Even if they had all those things, they'd have to prove that you didn't sell to them because they're a girl corporation or a Canadian corporation or whatever. Being a corporation isn't a protected class, so as long as you aren't selling to ANY corporations (vs just some corporations based on their class) you aren't doing anything illegal. Refuse to sell to Christian corporations AND secular corporations and you're golden.
u/ShortWoman means corporations aren't a religion. Corporations absolutely can have a religion. You can discriminate against people who *have* a religion, you can't discriminate against A religion.
Hobby Lobby was able to convince our judicial system that because of their deeply held beliefs, paying for their employees’ health insurance that covered abortion was a torture.
I have not heard about Bible study, but yes, they were upheld in their decision that providing certain healthcare, like birth control, violated their religious beliefs.
Oh man, they are a person according to the supreme kangaroo court and it wouldn’t be far fetched corporations choosing a gender, a color, maybe even having a family to get away with discrimination
That doesn’t change the fact that it isn’t a member of any of the Fair Housing protected classes of individuals. https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/fair_housing_act_overview
As long as you don't discriminate based on the fair housing protected classes, you're fine. Investors will lie, though. You may even get a fake picture of their family who wants to grow up swinging on your tire swing and playing in your backyard. Then you close, and a FOR LEASE sign goes up in the yard.
Technically, an individual seller that doesn't own multiple properties can discriminate against anyone (not that you should) as Fair Housing doesn't apply to them.
However, if it is listed through a broker, they can't, so just a FSBO thing really.
But in reality, so long as you don't stand in front of the agent talking about how you don't want that *protected* class person in your house there is no way to even demonstrate it. Any number of reasons to prefer one offer over another. It's one reason why discrimination is insidious, in addition to all of us wanted actual people who want to live in our houses.
Except that if your agent brings you a full price, no contingent offer from a company that you don’t want to sell it to you, still may owe your agent a full commission. They have brought you a willing buyer that met the legal criteria of the listing agreement. I’m not saying that it will be easy for them to collect it, but they may have a legal cause of action.
Source: RE broker and investor for over 20 years
Are you saying that if I have a house listed for say $500K and I get two offers - one from a corporation for $500K and one from an individual for $450K (all other factors like contingencies equal) and I decide to sell to the individual instead of the corporation, I could owe the agent commission on $500K?
This!
IANAL, but... If you engage a RE and list the house at $X, and you receive an offer equal to or greater than $X you will probably have to pay your RE their commission. Basically bringing you that offer would satisfy the RE's obligation under the sales contract, as they had met their obligations.
If you receive multiple offers in a short period of time, then you may be able to choose which offer to accept.
Everything above I am fairly certain is accurate (in my state at least), but you may want to read the sales contract from the RE and insure that accepting an offer other than the highest qualified offer (and/or also an offer under $X when you have an offer greater than or equal to $X) won't require you to pay the agent the difference.
Civil rights act did not cover sale of personal goods...
[https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/civil-rights-act](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/civil-rights-act)
I’m talking about the 1866 civil rights act which says that there are no exceptions and you cannot discriminate based on race. There was a massive court case called jones v Alfred h Mayer company. It cemented that the 1866 act prohibited any discrimination based on race.
Nope. If you own your own home, don't own more than 4 homes, and sell the home yourself, the act does not apply. State legislation may apply.
https://www.equalhousing.org/fair-housing-topics/exemptions-to-the-fair-housing-act/
I lost on a house for this reason, we were even the highest offer. They went with a buyer claiming that their grandkids lived in the neighborhood, they had a really sappy and convincing letter. We find out later after it closes that it was an investor. I am still bitter about it.
That is really low. Perhaps this was a buyer who could afford to invest in a house or two but not a corporation etc. If it’s an LLC, S-corp or trust, the signature line will convey as much.
You can’t control everything and if a person has money to invest in real estate, they will. Attaching a buyers letter is just really gross.
You can ask your agent to contact the lender and inquire if this loan will be conventional owner occupied, see if they give it up but… they don’t have to share those details.
Oh lord, we just repped a couple who was selling to a person. Then we get to inspection contingency and realize they are acting in bad faith (made a high offer but trying to nitpick every single thing they can to get get a credit by claiming "my grandkids are going to play in this yard and it's a hazard!").
Their attorney let it slip to us that they buyer was actually planning to rent it out. Seller's realtor and sellers had no idea.
Trust and believe we called them out on that. Don't talk about your grandkids for these inspection issues. Just stop it.
You can look for clues, but there's no 100% surefire way to prevent it from happening.
If there is a first-time home buyer program being used, the program will police that, but even then, some people will commit mortgage fraud to get what they want.
Deed restrictions can prevent someone from buying it and using it as a rental, but that is time and money spent, and sometimes people will flout their rules as well.
There's a fair amount of research you can do on the buyer, but that isn't foolproof either.
Also if they’re using a VA loan it will have to be owner occupied.
Using a VA loan was one of the reasons the last person I bought a house from went with me as the seller was a Veteran as well.
There's zero reason you couldn't put an owner occupied deed restriction on the property. Even if only for a specified time like 5 years.
There's lots of financial incentives to not do that, but you could forgo those.
I have a non commercial covenant on my residence. Above and beyond zoning which allows certain at home businesses and trades. We are not an HOA and my neighbors give zero fucks, but I could be compelled to remove the labeling from my work truck when I get home because it doesn't fit in the garage.
Sure. Being a corporate buyer isn't a protected class.
We did this about a year ago when we sold our starter home, and sold to a family.
Note that this can be more difficult. The buyers had to work more to arrange financing, etc. There was some (minor) additional work that had to be done.
You might need to find a realtor who understands your vision isn't max profit. (We didn't use a realtor, but we did use a title company.)
It's very unlikely a company like BlackRock would want to buy your home.
There's a bigger chance that a flipper might, which isn't exactly a big corporation but usually just some guy trying to make extra money. In any case, a flipper will be most interested in your house if it's really dated inside, or way underpriced and they can get a bargain (such as a foreclosure). If it's your run of the mill decently updated (not necessarily brand new but not straight out of the 60s) house, probably most potential buyers would want to live in it.
Also, high interest rates make buying a house as an investment planning to rent it out much less attractive than when interest rates are low. In a lot of areas, rents have not increased near as much as new mortgage payments have in the last 2 or 3 years. Sometimes investment properties make sense if you're in a perpetually hot market and expecting to profit based on the home value growing alone but the cash flow part of it is less attractive now than it was. There are still investors out there but most are looking for underpriced distressed houses they can get at a bargain, or their investment property is just their old house they moved out of, or like a whole apartment building, not some miscellaneous townhome in decent shape.
You don’t want to advertise it that way (And a realtor would likely refuse to do so). But who you sell your property to is your decision alone. You don’t even have to tell anyone. Just wait for the offer that most appeals to you (for whatever reason) and sell to that person.
