Importance of getting your house valued when selling a house as is
06.16.09
Importance of getting your house valued when selling a house as is
While deciding to sell your house, there are certain aspects to consider for a good sale. Apart from maintaining the cleanliness quotient and ensuring all the electrical and plumbing phases are in working condition, the value of the house has to be estimated before you quote a price for it. The reasons why you want to sell your house, is the foremost consideration that is taken into account when determining the house value. The elements that need scrutiny before the valuation of the house can be made are: The location of your house, whether it is far from the city area or in the prime locations, would affect the assessment of the house. The age of the house and its current condition. The average per-square rate of the area in which your house is located. The facilities provided with the dwelling play a vital role in valuation. Whether the house is fully, partially or not at all furnished, whether it has a swimming pool, clubhouse or garden or no such facilities are available. Benefits The significance of getting your house valuated is that buyers tend to certain price ranges to fit their budgets and formulating a price close to the fair market value will better your chances of striking a good deal. All house sellers are advised that they avoid being caught up in the high price deals promised by their agents and brokers. This is because many times sellers get charmed by the high price quoted by agents thinking it is the best deal and often overlook the fact that the price quoted is way above the market value and hence will not be taken up by anyone. This in turn increases the time period of the sale, which might hamper the house’s market value even further and the sellers may find themselves selling their house for much lesser amounts than was possible earlier. Getting a professional with a good track record to value your house will not only ensure the correct price but will also save your house from being held due to a poor estimation. How to increase the value of your house You need to know the market and other house deals that have taken place in and around your area. This will help you self-analyze whether the rate estimated for your house is reasonable, even without the help of a broker. The next thing you need to decide on is a minimum price for your house. If the buyers cannot afford the stated price, they you can negotiate from that minimum price so that you still end up making a profit on the sale. You should enquire about the average selling time for a house in your area. If your home sale is taking much longer than the average time, then the problem could be the price, which would undoubtedly be higher than the market value. In order to increase the value of your house, compare it to other properties in the vicinity and alter the price if necessary. Sellers need to track market movements and make regular checks on the stock of unsold local inventory and price changes. The house tax, property tax, maintenance charges and other costs need to be considered during the evaluation.We will buy your house As Is Now in any condition including Ugly Homes. If you need to Sell Your Home Fast Orlando, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati, For Lauderdale, Houston, Tampa and Fort Myers. Visit us at http://www.asisnow.com. Call 1-800-AS-IS-NOW (800-274-7669).
Source: www.ArticlePros.com
Loan Fraud
Each year uninformed homebuyers, usually first time purchasers or seniors fall victim to predatory lending known as loan fraud. True, there are many lenders, appraisers, brokers and other real estate professional that legit ably want to assist you in obtaining a nice comfortable home with a great loan but always remember that trite phrase buyer beware. Buying or refinancing a home is one of the most important financial decisions that we make, it is vital to learn as much as we can about the home loan process. That is why I decided to list the most important steps you can take so you won’t become the next victim of loan fraud. Step one is to Beware of false appraisals. You should have a good idea of what houses appraise for. Step two is to take your time and shop around. Competition is great for consumers. If you don’t appreciate one lender’s offer, there is always another one waiting. Step three is be certain that the costs and loan terms at closing are what you originally agreed to. Step four is do not be talked into lying about lie about your income, expenses, or cash available for downpayments in order to get a loan. Step five is get several quotes from multiple brokers or lenders so you know you’re being charged a fair interest rate based on your credit history, not your race or national origin. Step six is watch out for higher-risk loans such as balloon loans, interest only payments, and steep pre-payment penalties. Step seven is be careful about disclosing things like your need of cash due to medical, unemployment or debt problems. You are very vulnerable in these cases. Step eight is do not sign a sales contract or loan documents that are blank or that contain information which is not true. Step nine is don’t strip your home’s equity by refinancing again and again when there is no benefit to you. The Final step is do not let anyone convince you to borrow more money than you know you can afford to repay. If you get behind on your payments, you risk losing your house and all of the money you put into your property. <A HREF="http://www.cerebrine.com">Loan Fraud Home</a>
Source: www.ArticlePros.com
Avoid Foreclosure With a Short Sale
