All Forum Posts by: Ying Tang

What illegal red flags?

Check if you had a legitimate reason to terminate, such as a financing contingency, inspection clause, or an appraisal contingency. If you followed the contract’s terms, their legal threats may not hold.

I thought it was rare for a loan to be explicitly assumable. Many mortgages have a due-on-sale (acceleration) clause, which requires the loan to be paid in full when the property is sold. Because of this, many listings that advertise an “assumable loan” are actually referring to seller-arranged financing, rather than a true assumable loan approved by the lender.

This requires caution—if a buyer “assumes” a loan through a private agreement with the seller without lender approval, they risk serious consequences. For example, if the seller later files for bankruptcy, the lender could call the loan due immediately, creating major financial and legal issues for the buyer.

@Jay Hinrichs The monthly minimum wage in China is just below $300. So there's still a large gap.

Hey everyone! I’m looking into a house for a rental, but I found out that the original seller converted the carport into a room and added a laundry room without permits. I called the city, and there are no records of permits for the work.

Could this be a problem in the future? One concern I have is with insurance—if the laundry room floods and causes damage, could the insurance company deny liability because it wasn’t permitted?

What other risks should I be aware of, and do you think it’s worth moving forward with this property? Any advice would be appreciated!

It's hard to predict. Federal Reserve would not want to cut rates before inflation is under control. No way inflation can come down in short term given the new tariff in place. 

I’m in Phoenix, Arizona, too. I’m a newer realtor, and I have a long-term rental while looking to get more into investing. I’m also exploring the idea of building in Phoenix, but a friend warned me that the current margins might not be large enough to make it worthwhile. I’ll likely start with some smaller projects with him soon. Just be cautious before jumping into new construction—make sure the numbers make sense.

In California, a few things would impress the seller: 1. Waive inspection (one should almost never do that); 2. High price bid; 3. Offering cash; 4. Offering to close in short number of days. I don't think order an inspection before listing date would impress the seller much. So one thing you can do is to get prequalified sooner than later, and offer to close in shorter number of days. 

@Joe Impagliazzo Hi Joe! Thanks for the comment. I got my two previous loans that way. However, the loans are quickly sold to another company, then another.. So refinance as many times as I want didn't work out :(

Very interesting question. I don't know the answer to this so I asked chapgpt. Here is the answer, hope this helps:

1. Installment Sale: Instead of a lump-sum sale, structuring the sale as an installment sale can spread the gain over several years. This can potentially keep the seller in a lower tax bracket each year.

2. Deferred Sales Trust (DST): A DST allows the seller to defer capital gains by transferring the property to a trust. The trust then sells the property and distributes payments to the seller over time, potentially reducing the immediate tax burden.

3. Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT): By placing the property into a CRT, the seller may receive a charitable deduction and then get an income stream from the trust. This can help offset capital gains taxes while supporting a charitable cause.

4. Cost Basis Adjustments: If the seller has made capital improvements over the years, ensuring that these are properly documented can increase the property’s cost basis, thereby reducing the taxable gain.

@Hunter Jordan 

• Rate: 5.75% (15-year refinance)

• New Balance: ~$173.5K

• Monthly Payment: $1,441

• Term: 15 years (180 months)

• Approx. Total Payment: $1,441 × 180 ≈ $259,380

• Approx. Total Interest: ~$85,880

Again, please double check the numbers yourself.

i actually just posted yesterday about whether to choose 15 year fixed or 30 year fixed. Everyone says 30 years in that post (or almost everyone). That does make sense when comparing 15 year and 30 year fixed.

You should check out that post too. A lot of good comments.

Now back to your question, I would probably choose 15 year, because it is really not a big difference for me for the extra $100 or so. It's a larger difference if you consider 30 year fixed (which maybe you should look into?).