Real Estate Law USA.com

I am trying to rent a house in Texas. I am looking to move in just me and my girlfriend soon to be fiance. I was told by three different real estate agencies that they only rent to families/married couples. Can this really be true? Isn’t like saying I am not renting to you because your white? Stereotyping?

My office is listing a house which has an inspection report done a year ago. The owners do not want to make notations on the inspection about what they fixed (this is just laziness). My employer (I am a realtor but work only as an assistant…realtors have to much pressure!) said that the owners *have* to disclose the inspection to potential buyers, since it is less that 7 years old. I have failed to find any real estate law that this is the case. I know they have to disclose deficiencies and some still remain….but where is the law on this and is it true they have to disclose the inspection (is so, where is the law?)

I am in Texas.

Thanks!!
sorry for the horrible spelling, at work trying to figure this out and all…

My question is regarding to Complaint File No. 92797 mailed to TREC in Texas. Current TREC members and Mrs. Della Lindquist, Director of Real Estate Enforcement in Texas don’t see the followings are any violations:

1) Seller is a licensed saleperson in TX. She sold a property, her own restaurant, to me. She did ever tell me she is a real estate agent throughout the sale until close. Is it not a violation?
–> TREC does not see any violation
2) Seller’s mother is the main chef. Seller (remember she is RE licensee), did not tell me any family relationship, even when I asked. Is it not a violation?
–> TREC answers this is not a violation
3) Seller advertised on a local paper money can be got back w/in 6 mos. In fact, I had to cover big loss every month for almost a year.
–> as seller is a licensee, is it not a violation?
=> TREC says it is not violation
4) Seller changed the Bill of Sales to a lower price than what I paid her in the Sale Contract. Probably she is playing with tax on gain. Is it not considered any kind of violation?
=> TREC does not see any violation

So, if all of these are not violation based on answered from Texas Real Estate Enforcement Department, then:
- Buyers in Texas should be careful and alerted this may happen to you similarly done by Texas RE agents, as TREC does not see any violations.
- Texas RE licensed agents, it could be OK for you doing similar ways as Texas Real Estate Enforcement departments will never consider violations. This can help you agents to sell easier.

It seems either Real Estate Laws in Texas has been changed, OR Real Estate Laws in Texas is just for reading, not for understanding, following, and executing properly.
typo in question 1) should be corrected as:

She did NOT ever tell me she is a real estate agent throughout the sale until close. Is it not a violation?

Pretty soon we’re expecting a pretty big check due to a law suit and are hoping to spend cash on a new home. We have been searching around Texas (specifically Dallas) and have found several homes around what we were looking to spend. So let’s say we buy a house for $40,000 cash, what would our closing costs? And do you know of anyway to avoid paying closing costs?

Would we have to pay a Realtor in order to even search homes? And last but not least, if the owner is listing through a real estate agent, and we offer them cash, can they skip the whole Realtor process?

Thanks. And before anyone suggests it, I will definitely be getting a home inspection before purchasing. lol I have seen some major horror stories. I certainly don’t want that to be us.

We are currently leasing a home and would like to buy the home. We have exchanged emails with the homeowner and he is very willing to work something out. We are talking about owner finance. In our last email, he said something like Texas made it a lot harder for landlords to get into these things as they used to take advantages of Tenants with poor credit. Please search around and let me know if you find any good option we can work it out.

We have researched contract for deed option and various others and cannot find anything suitable. Our credit would be defined as fair at this point. He is very willing to work with us, just wants everything to be fair. Does anyone have any suggestions? We would really like this place and are interested in owner finance, lease to buy, whatever. Any information would be greatly appreciated. THanks.

I’m wanting to rent out my cousin’s home for her while she is away, military. I have been looking into laws regulating this. According to the law My cousin or I should be "real estate brokers". Is there anything that says that a private person can rent out their own home or another home that isn’t theirs. I guess I would be the property manager.

I work for a commercial real estate company in Phoenix and will be moving to Houston in a couple of months. My current position (and future position) does not require that I have a real estate license to be able to perform any of my job functions. I am not involved in real estate sales in any shape, however being licensed is beneficial in my field.

Since I am currently a licensee in Arizona, I assume I will only have to take credits and courses to cover Texas-specific real estate laws and practices, can anyone confirm this? If not, any information about the Texas licensing process would be helpful.

Hi, I’m buying a condo in Texas. The toilet is broken and the little old lady said she’s not fixing it….By law, can she pull this over on me or am I stuck fixing a toilet? The contract was drawn up, but it was a rough draft (I think) Should I play hardball with her or just have it fixed myself? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

My question involves real estate located in the State of: TEXAS

The house my husband and I are renting was recently foreclosed. There are a lot of things that I feel hurt the Plaintiffs case, such as we have been in contact with 2 different law firms one of which told us we had 60 days to be out before we would be evicted also we never received a notice to vacate or any written notice. I believe they notified the homeowner but we were renting through a property management company and we were never informed verbally or written that we needed to move until we received a notice saying we needed to appear in court. It has been less than 30 days since the house was foreclosed and we received a Petition for Forcible Detainer and with it was a Military Service Affidavit stating that the named defendant is not active duty signed and notatrized but my husband IS active duty military. Will this error in their paperwork effect the case? I used to be a property manager for apartments in FL and AK and with our evictions if we had an error in our paperwork we had to re-file everything or the case would be thrown out. I do not know if this is the same in this situation or in Texas.

I sincerely appreciate any advice.

Ok here is the scoop…Your are going to help out a family member whos credit needs some work and who can’t qualify for a home loan…
Your combined net income is 250k- you have great credit. You offer to go into a deal with a family member, to help them get into a house sooner than next year . You offer to give them 20% down for a house in the most desired area of the city-you’ll make money if you have to sell… You are the main borrower, and a non accupant of the house… Here are my questions..
1)Can their name be on the title?
2) If the lease to own payment is the same as the mortgage payment is that earned income from the property?
4)Say you buy the house for 200K and after 2 years when they are ready to purchase the assested value is 250k - can it be sold for the original purchased price?
5) How is it claimed at tax time as an investment property if it is not making money just enough to cover the property tax and the mortgage payments?
Thanks