You must have a real estate lawyer in order to close the deal for the condo so it is best to contact one today and ask this question. it should be easy for them to give you guidance on this subject. My non-professional opinion is that a contract is negotiable from both ends, if there is no mention of appliances then they do not have to provide appliances. You can ask that they include it in the contract or if dont include it then they dont have to give you appliances on closing.

It depends: did you retire voluntarily, are you looking for other work?

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We are purchasing a house through a rto agreement drawn up by an attorney. we just found out that 2 years into the contract the owner went and borrowed $80,000 using "our" house as collateral without our knowledge. is this legal?

A "rent-to-own" contract is an executory agreement for a future property right, but not a present ownership right in the property. In theory, depending upon your contract, you might "force" the owner to sell you the house at the end of your rental period, and accept the $80,000 lien in hopes that the owner will pay it off. Or, to be safe, you could insist that the title must be clear of the outstanding obligation before you take title, but your contract may not provide for this escape. You could end up losing the house or getting involved in a big lawsuit over your rights versus that of the lender and the owner. If your "rent-to-own" contract was on file with the local registry of deeds (or auditor or town hall or whoever keeps those records where you live) then the lender is already "on notice" of your superseding claim on the property.

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We've discussed the house for months, and now i have the $ so we talked to a lawyer today to draw up a contract (i haven't agreed). his stipulations are: *9% financing 48k over 15 yrs *$5 per day late fee *foreclosure in 60 days, rather than 90 *and i'm also not permitted to ever rent the house to anyone.. even if i were to move away and still make payments/kept my own house insurance. *he had a "sour" face when i said i wanted a home inspection this wk the owner won't even have the house paid off for 13 yrs bc of a home equity line. am i better off renting for a few more years and get a mortgage? he can't "find" his last appraisal that was done a yr ago.

I am concerned. The seller has an existing mortgage on the home (the home equity you mentioned). Most mortgages will not allow a home to be sold without the mortgage being paid in full. It is called a "due on sale" clause. If his home equity (which is a mortgage) has such a clause he is prohibited from selling the home to you on a land contract or any other owner financing terms. Insist on a title search and consult with the title company (not his attorney) to make sure he can legally sell the home under such an arrangement. If he can and you proceed, make sure the land contract is recorded, so your interest is documented. These situations are always a bit disconcerting, since even if you pay him faithfully, if he doesn't pay HIS mortgage, he could still default and lose the home and thus you would also loose. Good luck.

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This year i had to move because of work. no houses in my old neighborhood were selling, so i decided to rent the old house when i moved away, and was lucky enough to find reliable tenants. i know that i have to claim the rental income as income, and that there are various deductions i can take to offset that income, and i'm hoping to find a version of turbo tax that will help me with that (although any advice about maximizing those deductions would be welcome). anyway, the tenants have approached me about selling the house to them with owner financing. in other words, i would be like 'the bank.' so, the monthly payment that i would get from them would not be 'rent', it would be 'principal and interest -- plus any escrows.' i realize that if i were going to consider such a thing i would need to find a real estate attorney to help me draw up the contract. but before i start researching that, i want to find out about tax implications. would the tax i would have to pay on the money they would be paying me, i.e. the 'principal and interest' income, be the same as the tax i would have to pay on the rental income? (assuming the amounts were the same?) are there any deductions you can take to offset 'interest income' in the same way that you can take deductions to offset 'rental income' ? my tax situation other than this (if it makes a difference) is that i have one job, one child, i'm a single parent, and file head of household.

as a rental you can deduct the expenses that you incur related to the rental, you do realize that you also can depreciate this based on the basis at the time you converted to the rental if you sell the house on an installment sale, you need to write a very clear contract, get an amortization of the payments(available in search engines) and you will issue the buyers a 1099 I(interest) for the interest they pay you during the year they can deduct the interest but you have nothing to deduct as the seller you will of course, in your Sch 4797 indicate the costs of sale which will reduce your gain, and on an installment sale is reported each year on a special form(as I recall, 6252)

