vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
In the United States most residential real estate transactions employ a title company to process all the paperwork and transfer all the funds. Some paperwork has to be filed with the local government, but they also have to deal with the banks/mortgage companies on the two ends of the transaction. At closing both parties will sign a ton of paperwork all of which was coordinated by the title company. As for the funds: The buyer will write a check; the lender will send over the loan commitment papers for the rest of the money.  How much money: that depends on the purchase price, the deposit, the down payment, the taxes and fees, an other closing costs they are responsible for (initial escrow, inspection, title insurance...).  The seller hopefully doesn't have to write a check, but if they underwater they will have to bring funds to closing. From the incoming funds the title company will send money to the old lender, the real estate agents, the local government to record the deed.  The sellers escrow money with the old lender may end up being sent back to the seller or some of the funds could be transferred to the buyer to help cover the portion of the real estate taxes. From the perspective of the buyer they will only write two checks (one at the start of the process for the deposit, and one on closing day for their portion of the transaction. The seller will hopefully walk away with a check. Of course determining if they will owe taxes for the transaction depends on a lot more information.
Because you'll have to pay to the state where you organized (CQM mentioned Wyoming - $50/year), keep registered agent in the state of organization (+$99) and also do all the things I've described above about Florida - as a ""Foreign"" (out of state) entity, which may mean higher fees. It won't save you any taxes as well, because you pay taxes to the state from which you derive income, which is Florida, either way. Remember that what you call LLC in Italy may be in fact a ""Corporation"" as defined in the US, and there's a huge difference. You should probably not put a real-estate property in a Corporation in the US. You must get a legal advice from a (Florida) lawyer ($0-$500/hr consultation), and a tax advice from a (Florida) CPA/EA ($0-$200/hr consultation). Do not consider anything I write here as a legal or tax advice, because it is not. You need a professional to help you because as an Italian, you don't know how things work exactly and relying on rumours and half-truths that you may find and get over the Internet may end up costing you significantly in damages. Also, talk to a reliable real estate agent and property manager before making any purchases."
What these home sellers don't realize is that they don't have to carry the burden of finding a buyer all on their own. They can simply enlist the services of a real estate company, or better yet, a real estate broker with access to the Calgary MLS system.
"I feel like you didn't actually read your agent's agreement, which should say where the money actually comes from. You sign it so that your agent can get paid by the listing agency from the net brokerage fees which the buyer pays. In the United States, ""real estate agents are prohibited from being paid a commission directly by the consumer."" (citation: https://www.thebalance.com/how-do-buyer-s-agents-get-paid-1798872 ) The agreement will say exactly where your buyer's-agent's money is going to come from. Typically the listing agency receives the broker fees from the seller, and then pays both the seller's agent and the buyer's agent from that. It means both agents have to split the fee. [If] for some reason the seller won't pay the buyer broker, can I just not purchase the house? Pretty much, yes, though it won't be you saying ""deal's off"". Unless they have some really unusual contracts with their OWN broker, if the seller refuses to pay fees, their own side of the transaction is going to fall apart and the sale won't happen at all, leaving you off the hook for your own broker's fee."
In this case, trust the real estate agent; negotiating experience is one of the things you selected them for. Especially if they're suggesting a lower number than you expected, since they get paid on commission and so may be biased the other way.  Part of their job is to look for hints about how motivated this seller is and what price they might accept, as opposed to what price they hope to get.  And remember that the default assumption is that the two parties will meet in the middle somewhere, which means it's customary to offer 10% less to signal that you could probably be talked into it if they drop the price about 5%. This is like bridge-hand bidding: it's a semi-formalized system of hints about levels of interest, except with fewer conventions and less rationality. As far as the seller paying the closing costs: that's really part of the same negotiation, and doing it that way makes the discussion more complicated for the seller since they need to figure out how much more to charge you to cover this cost. If they offer, great, factor that into what you are willing to pay... but I wouldn't assume it or ask for it. Edit: Yes, unless you have engaged a Buyer's Agent (which I recommend for first-time buyers and maybe all huyers), their fiduciary duty is to the seller. But part of that duty is to make the sale happen. If the price goes too high and you walk away, neither the agent nor the seller make money. A bad agent can be as bad as a bad car salesman, sure. But if you don't like and mostly trust your agent, you are working with the wrong agent. That doesn't mean you give them every bit of information the seller might want, but it does mean you probably want to listen to their input and understand their rationalle before deciding what your own strategy will be.
