Answers by Adam Tafel

I agree that Michael is pointing you in the right direction. Find a local title company and see what they charge to find/pull this information.

Nope. I'm not familiar with contracts in Washington state, but at least here in Minnesota once the sale is complete, unless there is a home warranty, the seller shouldn't be responsible.

Are you working with an agent? If so they should be handling this for you... if not, I would send them the comp you used. Also, maybe the buyers are willing to cover it. We just had this happen where the buyers were willing to cover the gap because they still wanted the property.

Marguerite, call her broker. She most likely has a license through a brokerage company. The brokerage, not the agent, technically holds your listing through the contract you signed in MN. They should be able to help you find another agent through their company to handle your transaction if you're truly no longer comfortable working with her. (Brokerage would be something like Coldwell Banker, ReMax etc it should be easy to find on your copies of the listing documents)

Lots of things you can do. Like everyone has said look up other homes in the area that have sold recently and base your price on that. Plus you can always offer what ever you want to a seller, they just don't have to take it. Things like not being contingent on a sale of your home, a quick inspection period and conventional financing or cash offer always make a deal stronger.

If the cash offer gets you out of the property with a profit, even small, take that.

They should have a brokerage affiliation. Call that broker and ask if they are truly a licensed agent with that brokerage. Or Depending on your state you should be able to look up their license with the state.

The right agent will help you determine the price, take professional photos and market to the most people looking to buy in your area. Interview at least three agents in your area. Pay attention to who's "For Sale" signs you see on properties in your neighborhood. Ask friends and family who they have used that they loved working with.

Ask your realtor what they would list the property at without the repairs. If you're happy with that number you might not have to do any fixes. However, you property will move faster in any market if it is move in ready and there isn't any cosemetic work for the next owner to do. Maybe ask for a second bid? Ask your firneds if they know any other handymen and see if someone else will do the work for a little less?

Unfortunately, there usually isn’t much you can do if the HOA followed the authority granted to it in the original HOA documents. Special assessments for major repairs like a clubhouse roof are pretty common, even if you personally never use the clubhouse. I’d start by reviewing the declaration, bylaws, and any amendments you received when you bought. Those documents should spell out the HOA’s ability to levy special assessments, whether there are limits, and whether an owner vote was required. If they didn’t follow those rules, you may have grounds to challenge it. Otherwise, you’re probably responsible for your share. For a $4,000 assessment, it may also be worth having an HOA/real estate attorney review the documents if anything looks questionable.

Open houses are worth doing if you actually work them. Door knock the neighborhood the day before with fliers for the open house. Use the opportunity to reverse prospect to agents who have the house in searches for clients and tell them to send their buyers to the open house. If the open house isn't busy use the opportunity to create some content at the property. Make a reel of your favorite features. Get creative.

You've got to tell your lender immediately. Sorry you're going through this but you can't withhold this information.

Your agent should know how to handle it. It does somewhat depend on what state you live in as well. They can totally successfully purchase your property without representation if that is how they want to. Your agent should not pressure them into any form of representation f they do not want that. If you have additional questions on it I would call your agent's broker to find out what the local laws are.

You need to call your agents broker directly and make sure you actually cancelled your contract. That is the incorrect statues for the listing to be if your contract was cancelled correctly. With KW you should be able to google the office name and go from there to get in contact with the broker, or askl to speak with the Team Leader when you call (that's KW term for the basically the office manager).

Very normal ask. Make sure to get the invoice from teh contractor for work completed. If you're working with a realtor they should be able to provie you with names of a few local people who could come in and get that done quick.

You’re probably in a better spot than you think. Credit scores in the 600–650 range definitely aren’t going to get you the absolute best rate, but they also don’t automatically keep you from buying. The fact that the collections were small and are now paid is a positive. At this point I’d be more interested in what your monthly debts look like compared to your income and what price range you’re trying to buy in. With $27k saved and a six-figure household income, I’d talk to a good loan officer before assuming the old credit stuff is going to be a dealbreaker. FHA could potentially be an option, and depending on the rest of the file, conventional might be too. I’d also be careful about paying anything else off or opening/closing accounts until a lender actually looks at the full picture. Sometimes people try to “fix” their credit before applying and accidentally make things worse.

Buyers are often curious, but as long as you have a good reason and your agent communicates this there should be no issue.

Talk to you agent about this! If you want a third party opinion, find another agent/broker in your specific market to talk to. Very hard to give advice in a nationwide forum like this which will be relevant. I would not abandon ship on plan A because of one negative feedback submission, if you notice a trend you might consider pulling the listing and fixing the chipped paint/etc. Good luck!

If a neighborhood has no sidewalks in the Twin Cities it’s usually a pretty nice area. People walk on the shoulder, if it’s a nice area the drivers are respectful. I live in a home in St Paul without a sidewalk and the values are doing just fine!

Talk to your agent about this! They can pull the last 3-6 months of sales comps and tell you the data behind your question, seller contributions are public information posted after the sale. If you plan on doing an inspection you can always ask the sellers to contribute to your closing costs after finding some deficiencies in the home - and if you are unable to negotiate a net in your favor post inspection (sellers are firm, back up offers, etc) you can ask them to let you roll the closing costs into your mortgage by increasing purchase price by the same amount you are asking for.

Values will spike when the rates go down, pick your poison. I have personally purchased more properties in this high rate environment than I ever did when rates were low, because I can actually negotiate fantastic deals for myself! Plenty of people who won bidding wars in 2021 are currently underwater - I would rather buy when rates are high and refi if/when they drop - but that’s a big IF, nothing to count on.