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 5d ago

Plumber for buyers snaked a drain and broke a pipe

50 Upvotes

Okay so I’m not sure if this is the right sub as it’s my first post ever and I’m new to Reddit. And it’s long, so sorry in advance.

We are currently under contract to sell our house. Closing November 6. Buyers requested to have a plumber out to scope the sewer with a camera (we have a bathtub that has always been slow to drain). No problem.

The plumber arrived yesterday and said he was there to “snake and camera the drains.” I didn’t think anything of it and I show him around and he says he’s going to start with the top floor tub drain. I thought that meant he was going to scope. At any rate, he actually snaked the drain and broke what he called a “catch canister.” He didn’t realize this, thought he “unclogged the drain” and proceeded to fill the tub halfway full and then drain it through. The water went down into the ceiling and the walls from the second story to the basement. I ran up to tell him there was water leaking (it was pouring out of the main floor bathroom light fixture at one point). He freaks out, calls his boss, then comes in and tells me he must’ve broken a pipe and he’ll have to figure out what happened, and his boss is sending out a restoration company. I packed up my kids and left due to the chaos and called my realtor right away.

While I was gone, this plumber (turns out not an actual licensed plumber by the way) cut several holes in the main floor bathroom ceiling to “find out what happened” and then sent me a series of pictures with no explanation. I then get a call from the restoration company saying that they’re leaving because the plumber told them that it wasn’t their fault and they aren’t paying for cleanup.

Long story long, the buyer’s agent hired this plumber. The plumber told him he wasn’t licensed in my state (I live on the border of another state) and the buyer’s agent said it was fine, don’t worry about it. So this company isn’t even licensed in my state. The person who actually did the work isn’t a licensed plumber, either. We have filed a claim with our insurance but at this point we’re going to need to rip out and replace two ceilings and several walls of drywall completely, in addition to fixing whatever the guy broke. To be fair, this is an old house and they are cast iron pipes. Our insurance company was flabbergasted by the whole thing. We’re just stunned. The due diligence period for our contract ends tomorrow but as of today, we’re not even sure what the buyer’s agent has told his clients about what has happened. What do we even do??


r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 4d ago

Need a cash home buyer in Indiana...

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1 Upvotes

r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 4d ago

Is Your Agent Meeting Your Expectations?

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0 Upvotes

r/FirstTimeHomeSeller • • 5d ago

HELP! Got my first offer

22 Upvotes

Hey guys, been on the market for 2 weeks now. I had had a decent amount of traction online with 2000 views and 170 saves.

The open house and showings have been slow tho. So far I have had 3 people attend the open house (day 7) and 3 private showings up until Tuesday. For some reason yesterday I had 5 last minute same day showing requests.

Most feedback is that the bedrooms are to small for the price point.

I had an offer come in today for 7% below asking with a 20% down and no inspection, the only thing is this is the high end of what she can finance. Do you think I should just take it due to the current market or wait for a better deal.

Edit, accepted a counter at 350k. Thanks guys