"Pre-edit, Pete mentioned that he feels real estate agents would (a) like you to buy as much house as you afford, and (b) would love to show you three houses and have you choose one. As a real estate agent myself, I believe his warnings were understated. As with any industry, there are good and bad people. Agents are paid to move houses. If the median US home is under $200K, and commissions average say 5%, the $10,000 to be gained is split between the buyer brokerage and selling agent. The $5000 to each is then shared with 'the house.' So, this sale would net me $2500, gross. Move one a week, and the income is great, one per month, not so much. Tire kickers will waste an agent's time for a potential decision to wait another year and continue renting. Their obligation is to tell you the truth, but not to offer financial advice. Remember the mortgage crisis? It seems the banks and brokers aren't watching out for you either. They will tell you what they'll lend you, but not what you can afford. These numbers are worlds apart. I strongly recommend a 20% downpayment. The FHA PMI calculator shows that a 90% LTV (i.e. a 10% downpayment) for a $100K house will cost you $1200/yr in PMI. Think about this. For the $10,000 that you didn't put down, you are paying an extra $1200 each year. This is on top of the interest, so even at 5%, that last $10,000 is costing nearly 17%. If you can't raise that $10K (or whatever 10% is on that house) in cheaper funds, you should hold off. Using the 401(k) loan for this purpose is appropriate, yet emotionally charged. As if suck loans are written by the devil himself. ""Buy the biggest house you can""? No. I have a better idea. Buy the smallest place you can tolerate.
Some of the information on the HUD-1 form would have been useful to complete the income tax paperwork the next spring. It would have had numbers for Taxes, and interest that were addressed at the settlement. It is possible it is mixed in with the next years tax information. If I needed a HUD-1 form from 15 years ago, I wouldn't ask the real estate agent, I would ask the settlement company. They might have a copy of the paperwork. They might have to retrieve it from an archive, so it could take time, and they could charge a fee. The local government probably doesn't have a copy of the HUD-1, but they do have paperwork documenting the sale price when the transaction took place. I know that the jurisdictions in my area have on-line the tax appraisal information going back a number of years. They also list all the purchases because of the change in ownership, and many also list any name changes.  You probably don't want a screen capture of the transactions page, but the tax office might have what you need. This is the same information that the title search company was retrieving for their report. Question. Is there going to be capital gains? For a single person there is no gains unless the increase in price is $250,000. For a couple it is $500,000. I am ignoring any time requirements because you mentioned the purchase was 15 years ago. I am also assuming that it was never a rental property, because that would require a lot more paperwork.
I recently sold some property in which I structured the agreement with my realtor such that I would pay the normal 6% commission, 3% to each agent if the buyer came from another agent. If my selling agent found his own buyer, he would get 4.5% commission. As a seller it's possible to negotiate such deals before the house goes on the market. If you are selling another property you could similarly structure such a deal where your selling agent picks up the commission from buying the new place and agrees to reduce the commission on the place that you are selling leaving you in a better position than if you bought unrepresented. As an unrepresented buyer, you only have negotiating power insofar as the market allows. The seller's agent gains nothing from what you propose, so unless they expect trouble moving the house, waiting to see what other offers arise is certainly an option. If they are having trouble moving the house then just reduce your offer and see what happens.  When I pick a selling price the main factor is that I want to attract enough buyers that I can sell it quickly. Interest payments do add up. Selling a house involves more than just listing it for sale. I have a good relationship with my agent and have done multiple deals with him. I am willing to pay him because I believe it benefits me to do so. I wouldn't risk that relationship just to close a deal with an unrepresented buyer. That unrepresented buyer would allow for a reduced commission to 4.5% though in the contract I mentioned above.
I have no idea about India, but in many countries there are companies that specialize in property management. This means they will take on the business of maintaining the properties, finding tenants, doing paperwork and background checks, collecting rents and evicting tenants if necessary. Obviously for this they require a fee, but essentially the owner gets to sit back and do nothing except collect a cheque every month. In my country some real estate agents are in this business as well, though for 20 apartments I would be looking for a specialized firm.
THANK YOU so much! That is exactly what I was looking for.  Unfortunately I'm goign to be really busy for 7 days but I'd love to tear through some of this material and ask you some questions if you don't mind.  What do you do for a living now? Still in real estate? Did you go toward the brokerage side or are you still consulting?  What's the atmosphere/day-to-day like?