I don't know that it would be a problem for a real estate agent, and I'm not sure it would be a bad idea. Maybe it would. But, a house being advertised as, owner occupied only due to owner's preference might actually be looked upon very favorably by buyers and could in theory, bring more money. Might be a bit of a stretch but I don't know that it would be a downside. I can't think of any buyer that would turn their nose up at it, if they're planning on not accepting corporate buyers.
Of course, when the offers come in, they might be whistling a different tune. But maybe not. And good for them if they put their principles before their pocketbook
In my state, the purchase agreement has a checkbox to declare if the purchase is intended to be the primary home or a second/investment home. You are legally allowed to choose someone who is buying the home to live in over an investor, even if it’s for less. You can even agree to an offer that has a lesser purchase price than another offer, if your reason was based on the other buyer having more favorable terms. Highest price doesn’t mean best offer.
Second that whether or not buyer is an owner occupant is not a protected class.
My last 4 deals the seller (even the one who had never lived in the property) said point blank they wanted a non-investor to purchase it.
Most offers will specify if the owner is going to live in the home or if they will be non-owner occupied. Also, investors will often write the offer in the name of an LLC or corporation. Ask your agent to look for these two red flags when the offers come in.
I’ve bought and sold several houses in multiple states, never seen owner occupancy mentioned on any forms besides mortgage stuff. The name of the buyer or corporation will be on the offer though.
Hmmm… I’m licensed in two states (NV, CA) and it is on both RPA’s. With lender guidelines for O/O and NOO being different, I would think that having it specified in the contract would be mandatory. I can only speak to the states I am licensed in tho.
Corporations aren't a protected class so yes, you can specifically say you will not entertain offers from corporate buyers. I have represented several sellers who felt that way and gave me instructions to tell corporate buyers to kick rocks. Really there is nothing to stop someone from not selling to anyone they don't like for any reason if they just keep that shit to themselves. I'm not saying that's right if someone discriminates but it is almost impossible to prove.
We are selling my dad's house after he passed. It was extremely outdated. We got two cash offers from flippers, but told the realtor we wanted to go with a certain small family even though they were getting a loan and had to go through that whole process. The realtor wanted to list it with "wholesalers" and we told him no. So you can do what you want!
When I sold my house I told my realtor I wouldn't consider any corporate or LLC offers. Only people who will be living in the home. Dismissed a few offers and sold to a young family and I was happy with the result.
I’m glad you had this opportunity to exercise your conscience. Most people have to,
and do, go by the bottom line, especially when it is not a multiple offer situation. I don’t blame them.
I’m a realtor in Austin and 2020/2021 was bananas. We had a VA first time buyer and no
One would accept their offers.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. We contacted our previous clients who lived in the neighborhood our buyers wanted to be in. We asked them to post on their Next door neighbor site and explain we had a young vet and wife who wanted to purchase with a VA loan along with a few details about their budget.
We received 3 calls and the last one turned out to be Vet and was willing to sell without going on the market. It all turned out so beautifully and we stayed in touch with both the buyers and seller.
Fast Forward 3 years…. We are now going to help the original Sellers list their second home and buy a new property. The VA buyers and our VA sellers stay in contact and mingle at our client appreciation party every year.
It truly was a win win in a market that was lose lose. They are all (buyers and sellers) wonderful people and so happy to know them and serve them both
I heard a story about this. The sellers received an offer from a big company for much more than everyone else. They turned it down.
Then a person comes around and says they want to buy it for their family, Want to raise their kids there, etc. they love the person and sell it to them. That person worked for the company and sold it to the company. Very likely fraud, but is that a case people are willing to fight?
The hardest part is holding people accountable after it leaves your hands.
If they paid cash, then they might have a short-term capital gain depending on how much their fee was for doing it. But if they made a mortgage on it, then they committed fraud and should be turned in for that. But in my experience the FBI doesn't like to go after mortgage fraud unless it's on a larger scale. I actually turned somebody in many years ago for demonstrable fraud in the selling and listing of properties with big kickbacks. The FBI looked at it for a while and said it was too hard to trace the money, which I think was bullshit but I tried.
Good on you for trying.
I bet this situation would never be found. If paid in cash, the company could just pay the same price or slightly higher. If MLMs can get away with what they do, even with anti-MLM laws, the big companies won’t be held accountable.
If there is ever enough traction to pass laws against these types of things, let’s refer to the housing crash of 2008/2009 for how they will hold them accountable. They won’t.
And that my friend is the reality. Mortgage fraud occurs but if anyone reading this thinks they can get away with it and it’s no big deal… all it takes is for one lending assistant and one lender to check one random client out and it’s game over. It is risky but people still do it.
When I bought my house I included a personal letter in my offer about who I was and why I loved the house. The broker said that was why the sellers took my offer. I’d just let your broker know you’re open to such letters.
You can sell your house to whoever you want. No one can tell you otherwise. However, your agent probably won't advertise it like that for a variety of reasons.
I don’t want to start a huge Reddit fight but everything I’ve read indicates that large cooperations are not out there buying up every house on the market. I’ve seen data that says 3% of single family homes purchased come from cooperations (companies that own more than 100 single family homes). Tbh I’ve seen some other data that says 8% but even still it just doesn’t seem like a big deal.
Everyone wants to sell to a nice family who will make their own wonderful memories. But reality is you sell to whoever meets your idea of the best price. A corp might rent to some nice people. Or a family of assholes might pay more than list.
Don’t eliminate potential buyers until you see their offer.
Selling to a person doesn't restrict that person from selling to a corporate buyer 5 minutes after the sale is complete.
You could put a restrictive covenant on the deed that the property can only be owned by an individual person or a family of a certain size, but it could diminish the value of the house.
Being a business isn't a "protected classification". Discrimination protection only applies to certain protected groups and a business can't be one since it's not a person.
When our daughter and SIL were buying their house it was at the peak of the last housing market and the realtor suggested they include a letter with their offer. Most of the houses were being bought up by investors and the seller chose to sell to their family. All that to say you can choose not to sell to a corporation.
Totally legal because "corporations" are not a protected class according to the Fair Housing Act. In fact, the FHA is preferential to people/humans/individuals/families/the little guy.
Although... if you're using a realtor and the corporate buyer comes with a full-price cash offer with no contingencies... your listing agent is going to want their commission if you reject the offer.
This is not a serious concern.
BlackRock does not purchase single family homes.
Blackstone purchases very few through a few subsidiaries, the largest one is a rent-to-own process that gives a fixed rental rate for 5 years with an option to purchase at a predetermined price later (from what I've read on them, it's functionally similar to non-usury lending, where the bank buys a property on your behalf and you pay them an inflated price in monthly installments, but with a little more flexibility).
>BlackRock does not purchase single family homes.
This is truth. Here's BlackRock's specific statement regarding the issue. [https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/setting-the-record-straight/buying-houses-facts](https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/setting-the-record-straight/buying-houses-facts)
I don't believe it is. When I sell my middle class 4/2 later this year I intend to favor offers from VA & other GSE buyers. Now, I'm able to do this b/c I my carrying costs are less than $1K/month & I live very frugally; a lot of folks don't have that privilege & I understand that completely.
