Selling

Yes, if the buyer agrees in writing before closing. A rent-back is negotiable, and how long you can stay is a question for the buyer’s lender first.

Almost certainly more than the calculators are telling you. The figure most sites anchor to, the 28/36 rule, is a household budgeting heuristic borrowed from personal finance writing. It is not an underwriting standard, and no lender applies it. Actual program limits run far higher, they differ from one program to the next, and the … Read more

Not as living area. Under the measurement standard appraisers are required to use, finished space below grade is reported separately from the square footage that appears at the top of a listing. The rule that surprises people: if any portion of a level sits below grade, the entire level is classified as below grade, including … Read more

Sometimes, and age has nothing to do with it. There is no senior exemption on the sale of a home in current federal tax law. What exists is an exclusion available to any homeowner regardless of age: up to $250,000 of gain if you file singly, up to $500,000 if you file jointly, provided you … Read more

Almost everyone treats this as a money question. It’s a negotiating question, and that’s why so many people get the answer wrong. The financing usually has a solution. What you can’t buy back later is the strength of your position, on either the sale or the purchase. Whichever side you weaken is the side that … Read more

The standard homestead exemption in Cherokee County saves about $59 a year. The senior school tax exemption saves roughly $2,600. Same house, same owner, one birthday and one waiting period apart. That gap is the entire story, and most homeowners don’t find out about it until they’re already past the moment when it mattered. What … Read more

No, you’re not required to have one. And walking into a model home without one is the most expensive free decision in real estate. Here’s what most buyers don’t realize until later. The friendly person who greets you at the model home is a licensed agent, and they work for the builder. They’re not being … Read more

A listing agent represents the seller. A buyer’s agent represents the buyer. Both hold the same Georgia real estate license, complete the same continuing education, and are legally qualified to do either job. The difference is not training — it is who the agent owes fiduciary duty to in that specific transaction. That distinction matters … Read more

Most homes in Cherokee County go under contract within 30 to 45 days, and close about 30 days after that. Here’s what actually moves that number.