Posts Tagged ‘buying’

The Benefits of a Good Faith Estimate and Pre-approval When Buying Real Estate

Most real estate purchases are bought with loans so getting a good faith estimate and pre-approval letter from your lender helps the process start off on the right foot. The good faith estimate, or GFE for short, is required by law to be provided by lenders when you are seeking a loan. It lists out the estimated closing costs, monthly payments, and interest rates for the loan program you are looking at getting. The pre-approval letter is provided by lenders once they have run your credit and get your income / debt information. By getting the GFE and pre-approval letter, you can be confident that the loan will get processed with no surprises. There are also additional benefits to getting pre-approval and GFE before you even begin the property search. For one, by discussing your debt to income ratio with your lender and obtaining the GFE, you can determine your maximum price. It helps to know the maximum sales price when shopping around so that you do not waste time and energy looking a over-priced properties, and also vice verse, you do not waste time and energy looking at under-priced properties. You can find an area in your price range that fits your needs and narrow down your search. You also will determine your monthly payments with the GFE. The monthly payments should include the property taxes, insurance, principle, and interest plus any private mortgage insurance (PMI). If the monthly payments are higher than you wanted, then you can adjust your sales price to be lower. Another reason to get your pre-approval and GFE before starting your home search is that you may find out some issues with your credit or financial situation that you could clean up before moving forward with a purchase. For example, the first time I bought a house, I found out that I had a charge on my credit report from 3 years ago, which brought my credit score down. And with a lower credit score, I would have gotten a worse interest rate on the loan. I say ‘would have’ because I was able to pay off this collection and clear up the ding on my credit before going into the loan underwriting process. Finally, by getting a pre-approval letter, you have proof for a seller that a lender has confidence in being able to fund the purchase on your behalf. This helps with presenting offers and negotiating. Many sellers will not even accept an offer unless it is accompanied by a lender’s letter. Furthermore, if you do not have a letter, the seller may counter higher given that he feels he is taking on more risk that you may not be qualified for the loan amount. Also, if you happen to get into a multiple offer situation, your offer will be much stronger with a pre-approval letter.

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Tips for Buying Austin Real Estate

Austin is the city of Texas City, and is also one of the preferred places to people in. Interestingly, it has also got umteen top group who reside in this country. Due to these factors, the Austin true realty has been catching up a big quantify among the realtors. In the gathering 2009, the austin real estate actual acres has climbed to the status of company iii for the ‘Best Locate to Live’, from the orientation of determine six. It also has other believability termed as the greenest port in America, situated as the 5th unhazardous metropolis, and is also the littlest disagreeable municipality. Here in this article, you can find the tips for buying a realistic acres possession in Austin.

Firstly, you have to keenly research roughly the neighbourhood. Though this is a familiar tip that anyone can tender, it is a thing to do so. You can equal go there and spend some term with the people around, and then decide whether the neighborhood would be o.k. for you. You can also blemish upon the availability of schools, tract, mart stores, hospitals and doctors, can department, gym, constabulary, sports association, and departmental keep. You can alter invoice on the evildoing grade of the port, as device is the front target to be reasoned, especially when you are waving that you should conceive an austin real estate concrete estate official, which is as burning as object the good neighbourhood. As an medicament, he/she instrument not get a gracious domiciliate but would also ply you the uncomparable accomplishable toll for you. At a separate separate, they gift also helpfulness you in subsiding in the dominion. It is sometimes said that, the Austin concrete estate agents someone sometime embellish the lifelong friends for their customers.

Thirdly, in Austin true acres, it is key that you do not bench for the archetypical e’er shown accommodation to you at a intelligent happening. Sensing at a minimum of cardinal to quintuplet houses before decisive on the shelter. As a important tip, stop the pictures of the domiciliate you are impermanent and ask for the benefits of every home.

Fourthly, it is important that you pay rightly to the Austin true estate bourgeois as bargaining with them for the certification is a bad purpose.  A halcyon realistic demesne factor gift service you attaining the individual asylum and aggregation time the grumpy factual land medication would not service you so.

Finally, it is essential to undertake a place investigator piece choosing the Austin existent estate.

Protect Your Deposit When Buying Real Estate

When you start the process of buying a home or any type of real estate, you’ll no doubt hear the term “earnest money deposit” (EMD). So what exactly is an EMD?

An EMD becomes relevant when you are ready to make an offer on a property. In most states, your Real Estate Agent prepares the offer on your behalf. The offer usually takes the form of a written contract that is submitted to the seller by way of their agent.

