All Forum Posts by: Lacey S.

@Justin Juhan, I was looking at it more like property taxes where you pay the seller at settlement for the portion of taxes on your portion of the year's ownership if it's already been paid. Or like I said, they transferred the deposits to you (you are of course assuming the potential damage). If the rent was paid in September, it would have gone to them but I can see your viewpoint also, though I'm not sure how that would shake out in a legal sense.

Wait - you want to apply the deposit to the rent they didn't pay that was before you bought the property? Really, that money should have been paid to the previous owner and if you collect it, shouldn't it go to them? I assume the previous owner transferred the deposit to you at closing; I would take any items your are owed for damage/cleaning first and then return the rest. I wouldn't try to collect rent that wasn't paid from before you owned the property.

I think you get more whiners on facebook. They can comment into the void and there is no repercussion, don't let them bother you. These were my requirements when I last listed a place (almost 3 years ago):

Rental requirements:

Credit score of 650+

Verified income of 3x the monthly rent

Positive reference from previous landlords

Clean criminal and rental history

Maximum occupancy: 5 people

Application fee: 40/adult applicant

So have you bought one already or he initially agreed to try one but then backed off? If you bought the first one I think "wait and see" for a while is reasonable. If not, try to get him to give you a time line of when you will look, is 6 months long enough? February? Then when he agrees you move it forward and start showing him options, until tell you are just browsing so you'll know the good deal when it comes.

I talked to my husband for about 2 years about buying before we bought one together, we actually weren't married yet (we got engaged about a month later but I don't recommend buying with someone you're not married to!) so finally I was like "I'm doing this now, do you want in or not?" And now he is so glad we bought it, seeing how well it's turned out for us. It's been about 18 months. I am raring to go about getting another one and he wants to wait longer to see how this one goes and improve our financial situation. Save! Save! Save!

He is the conservative one, I think it's good to have balance but there will come a time when I see something good and we have money in the bank (we have it now actually) and I'll push him to go forward with some attractive math. At the moment, I'm leaving him be because there is not anything decent on the market by us. I would like to explore out of state investments and that's too crazy of an idea for him, so I let that one go. Though I am trying to get him interested in city about 1.5 hours away... As much as it annoys me, I try to realize that he is a good force to contain my enthusiasm and keep us from over-extending. It can be a good thing.

Thank you @Eric Weireter for all of the information. I might need to consider how much it's really gonna be worth it in the end. I have some time to think about it since I wasn't planning to take the course until early 2018.

@Eric Weireter, thank you for the in depth response! Ok so really I do need to affiliate with a brokerage and I need to my 8 hour CE and the post licensing in the three years after getting a license and then continue with the 8 hours every year. Woo it's gonna be a busy few years at the beginning!

@Jason Layman, I am looking at this now in NC. Can I ask where you ended up in terms of a brokerage?

Hello BP - specifically I hope some RE agents from NC!

I have decided to get my license next year and am doing research. I do not plan to work full-time in RE but rather I would like to be able to have MLS access and go to my own showings (on my schedule) and receive the agent commission when I buy. I will also probably be writing a lot of contracts before I get a "bite" which would irritate most agents. I also want to have a better understanding of the RE process so I can represent my own interests effectively. With this in mind....

1) In NC I am required to take a pre-licensing course and then in the next 3 years I need to take 3 post-licensing courses. Fine. Do I also need to get additional continuing education during those 3 years (the normal required 8 hours)? I cannot find this information clearly anywhere. 

2) Next, if I'm representing myself, do I need to be under a brokerage? I can see there could be some benefits like access to education. But they also might not really want me if I am not very productive. I would assume I need to be under a broker if I represent anyone else but just to represent myself, is this needed? I would avoid paying fees to them, maybe I can just pay for MLS access?

3) I have also considered that I would maybe make myself available for other agents to run their weekend open houses for say a flat $100 fee for a 3 hour open house. They could have any leads generated. Is this a thing?

Thank you in advance for your advice!

@Jim M. I'd have considered moving back in to spite her.

This is something you always have to be concerned about with couples, especially young, unmarried ones. Always crosses my mind at showings!