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My grandparent's moved out of their home about 5 years back due to failing health. an acquaintance of the family began visiting them alot. she was having problems with her deceased husband's children regarding the home she was living in at the time. out of the goodness of his heart my grandfather offered to let her live in their empty home, rent/mortgage free, for the rest of her life if she would help by sitting with and being a general caretaker for my grandmother and himself. my grandmother has since passed, but the woman only spent about 6 months helping, after that she flat out refuses to help. i do not have the "deed" in question in my hands now, but will in a few weeks. i do know that my grandfather trusted her and didn't feel it necessary to put the caretaker/caregiver stipulation into the contract he had drawn up, so in effect that part is only verbal, but it's well known between us and our family. she's also made mention at gatherings and such before to that affect as well on many occasions (showing gratefulness for allowing use of the home for her life in exchange for her caretaking services). it was only signed by the lawyers, himself and herself, even though my mother had at the time and still has power of attorney of my grandfather. my parents cannot get her to help at all with my grandfather, who we've since found out has alzthimers(sp). she now has a boyfriend who she moved into the house. my parents informed her that he would have to pay rent/mortgage. she got angry and refused, but took her copy of the agreement to her laywer in hopes she'd be in the right, but her lawyer sided with my parents, telling her the agreement was for her and her alone, and anyone else living in the house would have to pay rent. my parents have only (verbally) told them he had to pay $200 a month, which i find crazy because rent for a house in that area is minimum $800 a month, (which would make him responsible for $400). i told them when i found out that they should have a lease drawn up and up his rent. anyway, after her being angry with them for doing that, as well as her constant demands on my family to make improvements and upgrades to the house (none necessary, all asthetic) she's since gone and changed all the locks in the home. she swears up and down that there never was an agreement for her to help care for my grandparents. the home is still in my grandfather's name. what happens when he passes away and it gets put in my father and uncle's names, and eventually passed on to myself, my brother and my cousin. is that agreement(contract) null and void? just seems to me that legally a new property owner can't be forced to uphold an agreement, contractual or not, that was made with the previous owner. at the very least seems to me that when he passes my parents could draw up a new agreement. i know they couldn't legally evict her, but seems to me that just like when a rental property changes ownership and a new lease has to be drawn up, this is the same. ideally if they do draw up paperwork stating she would now be responsible for paying "rent" (as the house is paid off w/ no mortgage), and she refuses, can they did ask her to leave? also, since the house isn't in her name and she's only being "allowed" to live there and changed locks without the owner's knowledge or ok....does that make that agreement null and void??? thanks!

Typically when any tenant of any type changes the locks on the property, they are required to provide a key to the landlord/owner. There are some state and local exceptions, but standard is that the landlord/owner gets a copy. If the caretaker/tenant refuses to provide a key to the owner/landlord, or their agent, then the owner/landlord/agent may get to pop the locks and bill the tenant for the work and material. It sounds like your entire family needs to sit down with a serious estate and property attorney and get this whole mess sorted out. Each family member needs to document all conversations, agreements, and meetings - and PLEASE have someone help them do so so they use paragraphs and don't include all this extraneous information. They need to have the law stand behind them to get everything in order on this house and to have written and legal documents regarding EVERYTHING with this house. The attorney will be able to tell your family what happens to the contract after grandfather dies.

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Since our bankruptcy was discharged about a year ago, we have a lot of money and income, ust no credit to get a conventional loan.we would not be going above our means in buying a house, and i was wondering if purchasing with owner financing is a good idea. i know i should make sure the seller owns the house free and clear, but even if they do i realize there is some risk. wouldn't it be pretty bad for the seller if i moved in and just didn't pay? i mean, would it take like a year to foreclose like the banks have been doing lately? just seems like a huge risk for a seller. then again, it might just be the same as evicting a tenant that is just renting, i don't know, just curious there. anyway, how are the contracts typically drawn up? and is just any ol local attorney good enough to help with the contract? a real estate attorney that is. i have read that some have a balloon payment after like 5 year, in which case by then we would just get a conventional loan to pay the rest. just wondering if anyone has done this, or know the best way to go about doing it. the city we want to live in ahs nothing good to rent, and since we can't buy conventionally for a while, this seems like an option.

A huge percentage of the owners that are willing to owner finance are very sophisticated and have it sit up so that they get a lot more money out of you than they could any other way. So you might be much better off renting until you can get a regular mortgage- and pay market price for the house you really want.

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The house is located in charlotte, nc. we have hired an attorney to make sure that the contract is drawn up in a fair manor..however i am fearful that real estate prices will continue to fall and in 2 yrs. when it's time to purchase the home it will be worth less than the agreed upon price of 170,000. we have agreed upon an option fee of 8,ooo. 100.oo of the monthy rent will go towards the rent premium. also, we have the option to extend the lease period for another two yrs. if we want...any thoughts and opinions will be appreciated...oh and i forgot to mention...the reason why we want to do the lease to own option is because we currently own a townhome in which we have had a hard time selling. we have two small children who need a yard to play in, their own rooms, and a better school district. so we decided to rent it out while we lease to own another home. with the end goal being to own two homes. we have 50,000 in savings now and we will recieve a structured settlement payment that we will recive in the amount of 90,000 in four yrs.

Glad to hear you've got an attorney, hopefully a real estate attorney, because Lease/Purchase or even a Lease w/Option to Purchase requires language specific to that particular transaction, language that only a qualfied attorney can provide. Never, never try a marry a lease agreement with a purchase contract as I have seen some agents try to do. Lease/Purchase...bad idea...in my opinion. Market conditions and economic volatility alone makes locking into a price today for a close date well into the future makes no sense...no win/win...someone will lose. Would the owner be receptive to "first right of refusal" w/in Special Provisions of the lease agreement should the owner choose to sell when you are ready to purchase? Does your local MLS keep archives of their market reports? If yours does, take a look at those archives in comparison with the current market report and see if you don't find the trend moving in a negative direction. These reports are typically accessible through a member of the local MLS board. Hopefully, your attorney is a member and can get that info for you. Research may be your best friend right now. Lastly, I hope the owner is not putting pressure on you to do what you're about to do for $170,000, because if the owner is, that could be your red flag. Again, see if they won't just give you first opportunity to purchase via first-right-of-refusal language within your lease agreement. Best of luck!

