Sue Aldrich Presents Keep Your Home Purchase On Track
Loan (Photo credit: Philip Taylor PT)
Keep Your Home Purchase on Track
By: G. M. Filisko Published: March 30, 2010
You’ve found your dream home. Make sure missteps don’t prevent a successful closing.
1. Be truthful on your mortgage application
You may think fudging your income a little or omitting debts when applying for a mortgage will go unnoticed. Not true. Lenders have become more diligent in verifying information on mortgage applications. If you fib, expect to be found out and denied the loan you need to fund your home purchase. Plus, intentionally lying on a mortgage application is a crime.
2. Hold off on big purchases
Lenders double-check buyers’ credit right before the closing to be sure their financial condition hasn’t weakened. If you’ve opened new credit cards, significantly increased the balance on existing cards, taken out new loans, or depleted your savings, your credit score may have dropped enough to make your lender change its mind on funding your home loan.
Although it’s tempting to purchase new furniture and other items for your new home, or even a new car, wait until after the closing.
3. Keep your job
The lender may refuse to fund your loan if you quit or change jobs before you close the purchase. The time to take either step is after a home closing, not before.
4. Meet contingencies
If your contract requires you to do something before the sale, do it. If you’re required to secure financing, promptly provide all the information the lender requires. If you must deposit additional funds into escrow, don’t stall. If you have 10 days to get a home inspection, call the inspector immediately.
5. Consider deadlines immovable
Get your funds together a week or so before the closing, so you don’t have to ask for a delay. If you’ll need to bring a certified check to closing, get it from the bank the day before, not the day of, your closing. Treat deadlines as sacrosanct.
More from HouseLogic
How maintenance adds to home values
Reducing closing stress
Other web resources
More on calculating closing costs
More on the closing process
G.M. Filisko is an attorney and award-winning writer who wanted a successful closing on a Wisconsin property so bad that she probably made her agent rethink going into real estate. A frequent contributor to many national publications including Bankrate.com, REALTOR® Magazine, and the American Bar Association Journal, she specializes in real estate, business, personal finance, and legal topics.
Sue Aldrich, Realtor
Office: 419-535-0011
Cell: 419-343-6315
Fax: 419-535-7571
VM: 419-539-2700 ext. 139
suealdrich@wellesbowen.com
Visit Sue’s website HERE
Americans buy more homes, market may be on the mend
From the Detroit Freepress
WASHINGTON — Americans are buying more homes in every region of the country, the latest indication that the housing market could be on the mend.
An increasing portion of those sales are from first-time buyers, who are critical to a housing recovery.
Sales of previously occupied homes rose 3.4% in April from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.
That nearly matches January’s pace of 4.63 million — the best in two years. It is still well below the nearly 6 million that most economists equate with healthy markets.
A pickup in hiring and cheaper mortgages, combined with lower home prices in most markets, has made home buying more attractive.
While many economists acknowledged that the market has a long way to go, most said the April sales report was encouraging.
“The trend in sales is upward, and we think it has a good deal further to go over the next few months as payrolls pick up further and mortgage availability improves,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics.
To read the complete article please click here.
A little assistance understanding apprasals
Loan (Photo credit: Philip Taylor PT)
This was an article found on The Realty Times website, hope you find it helpful.
It’s a term homeowners and sellers hear all the time. What does “appraisal” really mean and how will it affect your ability to make a deal?
As the market dips and continues to struggle across the nation, many sellers are finding themselves in an unhappy predicament. They have a buyer lined up and an offer on the table, but wait…… the buyer’s financing has now fallen through. The asking price of the home has come in over the appraised value.
This has led to a unnaturally high number of contract cancellations. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), “Twenty-one percent of NAR members in January reported delays in contracts, and 33 percent said contracts fell through.. The number of contract cancellations remains mostly unchanged from December. An increase in the past year of contract cancellations or delays has been blamed on more lenders declining mortgage applications from stricter underwriting standards and low appraisals coming in under the agreed upon contract price.”
Here are some things you need to know about appraisals:
First, it’s true that lenders usually won’t write a mortgage for more than a home is “worth”. This sets them up for a large financial burden should the prospective borrower default on their loan. They will, instead, write a mortgage for whichever price is less, be it the sale price or the appraised value. From a business standpoint it is logical. For a stalled and unpredictable housing market, it is downright frustrating.