So you’re caught up in the wave of foreclosures like a lot of other people? It’s now becoming the new Negative Status Symbol Know that you are not alone, it is a tough place to be and unfortunately it may get worse before it gets better There is a stigma that goes along with losing something, especially when it’s your home Also, the financial mess it creates can stick with you for years to come Unfortunately there are not a lot of solutions; regardless of what you hear in the media and from your lender So it’s a bitter pill to swallow, and in order to succeed you have to get quality information & move forward quickly with your decision . .You may be considering a Short Sale to relieve you of your problem? Short Sales are a good solution, but you need to know what to expect . .1 Short Sales usually take a long time . .This is a double edge sword, because on the one hand you get many weeks, or more likely many months of free rent while waiting, but the roller coaster ride can be agonizing And you won’t know for certain if it will succeed or just be a lot closer to foreclosure, until you near the end of the process . .2 Avoiding foreclosure is really the only benefit you should expect . .Don’t expect to receive proceeds from the sale Most lenders (with the exception of FHA insured) don’t want the owner to receive any benefit at all In fact lenders stipulate that the seller/owner must not receive any proceeds from the sale of the property, as one of the agreements to doing a short sale . .3 Hopefully the person working on your short sale really knows what they are doing . .Realtors are still getting up to speed on how to do a Short Sale Some know how to do them, but most do not (not effectively anyway) Realtors are not usually ecstatic about doing them either It takes roughly 6 times the amount of work compared to selling a regular property Whoever does the negotiating needs to keep consistent pressure on the lender to work on the file and get it done In my experience this is where negotiators fall down on the job They are not proactive in their pursuit of pushing the file along to get a payoff approval . .4 What is the basic anatomy of doing a short sale? . .The property should first be listed for sale to find a buyer Once a buyer is found and an offer is made, all the necessary paperwork from the owner; which pretty much includes all the information that was provided to get the loan in the first place, must then be submitted in the right order, and in the right way to the lender Submitting it the right way can mean the difference of it ending up on top of the stack, or the bottom Once an offer is submitted the bank will call for a BPO Once the BPO is done, you then find out if the buyers offer was within their guidelines and will be accepted Assuming it is, the bank will then issue the payoff approval good for 30 to 45 days They will usually give extensions if it is needed to close, but never rely on that . .5 What is a BPO and why should you care? . .A BPO is a “Brokers Price Opinion ” Usually done by a local real estate agent The bank orders the BPO which is basically a comparison of the value to other properties, in order to gauge whether the offer made by the buyer will be accepted, rejected, or countered Whoever you have doing your short sale, they must understand how to effectively set up a fair and accurate BPO It is a must for the banks BPO agent to be met at the property with your realtors BPO report and knowledge of the property (yes your real estate agent can do their own BPO too) The whole objective is to influence the value of the property down, in order to insure that the bank will take the least price possible Because values are always subjective anyway, do not leave this important key of the whole short sale process to chance If you get nothing else out of this article, know that the BPO IS the Key difference between selling your property or not . .6 There are three main financial issues that are worth knowing about . .* Property taxes usually become delinquent, because when you don’t have enough money to pay your mortgage, then the property taxes are most likely not getting paid either In order for escrow to close, the property taxes must be paid These will most likely be paid by the bank or indirectly by the buyer, and be included as part of the short sale payoff . .* Income taxes are based on what’s called the phantom income from the sale of a property For instance if you originally bought your property for $300,000 and this was the amount of the loan (100% financing for this example), say the loan was paid down to 290,000 then if the home lost value and was sold via short sale for $150,000, you could be taxed on the $140,000 cancelled debt ($290,000 - $150,000) Even though you lost the house too This is a very simple example because you have to take into account your personal situation in regards to other income and expenses in other areas of your life Special note: there are many ways to lower or completely extinguish the tax burden if you do a short sale, or end up getting foreclosed on The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act (H R 4638) of 2007 provides relief from debt forgiveness taxation for certain owner occupants now until December 31, 2012 This is specifically for Owner Occupied properties (limit of 2 million dollars) If it is an investment property there are other alternatives available, one being insolvency (if your debts are more than your assets), there may be other options too Get a good tax professional or CPA, they are worth their weight in Gold Do not let someone talk you out of a short sale simply because it will be better off to let the property go to foreclosure, this is not the case Note: We are NOT giving you tax advice, because we are NOT tax advisors . .* Deficiency judgments’ can be requested by the lender for accepting a short payoff (or when a foreclosure takes place too) More and more lenders are insisting on an agreement or promissory note by the owner to pay a portion of what was originally owed, usually over a number of years, and usually at no interest This requested deficiency is usually calculated from the 2nd mortgage, at about 10% to 40% of that value If it would be a hardship to pay back, and you are planning on doing bankruptcy anyway, then you could simply agree to the installment which would subsequently be wiped out by the bankruptcy Or if your plans do not include bankruptcy then maybe the short sale along with this payment, would still be better than the alternative .
Source: www.rsstnx.com
