I've sold a few (not high end) houses fsbo, and several properties that way. The correct answer is going to be highly dependent on your house's value, market, how fast you need to sell, your knowledge of your house's value & market, and how much effort you're willing to put in yourself.

"What you're missing?" Is the network effect, some people who refuse to purchase fsbo, and the ability to work out small problems, & possibly coordinate multiple sales, and closings, to make a deal happen.

You're "hybrid method", for lack of a better term, of paying a partial commission seems like the worst option. If you're going to fsbo then get the property ready, photograph it, put a sign in the yard, list it on Craigslist, Zillow, Trulia, etc..

Fwiw there is a segment of the population that will not purchase fsbo properties because they think there must be something wrong, or they're worried they'll get conned, w/o a major realty company involved. Additionally, you go from not needing any attorneys (for most sales) to both the buyer and seller needing an attorney so there goes a couple K of commissions saved.

I don't think there's nearly the value in being listed on MLS anymore because you can list your property fsbo on Zillow and CL for free. Everyone who's searching for a house is reading both Zillow and CL. It's removed the stranglehold realtors have on information. I wouldn't pay to get listed in MLS.

Without listing it on MLS won't I lose the perspective buyers using a realtor? Isn't there a huge number of people that are looking for a house to buy that go thru a realtor to show them? Or let's say I see a house on Zillow and call the listing agent to get a showing. Won't that agent usually be like, "if you aren't interested in this one, I have several others similar that I could show you...". Seems like I would be missing out on a lot of potential buyers without real estate agents trying to sell my house for me. And the way I understand it is that a buyer using an agent will not need a lawyer because the buyer's agent will help with the legal paperwork on their end.

At the end of the day I want the agents trying to sell it for me. This "hybrid way" gives you a sign for the yard, most will send a professional to take photos, listing on the MLS, Zillow, realtor.com, and other places, a lock box for the front door so agents can show the house without you, among other things. I'm not convinced either way yet, but saving 3% seems pretty good at face value.

Going with a shake replica like CeDur?

We are booking late January down in San Diego, so not terrible, considering.
Though I would be concerned about roofing during snowy season up there

Is redfin an option in your neck of the woods? You won't save the whole 3% but you can save most of it.

Redfin is not an option here. Thanks though!

There is a big misconception about the handling of paperwork during closing. The real estate agent doesn’t do it, an attorney does. It just happens that the real estate agents typically don’t explain any of that and quietly steer their clients to an affiliated attorney who generally overcharges. The attorney fees for closing costs are not included in what you pay the real estate agents.

Also, those attorney closing fees are paid by the buyer, not the seller.

I used a real estate agent for my last purchase, but found my own closing attorney. I used EntitleDirect and saved THOUSANDS of dollars. They are one of several national companies that do closings. And here’s why you should feel perfectly comfortable using one like them. If you are getting a mortgage then the attorney isn’t really working for / protecting you. They are protecting the bank. They are largely doing title clearance to make sure the sale is legit and the bank isn’t risking a mortgage for a property that you could have yanked out from under you because the seller wasn’t legit, i.e. the title wasn’t clear. The bank has to approve the closing attorney. My bank was Citi and they had a list basically and the national firm was on it. Good enough for citi, good enough for me especially since they are actually working for citi and i am just being made to pay for it.

The real estate company pushed back a little, kind of trying to hide the fact that I 100% had the right to choose. I’d have to check, but I think I saved about 3 grand.

As for real estate agent fees, first remember that they are 100% negotiable. You can find someone and offer what you think is fair. Also, you can price the house accordingly. Want $100k out of it? Refuse to sell for less than 106 and buyer just paid the commission.

I’ve always been against real estate agents and considered their fees excessive. When we last moved though, the agent did a lot for us to earn it. But I only paid 4.5% on the sale of my house.

[edit: i checked. Attorney realtor steered us to wanted $5,330 and Entitle did it for $2,468]

Oh yeah, I'm concerned - I figure they'll get the job 20% and then have to tie down a giant tarp for three months, which will look like ass. We'll see.

MM MD

What product are you having installed?

Sounds like blue tarp.

That's a mistake, man. Always go for orange tarp. Much more reliable, and it keeps your house from being shot by hunters.

Something approved by my HOA and recommended by my roofer. I really don't care - I'm going to die in the house, and I don't sit outside staring at the roof. I just want it not to leak.

MM MD

Friend of mine in Virginia is considering solar. No SREC program there so financially, doesn't seem like as good of a deal, but here's the numbers:

System size: 6.615 kW
Yearly production: 7,926 kWh

Panels: 21 Heliene 315s
Inverter: Enphase IQ7

Total System Price: $28,114
Federal Tax Credit: $7,310
Net System Cost: $20,804

microbet, any thoughts? Seems steep.

Price is a bit high unless it includes like major roof repair or replacement or alteration of the service panel or maybe it's a super steep roof or maybe the array is broken up into a lot of small sections. It could well be that it's hard to get a better price in the area though.

Anyway, I start at something like $3/watt, which would be under $20k for the contract price.

The performance estimate might be a little low unless there is shade or the orientation isn't very good.

IIRC you paid much less, like $2.5/watt or something. This is $4.25/watt. And I'm talking all numbers before any rebates or credits.

Anyone purchase a house with only 3% down? Thoughts in doing so if I don’t have 20%.


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If your creditor will let you, why not? You're going to pay a lot more for the house because of the interest though.

Why not? If the market value goes down it won't take much to go upside down.


We bought our first house with an FHA loan and 3.5% down. The advantages are getting to a property you want with a lower upfront expense. There are other fees involved but it's been quite a few years so anything we had may have changed so it's better to check the current set up on your own.


