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Sue Said:

Should I take this offer? What counter offer should I give?

We Answered:

I'm confused why you would sell a place for $53k when it has a $77k value. Seems to me the value is only as much as you can get for it.

As for the offer, there really isn't enough information and I doubt you could supply that to us. We'd need to know exact market conditions in your area, how risk adverse you are, what other offers you've gotten, how long it's been on the market, what comps in your area have gone for recently, how desperate you are to sell, and probably a list twice as long of things I don't want to think about.

Marvin Said:

We are making a cash offer on a house today, now what?

We Answered:

You will need to write a check to submit with your offer. This is called earnest money and it shows the seller that you are serious about buying the house. Your Realtor will tell you what is an acceptable amount. If your offer is declined then you get the check back. If it is accepted the Realtor keeps the check and the amount is deducted from what you owe at closing. You will pay in full at closing. With a cash sale, you should be able to close in 10 days - 2 weeks. You can ask the Realtor how many people have been looking at this house and if there are other offers. Until the bank accepts an offer then you can keep bidding higher. Once the bank accepts an offer and signs a contract then they cannot consider other offers. You could always ask the Realtor to let you know if a higher offer comes in so you can raise your offer. I don't know if he/she will or not but you can ask. The house is sold as-is, which means the seller isn't going to do anything to the house to improve it. You will still want a termite inspection and probably a home inspection. You don't need an appraisal since you are paying cash. Title insurance is up to you. You should have an attorney do a title search. The attorney will uncover if there are any outstanding liens, etc. A home warranty is up to you, as well. It would cover the heating & a/c, plumbing, electrical, hot water heater, etc. Ask the Realtor for information. Usually they have pamphlets from the home warranty company that they use.

Tracey Said:

Applying for title to home?

We Answered:

I'm assuming that the purchase needed to be handled by an escrow or title company, depending on what state you're in. They are usually required to keep records.

Contact the company that handled your transaction and ask them for a copy of your file. Expect that it could take a little time - a week or two. Hopefully they have a complete enough file for you to piece things back together.

I'm assuming this is a manufactured home. If it's permanently affixed you should be paying property taxes. This would indicate that some sort of title work was filed somewhere. If it's not affixed, then your info might be with the DMV.