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Posts Tagged ‘home buying’

Finding the perfect home may take several months, and a first time homebuyer will greatly be aided in the home buying process by making a plan to sort through all the financing details, conducting research about the prospective neighborhood, and to finding a reliable real estate agent to work with. With a step-by-step plan or drafting up a checklist, you will be able to keep everything related to your search for the right home to purchase become organized and on track.

Bridget McCrea, in her book, “The Home Buyer’s Question and Answer Book”, expertly explains that it is very important to create a plan for your financial side, and in terms of what you want and need for your home. Planning for your first home purchase will take everything into consideration, which includes making a budget analysis, and writing down all the amenities, rooms, theme of the home, and the other features you want your new home to have.

If you’re a first time homebuyer who is just getting started with the home buying process, here are some essential items to include on your checklist or plan:

1. List down the different housing types of your prospective neighborhoods. Each neighborhood has at least 5 to 6 different types and styles of housing. It is to your advantage to know what the various styles and classifications are, unless you are building a new structure.

2. Start reviewing online listings. A good real estate agent will be able to give you a strong idea of what the available homes for sale are, but there are still other homes for sale listings that you can find on your own. Don’t hesitate to conduct your own search by reviewing the FSBO listing in the local newspaper or looking at the many real estate properties or homes for sale online.

3. Learn about the home inspection process. Home inspections can be lengthy and fairly complex, but they are well worth the effort when you narrow down your choices of properties. Learn about the different stages of the home inspection, and don’t forget to create your own DIY home inspection checklist when you’re visiting several properties.

4. Use a scorecard to compare different homes in a neighborhood. Keep track of all the homes you are considering and visiting by designing your own home scorecard. This can include items such as asking price, key benefits and drawbacks, number of rooms, access to highways, and any other top priority items that may be key reasons in your decision to buy.

5. Select your ideal location. To narrow down your field of choices, you have to be specific about where you want to buy a new home. You can go about this by targeting a search by state, then by city, then adding to this input the words buy homes for sale. Some of the factors that you would have to take into consideration when choosing a specific area would be your proximity to work, to schools, to parks or your access to public transportation. Even if you don’t get to purchase a new home in your ideal location, you will still be aware of where the key access points are and get to find a home as near as possible to these areas.

6. Map out your budget. You can meet with a personal financial advisor at your local bank or credit union for some budgeting advice, or you can draft up your own home budget to get a strong idea of what you can and can’t afford. Making a budget and then sticking with it regardless of how much you are preapproved for is a much more intelligent choice than waiting to ‘hear’ from your lender about your options from your lender.

Are you a new homebuyer looking for homes for sale in Minnesota? Searching online using the Minnesota MLS is a great way to find the type of home you’re looking for.

A question I seem to get quite a bit these days from my clients is \” What is the difference between short sales and REO\’s?\” I then , usually, go into a whole explanation of the pro\’s and con\’s of each, and end up telling them that REO\’s are superior in every way. I have a couple of dealings over the past couple of months that really bring this point home.

The first case involves a really neat family I have been dealing with for over a year. They are from North Hollywood and have wanted to buy a place up here for a long time. When we initially looked, we couldn\’t find anything that really fitted their needs. They decided to wait a year and then take a look when the prices had really dropped.

Recently, I took this same couple on the hunt again, and they finally found a cabin that they felt was perfect for them. The cabin sat on a beautifully Oak Tree serene setting, and was impeccably clean. The asking price was a $149,000, but well worth it. There was one problem with the cabin, and that was that it was listed as a short sale. I did of course explain to the couple the hassles that typically come along with buying a home on a short sale, but they were so smitten with the property, they were willing to take their chances.

We had waited about a month, and still hadn\’t heard back from the bank. In my mind I already knew the selling agent hadn\’t done his part to get the process going to complete a short sale. I informed my clients that our only choice now was to wait for a response from the bank. About another month or so went by before the selling agent informed me that the bank pulled the listing without giving a response to our offer.

Which just goes to show you that short sales can be very unpredictable. I am sure this saga will continue…

Article submitter Marie Strahg has much experience shopping a Big Bear, CA foreclosure and Big Bear realty overall. Read more of her articles on the web.

One of the benefits of the market being in decline is the mass exodus of bad agents. If you are a buyer or a seller, the odds are much better now that you will get a competent agent to represent you. Unlike days past when an agent just had to sit by a phone to do business, today\’s realtor actually has to work his or her tail off to be successful. That being said, you still need to be careful.

