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> First off there's a variety of fees (title, title transfer, title insurance, escrow, HOA docs, miscellaneous city and county fees) that are split in a general

> First off there's a variety of fees (title, title transfer, title insurance, escrow, HOA docs, miscellaneous city and county fees) that are split in a generally accepted (but un-recorded anywhere) manner. The buyer's agent would know of a fair split, the seller's agent will pile it all on the buyer in the hopes that it will be accepted. This is a quirk of the industry. A 'fair' and simple way of dealing with this is to make the buyer pay everything, then adjust how we think about home prices accordingly. If you need to pay 10,000 additional to attain a home, that should be included in your mental model of how the particular home is priced. HoAs are a quirk of the US land-system, having some kind of quasi-democractic process over common territory. In the UK, there are only home estates, wherein the land is actually owned by a 3rd party and people who own the structures built on the land instead pay ground rent to the 3rd party. There's no democracy because ownership is to a single party. Is the UK's system better than the USA's? I'm not 100% sure, but certainly it is proof that alternatives can thrive and realtors are unnecessary so long as you make further changes to the system.

prostoalex 10y ago
> A 'fair' and simple way of dealing with this is to make the buyer pay everything, then adjust how we think about home prices accordingly. Yep, totally agreed. If the seller wants to make his property more attractive by taking care of some of those expenses, have them just lower the price accordingly. > HoAs are a quirk of the US land-system, having some kind of quasi-democractic process over common territory. In the UK, there are only home estates, wherein the land is actually owned by a 3rd party and people who own the structures built on the land instead pay ground rent to the 3rd party. How do multi-family housing units operate? Here are some examples of what an HOA might take care of (and charge monthly fee): * care and maintenance of common ground areas, like lawns, trees, sidewalks, driveways * care and maintenance of shared amenities, such as pool, outdoor spa, gym * roof maintenance and replacement * combined utility billing (water, garbage, rarely electricity, sometimes cable and wired Internet) when bulk purchase results in cheaper per-unit rate for everyone else A few of those things are not straightforward and usually require owners to vote, e.g. should we replace the roof now or wait for another year, should we allow AirBnB-style short-term rentals or are they a nuisance and lead to noise, should a children playground be installed on the lawn, or there's no majority demand for it?

prostoalex 10y ago

> A 'fair' and simple way of dealing with this is to make the buyer pay everything, then adjust how we think about home prices accordingly. Yep, totally agreed. If the seller wants to make his property more attractive by taking care of some of those expenses, have them just lower the price accordingly. > HoAs are a quirk of the US land-system, having some kind of quasi-democractic process over common territory. In the UK, there are only home estates, wherein the land is actually owned by a 3rd party and people who own the structures built on the land instead pay ground rent to the 3rd party. How do multi-family housing units operate? Here are some examples of what an HOA might take care of (and charge monthly fee): * care and maintenance of common ground areas, like lawns, trees, sidewalks, driveways * care and maintenance of shared amenities, such as pool, outdoor spa, gym * roof maintenance and replacement * combined utility billing (water, garbage, rarely electricity, sometimes cable and wired Internet) when bulk purchase results in cheaper per-unit rate for everyone else A few of those things are not straightforward and usually require owners to vote, e.g. should we replace the roof now or wait for another year, should we allow AirBnB-style short-term rentals or are they a nuisance and lead to noise, should a children playground be installed on the lawn, or there's no majority demand for it?