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Protect
Your Interests When Buying a Home
E
ven though real estate has changed
substantially in recent years with the
use of new technologies, the fact
remains that buying a home still
requires a series of traditional
protections and defenses. Why? Because
buying a home is inherently complex and
professional assistance is both
appropriate and reasonable.
In
practical terms, this means that if
you're a buyer there are steps you
should take to protect your interests.
As a place to start, here are several
basic issues to consider:
Get a
home inspection. We had been making
great progress on this issue until HUD
stepped in last year and told consumers
that FHA appraisers would be
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required
to provide a "new
three-page form describing the
physical condition of a home in
unprecedented detail."
The result of HUD's action has
been steep price increases for
FHA appraisals
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Taking
The Stress Out
Of Packing
L
et's face it, there is no "moving
fairy." No matter how long you
procrastinate, no twinkling spirit is going to
show up, wave a magic wand and instantly
transport all your household goods from your
current home to your new one. If you're going to
move, you have to pack. With that in mind, here
are six tips to help you get through this chore
with a minimum of aggravation:
1. Start early.
Packing always takes longer than you expected.
The sooner you start, the more momentum you'll
generate and the more likely you'll be able to
finish on time, maybe even with a few spare
moments to say good-bye to your neighbors.
Another advantage of starting early is that
you'll have more time to round up other people's
reusable moving boxes. If you have a large home,
keep yourself and your helpers on track by
making a packing schedule that shows a start
date and a deadline for packing each room.
2. Ask your
mover for advice. Moving companies naturally
have a lot of experience with packing. Ask your
representative for how-to-pack tip sheets,
moving timelines, information about the latest
packing materials, the availablilty of odd-size
boxes and so on.
3. Clear out
the clutter. There's no sense packing items
you should give away or will probably throw out
after you
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Put
A REALTOR® On Your
New Home Team
W
hat do you want in new home? To build a home to
suit? Move into a model? Whether you build or
move into a "spec" home, you want the
process to be as quick and easy as possible, and
that is why hiring a Realtor will help you work
with builders.
Many markets are
brimming with new homes, but there's just one
catch. If your area is a hot relocation
destination, then you'll find fewer homes for
sale than usual. You'll also be competing with
multiple buyers for the homes that are
available.
In many new home
communities, builder homes are often sold before
the foundation is laid. Lots are snapped up
quickly for model homes and build-to-suit homes.
When you drive around to look at new home
communities, you may be surprised to learn that
the new home you just left to "think
about" may have a contract on it before you
can even turn the car around.
How can you gain
an advantage in such a fast-paced market? An
expert Realtor who is a new home specialist or
relocation specialist can make the difference.
Realtors who
specialize in new homes, either as relocation
specialists or new home specialists, make it a
point to know their communities and its builders
inside out. They know which builders have the
best reputations, the most inventory, and what
the pricing and amenities usually are. Many
Realtors work closely with the builder's on-site
representatives who share information such as
which homes are under contract,
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The
Trouble With Mortgage Calculators
Years
ago, people used charts and simple multiplication to
calculate the time value of money. Then, Hewlett-Packard
introduced its ubiquitous hand-held financial
calculators, and those "time value of $1"
charts faded from memory. The latest incarnation is the
Web-based mortgage calculator, provided online by real
estate brokerages and agents, lenders and mortgage
brokers and such companies as Bankrate Monitor and Nolo
Press, among others. Calculators pose intriguing
questions: How much can you afford to borrow to buy a
home? How much will your monthly mortgage payment be?
Should you refinance your mortgage? And so on.
Do mortgage calculators
work? Yes and no. Calculators plug user-entered data
into complex equations that would be daunting for the
average not-mathematically-inclined person to solve by
hand. However, the results lack real-world reliability
and can vary from one calculator to the next. Some
calculators are so suspect, in fact, that they're
accompanied by small-print disclaimers warning consumers
not to rely on the results. If you want to use online
mortgage calculators, keep these caveats in mind:
The Terrible Truth About
Real Estate Professionals.
The terrible truth about real estate
professionals is that almost to person they believe and will tell you, "you need their services to buy or sell a home." Is their
advice
fact or fiction? We will help you be the judge.
CONTINUED >>>
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