Posts by : Alan Donald

I recently read an article in the Post & Courier that had some interesting suggestions about how to use your tax refund this year to improve your credit score. These are the highlights:

1. Set aside only a small percentage (i.e. 10%) of the refund as "spending" money.
2. Set up an emergency fund - just in case you or your spouse are laid off. They recommend having 6 months to 12 months household expenses in this fund. You can put up to $5,000 a year ($6,000 is you are 50 or older) into a Roth IRA and invest it in a CD or money market mutual fund so that it is not vulnerable to stock market variations. And you can use this money for college, retirement or emergency without paying penalties...

We make thousands of small and big decisions every day. Our senses (eyesight, smell, feeling, hearing) are constantly telling us a story about our surroundings. When we are looking to buy a home, those INITIAL impressions from the first few seconds after we stop in front of a home may make a positive or negative emotional impression that may outlast later impressions (remember that "an image is worth a thousand words").

This initial impression makes a statement about your home and yourself as the owner. Whether your home is contemporary or traditional, older or newer, its architectural features and curb appeal will impact potential buyers. Your home has its own unique features and personal...

I use several "preferred" home inspectors regularly, because they have shown professionalism, subject knowledge, thoroughness and reliability.

Housemasters is one of those, they send me a regular newsletter with topics of interest. Their latest newsletter talked about the top 5 conditions that inspectors find in foreclosed homes, which I thought would be interesting to share. Here is a summary:

1. Mold - many foreclosed homes have the power disconnected or may have developed ongoing leaks that coupled with a boarded up or abandoned home creates the appropriate moisture conditions for mold to grow unabated, especially in the Lowcountry, where humidity levels are high. Black mold can creat...

BUY NEW, OR EXISTING?

One of the big decisions that a buyer must make, is whether to buy a new home, or an existing one. While new homes tend to have higher prices than comparable existing ones, there are other factors to consider:

TIMING - new tract homes can take 4-6 months to build (up to 12 months for custom-built). If you need a home sooner than this, you may look at inventory homes (or "specs") that new home builders may have available or in advanced construction, or existing homes.

PRICING - while new homes are generally more expensive, when a market is over-supplied, new home builders tend to offer larger incentives for buyers than those an existing home owner may be able to give. In...

The $8,000 tax credit is a great incentive for a first home buyer (or someone who has not owned a home in the last three years). I have already sold three homes to families that will benefit directly from this incentive.

If you are currently renting and "thinking about" buying, please note that you MUST purchase the home BEFORE November 30th, 2009 to qualify for this tax credit.

Don't miss out! The tax credit, low mortgage rates and low home prices form a very special and favorable set of circumstances.

USING CREATIVE NEGOTIATIONS

If a buyer has an 850 Credit Score, 45% downpayment and does not have to sell a home, his/her offer on your home is a strong one! However, many buyers are not in that situation. And while as a seller you would like to get your asking price and no conditions, an experienced agent will prepare you for the possibility of receiving offers that involve less than ideal conditions and may require some compromises.

Successful REALTORS® know how to structure creative offers and do whatever it takes to make a transaction work ("a bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush"). If a buyer is low on cash, your counter-offer may shift some closing costs to you (the...

Remember the days when you as the Seller told the Buyer to accept all your conditions or else? Those were the days when hard-nosed and belligerant REALTORS and their ambitious clients could get away with anything, and the Buyers would have to swallow it whole!

Boy, has the market changed! Nowadays Buyers have the upper hand, an Sellers and their listing agents need to have a completely different approach to negotiations. The moment a seller appears inflexible or rude, Buyers just walk away from the negotiations (why wouldn't they, there are plenty of options out there for them!).

Today's successful negotiations need:

1. Patience - negotiations take a lot longer to come to fruition, it i...

New regulation recently passed this year allows Reverse Mortgages (HECMs) to be used for the purchase of a home. The requirements to obtain an HECM are that one of the homeowners needs to be over 62 years old, and the owners must have substantial equity in the home (the HECM only lends up to 50% of the appraised value of the home).

What is HECM for Purchase?
HECM for Purchase allows seniors, age 62 or older, to purchase a new principal residence using loan proceeds from the reverse mortgage.

What is the purpose of the program?
The program was designed to allow seniors to purchase a new principal residence and obtain a reverse mortgage within a single transaction by eliminating the need f...

I read this article published by Experian, one of the three national credit rating agencies, and thought it was interesting to share:

IN THE KNOW: The Top Three Credit Myths: Revealed

Myth #1: Checking my own credit report will lower my score
Personal inquiries, also known as "soft inquiries" or "below the line inquiries," are not visible to lenders and therefore are not part of your credit score calculation. So you can rest easy-checking your own credit report or score does NOT negatively impact your score.

Myth #2: Applying for new credit will actually lower my score
This depends on the type of credit you're applying for. If you apply for several credit cards within a short period of t...

Legal Jargon Overload

When you buy a home, the closing attorney (SC is an attorney state) will make you sign stacks of papers, affidavits and documents filled with legal jargon. Most of these documents relate to establishing your identity (for legal and tax purposes), transferring the deed, and formalizing any loans and mortgages.

Depending on their personality, some buyers are anxious to get out of there and get their keys (so they sign all the paperwork as fast as they can without even reading it) while others are extremely cautious and read every sentence before signing (and find it very frustrating to have to read these documents at the closing table, while causing everyone else to ...

With home values fluctuating the way they have in the last three years, appraisers are under increasing scrutiny from government agencies, lenders and mortgage insurance companies. Three years ago it was relatively easy to conduct an appraisal based of recent comparables and escalating property values. Today, the market is very inconsistent, partially because distressed (such as short sales, foreclosures and lender-owned) properties skew the "normal" market and makes value prediction more of an art than a precise science.

What are appraisers looking for in this market? Here are some of the things they are looking for (I have received many calls from appraisers to find out information abo...

It is another sunny day in Charleston! And, contrary to the doom and gloom that we read in the papers every day, our residential real estate market seems to be "moving along" towards a recovery.

INVENTORY - is still coming down slowly. We peaked at 2025 units in July 0f 2007, currently at 1623 units.We are already seeing some For-Sale-By-Owner signs around, so inventory will probably grow in the next two months as sellers try to catch the Spring/Summer buying wave, and decrease during the summer months when those sales close.

UNITS SOLD PER MONTH - we bottomed at 46 units in November last year, and we are back to 93 units for March 2009.

ABSORPTION - Although absorption went up in the ...