The extra interest thing is a red herring. It only really applies if you keep the mortgage for more than 20 years.

We got our first house with an 80/15/5. 80% mortgage, 15% second mortgage (and I think it was for only 10 or 15 year term) and 5% down. We wanted out from under the 2nd though because it wasn’t a good deal, so as soon as we could (probably 2-3 years in) we refinanced because we could bring some more cash and with the appreciation we had 20% equity so we could get a conventional mortgage.

I think it really boils down to a few factors.

1) how does the rate on the mortgage you will get compare to what you would get with 20% down. If you could get a conventional at 4% and they want 6% for what they are offering then run the numbers and see how much that is going to cost you over the years.
2) is your financial situation going to improve? My wife was fresh out of law school with a promising career but we had amassed very little savings so far. We borrowed well beneath our means knowing that we could make the payment and still amass other savings which we could use to refinance.
3) the risk of going upside down and your plan for if you do. Make a realistic guess and whether you are getting a good deal and the house will appreciate. In case you are wrong, are you prepared to live there long enough for it to go up (which might mean 10-15, even 20 years)? If not, will you be willing and able to sell it at a loss? If not, are you willing to declare bankruptcy and deal with the consequences ?

I’m 29. She’s 27. I have a pretty strong career path ahead of me. I currently make 130k. She’s a teacher making 50k so stable but not great money. I have an in demand profession and my employer has made sure that I have been taken care of the last 4 years. I assume our financial situation will improve. We only have $40k in student loans, $0 credit card debt. I drive a Honda Civic that has $2k left on the loan and she leases a Subaru for $300 a month. That’s pretty much the only major expenses we have besides living.


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In that case I would say go for it, but plan on making extra payments to keep from getting behind or upside down as was mentioned. If your monthly payments are $1,400 for example, then make $1,700 payments every month or whatever extra you can afford to put towards the principal. I assume the reason you are asking is because you want to purchase a house now rather than save up for the down payment later.

That’s correct. I really don’t want to spend $2k a month on an apartment. Would rather just out 5% down and make larger monthly payments towards a mortgage. Thanks for the response!


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You’re going to be paying PMI as well if I’m not mistaken. It adds up fast.

Here's something I could use some ideas about.

Recently got a bathroom remodeled and we discovered that there is water leaking into the cabinet below the sink.

This is the faucet:
https://www.amazon.com/DELTA-FAUCET-...s%2C235&sr=8-4

The counter is also a brand new quartz counter. So here's what happened

1. Guys who installed didn't see anything wrong, suggested it was a problem with the faucet itself.

2. Called manufacturer of faucet and described the problem, they suggested the problem was a faulty cartridge, and they sent us some new ones. Those were installed and that didn't fix it.

3. Company we bought it from agreed to change the one we had for a brand new one (same model). That was installed, still leaked.

4. At this point I spent a lot of time looking at it and it seems the problem is that the leak is not really from the faucet itself. The problem is that the water splashes on to the counter during routine use and that water somehow gets under the fixture and leaks into the cabinet. There is definitely no leakage at any point from when the water comes out of the pipes in the wall to when it comes out of the faucet. The problem is the water splashing up onto the counter and then getting under fixture and winding up into the cabinet.

5. Contractor has a look again and notices that there is a small chip in the counter near where the hole was drilled for the cold water tap. It was pretty noticeable and everyone saw it before. But no one seemed to think that it would cause a leak. Nevertheless, it was repaired with epoxy. Still leaks. Note that this fixture requires three holes drilled in the counter. Only one had a chip, but I've observed leaks from all 3. At this point he says he doesn't know what the problem is, but it's definitely the faucet. He says that he'll try putting some extra rubber gaskets in to see if that will help. Still leaks.

6. Rep from the manufacturer comes to our house to make sure it is installed correctly. It is. He is not sure why exactly it is leaking but he decides to add some silicone sealant to various spots. Still leaks. He says he's not sure why it's leaking, but he's sure there is some problem with the counter.

Anyway, at this point we just want the problem solved. We bought a ****ton of fixtures from these people, so they're going to refund us the money for the faucet. But now we have to get a new one and I don't want to go through this again.

So here are my questions:

1. Any idea what is going on here?
2. Any suggestions for a faucet to get that is unlikely to have a similar problem. We've already got 3 holes in the counter for this one, so it has to be something compatible with that.

That seems like a lot of water getting through a small gap where faucet meets the counter from just random water splashes from use. Maybe plumbers puddy instead or a gasket in case hole is too large and gasket is fitting inside it instead of around the hole. Water in all 3 holes is odd, it shouldn't be leaking out of the handles unless those cartridges are bad too.

I had an issue with water going back down the spout when the aerator wasnt on but that was a cheap faucet.

How long does faucet run before water starts leaking out or does it only leak if water gets splashed on counter? I would run faucet for 5-10 minutes and see what happens. And its leaking from the holes? Does water spray up and make it look like it's coming from the top?

Only if splashed on counter. If you just turn the faucet on and do nothing there is no leak (I tested this for 20 min). The water doesn't splash on the counter unless someone is using it.



So some of the leak is clearly going down the drain assembly rod, which since my post I have learned is one thing that can't really be stopped. Some of the leak also goes down the taps. In this latter case if you are under the counter you can see the water collect on the under surface of the counter an then drip down into the cabinet.

This makes no sense if there is silicone sealant around all of the fixtures. Seems like a plumber should be able to figure this out easily. I feel for you. Chasing water leaks gets very frustrating under sinks where there is no room to do anything.