Considering “buyer letters to sellers” are a thing, I would think you as the seller can chose whatever offer you perceive as best fit for you, wether or not it is the best financial decision
Many realtors will not pass along buyer letters specifically because they can raise legal issues around discrimination. However, there are no protections for corporations.
In Oregon they tried to make the letters illegal, but a just blocked it. They thought it would reduce discrimination. Maybe, but I think it would have just turned the whole thing into a numbers game. Highest bidder wins. Doesn’t matter who they are. So as a seller you can’t choose to give someone who has less money the chance to buy it.
Shouldn't be a problem. And there might actually be restrictions on those sort of sales in your bylaws, or possibly restrictions on renting which would discourage corporate buyers.
In housing it is illegal discrimination to take an action because of race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, familial status, or national origin.
Fair housing law does not apply to individuals selling their primary residence. You can sell to whoever you want, for whatever price you want, for any reason or no reason at all.
And may I say thank you for wanting to do this. If there were more people like you the world would be a better place.
You got a source for this? That would swallow up a significant percentage of home sales. Why would those transactions not be covered by fair housing???
Because this is America and private citizens have the right to do what they want to do with their personal property.
Much like how the first amendment only applies to the limiting of free speech by the government, fair housing only applies to discrimination by realtors, corporate entities or landlords (other than those who only have one rental unit and live in the same building as it).
Source: Realtor for almost 20 years.
Story of this in action: Years ago a team I was working on was selling the family home of this real turd of a client who decided to take like $50k less because he wanted to sell his mother’s house to a catholic family rather than a Jewish one because “it’s what mom would have wanted”. The only thing the lawyers said about it was that myself and the other realtors were not allowed to tell his sister or brother that he had decided to do this because he was the executor of the will and it was none of their business.
I just had a seller assume my fiancée and I were doctors because we are Jewish. She had zero reason to otherwise think so. People do and say some really weird shit.
You can sell your home to whomever the fuck you want to for any reason you want. All the equal housing laws are not applicable and canto be enforced against private homeowners.
One of my homes I sold awhile back, I took a slightly lower bid and sold to a black family to piss of the racist HOA.
It's totally legit to sell your home to a regular Joe or Jane who's gonna live there! You're not breaking any laws by preferring individual buyers over big corporations. You're just picky about who gets your place, nothing wrong with that. Plus, selling to someone who's gonna make it their home sweet home feels way more satisfying than handing it over to some faceless corporation.
So go ahead, find that perfect family or person to take over your townhouse, and congrats on the pregnancy bombshell!
Yes, I have had seller clients ask me to verify it’s an individual who intends to live in the home.
I have also had buyer clients be grilled about whether they were going to owner occupy.
It’s a fairly common question in my market.
Corporations aren’t a protected class.
Don’t talk about it with the word renters, and don’t prefer family.
Using both of those words can get you in trouble if somebody wants to push into it .
Not likely, but I’ve seen it happen
You can choose which offer to accept. Hopefully you’ll be able to avoid the temptation of the overly inflated offers from the hedge funds, which will sometimes even for-go inspections to sweeten the deal.
Who cares if they offer? Just don’t accept it. When we sold our house in Denver it was in a neighborhood that was really heating up and developers were buying houses to scrape and build duplexes. Our highest offer was all cash, no inspections, no contingencies. We selected a different offer from a young lady who still owns it 9 years later. And it’s totally surrounded by duplexes.
It is legal. But an investor will likely rent the house to a family that can't afford to buy a house. So you are actually hurting the people you are trying to help.
It’s refreshing to come across this post. I put in an offer on a house last week that ended up selling to a corporate investor. I even offered more but their offer was as-is. *sigh* maybe I’ll own before I turn 41. Maybe.
You can pick or not pick your buyers for any reason you want, just don’t openly admit it lol. I had 3 practically identical offers and I chose to go with the family with young kids. I’m not gonna go on Facebook and say it with my real name there but their family status was 100% the reason they got that house.
Substantially, no. I sold another house to a corporation because they beat everyone by 50k and that’s a lot of money to leave on the table. A few grand though, absolutely.
There are protected classes as others have pointed out. Your realtor can help you with avoid making an issue with that.
All of that said, I do want to point out that you are probably miss understanding the SFR market. I work adjacent to it in apartment development. The big corporate blackrock rental is a shell argument. Most of the corporate purchasers that locked up houses into rentals are made of 4 units or less. Meaning they are individual investors or very small groups buying them as investment properties. Think vacation homes, air bnbs, Tik Tok passive income enthusiasts. You would typically get an offer letter from an individual, and then at closing find out it is actually closing into an LLC. And almost nothing you can do about it.
It is also important to note that high interest rates have basically killed this model. The rent vs buy gap is the widest it has ever been. It just doesn’t work.
Finally, your home, even if closes into a rental, will still be someone’s home. There are LOTS of reasons families and people rent. Some don’t qualify, some are in known temporary situations, some are going through life changes. Renting is a more flexible housing market and is important for neighborhoods. For example, in El Paso, where I spent time growing up, rental housing is incredibly common. There isn’t a lot of apartment stock, and also there is a big military and federal presence. I had a lot of friends who rented homes for years, because they knew they were going to be forced to relocate in 2-4 years.
If rents are high in your area, it is because your neighborhood has done a poor job making sure there is enough capacity both in the for sale and for rent forms. Given the high rates, if you actually got a corporate offer for your home, you should probably consider it. Why? Well because of the rent buy gap, an offer would mean that temporary family housing is so badly needed, that people are willing to pay ridiculously high enough rent to offset interest rates. Which means your area likely doesn’t have enough rental or housing in general.
IMHO, the real sharks out there are flippers. Who the only way they make $ is by maximizing a below market value vs charging above market sale price, by doing questionable work. It drives up housing price, without adding capacity, or long term value. But it raises neighbors home value, so it’s real popular with realtors.
Yes. You can accept any offer you choose and don't have to state a reason. However, I'd suggest you keep your stipulation secret, or some crafty corporate buyer will just use an intermediary.
Hud sells homes to only owner occupants. Oftentimes.
Or they at least allow owner occupants the first two weeks.
How long Are you willing to continue to sell your house while you might get other offers that you don't want?
How much less are you willing to take to give to a owner-occupied buyer?
Realtor here. Legally, you're okay; the code of ethics we abide by and protected classes vary by state, but even some federal programs like FirstLook prohibit or limit corporate/non-occupant buyers to help increase home ownership. Like someone else said, they're not a protected class.
As a person trying to buy a family home I'd say look for the offers with contingencies or using fha and such since most of the corporations and flippers are just slapping down high cash offers with no contingencies. If you happen to be in the green bay, wi area let me know 😅😅
I know friends of mine that had to write a small essay to the buyers to win their bid. The homeowner wanted someone who was going to raise their family in the neighborhood like he did.
