Posts by : Alan Donald

The A-Z of Buying a Home (Part 3)

You found a home, negotiated a favorable contract ("ratified" = signed & delivered). You are supposed to close in 30 days. What now?

This period from contract to closing (also known as "escrow" in some states) is critical for the buyers to do their due diligence. This means investigating everything they want about the home including the bricks and mortar, the title, the neighborhood, etc. to their satisfaction. It is also the time to formally apply for the loan (you may have shopped around with different lenders before you got pre-approved by one of them. You do not necessarily have to use the same lender, but cannot hesitate to submit a formal applicat...

The A-Z of Buying a Home (Part 2)

by Alan Donald, BuyHomesInCharleston.com

OK - so you've hired a REALTOR, discussed your needs and buying criteria and got preapproved by a lender. Now it's time to go see homes! Although it is a relatively small city, the Charleston Metro Area is very large, with hundreds of neighborhoods, areas and subdivisions each with a different style, construction, lot size and price point. 

Step 4 - The Home Search

The home search is a collaborative effort between you and your REALTOR. If you are comfortable "sharing the news", make sure that you mention to everyone in your sphere of influence that you are looking to buy a home. It is impossible to know where y...

This guide for first-time home buyers is intended to provide general information to help buyers be aware of the buying process, and to dispel any myths about buying a home. Please discuss your particular situation with the appropriate professionals before making any decisions.

So, You want to Buy a Home?

Since buying a home is a BIG financial commitment, many first-home buyers (and some repeat buyers) feel very intimidated by the whole process, which, in itself is rather uncomplicated, but it involves a lot of small steps, that, if not done right, can produce expensive mistakes.

In my 12 years in Real Estate I have dealt with many types of buyers and different scenarios, so I have deve...

The 4th annual Flip-Flop Ball benefiting Wings for Kids is a local event (min. age 21) that has all the markings of the Lowcountry: Flip-flops, dancing, all-you-can-eat barbecue, open bar and live music (Two Three Ways and Kim Lhuillier & Tom Diettrich).

When: Sat, Jul 18, 2009 7-11 PM

Where: Goldbug Island, 1560 Ben Sawyer Blvd., Mount Pleasant, SC.

Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door. For more info or to purchase a ticket, go online.

Have you ever danced in your flip-flops?

Boone Hall Plantation in Mt. Pleasant holds the Boone Hall Summer Concert Series.

This Sunday, July 19th at 5:30 pm (music starts at 7 pm) The Little River Band will animate the beautiful oaks and gardens of this Southern plantation.

You can come buy wine, beer and food, and enjoy a picnic-concert in a joyful summer evening setting under the oaks.

Tickets are $20 if you purchase them in advance, or $25 at the gate. You can also reserve seats. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.

I thought that we had seen the last of the loans without income verification!

I just received a promo email advertising a "Stock Loan" for those who have a stock portfolio but don't have two years' tax returns as independent contractors, or lack the ability to show supporting income from employment or investments.

Has your stock portfolio tanked? You may still be able to use it to make some savvy investments!

With the recent tightening of the "traditional" mortgage loan markets, this could be the perfect solution for people seeking bridge loans, new construction purchase, lot purchase, home purchase, refinancing, investment property purchase, commercial property purchase & develop...

This 4-br. elevated home facing the marsh has great advantages!

• Quiet and serene natural setting;
• Close to schools and shopping;
• Within 30-min. drive of Downtown Charleston;
• Right across from new hospital (under construction)

Golf community with pools, clubhouse, tennis courts, walking trails. Very close to the beach!

Click here for more details or to arrange a showing!

The Federal Government has been busy trying to regulate the mortgage industry to try to avoid the continuing debacle caused by the sub-prime mortgage debacle. In 2008, Congress passed the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA). In addition, semi-public Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac adopted the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC). While better regulation is welcome (Canada, for example, had a better regulated banking/mortgage industry and as a result they are not experiencing the same problems the US is experiencing), but their implementation timing may affect (adversely) the swift recovery of the real estate industry. Here is a bri...

Many parents would like to help their offspring become homeowners and realize the "American Dream". Here are a few tips that may help:

1. When they go off to college: Parents can buy a condo or home as an investment. Set up their child in one bedroom, rent out the other rooms to other students and get the benefits of owning an investment property. Even better: Instead of sending their son/daughter pocket money, hire him/her as the property manager - responsible for upkeep and rent collection - and pay them tax-deductible compensation..
2. When the children are ready to own their place:

• You can give them a cash gift. Individuals are allowed a maximum gift of $13,000 per year tax-free. ...

REALTOR.com just completed a quarterly national homeownership survey that uncovered interesting findings that may be useful to know:

"===========================

Affordability

• 76.4% of consumers think a median-income family can only afford 50% or fewer of the homes for sale in their area. In reality, a family earning the national median income can afford nearly 75% of the homes for sale today on Realtor.com.

Foreclosure

• 20.1% who say they or someone they know may be facing foreclosure haven't taken steps to resolve their situation, while 22.4% haven't taken steps but plan to before the Administration's refinance program expires next year.

• While 66.3% of respondents said they...

I just learned of a new version of a scam targeting prospective tenants and using real listings - here is how it works:

Scene 1: A Realtor lists an REO (lender-owned) vacant home for sale online (MLS, REALTOR.com, etc.)

