Sonal Goda

Hello Jcosta,

Practically speaking, the concept of suing someone that doesn't have any money seems problematic. However, technically speaking, when you write the offer and list the personal property that conveys with the home, those items have to be in the home when you close, in order to be compliant with the contract.

Another practical consideration is that in a short sale, the seller is voluntarily doing the short sale, in order to avoid the more negative consequences of the foreclosure, from the seller's perspective. So the seller should be motivated to comply with the terms of the sale and should want to avoid giving the buyer reasons to back out of the contract. It would take an unusually dense seller to actually remove personal property in a short sale and upset the buyer. It is ultimately not in the seller's best interest to do this.

Keep in mind that a short sale is very different from a foreclosure, from the seller's perspective. In a foreclosure, the house is taken by the bank, and the seller doesn't know who will purchase the home, so they may be more inclined to damage the property, if they are that type of person. It's still not right, but may feel "victimless" to the seller. It is very different in a short sale, as described in the previous paragraph.

Thanks,
Sonal - Tue Mar 13, 2012

In order to be considered a legal bedroom, the bedroom must have an escape route directly to the outside in case of fire. The bottom of the window should be no more than 44 inches off the floor, and big enough that a fireman with his equipment should be able to get through. I have a link to a great detailed blog on this topic.

Thanks,
Sonal - Sat Jan 21, 2012

Hello Home Buyer - I don't want to repeat what everyone else is saying, just wanted to add something. You may be wondering why agents are willing to pay a referral fee for a client. The way I think of it is, there is a marketing cost involved with finding each client - whether agents are paying for online marketing, mailing flyers to a neighborhood, etc. So if another agent sends me a client, I am happy to pay them for finding the client. The referral fee is strictly between agents - it is not up to the client to say how the agent should split his/her commission.

The best thing for you to do would be to decide if you think this agent that you have been referred to is a professional that you can trust, and you are confident in his/her knowledge and experience level. If so, then don't spend more time thinking about what the agent will get paid... just focus your time and energy on finding the right house for yourself :-)

Wishing you the best of luck in finding your home.

Thanks,
Sonal - Fri Dec 30, 2011