Congratulations on finding a house! You now have only a few days from when you signed the purchase and sales agreement to have a home inspection. Chances are your real estate agent made the offer contingent upon a satisfactorily home inspection and obtaining mortgage financing. What Is A Home Inspection? According to Wikipedia, a home inspection “is a limited, non-invasive examination … [Read more...]
Making Sure Your Cash-To-Close Comes From The Proper Source
Providing proper asset documentation and the actual source of the funds is a critical element of the loan closing process. There's nothing worse in a real estate purchase than making it all the way through the hoops and hurdles just to have a loan denied after the final documents have been signed due to the borrower using the wrong checking account for the down payment. Seasoning of the down … [Read more...]
Is Refinancing Worth It?
As rates are low, many people are trying to figure out if refinancing makes sense in their situation and it can be a challenging task if you do not understand what to calculate. Here is at least one way to figure out if refinancing makes sense -- focus on the net benefits of refinancing from the standpoint of lowering your interest rate. Although there are several reasons to do an AZ … [Read more...]
Earnest Money: Where Does It Go?
I have a question... if you give your Realtor a $5000 Earnest Money Deposit check, where exactly does that money go? A basic and very obvious question that most First-Time home Buyers ask once their purchase contract gets accepted. According to Wikipedia: Earnest Money - an earnest payment (sometimes called earnest money or simply earnest, or alternatively a good-faith deposit) is a … [Read more...]
What Does Title Insurance Protect Me From?
By including title insurance when purchasing property, your title insurer takes on accountability for legal expenses to defend your property title, should it ever be challenged. Many different occurrences can come into play to warrant the need for title insurance. The title company responsible will then take on the legal expenses to defend the property for as long as you are in possession of … [Read more...]
No Closing Costs vs No Out Of Pocket Closing Costs
Closing costs. Due to some very slick marketing by the mortgage industry, many people know that "closing costs are bad" and that they don't want to pay them. They aren't exactly who is going to pay them, but they know that they don't want to. Here is an ad that I came across from Countrywide. Does this add say "no closing costs"? No. It says "No Cash Required For Closing Costs." - … [Read more...]