An appraisal is figured by your local tax office (appraiser’s office). They calculate what the market value of your home is based on, the square footage and specifics of your home. Do you have a fireplace, hardwood floors, and four bedrooms? You’ll pay more in taxes and have a higher appraised home than the same home with no fireplace and laminate floors.
You generally receive a statement from the tax office each year showing you the appraised value of your home. If you feel this is in error be sure to contest it!
To read the full article, click here
Toledo Ranks 3rd in Affordable Housing!
Check out this recent story on 13 ABC. After years of uncertainty, it seems like things are starting to puck up in the real estate world. Realty Trac has ranked Toledo in the top five most affordable housing markets, with a median home price of $100,000. ….
Click here to watch the video
Get the best price possible for your home
Without proper exposure, sellers may be leaving money on the table
By Dian Hymer, Monday, April 30, 2012.
Wouldn’t it be nice to sell your home without the hassle of exposing it to the public? Selling off-market works occasionally, but most sellers who try it eventually end up having to put their home on the market. This wastes time and could delay the sale.
There are other drawbacks to trying to sell without full market exposure. One is that it’s difficult to prepare your home for sale if prospective buyers are coming through. You have to stop work, and buyers see a work in progress.
It doesn’t make a good impression if your home is shown before it’s ready. Buyers remember what they see, not what you tell them it will look like when you finish painting a room or replacing outdated light fixtures.
Sellers in a desirable Oakland, Calif., neighborhood were asked by neighbors who needed a larger home if they could see the house before it went on the market. The buyers were so turned off by the poor appearance that they not only didn’t buy the house, but they didn’t even want to see it when it came on the market. So you can lose buyers by letting them see the house before it’s ready.
A potentially more serious downside of selling without exposing your home to the market is that you’ll never know what it could have sold for with the benefit of promotion. You might be leaving money on the table.
TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE PLEASE VISIT INMANNEWS.COM
5 Ways to Sell a Home Faster
From Realtor Mag
24/7 Wall St. recently asked real estate experts and several real estate organizations to weigh in on how sellers can get their house sold at the best price and in the shortest amount of time.
Here’s what they had to say as some of the best ways to get the “sold” sign out this spring:
Pay attention to “curb appeal”: First impressions are critical, and homes with inviting landscapes and exteriors tend to sell better, agents say. Pay attention that the driveway is in good condition, lawn well-kept, and the house looks freshly painted.
Set the right price: Real estate professionals know how to set the price and prepare a home for sale. Agents use comparable sales of homes sold in the last 60 days to help set the most realistic price for the sales price of a home. By setting a realistic price from the beginning, sellers should be reminded that this will prevent having to drop the price of the home several times before getting it sold and having it linger on the market. If no recent comps are available, some experts recommended sellers get an appraisal, which will also offer a realistic price that the bank may be willing to take when a buyer tries to qualify for financing the home.
Want to read the rest of the article, click this link to visit the Realtor Magazine site
How do Real Estate Agents Get Paid?
By Kay McArdle/kaymcardle.com
Kay McArdle, Realtor
Office: 419-535-0011
Cell: 419-654-0059
Fax: 419 535-7571
VM: 419-539-2700 ext. 102
kaymcardle@wellesbowen.com
You can find Kay’s website by clicking here.
6 Reasons to Reduce Your Home Price from Susie Thomas
While you’d like to get the best price for your home, consider our six reasons to reduce your home price.
These six signs may be telling you it’s time to lower your price.
1. You’re drawing few lookers
You get the most interest in your home right after you put it on the market because buyers want to catch a great new home before anybody else takes it. If your real estate agent reports there have been fewer buyers calling about and asking to tour your home than there have been for other homes in your area, that may be a sign buyers think it’s overpriced and are waiting for the price to fall before viewing it.
2. You’re drawing lots of lookers but have no offers
If you’ve had 30 sets of potential buyers come through your home and not a single one has made an offer, something is off. What are other agents telling your agent about your home? An overly high price may be discouraging buyers from making an offer.