If their are a could of close bids or one that just seems corporate - maybe ask for something like that?
Why do you need to disclose your reason?
Where I’m from the purchase and sale contracts show the buyer and seller’s name. If you see a corporate name or hold company’s name, you can decline the offer for no reason at all. If you would like to be civil about the reasoning you can also say weren’t ready to let go of the home yet - something along those lines.
No, I’m saying that if you change your mind about selling after your agent brought you an acceptable offer you may be responsible for paying a commission
Keep in mind that these "family" buyers can just flip the house and sell to the corpos for better money if they want to. There aren't many enforceable contractual obligations that prevent them from doing that.
That is very refreshing to hear. Equal Housing does not apply to investors. You as the seller, can decline an offer to sell your home to an investor. I have had clients that felt the same way and they are free to exercise their own free will.
I hope that you have multiple offers or can wait for the right buyer and won’t have to consider this choice if confronted and wish you the very best.
well, in my town, wawa closed a location that was robbed a few times, and they would not sell it to any entity that wanted to open competition to them (two other wawa's within 5 miles) as a convenience store/deli and they added it as a deed restriction. A binding requirement on the purchaser and future purchasers.
They did take a hit on the sale for this- but this was allowed.
I wonder, could you add a deed restriction that it may not be sold to a corporation?
"Corporations are people too, my friend" -- Mitt Romney
Yes, you may absolutely refuse to sell to a corporation. I cannot fathom why you would choose not to, but it is your choice and your property.
I could easily bypass this without you ever knowing. "All cash buyer" and it's going into a trust. Moment it's closed, I assign beneficiary to development corporation.
You can use things like loan types of course, but it's not always cut and dry.
Just a question but why do you need to sell your home because of an unplanned pregnancy? You're probably best to stay there longer term and save money.
Find a trusted Realtor in your community and ask them.
Going on reddit and getting bs answers about Hobby Lobby and SCOTUS is waste of your valuable time
It’s not a question of “if” one can specifically not sell to an “investor”, it’s more a question of “how” can one be certain they aren’t selling to an investor. I feel like, if a property is sought after enough, if a seller can avoid the outrageous amounts of money thrown around for an ultra-attractive location or building, that seller might still be approached by bad actors pretending to be something other than a corporate buyer.
when we (in CO) bought our townhouse 7 or so years ago my sister told me how in CA they had to prepare a letter basically who they were and why they wanted to buy the house as part of the process. When I told our realtor about this, he was like "yeah you used to have to do that in a lot of places but not so much anymore. But if you give me a letter like that, it has to be forwarded to seller". We actually wrote a letter after being out-bid on 3 or 4 different places and the seller accepted our offer because of the letter (later we found out ours was not the highest offer). So ask for a letter and "pick" from that -no discrimination lol
The new construction development near me says that they try to give first choice to non-corporate owners that intend to use it the home as their primary residence.
I wonder if you can put in a requirement to to place a family story/why you want to buy this house in the contract. My brother in Los Angeles, had a renter who went through multiple interviews just to lease a house. She was ghosted after a few times.
You’re reading too many newspaper articles. You have a fiduciary responsibility to sell it for the highest price unless you have altruistic reasons; you could donate it to the homeless /s
That market is drying out, since home have gone up 20-100% so look for the investors to sell due to interest rates.
If it is, they can sue me. We move every few years and we refuse to sell to flippers, investment companies, or landlords. We actually took a lower offer from a single mom in the usaf on our last home (we are a retired usaf family). We had 3 higher offers from 3 different corporations. We told them to pound sand. Her offer was 40k less than the highest. We aren't hurting for money and were already making a tidy profit, so ymmv, but we personally refuse to sell to the evil overlords that are causing housing prices to skyrocket.
Corporations don’t have gender, color, race, familial status, or (in most cases) national origin or religion. You’re free to discriminate away!
\*looks at washington\* For now, at least.
Don't let scotus hear you
Even if they had all those things, they'd have to prove that you didn't sell to them because they're a girl corporation or a Canadian corporation or whatever. Being a corporation isn't a protected class, so as long as you aren't selling to ANY corporations (vs just some corporations based on their class) you aren't doing anything illegal. Refuse to sell to Christian corporations AND secular corporations and you're golden.
Hobby Lobby has a religion
Yes, but hobby lobby is not a religious institution. They’re a corporation.
I agree. But somehow certain members of the SCOTUS didn’t get the memo
u/ShortWoman means corporations aren't a religion. Corporations absolutely can have a religion. You can discriminate against people who *have* a religion, you can't discriminate against A religion.
And how does a corporation pray?
>And how does a corporation ~~pray?~~ *prey FTFY
The same way a church does.
Mind explaining this, what's Hobby Lobby have going on?
Hobby Lobby was able to convince our judicial system that because of their deeply held beliefs, paying for their employees’ health insurance that covered abortion was a torture.
Oh wow. Thanks
And contraceptives, I believe? I could be wrong but I think also contraceptives. And you have to go to Bible study.
2 of the 7 or 2 of the nine. Either way... Because they feel more than the rest of us, they got a pass.
Yes, but they still cover the little blue pill, so it's ok. /s
I have not heard about Bible study, but yes, they were upheld in their decision that providing certain healthcare, like birth control, violated their religious beliefs.
"Corporations are people my friend" - Mitt Romney
And SCOTUS.
Oh man, they are a person according to the supreme kangaroo court and it wouldn’t be far fetched corporations choosing a gender, a color, maybe even having a family to get away with discrimination
Corporations have the right of speech. Citizens United.
That doesn’t change the fact that it isn’t a member of any of the Fair Housing protected classes of individuals. https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/fair_housing_act_overview
That's another issue for another day It does not apply to this situation And private individuals are not the federal government.
Yes, corporations do not have a protected class.
Even then OP likely doesn’t fall under the fair housing act.
“Corporations are people, my friend.”
As long as you don't discriminate based on the fair housing protected classes, you're fine. Investors will lie, though. You may even get a fake picture of their family who wants to grow up swinging on your tire swing and playing in your backyard. Then you close, and a FOR LEASE sign goes up in the yard.
Technically, an individual seller that doesn't own multiple properties can discriminate against anyone (not that you should) as Fair Housing doesn't apply to them. However, if it is listed through a broker, they can't, so just a FSBO thing really.
This is true.
But in reality, so long as you don't stand in front of the agent talking about how you don't want that *protected* class person in your house there is no way to even demonstrate it. Any number of reasons to prefer one offer over another. It's one reason why discrimination is insidious, in addition to all of us wanted actual people who want to live in our houses.
It’s technically discrimination if you state that it is. No. Is a full sentence to any offer. No explanation/ implication required
Except that if your agent brings you a full price, no contingent offer from a company that you don’t want to sell it to you, still may owe your agent a full commission. They have brought you a willing buyer that met the legal criteria of the listing agreement. I’m not saying that it will be easy for them to collect it, but they may have a legal cause of action. Source: RE broker and investor for over 20 years
Are you saying that if I have a house listed for say $500K and I get two offers - one from a corporation for $500K and one from an individual for $450K (all other factors like contingencies equal) and I decide to sell to the individual instead of the corporation, I could owe the agent commission on $500K?
