What could be better? We have Sunshine, a 3 day weekend and Seattle’s Bumpershoot. How great is that? So enjoy and if you are going to bumpershoot here is the line-up http://bumbershoot.org/lineup/
Monthly Archives: August 2012
Great Tips for Home Buyers
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Tips for Home Buyers
A lot of work goes into getting to the closing table when you are purchasing a home. Here are tips you should adhere to to help thwart any last minute glitches or hitches that could come between you and your new home – or your cash.
4 Ways to Avoid Surprises at the Closing Table
Halt Major Money Moves
From pre-approval to closing, lenders are watching your credit report. Avoid any major changes to account balances, credit limits, or other money-related activity that could change your financial status in any way. This includes large deposits (other than your normal income) that come in before or during escrow. If you have them, be prepared to explain them and document their source or they could stand in the way of your loan. Other common last-minute money hang-ups include new credit accounts and new collections or judgments.
Tell the Whole Truth
Be up front and honest with your agent and loan officer from the beginning and you’ll be much more likely to be successful when it’s time to close the deal. Loan underwriters will verify and re-verify the facts on your loan application including credit, assets, marital status, employment, and more until the last minute. New mortgage guidelines have created a virtual gauntlet of multiple application reviews by multiple underwriters before you close the deal, so be sure you tell the truth.
Closing Documents: Read Ahead
Get and review your closing documents in advance so you can confirm important details like the interest rate and monthly payment, ask questions, and initiate any corrections in advance. With more than 300 pages to review, chances you’ll be scrutinizing every line at the closing table are slim – and if you do catch an error, the time it can take the lender to revise and reissue a set of papers can throw your moving calendar entirely out of whack and potentially cost you more money.
Watch the Calendar
To avoid additional fees at the closing, stay on top of important deadlines for approvals, offers, inspections, and others. Also, make sure your real estate and mortgage brokers are in close communication, and ask them to keep you apprised of how any closing date changes affect your bottom line. A change in closing date can affect interest rates, closing costs, and other factors that adjust over time and ultimately have an impact on the size of the check you’ll have to write to close the deal.
Thanks Trulia for some great info!
Are Foreign Buyers Taking Our Homes?
Did you know….
More foreign buyers are seeing attractive opportunities in the U.S. housing market. A National Association of Realtors (NAR) survey revealed that home sales to international buyers were up 24% for the 12 months ending in March. Finally, a Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) survey showed demand for purchase loans was up 13% for the week and up 4% from a year ago. This put it at the highest level in more than six months!
Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Do you think it takes away from buyers looking for homes to owner occupy? I am a bit torn on this one. Recently, I have had a few Canadian investors contact me that have cash to buy homes. They want to purchase to rent out. On one hand I welcome the business and realize that for most Bank Owned and HUD homes investors must wait a set amount of time to give owner occupied first preference. On the other hand I worry since our inventory is so low that it will further put a squeeze on the homes available here to first time home buyers and folks relocating here for jobs. I would love to hear your opinion and thoughts?
How To Avoid The Top 9 Buyer Traps
200 Year Historical Rates on 30-Year Mortgage
Did you know us Americans want BIGGER homes??
Americans are now expanding their vision of how big a home they want to live in. The Census Bureau reports the average size of a newly built home in 2011 was 2480 square feet. That was 3.7% bigger than the average size in 2010 — and the first annual increase since 2007! Record-low interest rates are also allowing buyers to move up in size for virtually the same mortgage payments. The trend helped boost the average new home price in April to $282,600, up more than 5% over a year ago.