Buyers

Patience is a Virtue (That Helps Get Deals Done)

Buyers may deal with anxiety, especially if they are also selling a home somewhere else and the purchase depends upon the sale of their existing home.

In addition, Buyers may have to deal with the Sellers' anxiety. For example, after a Buyer has reached an agreement with the Sellers and signed (ratified) a contract, the Buyer may notice that the Sellers could begin to behave strangely, getting somewhat agitated and making additional (sometimes unreasonable) demands, like asking you to not access the home during weekends, or making it difficult for your inspections to be scheduled or for your blinds contractor to come in to measure the w...

THE "DRY" CLOSING...

Buyers and Sellers have agreed terms and conditions, the Buyers have done their inspections, all the repairs have been negotiated and agreed, the Sellers have done the repairs, the closing attorney has done the title work, insurance has been ordered, the appraisal has been received and came back OK, everything seems going perfect to close on time...

Enter, the lender's UNDERWRITER/AUDITOR/FINAL CHECK...

During the housing boom that ended a few years ago, underwriters were just an extra check, and they were not really very concerned about confirming every little detail on the loan application, the contract and the origin of the deposit money. Maybe that's one of the...

Home Affordability

Watch this video to hear me discuss the recent increase in interest rates!

Help me buy a home!

Affordability has two components:

        1. Market price for the homes

        2. Interest rate for the mortgage loans

As you know, the Federal Reserve announced last week that they will stop buying long-term bonds and that created almost a one percent hike in interest rates for mortgages.  What does that mean for you? 

In the Real Estate market prices are starting to climb back up again.  With interest rates on the rise buyers across the U.S. should be feeling more pressure to act sooner, rather than later, as the expectation is for home prices to ri...

The Home Inspection: What Are you Really Getting?

When you buy a home (whether new or existing), it is always recommended to perform "buyers' due diligence" by commissioning all the necessary inspections (including home, termite, moisture, mold, structural, etc.).

Always choose licensed, insured and experienced professionals to perform these duties (after all, if you ask your buddy Joe - who has a contractor's license - to do your home inspection and he misses an important issue - it can cost your friendship, and it may also cost you a lot of money in the future!).

After financing, inspections and repair negotiations are some of the most common causes for contracts to fall through! Onc...

Homes on Busy Streets: Plus, or Minus?

Every day when you drive to work you see a beautiful home with a "For Sale" sign on a busy road. Given the size and quality of the home, you think it must be priced well above your price range. After months of thinking about it, you call the sign for information and you find out it is surprisingly affordable, priced much lower than similar homes on quiet streets! You schedule a showing, and you love the home...

Homes located on busy streets may represent great value for the money. Some buyers who are very sensitive to noise, have young children or pets, may automatically rule out homes on busy streets. This means that there are fewer buyers competi...

BE PREPARED - EXTRA COSTS TO CONSIDER WHEN YOU ARE BUYING A HOME!

Property Taxes - paid in arrears and prorated at closing. Your lender will normally collect an initial amount plus 1/12 of the annual tax estimate monthly to place in an escrow account, and will pay the taxes for you at the end of the year. Don't forget to request the Primary Residence and Homes...

The Importance of Establishing Solid Buying Criteria

In a housing market with abundant supply, buyers sometimes get overwhelmed trying to find the PERFECT home, at the LOWEST price. There may be so many options, that buyers often get confused and avoid making a buying decision for fear of finding a home that is marginally better that the one they chose, right after they have signed the contract!

We ask our buyer clients to sit down with us for a no-obligation BUYER CONSULTATION in a relaxing environment, and openly discuss their NEEDS and their WANTS, to form a basis of their BUYING CRITERIA, ranked by importance. Write down two lists of criteria: The first list are the "MUST-HAVE" (nee...

SHOPPING FOR A MORTGAGE LOAN

Before you start shopping for a home, it is essential to get pre-approved by a lender. This does not mean that you cannot keep “shopping around” for the best loan while you look at homes. Once you have a signed (or “ratified”) contract, you will need to choose a lender, submit a formal application and many times pay a fee (usually the cost of the appraisal) to the lender.

So, how do you choose the right lender?

It is important to choose a reputable lender, but also one that has the right loan program to fit your particular situation. It is important to carefully compare rates, origination and processing fees, terms, conditions and restrictions before making...

LEGAL JARGON OVERLOAD

When you buy a home, the closing attorney (SC is an attorney state for real estate) 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, making sure you are not a terrorist and formalizing any loans and mortages.

Depending on 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, detail-oriented and want to read every sentence before signing (and find it very frustrating to have to read...

Tips for Buying Fixer-Uppers

1. Avoid homes that need major spending on basics that are expected by buyers (i.e. "unprofitable repairs"): The home you choose needs to be structurally sound, up-to-code in electrical wiring, have sound major plumbing (no polybutilene pipes), and must not need foundation repairs. Correcting these issues may cost you a fortune and do not add value to the buyer.
2. Prefer homes that need only cosmetic or updating ...

HOW TO GET THE HOME YOU WANT (MAKING "CLEAN" OFFERS)

You are in the market to buy a home and you found a house that's ideal for you - it is in the right location and meets all your "needs" and "wants". The price is the only thing that is keeping you from making an offer, because you feel that it is more than you can afford.