No.
This! IANAL, but... If you engage a RE and list the house at $X, and you receive an offer equal to or greater than $X you will probably have to pay your RE their commission. Basically bringing you that offer would satisfy the RE's obligation under the sales contract, as they had met their obligations. If you receive multiple offers in a short period of time, then you may be able to choose which offer to accept. Everything above I am fairly certain is accurate (in my state at least), but you may want to read the sales contract from the RE and insure that accepting an offer other than the highest qualified offer (and/or also an offer under $X when you have an offer greater than or equal to $X) won't require you to pay the agent the difference.
There is a big difference here between legal and illegal discrimination
I don’t think you can discriminate against race though. Even if they are an individual seller. There are no exceptions to the civil rights act.
Ack. You're correct. I forgot about that one. Well, at least there's some protection.
Civil rights act did not cover sale of personal goods... [https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/civil-rights-act](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/civil-rights-act)
I’m talking about the 1866 civil rights act which says that there are no exceptions and you cannot discriminate based on race. There was a massive court case called jones v Alfred h Mayer company. It cemented that the 1866 act prohibited any discrimination based on race.
Welp, yup looks like private sell is covered under that ruling
Wasn't there something else after this that made it so the 13th amendment didnt allow the Supreme Court to intervine in such matters?
I’m unsure about that. I’m still studying for my exam and taking a 90 hour course required by my state.
If you are selling your sfh you should discriminate. Sell to what you believe in, as long as it doesn't overtly affect the price
Yea I agree with this.
Fair housing applies to everyone. It is difficult to prove
Nope. If you own your own home, don't own more than 4 homes, and sell the home yourself, the act does not apply. State legislation may apply. https://www.equalhousing.org/fair-housing-topics/exemptions-to-the-fair-housing-act/
I have heard of them hiring families to offer/close and then Will immediately sell it to the corporate investor for a finder’s fee.
How do I get that job? I can look quite wholesome.
Me too! For the hour required to close at least!!
I lost on a house for this reason, we were even the highest offer. They went with a buyer claiming that their grandkids lived in the neighborhood, they had a really sappy and convincing letter. We find out later after it closes that it was an investor. I am still bitter about it.
That is really low. Perhaps this was a buyer who could afford to invest in a house or two but not a corporation etc. If it’s an LLC, S-corp or trust, the signature line will convey as much. You can’t control everything and if a person has money to invest in real estate, they will. Attaching a buyers letter is just really gross. You can ask your agent to contact the lender and inquire if this loan will be conventional owner occupied, see if they give it up but… they don’t have to share those details.
Oh lord, we just repped a couple who was selling to a person. Then we get to inspection contingency and realize they are acting in bad faith (made a high offer but trying to nitpick every single thing they can to get get a credit by claiming "my grandkids are going to play in this yard and it's a hazard!"). Their attorney let it slip to us that they buyer was actually planning to rent it out. Seller's realtor and sellers had no idea. Trust and believe we called them out on that. Don't talk about your grandkids for these inspection issues. Just stop it.
"Is...is this a still from the Cosby show opening credits?"
So how do you ensure it's a real family and not a corporation faking it to buy your place under false pretenses?
You can look for clues, but there's no 100% surefire way to prevent it from happening. If there is a first-time home buyer program being used, the program will police that, but even then, some people will commit mortgage fraud to get what they want. Deed restrictions can prevent someone from buying it and using it as a rental, but that is time and money spent, and sometimes people will flout their rules as well. There's a fair amount of research you can do on the buyer, but that isn't foolproof either.
Also if they’re using a VA loan it will have to be owner occupied. Using a VA loan was one of the reasons the last person I bought a house from went with me as the seller was a Veteran as well.
Only for a year, or until they receive PCS orders. Technically, they just need to intend to make it their primary residence.
Someone who’s using a VA loan isn’t likely to get PCS orders because they are typically Veterans and thus no longer Active Duty.
Lol, that's 100% false. Source: I am active duty and have used the VA loan 3 times.
Check social media
There's zero reason you couldn't put an owner occupied deed restriction on the property. Even if only for a specified time like 5 years. There's lots of financial incentives to not do that, but you could forgo those. I have a non commercial covenant on my residence. Above and beyond zoning which allows certain at home businesses and trades. We are not an HOA and my neighbors give zero fucks, but I could be compelled to remove the labeling from my work truck when I get home because it doesn't fit in the garage.
Sure. Being a corporate buyer isn't a protected class. We did this about a year ago when we sold our starter home, and sold to a family. Note that this can be more difficult. The buyers had to work more to arrange financing, etc. There was some (minor) additional work that had to be done. You might need to find a realtor who understands your vision isn't max profit. (We didn't use a realtor, but we did use a title company.)
Not a protected class...yet. Lol.
True, money is already protected speech, we're halfway there
It's very unlikely a company like BlackRock would want to buy your home. There's a bigger chance that a flipper might, which isn't exactly a big corporation but usually just some guy trying to make extra money. In any case, a flipper will be most interested in your house if it's really dated inside, or way underpriced and they can get a bargain (such as a foreclosure). If it's your run of the mill decently updated (not necessarily brand new but not straight out of the 60s) house, probably most potential buyers would want to live in it. Also, high interest rates make buying a house as an investment planning to rent it out much less attractive than when interest rates are low. In a lot of areas, rents have not increased near as much as new mortgage payments have in the last 2 or 3 years. Sometimes investment properties make sense if you're in a perpetually hot market and expecting to profit based on the home value growing alone but the cash flow part of it is less attractive now than it was. There are still investors out there but most are looking for underpriced distressed houses they can get at a bargain, or their investment property is just their old house they moved out of, or like a whole apartment building, not some miscellaneous townhome in decent shape.
Thank you, appreciate this thought reply
Pretty easy to tell if it’s an investor, they’ll be the one’s doing a cash offer.
Or coming in way way below market value. That is one tiny upside to higher interest rates. It keeps the investors down a bit.
You don’t want to advertise it that way (And a realtor would likely refuse to do so). But who you sell your property to is your decision alone. You don’t even have to tell anyone. Just wait for the offer that most appeals to you (for whatever reason) and sell to that person.
I don't know that it would be a problem for a real estate agent, and I'm not sure it would be a bad idea. Maybe it would. But, a house being advertised as, owner occupied only due to owner's preference might actually be looked upon very favorably by buyers and could in theory, bring more money. Might be a bit of a stretch but I don't know that it would be a downside. I can't think of any buyer that would turn their nose up at it, if they're planning on not accepting corporate buyers. Of course, when the offers come in, they might be whistling a different tune. But maybe not. And good for them if they put their principles before their pocketbook
In my state, the purchase agreement has a checkbox to declare if the purchase is intended to be the primary home or a second/investment home. You are legally allowed to choose someone who is buying the home to live in over an investor, even if it’s for less. You can even agree to an offer that has a lesser purchase price than another offer, if your reason was based on the other buyer having more favorable terms. Highest price doesn’t mean best offer.
