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Category: Home Buying

  • First-Time Homebuyers: Making Your Price Range Work

    First-Time Homebuyers: Making Your Price Range Work

    Dear Monty: My daughter has been looking for a house through an agent. Whenever she finds ‘the right house’ for her and her future husband and bids on the house, someone has paid the full price. She is just starting off and cannot compete with people who can pay in full for a house. Do…

  • New Home Nightmare

    New Home Nightmare

    Dear Monty: We just bought a new house. Just before the sale, a heavy rain storm ruined the yard with deep gouges and washed away the new grass and topsoil. We will need to redo the yard with new topsoil and grass. Should it be the builder’s responsibility to bring the yard back?  Monty’s Answer:…

  • Trading the Open Road for a 55+ Community: What You Need to Know First

    Dear Monty: My wife and I live in our motorhome while traveling the country. Though we enjoy this lifestyle, the constant setup and takedown at RV parks is becoming challenging. We’re considering buying a home in a 55+ Florida community where friends we met during our travels purchased recently. We own a rental property in…

  • Dear Monty Research

    FORWARD Below is a short string of experiments inspired by curiosity. In 1966, at 21 years of age, with a new license to sell real estate and having a broker with integrity, drive, and a trusting personality, it was a super-exciting launch to what I now look back on and reflect was a long and…

  • Recruiting New Agents is Critical for Real Estate Companies

    Dear Monty: I have bought and sold several homes as a relocating employee. I have always been curious about how real estate companies establish commissions for their agents. My experiences have been from poor to good. I wonder if how they are paid has an effect on their production. Can you explain the system?  Monty’s…

  • Search by Home Type for Comparable Sales

    Dear Monty: I am preparing to buy my first home. Depending on whom I speak with or even when I read an article or datasheet, I need clarification about two common words in the real estate vocabulary. They appear to be interchangeable.  The words are “style” and “type.” Monty’s Answer: These two words have different…

  • Seven Reasons to be wary of MLS

    Seven Reasons to be wary of MLS

    Be wary when using the MLS.

  • Is it wise to waive a home inspection?

    Dear Monty: Is it wise to waive a home inspection? We recently bought a home, and we agreed to waive a home inspection. There were multiple offers on the house. Our agent suggested a competitive advantage by waiving the home inspection. Yesterday, a heating contractor told us we should replace the twenty-year-old furnace. Since moving…

  • Will iBuyers survive after Zillow?

    Dear Monty: Zillow has announced they will no longer participate as an iBuyer due to heavy losses. What affect do you think Zillow’s departure will have on the overall iBuyer concept? Monty’s Answer: Will iBuyers survive after Zillow is unknown. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Zillow lost $328 million in the 3rd…

  • Eight reasons technology will replace real estate agents

    A debate rages today in real estate’s inner circles. Agents are wondering if they can withstand the competitive pressures to take market share away from them. Will they be able to make a living with all the for-sale-by-owners and cut-rate companies. Will the industry survive? This writer opins that the answer is no, and the…

  • The offer to purchase

    The most powerful document Without question the offer to purchase is the most powerful document you will be asked to sign in a real estate transaction. In many respects, the physical closing at the title company is simply a confirmation of what happened days, weeks or months earlier. This point in time can be stressful…

  • Homebuyers devastated – Lender pulls plug just before closing.

    Reader Question: Our friends are homebuyers devastated. Their lender pulled the plug just before closing. We are in the process of closing on our first home purchase. We are excited but at the same time very edgy. Our friends were a week ahead of us on their home purchase. They didn’t offer details, but how…

  • The problems with home inspections

      Reader Question: You have written numerous articles over time about the problems with home inspections. We are near our savings goal and preparing to buy a home. What is your current opinion of home inspections?  Monty’s Answer: Home inspection laws came into existence because home sellers were unaware of the defects, hid, or made…

  • another inspection necessary the home was pre-inspected

    Reader Question: We looked at an open house a couple of days ago. A completed home inspection concluded there were no defects or material adverse facts in the house. It also contained a list of items that required attention that were common maintenance issues. The seller had repaired or had a contractor inspect all the…

  • Is America in a housing bubble?

      Reader Question: Is America in a housing bubble? We are attempting to downsize our lifestyle with a smaller home. In both instances we made an offer, someone outbid us. Our home is free and clear, so we are cash buyers. We don’t want to sell until we know we’ve got a place to go.…

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