Scene 2: The scammer picks up the pictures and address of the property, and uses them to place a "For Rent" ad on Craigslist or another online marketplace, at a below-market rental, saying they are the owners, that they were transferred out of town for work, that they tried selling, but since the economy is so bad, they are just going to rent it out.

They even send full applications and real contracts by email, ask the prospective tenants to email the application, act ...

On May 1st, Wells Fargo, one of the nation's largest mortgage lenders, decided to tighten its underwriting standards for 200 markets they considered as distressed or soft, requiring higher down payments and making state-income loans off limits in most of these markets. I believe this will cause other banks to follow suit (the bandwagon effect).

This is one more action that shows that the stimulus money provided by the Federal Government and intended to loosen up credit and provide funding to stabilize the real estate market is not working as intended. The government should have required the banks to lend this money out, instead of playing conservative and padding their balance sheets wit...

Most of us REALTORS® are animal lovers and have pets of our own, but we also share many stories about showing homes where our clients went into a sneezing fit, we got bitten by a cantankerous furry creature, or opened the front door only to helplessly see a cute kitty scoot toward the nearest busy street.

It is essential to take pets into consideration if you put your house on the market. Make sure you work out the showing arrangements/instructions carefully with your REALTOR®, since it is important for showing agents to know what to expect inside your home. Buyers could potentially be allergic or scared of cats or dogs (especially if they bring children along).

Although most pets are h...

The current declining market has put sellers (and listing agents) in a difficult position, since many factors are now coming together to place additional downward pressure on real estate prices.

• Inventory levels are very high, forcing motivated sellers to compete by lowering their price to stay competitive.
• Distressed sales (short sales, foreclosures, lender-owned) have increased dramatically and have reduced values markedly in some areas.
• The sub-prime debacle has caused lenders to be overly cautious and "raise the bar" for loan applicants, to the point where it has become challenging to qualify for conventional loans. Fortunately, FHA came to the rescue.
• Loan underwriters appear ...

Experts agree that the inventory levels have to come down fot the housing market to start recovering. Short sales offer a win-win solution for buyers, sellers, lenders and agents, to speed up this recovery by selling inventory faster than by going the foreclosure/REO route.

While short sales have been on the rise, I believe that lenders are not really prepared (and willing?) to approve these transactions in a timely manner. Extensive delays of six weeks to six months are not uncommon, and banks may reject an offer 20% below appraisal, only to sell after foreclosing on the property for a higher discount.

I believe that the Obama recovery plan was well intentioned, but lacks accountabilit...

Reuters and the University of Michigan conduct a monthly consumer confidence survey, to gauge the attitude and expectations of U.S. consumers - measuring what people think will happen in the coming months.

The latest survey results shows the consumer confidence index rising to 69 in June (up from 68.7 in May), its highest since September of '08 when Lehman Brothers collapsed. The slighlty improvement in attitude is great news, but came dampened by job and income uncertainty which still has consumers on hold for certain planned purchases. This economic recovery is thought to be slower than originally anticipated, so consumers are expecting a longer period of time before things really star...

The new Home Valuation Code of Conduct, or HVCC, became law May 1. This new law that forces Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac to follow new guidelines for appraisals has casued more trouble for the already beleaguered housing market, and has dampened the effect that the first-home buyers' tax credit has had on the demand for homes.

Although the principle behind the law is sound (to prevent collusion and fraud between appraisers, lenders and investors), the practical application of it creates the following problems:

• Lenders are prevented from ordering appraisals directly. Instead, they now have to use "appraisal management" companies who handle all communications with the appraisers. If the mo...

Recent research by international real estate firm Knight Frank revealed that in some countries real estate is still performing very well (like in Israel), while others like Dubai and Singapore have performed dismally. Here are the highlights of the study:

• Global housing markets continue to struggle in a recessionary environment 
• The rop performing markets over the 12-month period ending in March 2009 were Israel (+10.9%) and Czech Republic (+9.9%)
• The weakest markets were Dubai (-40%) and Singapore (-16.2%)
• The short term economic outlook suggests that the world housing markets will continue weak for the rest of 2009.

Read the full article here....

As a first time home buyer, you need to maintain a balance between money and lifestyle in a way that makes sense for you and your family. Buying a home comes with great benefits, but also with added responsibilities. Many first home buyers are very apprehensive and fearful of the process of buying a home. They need not be. Although the process is not complex, it includes a myriad of steps that have to be done in the right order to avoid problems. Hiring a Realtor who can recommend the right team of inspectors, attorneys, lenders, surveyors, insurance agents, painters, handymen, etc. will save buyers lots of time and headaches.

I recommend to all my first-home buyer clients that they foll...

Expert Barbara Corcoran appeared in the Today Show a while back, talking about some of the myths that the slow property market has created. She's right: I have come across most of these during my dealings with buyers and sellers:

Buyer mythunderstandings:

1. "The longer a house has stayed on the market, the more you can negotiate on the price" - This is not always true. More typically, if a home has stayed on the market it is because the seller is unrealistic on the price, and holds on stubbornly to his/her idea of value. However, personal situations do change and I have found sellers that were once "ice fishing" for a buyer with no real motivation can suddenly get some urgency to sell...