Anyone in the US familiar with how to sell/ buy a house?

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Hey everyone. I just got a job offer in my home state and my family is very anxious to move back. We own most of our home in the state we currently live in (OK. The names on the deed are mine, my SO's, and his dad's.) In short, SO has had a total falling out with his dad. We are honestly only interested in getting the money we put in back which is only about $6000. His dad says we can pull equity to buy in our home state but won't help us in any way, shape, or form. In fact, he has told people he'd rent the house to them without our permission.

We are looking at fixer uppers and bare plots to possibly add a modular home with a rented trailer/ RV until its done. Nothing super fancy. I know there are other types of loans and such that can help us out but I'm not even sure where to start. If someone could please point me in the right direction, that would be ever so swell!

I haven't bought one, but you'd probably want a real estate agent and possibly an attorney to help with the process. Everybody I know that buys property gets a real estate agent. And, it's best to find one where they're not incentivized to just go for the most expensive option if there's an agent like that near you.

Although the context of your writing would suggest that you're talking about selling your house on your own as opposed to using a realtor, I would recommend against this - especially if you're only talking about having invested $6000.

Realtors know the market and have access to the market in a way that a single home owner who is selling on his or her own cannot and will not. They know how to market. They know how to stage properties so that when they take pictures of your home, they're doing so in the best possible way. They know what keywords to use writing descriptions about your home. They can vet potential buyers. They work for free which is why they earn a sales commission. In earning a sales commission, it's in their interest to sell the property for as much as they can get since higher sales will generate a higher commission. In selling the property, they will work with a title company to create a legally binding contract.

FSBO (for sale by owner) houses sell at a far slower rate and far far less money than houses sold by realtors.

$6000 isn't much to put into a home. Even with a commission, a good realtor can get you top dollar and will spare you a lot of aggravation.

If you decide to sell your home, you will need to be upfront with the realtor regarding the deed because if your SO's father refuses to sell, this will create a potentially insurmountable problem.

You are going to need your SO’s father to sign the transfer deed.

$6k isn't even CLOSE to just the commission on a condo sale these days. Most likely wouldn't be worth the paperwork to pursue payment via courts here as you'd probably spend more on lawyers trying to sort things out than you'd ever get back. Might be worth it if you were able to file yourself - I dunno.

As for the OP's situation, I think you'd have to have the father in law's cooperation to sell the home and divide the proceeds, or to buy out his share and then do what you want. If there was no agreement in advance as to how to handle a situation where some parties want to sell and the other doesn't then it seems like you're up s**t creek without a paddle until you have cooperation so paperwork can get signed. You may need to speak to a local Realtor or Lawyer to find out accurate information.

On the rental end of things, it seems To Me that if you and your SO own x% of the home, you should be entitled to x% of the rental proceeds after expenses. (mortgage/taxes etc) If your father in law is renting the property out and not forwarding your share of the profits then you Should have some legal recourse to pursue those funds in court. Gonna have to look into the legal process and paperwork involved in your area and go after it. MAYBE pursuing those funds will be enough for him to abandon the idea of not cooperating with a sale.. never know, he might wave a white flag and say f**k it I just wanna be done with this whole ordeal let's sell and part ways. OR maybe you'll win a judgement for the money that should be coming your way and get it regularly.

Hindsight is 2020.. really should have drawn up agreements of what to do in a sale or rental situation, and how decisions would be made of people disagreed etc - all possible outcomes predetermined and signed off on so there's no nonsense like this. On the bright side it's only 6 grand and in the grand scheme of things even if you completely walked away from it you could earn and save another 6 grand faster than you'd likely win it in court and get paid.. And you'd still be on the title, so, eventually when you two out live him and the property gets sold you'd get your share of the proceeds.

Selling property is pretty simple. You just file a signed deed with the county clerk / registrar of deeds. After that, the property transfer will be recorded and the property will be officially in the name of the person you sell it to. You may need to involve a notary.

But the requirements may vary depending on your state -- I don't know how much they differ though.

I guess you could also involve lawyers/real estate agents.

I have bought and sold a couple of houses in a few different manners. I can answer some questions you have (message me the questions) but each state and market will be slightly different. The main problem you will have is needing all of the owners to sign. you will need the third owner to agree to sell.

The possibility of pulling out equity was mentioned, you can do that by doing a cash-out refinance (probably a bad idea if you have a low-interest rate), taking out a home equity line of credit, or a few other options. None of which is highly advisable if you are trying to get out of the current house.

If the other party is interested you may be able to sell out your portions to them, but they would have to be willing to pay you your portion of the equity and either assume the current loan completely or get a new mortgage.

It is a little late now, but for others out there it is generally a bad idea to purchase properties with other parties that you are not married to.