How can you improve your odds of the owners accepting an offer that is much lower than their asking price?

In addition to a market justification for a low offer (your Buyer's Agent can provide the comparable sales) an important strategy you should use is to make your offer as "clean" as possible by not ask for special conditions or contingencies.

• Avoid making dem...

Negotiations from the buyers’ perspective:

Traditionally people think of a good negotiator as a person that crushes the competition and gets the last dollar out of the transaction. However, buying a home is just one of the pieces of the life puzzle and a real estate adviser should focus more on the long-term objectives of the clients.

Negotiating skills depend more on market dynamics and the tactics need to be adjusted to fit these dynamics. For example, for a buyer it is very different to negotiate in a buyers’ market (where there are a lot of listings and not a lot of competition) than in a sellers’ market (where there are very few listings and a lot of competition).

In a b...

What is The "Earnest Money" Deposit?

The earnest money deposit is a "show of good faith" that underscores the buyer's seriousness of purpose and gives confidence to the seller to be able to take the property off the market during the "due diligence" or escrow period (from contract to closing, usually 30-45 days).

The buyer's earnest money check is not deposited in an escrow account until there is a signed and accepted (i.e. "ratified") contract, and will be governed by state law handling of escrow accounts.

When we represent buyer clients, we usually include 6 contingencies that our clients can use to release a contract "with cause" and get their earnest money deposit refunded ...

Time is a scarce resource. When you are searching for the right home, it pays to have the best technology tools at your disposal! We are now offering a new service: Automatic daily, weekly or bi-weekly alerts, which sends all new listings that fit your search criteria AUTOMATICALLY to your email. So you don't have to spend as much time looking online, or starting from scratch every time you sit down to search.

If you would like to set up your own listing alert, please visit our sister website, FindHomesInCharleston.com . Just click on "My Tools" and scroll down to "My Alerts.

Using Renovation Loans

USING RENOVATION LOANS

Given the proliferation of short sales, foreclosures and lender-owned properties (REOs), it is not uncommon for buyers to come across homes that may be very well price (a "steal") but need substantial renovation work to bring them up to the desired quality and functionality level. 

Many of these homes have been neglected for a long time: Initially their owners (who experienced a financial hardship of some nature) did not have the money or the inclination to do normal maintenance and upkeep. Then the home is normally vacant for a period of time, while the lender takes it to foreclosure and resolves all the legal title issues to be abl...

HOW TO WIN IN A “MULTIPLE-OFFER” SITUATION

You and your REALTOR® have spent many hours “weeding out” potential homes for sale and finally find the home of your dreams: It is priced right, perfect size, location, features, etc. and you don’t want to miss out on this opportunity, so you go see it as soon as it is listed… and then, while you are walking through, two other parties arrive to view it. So you have competition (no surprise, since well-priced homes are still selling well!). It is pretty obvious that, even if you write an offer immediately, the listing agent will call your agent to say that there will be multiple offers. How can you improve your odds that YOUR offer is the one acc...

SHOULD YOU PAY CASH FOR A HOME?

If you have the cash and plan to buy a home, there are different issues to consider to determine your best strategy.

First, you may consider peace of mind. Does having no debt make you sleep like a baby? 

Next, consider financial effectiveness, tax and retirement planning. If you pay cash for a home and in the future need to refinance with cash out to use some of the equity, the interest you pay on the mortgage will NOT be tax deductible.

The tax code says that deductible mortgage interest must be from either:

• First lien ACQUISITION indebtedness; or
• Second lien (i.e. equity line, 2nd mortgage) of up to $100,000 - funds can be used for any purpose.
...

Affordability remains at record levels, supported by the lowest mortgage rates in decades, low home prices, and the first-time home buyer tax credit.

The home price-to-income ratio continues to remain well below the historical average of 25 percent. The ratio now stands at 14.2 percent.

Would-be buyers should consider their COST to buy and not only the PRICE of the home. While it is true that we may still not be at the bottom of the market in terms of prices, any increase in mortgage interest rates (and rates ARE under pressure to increase) could erase any potential gains from waiting to buy at the very bottom of the market.

Aaaarghh! I Just Can't Decide!!! Let Me Ride On a Helicopter...

As inventory increased in the years following the "sub-prime meltdown" and we switched from a "seller's market" to a "buyer's market", many buyers experienced MORE DIFFICULTY in making a puchase decision.

(OK, hold it, wasn't it supposed to be easier, now that there are more choices available...??)

The fact is that having MANY options sometimes OVERWHELMS buyers and causes BUYER PARALYSIS!

Buyers are comparing different types of homes (private sales, short sales, lender-owned, foreclosure auctions) that have different advantages and disadvantages, features. special prices, incentives and gimmicks.

To keep the buying proc...

If You Don't Buy a House Now, You're Stupid or Broke

This is the title of this interesting article written by Marc Roth in Businessweek.The author explores the historic low in interest rates and predicts that those who wait to buy, may have to pay a much higher price in the end, given the trends in mortgage interest rates. Read the full article here...