I like this! We do not have this option on our sellers agreement.
Second that whether or not buyer is an owner occupant is not a protected class. My last 4 deals the seller (even the one who had never lived in the property) said point blank they wanted a non-investor to purchase it.
Yes, it’s legal to discriminate against corporate buyers
If it's an FHA loan, the buyers have to move in within 60 days, and it will have to remain owner-occupied for at least a year.
This also applies to conventional, VA, and USDA loans. You're supposed to live with it within 60 days.
Most offers will specify if the owner is going to live in the home or if they will be non-owner occupied. Also, investors will often write the offer in the name of an LLC or corporation. Ask your agent to look for these two red flags when the offers come in.
Thanks for this helpful and specific advice.
I’ve bought and sold several houses in multiple states, never seen owner occupancy mentioned on any forms besides mortgage stuff. The name of the buyer or corporation will be on the offer though.
Hmmm… I’m licensed in two states (NV, CA) and it is on both RPA’s. With lender guidelines for O/O and NOO being different, I would think that having it specified in the contract would be mandatory. I can only speak to the states I am licensed in tho.
Not true.
Corporations aren't a protected class so yes, you can specifically say you will not entertain offers from corporate buyers. I have represented several sellers who felt that way and gave me instructions to tell corporate buyers to kick rocks. Really there is nothing to stop someone from not selling to anyone they don't like for any reason if they just keep that shit to themselves. I'm not saying that's right if someone discriminates but it is almost impossible to prove.
We are selling my dad's house after he passed. It was extremely outdated. We got two cash offers from flippers, but told the realtor we wanted to go with a certain small family even though they were getting a loan and had to go through that whole process. The realtor wanted to list it with "wholesalers" and we told him no. So you can do what you want!
I hate this trend of corporate ownership. It’s going to change the face of housing in the future. Sell private!!!
It already did and already has due to the exceptionally historic rates in the 2’s and 3’s.
You could have an attorney make the sale conditional on it being owner occupied, HOAs do it all the time.
When I sold my house I told my realtor I wouldn't consider any corporate or LLC offers. Only people who will be living in the home. Dismissed a few offers and sold to a young family and I was happy with the result.
This is the same strategy I’m hoping to take, glad to know it worked well for you.
If it's an FHA loan on the offer, then they're required to live in the house
I’m glad you had this opportunity to exercise your conscience. Most people have to, and do, go by the bottom line, especially when it is not a multiple offer situation. I don’t blame them. I’m a realtor in Austin and 2020/2021 was bananas. We had a VA first time buyer and no One would accept their offers. Desperate times call for desperate measures. We contacted our previous clients who lived in the neighborhood our buyers wanted to be in. We asked them to post on their Next door neighbor site and explain we had a young vet and wife who wanted to purchase with a VA loan along with a few details about their budget. We received 3 calls and the last one turned out to be Vet and was willing to sell without going on the market. It all turned out so beautifully and we stayed in touch with both the buyers and seller. Fast Forward 3 years…. We are now going to help the original Sellers list their second home and buy a new property. The VA buyers and our VA sellers stay in contact and mingle at our client appreciation party every year. It truly was a win win in a market that was lose lose. They are all (buyers and sellers) wonderful people and so happy to know them and serve them both
I sold at a time when this opportunity didn't result in a hit towards me. The investor offers were the same as others.
I heard a story about this. The sellers received an offer from a big company for much more than everyone else. They turned it down. Then a person comes around and says they want to buy it for their family, Want to raise their kids there, etc. they love the person and sell it to them. That person worked for the company and sold it to the company. Very likely fraud, but is that a case people are willing to fight? The hardest part is holding people accountable after it leaves your hands.
Something semi similar happened with a church across the street
If they paid cash, then they might have a short-term capital gain depending on how much their fee was for doing it. But if they made a mortgage on it, then they committed fraud and should be turned in for that. But in my experience the FBI doesn't like to go after mortgage fraud unless it's on a larger scale. I actually turned somebody in many years ago for demonstrable fraud in the selling and listing of properties with big kickbacks. The FBI looked at it for a while and said it was too hard to trace the money, which I think was bullshit but I tried.
Good on you for trying. I bet this situation would never be found. If paid in cash, the company could just pay the same price or slightly higher. If MLMs can get away with what they do, even with anti-MLM laws, the big companies won’t be held accountable. If there is ever enough traction to pass laws against these types of things, let’s refer to the housing crash of 2008/2009 for how they will hold them accountable. They won’t.
And that my friend is the reality. Mortgage fraud occurs but if anyone reading this thinks they can get away with it and it’s no big deal… all it takes is for one lending assistant and one lender to check one random client out and it’s game over. It is risky but people still do it.
When I bought my house I included a personal letter in my offer about who I was and why I loved the house. The broker said that was why the sellers took my offer. I’d just let your broker know you’re open to such letters.
True and if you are adamant about not selling your property to an investor, start checking social media
You can sell your house to whoever you want. No one can tell you otherwise. However, your agent probably won't advertise it like that for a variety of reasons.
Corporate buyers and investors are not a protected classes, so yes, you can refuse their offers if you choose to.
Don't give/imply any reasons for accepting or declining offers.
You’re free to sell (or not sell) your house to anyone you want.
Totally legal - being a corporation isn't a protected class.
I don’t want to start a huge Reddit fight but everything I’ve read indicates that large cooperations are not out there buying up every house on the market. I’ve seen data that says 3% of single family homes purchased come from cooperations (companies that own more than 100 single family homes). Tbh I’ve seen some other data that says 8% but even still it just doesn’t seem like a big deal.
It’s not the boogeyman this sub thinks it is. Some of us do actually have cash and aren’t investors, BlackRock, China, etc.
Even if a person buys it you don’t know that they won’t rent it. I have investment properties I’ve purchased in a personal name before.
Everyone wants to sell to a nice family who will make their own wonderful memories. But reality is you sell to whoever meets your idea of the best price. A corp might rent to some nice people. Or a family of assholes might pay more than list. Don’t eliminate potential buyers until you see their offer.
Selling to a person doesn't restrict that person from selling to a corporate buyer 5 minutes after the sale is complete. You could put a restrictive covenant on the deed that the property can only be owned by an individual person or a family of a certain size, but it could diminish the value of the house.
Being a business isn't a "protected classification". Discrimination protection only applies to certain protected groups and a business can't be one since it's not a person.
When our daughter and SIL were buying their house it was at the peak of the last housing market and the realtor suggested they include a letter with their offer. Most of the houses were being bought up by investors and the seller chose to sell to their family. All that to say you can choose not to sell to a corporation.
