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I always check the county tax collector's website to see when the property tax was paid. Has the tax bill been paid late in the past or is it now delinquent of even close to it?
If my taxes are paid late, it is because my mortgage company paid them late. I have absolutely NOTHING to do with when my taxes are paid. They come out of my escrow. This is how my taxes have been paid on 3 houses in 2 states! I don't know anyone except people my parents' age who don't have their taxes paid by escrow. So you can't go by late tax payments at all.
I can top a buyer being nosy. My son & dil just listed their house, and a couple of neighbors are mad at them! A whole bunch of them were together and son heard snarky remarks, like "they're too good for this neighborhood". My son the calm diplomat went to their house alone to ask what the problem was. They said they'd heard he didn't like the "hood". Son said I'm tired of the over an hour commute, and our kids are older than most of the home owners now.
He even had to explain they are 10 years older than them, and things change. What drew them to that area has changed for them. Geesh, I never dreamed neighbors could act like high school kids. Oh, and the snarking started because a nice neighbor told my son he'd clean up his work area to help him sell. The bad one said "I'm not doing a thing to help them". What dummy's.
Why is it your business? Maybe they are going through a divorce. Maybe they have financial problems. Maybe they had a financial windfall and are just tired of the house. There could be 100 reasons why they are selling that have nothing to do with the quality of the home.
I totally agree. A buyer can always ask, but it has nothing to do with the value of the house.
I don't know why they are selling the house, but I do know that MOST buyers are not selling because there's anything wrong with the house. They're selling because of their own personal needs or desires.
Maybe the people who bought our home last year were wondering the same thing. The house was only five years old. We were taking a hit on the cost of landscaping and also threw a nearly new hot tub in "for free." The neighborhood was a really nice one and our home was on a double lot so it was especially attractive. WHY WHY WHY were we selling and willing to lose a bit of money we'd invested?
Because we didn't need to live in a town we hated anymore. It had nothing to do with the house itself at all. The house was great - we just didn't like the town it was sitting in and we'd already found a home we love in a town we love and were ready to move. Overall, we got a better deal than we expected on the "new" house so we could well afford to take a small hit on the "old" house.
Get a good home inspection. Tour the neighborhood after 5 and on weekends, especially weekend nights. Make sure there's not going to be an interstate built in your backyard.
Do your own due diligence and don't over analyze why you think they might be selling.
Being I'm with NoiseFreeAmerica and other Noise sites, and I was astonished to find out, true or not, the number 1 reason for housing relocations is due to noise factors.
Perhaps, perhaps, there's a noisy neighbor in the neighborhood! Someone with one too many barking dogs that can't be controlled?
If you can peek over the fence and see a dog run or smell dog poop on the side of the house next to your bedroom, say......not a chance I'll buy your house.
If the property next door has a sports court (basketball, tennis, etc.), again....no way.
Flight path of airport, including small aircraft which flies low and slow, ugh, no way.
Near a large agricultural farm that is not organic (cropduster thus flies over), NO WAY!
In spite of everyone telling you, 'it's none of your business', anyone would want to know if there was a significant problem with neighbors, the neighborhood or some concealed aspect of the house that you can't see.
If your 'radar' is really buzzing, you might check with some of the neighbors. Otherwise, if the owner doesn't want to divulge their reasons, there isn't much you can do about it ... except 'do your do diligence with the inspection and other investigative efforts --- and/or walk away.
well the reasons can fall into
1) personal issues which some will label as 'none of your business': divorce, financial strain, job loss
2) other reasons such as structural defects, neighbor issues, zoning etc which could be very relevant to the buyer
As a buyer I would definitely want to know all the reasons that fall into category #2, but of course the agent/mom is unlikely to disclose that so...all you can do is do all the homework you can regarding category #2
If my taxes are paid late, it is because my mortgage company paid them late. I have absolutely NOTHING to do with when my taxes are paid. They come out of my escrow. This is how my taxes have been paid on 3 houses in 2 states! I don't know anyone except people my parents' age who don't have their taxes paid by escrow. So you can't go by late tax payments at all.
Oh, yes you can.
If your taxes are paid out of an escrow account, they should never be paid late. The managers of the account have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure the taxes are paid before they are due.
If they are not doing that and it is not your fault (i.e. you did not send your payment in late), then you need to follow up on why taxes are late yourself. It's public information, and no one has more of a reason to check up on the payments being made than the owners.
So, once again, a prospective buyer can learn a lot by seeing whether taxes are paid late.
You should not worry about the seller's motivation for selling; you should make sure you get inspections, and make sure they are thorough. But if you feel strongly that something is not right, then I'd move on. I wouldn't buy a house that worried me.
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A whole bunch of them were together and son heard snarky remarks, like "they're too good for this neighborhood". My son the calm diplomat went to their house alone to ask what the problem was. They said they'd heard he didn't like the "hood". Son said I'm tired of the over an hour commute, and our kids are older than most of the home owners now.
