All Forum Posts by: Darrell D.

Hi Karen.  During my process they didn't use the Zestimate and I believe it was not affected when I was trying to sell my house.  The initial offer they gave me was lower due to not having realtor commissions which made sense.  The adjusted offer came after the inspection and was far lower than the first and was based on air conditioning issues which didn't exist.  The Zestimate remained the same and worked against them... I sold the house through other means.

@Dave Hanks Thanks for sharing Dave. It's unfortunate but it's pretty much the same as my story. It's extremely frustrating to go weeks into the process and receive the low offer. That's their business model I'm sure... they're hoping to catch sellers at a bad time and get a nice deal. I was able to sell both of my homes on the MLS without Zillow, at nearly my asking price.

@Irina Belkofer Thank you Irina. That's good news. I don't have any intention of not paying what I should but I was wondering if somehow I bypassed the HOA altogether. As I suspected, it was just wishful thinking. :)

@Wayne Brooks Thanks Wayne.  The Sheriff actually instructed me to look at the docket to see if the lien would be paid.  After reviewing the documents a few weeks ago, I could not find where the docket stated if the lien would be paid.  Somebody told me the liens are often paid during the process but I can't recall who. I'm learning now that not many counties pay liens during the foreclosure process.  Also sounds that Montgomery County, Ohio (where I bought the auction) doesn't always pay the lien... it depends on the situation but I'm not sure on how or why.  Anyway, I hope I'm not mistaken about this lien being paid.  

This auction was different from the start. The owner past away about 10 years ago and the home has been empty for 8 years. I heard he was a veteran but I can't confirm if the home had a VA loan. It seems there would be many hands in this process. d I don't know why it took this long to complete the process but surprisingly the home is in good condition.

@Jamie Rose We need to identify the next property within 30 after selling.  After we identify the property, we have 90 days to secure the financing.  I've been working with Dave Foster on the 1031 Exchange.  @Dave Foster

@Tyler Mullen

@Tyler Mullen That's a great answer Tyler. Thank you for your time on that. The properties I sold had an HOA and they were identified on the title now that you mention it. It was was a strange situation and I didn't see in any post or Youtube video so I figured I would ask. About the liens... there is a small HOA lien on the property of about $2k. I contacted the HOA and they said there's another amount of approximately $2k aside from the lien... so about $4k total. The lien will be paid during the foreclosure process(paid by the county), but I'm not sure if I have to pay the remaining fees. The purchase is still a great deal so I'm not too concerned but of course I'd rather not pay. Another situation has come up... there's an unpaid water bill of $750. In the state of Ohio, the bill stays with the property and not the user. It would seem the foreclosure process should pay for this also since they are required to pay all outstanding debts against the property but when I called the sheriffs office, they acted like nobody asked the question before and they simply said it won't paid for during the foreclosure process. I tried to contact the foreclosure lawyer, but of course they didn't call me back. It would be nice if the two government offices communicated the issue but the water company seems content on leaving the payment up to the new buyer.

Hello everyone and thank you in advance.

I recently sold two homes with a 1031 exchange. I hit the county auction and won a nice property with a lot of potential. Now that I'm in the waiting period, a few questions came up. I think this is just wishful thinking here but I have to ask... Should I acknowledge the HOA at all? Here's my thinking behind this...

Is it true that a buyer of a home agrees to be governed by the HOA at the time of sale? If I did not agree to any terms of the HOA and I bought through the county auction, am I a member of the HOA? In other words, what right does the HOA have to govern me and my property if I never agreed to the HOA terms?  Is it possible that I could be the only homeowner in the community without an HOA?  Additionally, do I have to pay their fees going forward and do I have to pay fees from the last owner?

Any help would be appreciated.

Best way to improve on losses is to supplement your income by house-hacking.  Get a duplex (at least) and rent other units.  If the government takes 10% of your 401k cash advance, remember you can make 10% year after year!  So many people get hung on the one-time fee and they don't consider the yearly returns from their investment.  

If it's your first house, make sure it's a multifamily!  It probably won't be your "forever" home so make it a good investment.

I recently had my house painted inside and out.  My painter goes to Dunn Edwards for all his paint and supplies but I typically go to Lowes.  The professionals get a huge discount but I'm doubt if occasional painters do.  

Anyway, Lowes changed paint companies a few times now.  Even though they have the formulas and colors on record, the paint has changed (Valspar, Sherwin Williams, Etc).  I trust the color matching machine and mixer, but if they stock a different company then there's not much you can do... except paint the entire wall over again.

@Gene Hacker No I didn't pay any fees but I can't help to think it was a waste of time.  Zillow paid for both inspections.  

@Anthony No I'm not sure if they were contracted out.  They wore Zillow shirts with logos so they seemed legit.  Sorry for the slow response Anthony.

Currently I have 10 homes in various locations... Ohio, Arizona, and Virginia.  I noticed Zillow was advertising to purchase my homes in Arizona for cash.  Note I believe it's only available in some markets.  I thought it was worth a shot so I began communicating with them.  The young man was a pleasure to work with and was very honest and professional, so we moved forward.  

Before the inspection, they offered an amount which was reasonable.  It would have slightly higher than what I would receive if I worked with an agent.  Of course the process would be faster also.  Again I agreed to proceed.

During the inspection a local inspector was present, and a Zillow representative.  Both were taking pictures and documenting their findings.  Both were professional.  The only issue I had is that the inspector left the air conditioning at a low setting of 70 degrees.  In Arizona, that's a big mistake.  Later we went to a local mall and returned in the evening.  We found the house was at 70 degrees!  That's going to show up on my electric bill!  It's not really Zillow's fault as the independent inspector was to blame.  

Also during the inspection, we had several repairs which were in progress.  The outside was being painted, bathroom was being updated, etc.  Because of the repairs, they decided to perform the inspection again to verify everything completed.  

When I received the inspection report and new offer, everything changed!  First they provided an offer which was based on the first inspection, not the second inspection.  I told them the problem and the realtor who gave me the offer ignored what I said.  The Zillow representative stepped in and was professional and said they would stop and investigate the issue.  One day later they said they were firm on the price.  They dropped the offer by $30k and ironically said the air conditioner didn't work.  They wanted $4000 to replace the outside unit.  The reduced price did not match the cost of repairs.  However the inspector took pictures showing temperatures and showed that the AC worked, but later documented that it didn't work.  First we have to understand that I had the thermostat set for 88 degrees (the outside temperature was 110F).  The output from the AC will only drop a percentage of the ambient temperature.  I think they were expecting an output of 50 degrees or so.  I argued with them on the condition of the AC even though pictures showed it was clearly working, but they wouldn't budge on their ruling.

So they thought I would go for it but I didn't.  They thought I wanted to quickly unload the property but I didn't.  

Original value:  $224,000

Zillow Cash Offer: $181,000

I ended up selling with a realtor and getting $224,000, minus closing costs and realtor commission.  In the beginning I was impressed with the service and professionalism, but later everything changed.  They assumed I would accept a low offer and tried to bully me about my air conditioner.  They wanted an air conditioning certification too.  I asked them what was a certification and they couldn't answer the question.  I offered to pay for an AC inspection/certification without paying for the replacement but they only wanted the replacement.

Anyway.  I like Zillow a lot but be aware that investors will be investors.  The home-buying service was a big negative!  

In the future I hope to sell properties on Zillow as FSBO. Hopefully that will work better.

Good luck!

@Jeremy England Thanks Jeremy.  I've been to the auction a few times but this is the first time I'm trying for a big one.  I might have to rally friends and family on this one.