The Real Estate Sage

You better move fast once you find the right home. Call your agent and have him/her compute similar sales in the neighborhood and then use this information to base your initial offer. Before your agent put the offer into writing, he should make a way to find the sellers’ motivation. It’s important to know where they are moving, why they will sell the house, how long has the home been out in the market or if they offer another house. And the agent should consider other aspects before writing up a smart offer, like, if the property is still for sale or are there pending offers, if it is a probate or foreclosure sale and how much the sellers owe the loan.

In buying a home you are entering in a legal binding contract that ought to be clearly understood in terms of both the rights and obligations. And today’s real estate contracts are pretty drawn out. Agents are trained to comprehend with the terms and explain the contract together with the reports involved in a real estate transaction. Ask for a sample contract to read over before making a first offer. If you have questions, let your agent explain. It will be usable during the negotiation period. Put everything into writing when it comes to contracts. Every word should be specific and chosen carefully.

The new capital gains law permits home owners to avoid paying taxes on the first $500, 000 of profit if they are married and if they are single, $250, 000. You must have occupying the house for two of the last five years as your primary residence. You are allowed to use the provision as frequently as you like so long as it fits in the two year period. Any gains above the limit will be charged and taxed to you at the new 20% capital gains rate which is down from the current 28%. In the old law you could roll over gains if you bought a much expensive house, if you sold a more expensive house and purchased a cheaper one you are liable to gain tax; but under the new law this provision is no longer in effect.

After house hunting, the final tackle you have to do is getting a loan. The first thing to do is look and find out for the current rates that can be available in the internet, newspaper or from your real estate agent. Then consider the loan options that the lender is offering. You better check how the rates are calculated and if charges are entirely amortized over the life of the loan or if you have to pay points at the end. Decide the best terms for you which should depend on factors such as your income changes. And of course you have to consider the service and its speed. You should not be waiting for approvals and weeks for closing because of slow service.

Appraisal is an objective supported opinion of value and worth of a satisfactorily described piece of property made by an appraiser who has ample knowledge, training and experience to accurately estimate its value. Appraisals are made to reduce property taxes, estate planning purposes, divorce settlements, probate and more. But the most common is to acquire mortgage. The most significant thing you have to put in mind when previewing is to look at the house like it is empty. Look objectively at it, not subjectively. Do not let the furniture and decorations influence you. Houses are often appraised more if it is well maintained inside and out, located near a school district, properties are well maintained and you have permits for everything you’ve done in your house. But these are just the basics.

How and where would you find a real estate agent? Here’s how. And where. Use your network of friends, people you know, etc. Through referrals you can easily locate a good real estate. Ask around like from a friend who has just used the service of a real estate agent, ask who’s efficient and how to contact the agent. Surfing the internet can also help you in finding one. There might even be ratings and comments for the agents in their site so you’ll know who’s at the top of their job. Open houses would be a great and sure venue for real estates to lurk around because this is their chance to shine. In this place, you can just observe and select who you prefer.

Scammers are everywhere. If you think you’re invulnerable to it, then think about how many times you have opened an email and got thrilled with the contents of the letter. Think.

Almost all of us, at some point in our lives, got disillusioned by these. It happened once, and so, it can happen again. An interesting study by Consumerreports.org states that, chances are, a knowledgeable man in the field of finance is more likely to be scammed rather than an old woman who knows nothing at all about money matters. Scammers know how things work. They have the same wavelength as these financial gurus have, so they know how to pull their legs through money talk. On the other hand, innocent individuals tend to be a little precautious about things.

Photo taken from http://alansmoneyblog.com

What is a lease option?

This basically means you are leasing or renting a property with an option to buy it at a future date. The future price of the property should be fixed at the time the lease-option is signed.

Usually there is an up-front payment of some amount to purchase the option. The amount can vary. Sometimes the monthly payment is larger than normal and the excess is used to purchase the option. In some cases, the option money can be applied toward the down payment for the later purchase of the home.

Lease-options are usually done during a slow real estate market. During a hot market, the seller can simply sell the home in the regular manner.

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Once you’ve learned the terminology and figured out how much you can afford to spend on a new house, the next thing you will need to do is get a mortgage. Because you will be borrowing money, lenders will examine your credit score, a metric used by lenders to determine the likelihood of an individual paying back the money he or she has borrowed.

Clean Up Your Credit
Higher credit scores translate into the ability to borrow more money at lower interest rates. To make sure you get the best possible deal, you should check out your credit score by ordering a copy of your full credit report. (The free reports that you can get list your creditors but don’t list your numerical score, often referred to as a FICO score). Check your score well in advance of when you need the loan, so that you will have time to take any necessary steps to improve your credit prior to applying for a mortgage or fix any inaccuracies that may have occurred.

To learn more, read Consumer Credit Report: What’s On It and The Importance Of Your Credit Rating.

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For those who have extra homes or perhaps live in a duplex and wanted to have some extra cash for added income, then why don’t you have your extra space rented?

Ok, so you’re there already. You’ve posted ads on the internet, newspapers and called up some friends to see if they could refer you to their friends who wish to rent a nice place. Before you say yes to the first person who answers your ad (perhaps because he/she was nice?), go deeper. Check his/her credit rating. With this, you can actually check if the person’s up-to-date when it comes to paying the bills. Who knows? In your efforts of acquiring extra cash, that person might just jeopardize the situation.

Photo taken from http://www.elcivics.com