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Since apparently people are highly picky about how things are asked, i'll try this again... please note, i am seeking advice from a real estate or inheritance/estate attorney regarding this after i've received the paperwork in question. i'm fully aware yahoo questions is an informal forum and i'm not expecting flat out by the book legal answers, just generalized knowledge of someone who knows more than me! my grandfather owns a house he no longer lives in due to bad health. he and my grandmother moved out of the home about 5 years ago and in with my parents. around that time, my mother got power of attorney on my grandfather. an acquaintance of the family began visiting them, and gave them and my parents her sob story about her living conditions at the time. after discussing the issue with the entire family involved in the possible inheritance of the property, it was agreed to offer her use of the home for the rest of her life in exchange for her help in sitting with and general caregiving of my grandparents until they both passed. paperwork was drawn up with his lawyer, signed by the lawyer, witness, my grandfather and the woman. despite requests by my mother and myself my grandfather declined to put the caregiving stipulation in the contract. this paperwork basically states that she may live in the home rent/mortgage free until her death. despite my mother having power of attorney she was never brought in to sign off on the paperwork, or asked to. this in itself seems fishy to me, i was under the impression that someone with power of attorney would be required to sign off on any legal paperwork pursued by a person....my mother states she wasn't aware whether or not she needed to be involved in this aspect. she only lived up to her end of the bargin for about 6 months, after that point refusing to help with my grandfather, my grandmother having already passed by this point. she states there never was a verbal contract about her being a caregiver, the family though knows otherwise, she even stated on more than a few occasions in the beginning how greatful she was that we had done this for her. she absolutely refuses to help with my grandfather, who is in very poor help. she has made demands of my parents to do work to the house for, none of which was necessary, but only asthetic. she's since gotten a boyfriend and moved him into the house. my parents reminded her that the contract was with her and her only and that he would have to pay rent. she got irate and refused, instead taking her copy of the papers to her lawyer who advised her that indeed my parents were right and he would have to pay rent or move out and if he didn't my parents could legally evict him. she has since begrudgingly agreed that he will pay the rent, and despite the fact that she's just essentially a lifetime tennant and the house remains in my grandfather's name, she has changed the locks without my family's knowledge or approval. what i want to know is: first....if my mother has power of attorney, and didn't sign off on this paperwork, does it make it null and void? if it is valid and legal, does the woman changing the locks without notifying or the ok of the property owner now make that paperwork null and void? lastly, if no other loophole can be found...if when my grandfather passes and the property is then put in my father's and uncle's names, are they required to uphold that previous contract? it seems to me at the very least they should be able to draw up another version requiring her to pay rent/mortgage, and if she refused they then have recourse to ask her to leave. any thoughts?

Nope, not "HIGHLY picky", we just expect some courtesy with your posting, not entire life stories, not run on sentences, not 10000 words with no paragraphs. In fact, it angers me that you feel the need to berate me for taking the time to try and help you on your last disorganized and difficult to read question. Although I do appreciate that you've made some minimal effort to organize your thoughts a little more coherently this time around. My previous answer was correct and stands. If the tenant changes the locks and doesn't provide a key to the owner or an agent of the owner, then in most areas, the owner/agent has the right to pop the locks and charge the tenant for them. It does NOTHING to the lease agreement. As far as how this unwritten lease agreement (NOT DEED) transfers upon your grandfather's death, an attorney is going to have to guide your family in that. It may end up being an encumberance on the deed, depending on state laws and statutes. Typically, a lease stands, even if the original contract maker (your grandfather) dies. If the lease agreement was entered into before your grandfather was declared incompetent, then your mother has no right to anything with that lease, at least in the way that you are presenting the issue here.

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Texas: contracted to buy a home in august. lease/purchase agreement. put down $10,000.00. rent = $1,100.00 per month. was supposed to close in december---now. now getting divorced. attorney advises to stall deal until divorce completed. good reasons. agent wanted commission from seller. he wouldn't give. offer has expired. want agent, who represents seller, to draw up new or amended offer. agent hasn't done so, doesn't seem to want to budge. i have no new paperwork. gives me advice about my attorney, though. i love the house. want to buy it after i'm divorced. someone has my 10k, which for some reason i'm not all that worried about. how can i push this without adding a buyer's agent or getting attorney involved? please send advice!!! the stress is killing me...

You defaulted on the original agreement. The agent has no incentive to rewrite the offer, since the seller won't pay. The seller wants to sell. Explain the situation to him and work a new deal directly, but have your attorney write the contract. Try to have the 10k reflected in the new deal. Good luck.