Tag: Home Buying
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As Home and Condo Insurers Back Away, What’s a California Deed Holder to Do?
It’s wildfire season in California. You want to buy there, and yet you might have heard reports of homeowners being left stranded by their insurance companies. So you have special concerns about whether you’ll have trouble getting a home or condo owner’s policy. Your concerns are well founded. The California Association of REALTORS® found that…
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Can Working with a Real Estate Attorney Instead of an Agent Save You Money?
A lawyer can guide you through a real estate transaction. A lawyer can prepare (or check) your paperwork, represent you, and advocate for you. A lawyer runs the title searches, ensuring that the seller has a good title to transfer. Real estate attorneys also handle settlements. And yes, using a lawyer rather than a…
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Whether You’re Selling or Buying: How the Deed Works
Whether you’re about to receive the deed to your first home, or could use a refresher on all things deed-related, we’ve got you covered. A deed is a legal document (also called a legal instrument) that serves to transfer a real estate title from a current owner to a new owner. That is, the deed…
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So Many Homes in HOAs—Is This the Future of Houses?
It’s your deed. But it could come with community-wide restrictions, as well as a long list of homeowners’ association rules that support those restrictions. If you value privacy and autonomy, this might be just what you’re trying to avoid. You want ownership — not other people telling you how to live. But it’s getting harder…
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Received an Offer to Have Your Deed Mailed to You for a Fee? Toss It!
This year, Recorder of Deeds Jeanne Sorg has an important message for home buyers in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Look out, Sorg tells homeowners, for deceptive letters mailed to residents from outfits like Property Site. (That’s just one example of the companies who send out these letters, Sorg notes.) The letters at issue say the companies…
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Divorced and Looking (For a House)
If you’re newly separated or divorced, you could be shopping for a home. Letting go of the home you shared with your former partner leads to a series of steps: from the deed you shared, to a new deed. A deed to a home of your own. Here, we spot the issues for the newly…
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How to Find and Buy a Fixer-Upper (Before Someone Else Does)
Nabbing a deed to a home these days is no easy feat. In this hostile market, many hopeful buyers are looking around for a fixer-upper just to get a toehold. In fact, there are financing options out there that make restoring a home affordable for buyers who have struggled to enter the market and don’t…
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Luxury Homes, Bitcoin Bros… And the Rest of Us
Love it or hate it, there’s one thing that’s hard to deny. Bitcoin’s enjoying a highly successful year. The launch of bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has so far been a resounding success for Wall Street’s financial powerhouses. BlackRock alone has accumulated $20 billion in bitcoin, just in the last three months since the firm opened…
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The Rise and Rise of Down Payments
A down payment is the portion of a home’s purchase price the mortgage borrower pays upfront. You knew that. But did you know the median down payment for U.S. homebuyers is now more than $55K+? That’s remarkable. It was less than $45K just last year. Buyers often try to put 20% of the purchase price down.…
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Buying a Home on Disability: What to Know
For all hopeful buyers, whether or not they have disabilities, getting a mortgage comes down to a rather simple formula. It’s about how much a loan applicant spends, versus the applicant’s stable income. And yes, stable income includes disability benefits such as Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI). Disability income might…
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Gets Tough on Mortgage Loan Junk Fees
Are lenders’ “junk fees” pushing the high cost of closing on a home even higher? The federal government thinks so. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) says fees need to be more transparent, understandable, and reasonable. Why are the fees charged? Are they really “junk”? Do borrowers get a say in what they pay? Let’s…
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Say the F Word: Real Estate Agents Need to Warn Us About Fraud
No one wants to fall prey to scam artists. Better guidance from real estate agents would be a big help. After all, a staggering fifth of fraudulent money transfer requests pretend to be coming from real estate professionals. So, why aren’t clients getting stronger warnings?
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Legal Update: NAR’s Ready to Settle Its Lawsuit. Here’s What Home Sellers and Buyers Stand to Gain.
Sellers could soon be spending less to sell their homes. This month, after previously vowing to fight, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) gave in and made a major change, in order to release itself from lawsuits. NAR and several brokerages were claimed to have colluded to keep agent commissions high. But soon, if a…
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Real Property Basics: What Is a Clear Title?
A clear title. The term is commonly used to mean the deed holder can prove ownership, unquestionably. To verify that, a title company can conduct a title search. Other parties’ claims on the title are called title defects, or clouds on title. What do these claims look like? They might be mortgage liens, court judgments,…
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Bitcoin Creating New Home Buyers? Why We’re Watching the Crypto Effect on Real Estate Markets
Bitcoin is now available from mainstream financial managers. Suddenly, it’s a significant part of U.S. investment and retirement portfolios. So, bitcoin is joining real estate as an asset class. At this point, the leading cryptocurrency can influence the costs of housing in some markets. Its rise even allows some people to buy their first homes.…