There is still the part time agent that is out there just to make a sale a few times a year for some extra cash. The cashier at the local grocery may take advantage of a not so up-to-date client in order to make some extra money. Even an utility worker in your town may try to pass himself off as a full-time realtor. In cases like this, they are more hurting their clients than helping them.

Obviously, the market has changed quite drastically over the last few years, and business doesn\’t operate the way it used to. Bank owned properties make up 10% of the inventory and 40% of all the sales in my home town. If you find yourself involved with a realtor that is not on the up and up when it comes to REO\’s and short sales, you may find yourself in not so good of a situation.

Here is a perfect example from my last escrow transaction. I had some clients that made an offer on a property that was out of our area. We of course held up our part of the bargain, and then sat back and waited to hear that the escrow was opened. In the last twenty sales I have had in the last year or so, there is almost always a complication with the bank opening escrow in a timely manner.

To make a long story short, after weeks of no response to my pressings, the bank finally admitted to me that they had accidentally filed the paperwork with the wrong office. And to add insult, they suggested that we could still be liable for the delay. I turned it all around, but some people are just gone terrible with details. I think I am getting too old for this business!

Had I not known what I have learned from all my experience with REO\’s, this could have gone really bad for my client. Less-experienced realtors are dangerous in these types of situations. So protect yourself and only work with someone who works in realty full time.

Author Steven Blagow is a professional Big Bear, CA foreclosures realtor and an expert in resort area realty. He is in fact one of the top Big Bear, CA houses realtors in his field.

Recently I got into a bit of a hassle with some REO per diem ridiculousness and delays. I thought it might help someone out there to share a bit of the details.

Fearing that the problems would escalate if we didn\’t proceed with the offer, we kept up our part of the offer on the cabin. Thank goodness for my experience in situations like this. From having dealt with situations like this with clients of mine before, I know that it is best to stay calm, keep up your part of the deal, and not to get worked up about the bank.

Getting out of paying for that per Diem is as simple as keeping on track and proving the delay was not of our doing. I stayed on top of the inspections making sure they were completed in a day period, and that my Realtor had the termite inspection done as well. Luckily since my client is purchasing this property with cash, we did not have any issues with the appraisal. It works a little differently if someone is buying a house with a loan from the bank, because you need to be in direct contact with the lender the whole time making sure an appraisal is completed on time.

If at all possible, you do not want anything going wrong in the last moments. Things typically will not always go completely the way you would like them to, but as long as you do everything you are required to do, they will turn out just fine. Most banks don\’t have the ability to know what is going on every step of the way. It always appears that they kind of just hang around waiting for something to happen.

It hasn\’t been uncommon for me in the last few years to witness banks doing something that is just out of sorts. You will rarely find a bank transaction that actually goes all the way through the process without a glitch. The key it to hire a bright, informed realtor to help you have a successful experience.

Author Info: Daniel Thuster has much experience shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosure deals plus Big Bear realty overall. Check out his other posts online.

A little while ago, some clients of mine made an offer on an REO. Everything seemed to be proceeding according to plan.

So, after a week went by I wasn\’t too concerned. After almost two weeks went by, I became alarmed. I called and emailed the listing agent two or three times a day for three days without receiving a response. I finally had to call his broker and demand that someone who was competent be put in charge of the deal. I was given an assistant who seemed to have some idea of how things worked.

Finally, after almost three weeks, I was emailed an extension agreement that stated we were requesting an extension due to the listing office opening escrow with the wrong company and not realizing it for two weeks. Two weeks? If I hadn\’t called the broker with my concerns the listing agent would have just coasted along obliviously and incompetently until our deal crashed and burned.

I also have experiences that are the exact opposite. I sold a bank owned property a little while back that was listed by an agent in Lake Arrowhead. Like most bank owned homes, it took the bank longer than usual to open escrow, but everything else ran perfectly. She made sure I received regular updates and her assistant was on top of everything. I got all the paperwork on time and done correctly.

Because we both did what we needed to do , the transaction was very smooth and I was able to give my client excellent service. If you are considering buying or selling, ask the Realtor you are dealing with some qualifying questions before you proceed. Make sure they are a full time, professional Realtor and not a part timer. Make sure they have a good, working knowledge of the local market.