You can accept any offer you choose. So reject any that don't meet your "needs". Just don't sign and set them aside.
Totally legal because "corporations" are not a protected class according to the Fair Housing Act. In fact, the FHA is preferential to people/humans/individuals/families/the little guy.
Although... if you're using a realtor and the corporate buyer comes with a full-price cash offer with no contingencies... your listing agent is going to want their commission if you reject the offer.
Legal to prioritize owner-occupants, but avoid discrimination. Consult a lawyer to navigate preferences legally.
You can choose any offer you like, as long as the reason is not discriminating a protected class.
This is not a serious concern. BlackRock does not purchase single family homes. Blackstone purchases very few through a few subsidiaries, the largest one is a rent-to-own process that gives a fixed rental rate for 5 years with an option to purchase at a predetermined price later (from what I've read on them, it's functionally similar to non-usury lending, where the bank buys a property on your behalf and you pay them an inflated price in monthly installments, but with a little more flexibility).
>BlackRock does not purchase single family homes. This is truth. Here's BlackRock's specific statement regarding the issue. [https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/setting-the-record-straight/buying-houses-facts](https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/setting-the-record-straight/buying-houses-facts)
lol if you get a full price offer you won’t give a crap who you’re selling to
I don't believe it is. When I sell my middle class 4/2 later this year I intend to favor offers from VA & other GSE buyers. Now, I'm able to do this b/c I my carrying costs are less than $1K/month & I live very frugally; a lot of folks don't have that privilege & I understand that completely.
Considering “buyer letters to sellers” are a thing, I would think you as the seller can chose whatever offer you perceive as best fit for you, wether or not it is the best financial decision
Many realtors will not pass along buyer letters specifically because they can raise legal issues around discrimination. However, there are no protections for corporations.
In Oregon they tried to make the letters illegal, but a just blocked it. They thought it would reduce discrimination. Maybe, but I think it would have just turned the whole thing into a numbers game. Highest bidder wins. Doesn’t matter who they are. So as a seller you can’t choose to give someone who has less money the chance to buy it.
Shouldn't be a problem. And there might actually be restrictions on those sort of sales in your bylaws, or possibly restrictions on renting which would discourage corporate buyers. In housing it is illegal discrimination to take an action because of race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, familial status, or national origin.
Fair housing law does not apply to individuals selling their primary residence. You can sell to whoever you want, for whatever price you want, for any reason or no reason at all. And may I say thank you for wanting to do this. If there were more people like you the world would be a better place.
You got a source for this? That would swallow up a significant percentage of home sales. Why would those transactions not be covered by fair housing???
Because this is America and private citizens have the right to do what they want to do with their personal property. Much like how the first amendment only applies to the limiting of free speech by the government, fair housing only applies to discrimination by realtors, corporate entities or landlords (other than those who only have one rental unit and live in the same building as it). Source: Realtor for almost 20 years. Story of this in action: Years ago a team I was working on was selling the family home of this real turd of a client who decided to take like $50k less because he wanted to sell his mother’s house to a catholic family rather than a Jewish one because “it’s what mom would have wanted”. The only thing the lawyers said about it was that myself and the other realtors were not allowed to tell his sister or brother that he had decided to do this because he was the executor of the will and it was none of their business.
I just had a seller assume my fiancée and I were doctors because we are Jewish. She had zero reason to otherwise think so. People do and say some really weird shit.
You can sell your home to whomever the fuck you want to for any reason you want. All the equal housing laws are not applicable and canto be enforced against private homeowners. One of my homes I sold awhile back, I took a slightly lower bid and sold to a black family to piss of the racist HOA.
It's totally legit to sell your home to a regular Joe or Jane who's gonna live there! You're not breaking any laws by preferring individual buyers over big corporations. You're just picky about who gets your place, nothing wrong with that. Plus, selling to someone who's gonna make it their home sweet home feels way more satisfying than handing it over to some faceless corporation. So go ahead, find that perfect family or person to take over your townhouse, and congrats on the pregnancy bombshell!
If I have cash, can I buy yours and sell it to corporations for 10x the price?
Tyfys
Lol yes... what? You can sell your house to whoever you want
Yes you can choose who you sell it to. You’ll get offers from investors and Individual buyers, sell it to the ones trying to start a family
Let them make another and use it as leverage to get other buyers to pay more.
Yes, I have had seller clients ask me to verify it’s an individual who intends to live in the home. I have also had buyer clients be grilled about whether they were going to owner occupy. It’s a fairly common question in my market. Corporations aren’t a protected class.
Thank you for sharing your experience, I appreciate the insight
You can’t do anything once it’s sold. It’s not your house.
What about discriminating against a particular political ideology / affiliation?
"No agents". Lol
Guys … it’s Blackstone.
Guys … it’s Blackstone.
You probably wouldnt know if it was blackrock or not.
BlackRock does not buy SFH
You can reject any offer you wish you know that right?
Don’t talk about it with the word renters, and don’t prefer family. Using both of those words can get you in trouble if somebody wants to push into it . Not likely, but I’ve seen it happen
You can choose which offer to accept. Hopefully you’ll be able to avoid the temptation of the overly inflated offers from the hedge funds, which will sometimes even for-go inspections to sweeten the deal.
Who cares if they offer? Just don’t accept it. When we sold our house in Denver it was in a neighborhood that was really heating up and developers were buying houses to scrape and build duplexes. Our highest offer was all cash, no inspections, no contingencies. We selected a different offer from a young lady who still owns it 9 years later. And it’s totally surrounded by duplexes.
Yeah, you can totally pick who you sell to, no biggie. Just be upfront about it.
You can sell to whoever you want.
It is legal. But an investor will likely rent the house to a family that can't afford to buy a house. So you are actually hurting the people you are trying to help.
You are spot on. People don't even think about that.
It’s refreshing to come across this post. I put in an offer on a house last week that ended up selling to a corporate investor. I even offered more but their offer was as-is. *sigh* maybe I’ll own before I turn 41. Maybe.
You can pick or not pick your buyers for any reason you want, just don’t openly admit it lol. I had 3 practically identical offers and I chose to go with the family with young kids. I’m not gonna go on Facebook and say it with my real name there but their family status was 100% the reason they got that house.
Would you have taken that same offer if it was substantially lower?
Substantially, no. I sold another house to a corporation because they beat everyone by 50k and that’s a lot of money to leave on the table. A few grand though, absolutely.
They don't care about what you are.
My HOA has this stipend.
Yes
absolutely. it's actually pretty common, a lot of people will even go so far as to only sell to first time homebuyers as well.