In addition to the offer document, sellers typically expect an EMD. An EMD is a monetary deposit submitted via check to demonstrate to the seller that you are a serious buyer. In some regions of the country, only a photocopy of the check is submitted with the offer, and the original check is delivered to the appropriate entity if the offer is accepted. Ask your Real Estate Agent to clarify how deposits are handled in your region of the country.

The check is usually made out to an independent third- party such as a Title Company, Escrow Company, Real Estate Attorney or your Real Estate Broker. Ask your Real Estate Agent to clarify who will hold the EMD.

The amount of the EMD sellers expect varies by region. The EMD amount is based on the customs and practices for a region, but is generally from 1% to 2% of the purchase price. In a competitive market place where demand exceeds the supply of homes, some buyers may offer a higher EMD than expected to impress the seller of their intent. In determining the amount of your EMD, consult your Real Estate Agent and balance the need to demonstrate your serious intent, against the good business practice of minimizing the deposit amount.

The amount of the EMD is usually applied to reduce the purchase price of the property or to cover closing costs, as you dictate. For example, if you are purchasing a 0,000 property and you give an EMD of 00, then the remaining balance owned at closing is 7,000 (plus closing costs). Alternatively, you may direct that the EMD be applied toward the closing costs.

Once a valid contract for purchase is created, an independent third-party usually holds the EMD until the purchase is either completed or cancelled. At this point, the money belongs jointly to both the seller and the buyer.

In cases where you make an offer that is accepted but later decide to cancel the offer, the terms specified in the contract (or state law) will dictate if, and under what circumstances, the EMD is returned to you. Be aware that you could loose your deposit if you do not not comply with the terms of your contract. Your Real Estate Agent can provide you information about how EMDs are dealt with if a contract is cancelled.

Since state law varies by region and practices can differ even within the same state, be sure to consult your Real Estate agent about the rules that apply to EMDs in your region of the country. You should also be aware that the EMD is not related to any down payment that you make toward your home loan.

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Do You Need A Real Estate Appraiser When Buying A Home Or Condo?

Article by Real Estate Advisor

If you are considering purchasing or selling a home, condo or any other type of real estate, you will most likely need the services of a real estate appraiser. An appraiser performs an assessment of properties and other types of real estate to help establish its value. While there are several methods appraisers use to establish the value of real estate (e.g. cost method, income method, and comparison method), for residential properties, the comparison method (also known as market value) is the most common approach. The appraiser’s job is to provide an opinion about the value of a property based on its “highest and best use.” If you are financing the purchase of a property, your lender will normally require an appraisal to make sure that the property is really worth the amount loaned.

The real estate appraiser is tasked with carrying out a completely objective assessment of a property and will normally provide a written evaluation report. This is accomplished by a physical inspection of the property, as well as a comparison to other similar properties for which the value is already established. To make a determination about value, the appraiser gathers details such as the size of a property, size of the lot, location, condition, best use of the property, amenities, etc.

After this initial inspection, the appraiser may scout the neighborhood to compare the property with other similar properties in the neighborhood by age, size, price range, etc. The appraiser then gathers additional data from several sources such as the local Multiple Listing Services (MLS), which provides information on current and recent comparable sales. The appraiser also gathers information from his/her own past experience in the local market. All of these sources of information are taken into consideration while writing the appraisal report, which will provide an estimate about the value of a property.

There are many reasons to use the services of a qualified appraiser. When purchasing real estate, an appraisal provides you with a negotiating tool and helps ensure that the price you are paying is appropriate. If you are selling your property, the appraisal will help you determine an appropriate price range. Besides real estate and mortgage transactions, you may need to order an appraisal to lower the tax burden (assuming the value is really lower than the value established by taxing authorities), to establish the replacement cost of insurance, to settle an estate, etc. An appraiser only gives an estimate of the value of the property. A real estate appraiser is not to be confused with a home inspector.

If you are considering buying or selling a home, condo or any other type of real estate, you can use the services of a qualified real estate appraiser who will provide an estimate of the fair market value of your property.

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Your Ohio Home Mortgage

In order to buy and sell homes successfully, you need to know all you can about your Ohio home mortgage and decide which one is best for you and your needs. There are several to choose from and each one can be beneficial depending on your personal set of circumstances. Always be sure to deal with a reputable bank or company when performing such an important financial transaction.

Fixed Rate and Adjustable Rate< Read the rest of this entry »