If you are planning on buying in Big Bear, it is a very bad idea to use somebody from L.A. or Orange County. If you are planning on buying a Bank Owned listing, it is especially important to use somebody who is experienced in selling them. The banks do thing very differently and a Realtor who doesn\’t know what they are doing can blow the deal or end up costing you a great deal of money.

Author M. Fetzer knows all about researching Big Bear, CA foreclosure deals and Big Bear realty in general. Check out his other articles on the internet.

Buying a bank owned (REO) property is a much different process than a traditional listing and it is imperative that your Realtor know the difference. If your Realtor is not aware of the differences, they could not only cause you to lose the property, but also cost you money in the process. Let me explain.

Banks have complete control when it comes to a bank owned property. They make their own rules and follow no disclosure requirements. Typically they will have a potential client sign something called an addendum, which basically takes away the protections a buyer may have, and gives them sole power in the decision making.

They will give you a timeline you have to follow, or more likely then not there will be repercussions. They really unfair thing about it, is that they don\’t have to respond to anything or anybody until they are good and ready. For an example, I myself have a bank owned property being held in escrow at this moment, on which I was approved for well over a month ago. However, the bank didn\’t even open my escrow until almost three weeks into the thirty day stint.

It took a full three weeks before we received my contract and addendum. Not so lucky for us that when we first signed into this contract, it stated that we would be charged $100 per day per Diem for every day that went past the thirty-day period!

Then they did nothing on time to make it possible for us to make the deadline. As many of you know, the majority of short sales do not close successfully. This is usually due to the listing agent not knowing how to do them, but taking the listing anyways. If the listing agent doesn\’t put in all the work ahead of time, a short sale is a nightmare. REO\’s can be the same. In this case, the listing agent assured me that he had done all the footwork and the bank was ready to move.

Submitted by: Allen Fulton has much experience shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosures plus Big Bear, CA houses in general. Check out his other posts online.

Buying your first home can be an exciting and very rewarding experience, but it does involve a significant amount of research time. Not only do you need to evaluate your financial situation and meet with different lenders to obtain financing, but you\’re also responsible for meeting with real estate agents, and doing research about the neighborhood.

A lot of people do not know that there are first time home buyer programs being given by several community and government facilities that will help them in the financial aspect of their home buying. Almost all states have some type of community development department that helps match buyers with homes and financing programs, though this may vary per state and region. If you are looking for financial assistance so you can procure your first home, here are some of the first time home buyer programs that may be able to help you:

First Time Homebuyer Program from the Housing Finance Authority: several banks and community assistant centers help people who have met the program\’s eligibility requirements based on income level and location of the home. Financing for purchase of new or existing home for moderate, middle, or low-income family is provide so that they can purchase a new or existing home.

Low Interest Mortgage programs: some lending facilities will extend low-interest mortgage to moderate or low-income families, and this based on household income, family size, and credit history. Programs may differ based on state and region, but most established financing institutions offer it.

Down-Payment Assistance programs: it is common for first time homebuyers to have inadequate funds for the down-payment required when buying a home. The book, \”The Home Buyer\’s Question and Answer Book\” by author Bridget McCrea, said that this program can give financial assistance in the form of interest-free second mortgages that will cover the cost of the down-payment. This program is can be availed of by moderate and low-income households, and the loan term period can be extended up to five years.

First-Time Homebuyer Counseling: many lenders and real estate agents conduct free workshops and seminars about the home buying process for first-time homebuyers. These can be coupled with a special rate for financing or other incentives for the first time buyer; attending these events can help you learn more about the process of buying a home and also offer you some financial rewards.

Seller Financing: many buyers who want to get a higher loan than what a lender has offered usually ignore this option. When a buyer and seller agrees and make a loan arrangement for the property, this is what is known as seller financing. The buyer negotiates for a loan with the seller and the monthly payments are given directly to the seller. This is an excellent alternative that you can choose aside from getting a loan from a financial institution or credit union.

Many people are not aware of the several financing options open to first time home buyers and will be unable to get the assistance they need. A qualified real estate professional can assist first time home buyers in finding the right program to match their need. It will be to your advantage to take the time to check with the local community assistance or the development board for specialized programs and other incentives given to moderate or low-income families.

Using online is one of the most effective ways to find Homes for sale in Minnesota. Using the MN MLS Listings is one of the best resources for locating properties by price, neighborhood, and other criteria.