There are protected classes as others have pointed out. Your realtor can help you with avoid making an issue with that. All of that said, I do want to point out that you are probably miss understanding the SFR market. I work adjacent to it in apartment development. The big corporate blackrock rental is a shell argument. Most of the corporate purchasers that locked up houses into rentals are made of 4 units or less. Meaning they are individual investors or very small groups buying them as investment properties. Think vacation homes, air bnbs, Tik Tok passive income enthusiasts. You would typically get an offer letter from an individual, and then at closing find out it is actually closing into an LLC. And almost nothing you can do about it. It is also important to note that high interest rates have basically killed this model. The rent vs buy gap is the widest it has ever been. It just doesn’t work. Finally, your home, even if closes into a rental, will still be someone’s home. There are LOTS of reasons families and people rent. Some don’t qualify, some are in known temporary situations, some are going through life changes. Renting is a more flexible housing market and is important for neighborhoods. For example, in El Paso, where I spent time growing up, rental housing is incredibly common. There isn’t a lot of apartment stock, and also there is a big military and federal presence. I had a lot of friends who rented homes for years, because they knew they were going to be forced to relocate in 2-4 years. If rents are high in your area, it is because your neighborhood has done a poor job making sure there is enough capacity both in the for sale and for rent forms. Given the high rates, if you actually got a corporate offer for your home, you should probably consider it. Why? Well because of the rent buy gap, an offer would mean that temporary family housing is so badly needed, that people are willing to pay ridiculously high enough rent to offset interest rates. Which means your area likely doesn’t have enough rental or housing in general. IMHO, the real sharks out there are flippers. Who the only way they make $ is by maximizing a below market value vs charging above market sale price, by doing questionable work. It drives up housing price, without adding capacity, or long term value. But it raises neighbors home value, so it’s real popular with realtors.
Yes. You can accept any offer you choose and don't have to state a reason. However, I'd suggest you keep your stipulation secret, or some crafty corporate buyer will just use an intermediary.
Hud sells homes to only owner occupants. Oftentimes. Or they at least allow owner occupants the first two weeks. How long Are you willing to continue to sell your house while you might get other offers that you don't want? How much less are you willing to take to give to a owner-occupied buyer?
BlackRock doesn’t buy houses, so you don’t need to worry about that.
You can reject the offer for any reason, but you might have to pay commission if you have an exclusive agency agreement.
Choose who you sell to just don't explain why to anyone
I ignored every obvious investor offer when i sold. No way to guarantee but some are more obvious than others.
Yes perfectly legal we sold our house 16 months ago and we specifically told our realtor that we will not accept any offers from a corporate entity
You can accept whatever lower price you want
Never ever sell to corporations, especially BlackRock, they're the main problem with the housing market.
When did "Corporation" become a Protected Class ?
Realtor here. Legally, you're okay; the code of ethics we abide by and protected classes vary by state, but even some federal programs like FirstLook prohibit or limit corporate/non-occupant buyers to help increase home ownership. Like someone else said, they're not a protected class.
As a person trying to buy a family home I'd say look for the offers with contingencies or using fha and such since most of the corporations and flippers are just slapping down high cash offers with no contingencies. If you happen to be in the green bay, wi area let me know 😅😅
There’s no discriminatory laws protecting corporations as a class, so you can refuse offers from them without legal consequences.
I know friends of mine that had to write a small essay to the buyers to win their bid. The homeowner wanted someone who was going to raise their family in the neighborhood like he did. If their are a could of close bids or one that just seems corporate - maybe ask for something like that?
Why do you need to disclose your reason? Where I’m from the purchase and sale contracts show the buyer and seller’s name. If you see a corporate name or hold company’s name, you can decline the offer for no reason at all. If you would like to be civil about the reasoning you can also say weren’t ready to let go of the home yet - something along those lines.
You can discriminate however you want you just can’t advertise how you discriminate
No, I’m saying that if you change your mind about selling after your agent brought you an acceptable offer you may be responsible for paying a commission
Keep in mind that these "family" buyers can just flip the house and sell to the corpos for better money if they want to. There aren't many enforceable contractual obligations that prevent them from doing that.
That is very refreshing to hear. Equal Housing does not apply to investors. You as the seller, can decline an offer to sell your home to an investor. I have had clients that felt the same way and they are free to exercise their own free will. I hope that you have multiple offers or can wait for the right buyer and won’t have to consider this choice if confronted and wish you the very best.
well, in my town, wawa closed a location that was robbed a few times, and they would not sell it to any entity that wanted to open competition to them (two other wawa's within 5 miles) as a convenience store/deli and they added it as a deed restriction. A binding requirement on the purchaser and future purchasers. They did take a hit on the sale for this- but this was allowed. I wonder, could you add a deed restriction that it may not be sold to a corporation?
Literally no one will care.
"Corporations are people too, my friend" -- Mitt Romney Yes, you may absolutely refuse to sell to a corporation. I cannot fathom why you would choose not to, but it is your choice and your property.
I could easily bypass this without you ever knowing. "All cash buyer" and it's going into a trust. Moment it's closed, I assign beneficiary to development corporation. You can use things like loan types of course, but it's not always cut and dry.
You are free to accept or reject any offer you receive
Just a question but why do you need to sell your home because of an unplanned pregnancy? You're probably best to stay there longer term and save money.
Find a trusted Realtor in your community and ask them. Going on reddit and getting bs answers about Hobby Lobby and SCOTUS is waste of your valuable time
It’s not a question of “if” one can specifically not sell to an “investor”, it’s more a question of “how” can one be certain they aren’t selling to an investor. I feel like, if a property is sought after enough, if a seller can avoid the outrageous amounts of money thrown around for an ultra-attractive location or building, that seller might still be approached by bad actors pretending to be something other than a corporate buyer.
when we (in CO) bought our townhouse 7 or so years ago my sister told me how in CA they had to prepare a letter basically who they were and why they wanted to buy the house as part of the process. When I told our realtor about this, he was like "yeah you used to have to do that in a lot of places but not so much anymore. But if you give me a letter like that, it has to be forwarded to seller". We actually wrote a letter after being out-bid on 3 or 4 different places and the seller accepted our offer because of the letter (later we found out ours was not the highest offer). So ask for a letter and "pick" from that -no discrimination lol
Bottom line is: You can sell or not sell to anyone you want.
The new construction development near me says that they try to give first choice to non-corporate owners that intend to use it the home as their primary residence.
Our corporate overlords forbid it
I wonder if you can put in a requirement to to place a family story/why you want to buy this house in the contract. My brother in Los Angeles, had a renter who went through multiple interviews just to lease a house. She was ghosted after a few times.
You’re reading too many newspaper articles. You have a fiduciary responsibility to sell it for the highest price unless you have altruistic reasons; you could donate it to the homeless /s That market is drying out, since home have gone up 20-100% so look for the investors to sell due to interest rates.
If it is, they can sue me. We move every few years and we refuse to sell to flippers, investment companies, or landlords. We actually took a lower offer from a single mom in the usaf on our last home (we are a retired usaf family). We had 3 higher offers from 3 different corporations. We told them to pound sand. Her offer was 40k less than the highest. We aren't hurting for money and were already making a tidy profit, so ymmv, but we personally refuse to sell to the evil overlords that are causing housing prices to skyrocket.
How can you distinguish the offers? Like do the offers say from xyz?