I am a realtor. For our rental business, we use a service that offers a background check. It costs us about $25, and it is passed along in the form of an application fee.  I suggest you contact a local real estate agent who you know does rentals. Have a conversation about what you are doing, and see if they will help process the application for you, for a fee of course. If you are truly concerned about your safety (The text you wrote can either read as true concern or sarcasm. Maybe we are really in a wild country?) It's worth even a couple hundred bucks to screen out a potential bad roommate.
Save yourself a lot of trouble you both agree on a Real Estate Attorney to prepare all the paperwork (ie. contract) and conduct the closing for or with the Title Company. Then you both split the normal costs of the transaction. (Real simple professionally handled and you both save the 6%)
When clearing funds from the sale of a home the following usually happens (USA): The left over amount is what you get.  Your real estate agent should be able to go over all of that with you. If they haven't then you need to get a better real estate agent. Assuming you haven't listed the house on the market yet then you should probably start by finding out what the pay off amount is on your existing home (call your mortgage company), then look at the prices of recently sold homes in your neighborhood for a comparable house (same style/square footage/amenities) to see what it sold for. Now you will know exactly what all those costs are prior to sitting down and signing the paperwork for the sale during the closing proceedings.  If for some reason the amount is less than what you owe on it then the mortgage company would have to be involved for you to even sell it. If the real estate market in your area is somewhat normal, you bought the house on a standard fixed rate mortgage, you've been paying faithfully these past 17 years, you haven't gotten a home equity line of credit (HELOC) loan (or otherwise cashed out of your equity at any point), you've kept up the maintenance of the place and there are no liens against the property (ie: unpaid taxes, lawsuits, etc) then it is highly likely you will get money from the sale of the house.  However we (internet people) don't know any of those details; so talk to a good real estate agent.
Most house transactions require the taxes due to be paid off during closing. This would normally be taken from the proceeds of the sale. Since you have plenty of equity you won't have to come up with cash to do this. Depending on your location taxes are sometimes paid up to the date of sale or in advance or arrears by up to six months. In any event you should have plenty of money to pay off any taxes you may owe. Your real estate agent should be able to give you a definitive answer (or the title agency if you are selling it yourself).
Title agencies perform several things: Research the title for defects. You may not know what you're looking at, unless you're a real-estate professional, but some titles have strings attached to them (like, conditions for resale, usage, changes, etc). Research title issues (like misrepresentation of ownership, misrepresentation of the actual property titled, misrepresentation of conditions). Again, not being a professional in the domain, you might not understand the text you're looking at. Research liens. Those are usually have to be recorded (i.e.: the title company won't necessarily find a lien if it wasn't recorded with the county). Cover your a$$. And the bank's. They provide title insurance that guarantees your money back if they missed something they were supposed to find. The title insurance is usually required for a mortgaged transaction. While I understand why you would think you can do it, most people cannot. Even if they think they can - they cannot. In many areas this research cannot be done online, for example in California - you have to go to the county recorder office to look things up (for legal reasons, in CA counties are not allowed to provide access to certain information without verification of who's accessing). It may be worth your while  to pay someone to do it, even if you can do it yourself, because your time is more valuable. Also, keep in mind that while you may trust your abilities - your bank won't. So you may be able to do your own due diligence - but the bank needs to do its own. Specifically to Detroit - the city is bankrupt. Every $100K counts for them. I'm surprised they only charge $6 per search, but that is probably limited by the State law.
When it comes to Real Estate, there are 2 school of thoughts:  1. People who swear that it's the one and best way to make lots of money with RE: flipping, fixer upper, leveraging, whatnot  2. People who don't believe people in #1 above.  I belong to #2 with some addendum(s):  * you can make a lot of money in Real Estate by becoming a RE Broker (but it's not for everyone) even better if you own a RE agency employing brokers (but it's not for everyone); it's like collecting tolls on the highway, no matter what, you collect a fee.  * every portfolio should have a portion allocated to Real Estate, either directly or by means of a REIT. Alas most people who own a home are over-allocated in Real Estate  * in some, and very few, parts of the USA one can make a lot of money by buying and managing directly small apartment complex to rent out; these are remote small urban settings, low prices for both buying and renting, but the ratio of price/rent is favorable.  Run your own numbers and see if it's profitable *enough* ***for you***.