3. Your home’s been on the market longer than similar homes
Ask your real estate agent about the average number of days it takes to sell a home in your market. If the answer is 30 and you’re pushing 45, your price may be affecting buyer interest. When a home sits on the market, buyers can begin to wonder if there’s something wrong with it, which can delay a sale even further. At least consider lowering your asking price.
4. You have a deadline
If you’ve got to sell soon because of a job transfer or you’ve already purchased another home, it may be necessary to generate buyer interest by dropping your price so your home is a little lower priced than comparable homes in your area. Remember: It’s not how much money you need that determines the sale price of your home, it’s how much money a buyer is willing to spend.
5. You can’t make upgrades
Maybe you’re plum out of cash and don’t have the funds to put fresh paint on the walls, clean the carpets, and add curb appeal. But the feedback your agent is reporting from buyers is that your home isn’t as well-appointed as similarly priced homes. When your home has been on the market longer than comparable homes in better condition, it’s time to accept that buyers expect to pay less for a home that doesn’t show as well as others.
6. The competition has changed
If weeks go by with no offers, continue to check out the competition. What have comparable homes sold for and what’s still on the market? What new listings have been added since you listed your home for sale? If comparable home sales or new listings show your price is too steep, consider a price reduction.
By: G. M. Filisko Published: March 19, 2010
Susie Thomas, Realtor
Office: 419-535-0011
Cell: 419-367-3974
Fax: 419 535-7571
VM: 419-539-2700 ext. 135
susiethomas@wellesbowen.com
You can find Susie’s website by clicking here.
More from HouseLogic
How to ready your home for sale at little cost
How to review offers on your home
Other web resources
More on setting the right price
G.M. Filisko is an attorney and award-winning writer who made strategic price reductions that led to the sale of a Wisconsin property. A frequent contributor to many national publications including Bankrate.com, REALTOR® Magazine, and the American Bar Association Journal, she specializes in real estate, business, personal finance, and legal topics.
7 bizarre homebuyer incentives: cocktails, cookies, cars and more
As the real estate market declined in recent years, the age-old practice of sellers marketing their homes as coming with buyer incentives was elevated from an occasional practice to a true art.
Savvy sellers and their agents created win-win strategies for differentiating their listings in a crowded market by throwing uber-desirable perks into the deal.
And some sellers have gone beyond old concessions, like picking up a portion of closing costs or paying homeowners association dues. Some are offering to throw in a fireplace-framing plasma screen TV, or other furnishings customized for the property. As a result, many a homebuyer ends up with more than just the home of their dreams.
There are those buyers and sellers, too, who have taken the smart strategy of offering desirable buyer incentives to extremes. These extremes fall along a spectrum that begins at entertaining and stretches all the way to worrisome — even very worrisome.
Here are seven of the most bizarre homebuyer incentives I’ve come across over the past few years.
1. Alcohol. Last year, news spread like wildfire of a Chicago-area listing in which the seller threw in a hefty prepaid tab for food and alcohol at a nearby bar. Frustrated by the fact that their home had been lagging on the market for several months with only two or three showings, the owners of a $450,000 Glenview, Ill., home decided to throw in a $1,000 tab at Grandpa’s Place, a bar located across the street from the property.
The idea — which was not only to entice buyers with potent potables, but also to showcase the neighborhood’s lively nightlife — apparently worked. The sellers reported a threefold increase in showings immediately after publicizing the boozy incentive.
2. Cookies — lots of cookies. A friend of mine, Ann Brenoff, reported a few years back on actor George Hamilton’s unusual contract demand during his Los Angeles condo-buying escapade. Hamilton didn’t ask, as you might expect, for a lifetime of spray tans or Brylcreem.
Rather, he demanded that the seller, who owned a famous bakery, throw in a dozen cookies every month for the year following close of escrow. Think about it: how much could 144 cookies possibly cost? Sounds to me like both Hamilton and the seller scored a sweet deal.
3. Other homes. At the bottom of their local market, circa 2010, one enterprising couple seeking to sell their Connecticut home decided to throw their Florida vacation condo in as a buyer incentive!
4. Crazy cars. The vehicles I’ve heard being offered as buyer incentives range from tractors and trucks that work the farms they’re sold with to the Lamborghinis and Ferraris accompanying home sales in luxury locales such as in Malibu, Calif.
READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE ON INMAN.COM, CLICK HERE TO READ