"You can get a ""drive-by"" appraisal or an assessment from a local real estate agent. This obviously will give you a less precise and not as reliable information as a full appraisal, but will be significantly cheaper."
Many real estate agents will assist with an apartment hunt, for a suitable fee. In a hot market that may be worth the money. Then again, my best finds were always through co-workers, after the first two.
"One way to ""get into the real estate market"" is to invest your money in a fund which has its value tied to real estate. For example, a Real Estate Investment Trust. This fund would fluctuate largely inline with the property values in the area(s) where the fund puts its money. This would have a few (significant) changes from 'traditional' real estate investing, including:"
Both of my primary home purchases were either at, or close to asking price. My first house was during the local seller's market in 2001-2002. There were waiting lines for open houses. In hindsight we bought more home than we needed at the time but that had nothing to do with offering asking price. It was the market for the type of property (location and features) at that time. My second house was a little after the peak in 2008. The value had come down quite a bit and the property was priced on the low side versus the comps. To this day my second house still appraises higher than what we paid for it even though it was at asking price. As a third example, my brother-in-law got into a bidding war on his first home purchase and ended up buying it for above asking price. This was normal for the houses in the area he was looking at. With real estate, like other people have said, it really is important to either know the area you are looking at or to get an agent you trust and have them explain their reasons for their offer strategy through the comps. Yes agents need to make money but the good ones have been in the business a while and also live off of repeat business when you sell your house or refer friends and family to them. Agents do a lot less work when it comes to selling by the way so they would love for you to come back to them when it's time to sell. If I'm not happy with the way things are going with my agent I would have a heart to heart with them and give them a chance to correct the relationship. I've spoken to a realtor friend in the past about getting out of buyer's contracts and he told me it's a lot easier as a buyer than a seller. The buyer has most of the power during the process. The seller just has what the buyer wants.
"It's extremely easy to get a rough valuation of your home. Just phone a real estate agent. Virtually any real estate agent will come and value your home free. Even if you say outright ""I'm not considering selling, I just want a valuation"" they will probably do it, because for them getting contacts of people who might one day want to sell their home is all-important. Even if a few turn you down, some will do it. You might say that an agent isn't going to be as accurate as an appraiser, and you are right. There is also an expectation that they will evaluate higher than the real value, to persuaade you to sell. That probably isn't a big issue, and it's something you can compensate for. And even an appraiser is going to be based somewhat on speculation.  You might try to do this calculation yourself, but an agent has access to the actual sale prices of nearby houses - you can't get that information. You only have access to the asking prices. And did I mention they will do it for free?"
You might think it as a simple multi-page document, but the fact is that property related contracts are very complicated with hundreds of terms that are beyond the understanding of a common man. In such circumstances, these professionals can be very helpful; as they will go through the contact and help you understand the terms and conditions.
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"Firstly, the agent doesn't work for you. He works for himself.  It's in his interest not to get you a house at the lowest cost but to sell you a house. The higher the price the higher his commission is, or the higher the probability that the seller will sell it meaning less work for him. It depends on the market what price you should give. If I were you, I would do my own research about this area and not just trust the agent's assessment of it being a ""seller's"" market. Not sure where we are talking about but as you know, house prices have fallen a lot in the last few years and the economy isn't doing that well. It also depends on yourself. Every house is different and there's an emotional attachment to buying property. How much do you really want this house? Would it matter if you didn't get it? Are you prepared to keep looking? If this is your dream house, then maybe it is worth offering a bit more to ensure that you get it. If not, and you are prepared to wait, then yeah, I would shoot a little lower and see what they say. One thing I will say though is generally even if you give them a low offer, unless they're getting lots of other offers or they have to sell urgently, alot of the times the seller will come back and try to negotiate with you anyway. After all, it's business and they're there to get the highest price."
"See if you can find a buyer's agent who will represent you at an hourly rate, and refund the balance of the buying agent's commission.  As I noted in a comment, I know of at least two agencies that will do this in Chicago. Start with a google search of something like ""[MyCity] discount real estate brokers""."
Better for r/personalfinance . But having some exposure to the real estate industry, you are most likely over priced. Although you say that market is slow where you are, if you desperately need the money, you may have to sell at a bit of a loss.
Your broker should be able to answer this. Many brokers will buy it from you for the cost of a commission, if there's no legit buyer.