Archive for April, 2010
4 Things First-Time Home Buyers Need to Know about Home Inspections
April 21st, 2010 Categories: Buying a Home
A professional home inspection can not only provide a great education about the home’s systems, but also be a crucial tool in negotiating the most equitable price on the home, according to HouseMaster, one of the first and largest home inspection franchisors in North America.
“Our experience and research shows that approximately 40% of resale homes have at least one defect that can cost a home buyer a minimum of $500 to repair,” said Kathleen Kuhn, President of HouseMaster.“A home inspection by a professional and qualified home inspector is an excellent tool to encourage home sellers to make repairs or make further price adjustments as a result of conditions noted in the inspection report.”
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), in 2009, a record 47% of homes sold were purchased by first-time buyers. Tax credit incentives from the federal government of up to $8,000 and historically low mortgage rates continue to attract first-time buyers to the market. A professional home inspection not only educates buyers on the condition of the home but can minimize costly surprises down the road. HouseMaster provides the following tips to ensure that first-time buyers make an educated decision when purchasing a home and get the best price possible.
1. Inspect the Inspector. Only hire a home inspector with an excellent reputation and credentials. Ask how long the company has been in business, ask about specific formal training and ongoing education the inspector has and verify the inspector carries professional liability insurance also known as “Errors & Omissions” (E&O). If the company doesn’t carry this insurance, it could indicate a poor track record or lack of experience.
2. Ask for a sample of a report. The credentials of the inspection company and the quality of the final inspection report will be important. A poorly prepared report without pictures or clear, concise details addressing all the various systems and accessible elements of the home is less likely to be taken seriously by a home seller.
3. Inspect ancillary systems. It’s hard for first-time home buyers to know what they need, so be sure to ask what additional services the company offers. If the home you are considering has a septic system for example, a professional home inspection company may offer septic system inspections or can coordinate that service for you. Generally, the company will offer you a multiple services discount as well as the added convenience of only having to attend one inspection appointment. Other common services offered by home inspectors are termite inspections, mold screening, water testing and radon testing.
4. Go along on the inspection. Ask the inspection company if they encourage buyers to tag along on the inspection. If the inspector discourages you from going along and asking questions, find another inspector. A home inspection is not simply a laundry list of what is wrong with the home. In addition to documenting issues and needed repairs that may exist, a professional home inspector will also show the new buyer how to operate the various systems in the home and provide tips on improving energy efficiency and maintaining the home in general. And being present during the inspection will make the final written report that much more meaningful.
Copyright© 2010 RISMedia
Valerie Fitzgerald specializes in luxury residential real estate in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, Santa Monica and Malibu. Valerie has more than 20 years of real estate experience and is known for her solid reputation in the West Los Angeles brokerage community. She’s also the author of the book published by Simon and Schuster Heart and Sold: How to Survive and Build a Recession-Proof Business.
Check out Valerie Fitzgerald Beverly Hills Real Estate Listings
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Southern California Home Sales Up | Beverly Hills & Westside Los Angeles Real Estate
April 14th, 2010 Categories: Buying a Home
Home sales and prices continued their steady but pokey climb up from the bottom in Southern California last month as buyers scrambled to take advantage of low prices and low mortgage interest rates. The market is still tilted toward low-cost distress sales, but not by as much as previously, a real estate information service reported.
A total of 20,476 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 33.3% from 15,359 in February, and up 5.0% from 19,506 in March 2009, according to MDA DataQuick. The San Diego firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
Sales always go up from February to March. Last month was the 21st in a row with a year-over-year sales increase. The March sales average is 24,936 going back to 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics begin.
“It’s a reflection of just how grim things got, that we’ve now had almost two years of sales gains and we’re still 18% below the sales average. The market won’t rebalance until mortgage lending patterns normalize, and that’s just not happening yet. Some of the best deals out there right now are happening when the buyer comes in with cash,” said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president.
READ THE REST OF THE STORY: http://valeriefitzgerald.com/2010/04/southern-california-home-sales-up
Copyright© 2010 RISMedia
Valerie Fitzgerald specializes in luxury residential real estate in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, Santa Monica and Malibu. Valerie has more than 20 years of real estate experience and is known for her solid reputation in the Westside Los Angeles brokerage community. She’s also the author of the book published by Simon and Schuster Heart and Sold: How to Survive and Build a Recession-Proof Business.
Check out Valerie Fitzgerald Beverly Hills Real Estate Listings
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Construction Sector Adds 15,000 Jobs in March
April 7th, 2010 Categories: Real Estate Tools
For the first time in nearly three years, the construction industry gained jobs, adding 15,000 positions in March, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly employment numbers released Friday.
That translates into 5,592,000 jobs for the industry and a significant piece of economic news for the sector, which has lost an average of 72,000 jobs monthly during the past year. (The construction industry, as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, includes residential and commercial builders, specialty trade contractors, civil engineers, and other related professions.)
Unfortunately, the growth didn’t come from the home building side of the business. Residential construction, a subset of building construction, lost 800 jobs in March, falling to total employment of 585,200 positions. Total jobs for residential specialty trade contractors slipped by 9,300 jobs to 1.543 million.
But there are some signs of hope in the larger economy.
According to the data, the country added 162,000 jobs last month, which “suggests that the economy has broken through to sustained job creation,” said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist for IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass. “The key figure is not the 162,000 jobs headline for March, because that was artificially boosted by temporary Census hiring and by a bounce after February’s snow storms. What matters is that between January and March…. the economy added 131,000 private-sector jobs.”
The unemployment rate was unchanged in March compared to the previous month, with a reading of 9.7%.
From BuilderOnline.com
Copyright© 2010 RISMedia
Valerie Fitzgerald specializes in luxury residential real estate in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, Santa Monica and Malibu. Valerie has more than 20 years of real estate experience and is known for her solid reputation in the Westside Los Angeles brokerage community. Today she oversees sales for the Carlyle Residences and Latitude 33. She’s also the author of the book published by Simon and Schuster Heart and Sold: How to Survive and Build a Recession-Proof Business.
Check out Valerie Fitzgerald Beverly Hills Real Estate Listings
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Prospective Home Buyers Learn New Mortgage Rules
April 5th, 2010 Categories: Buying a Home
If you’re a prospective home buyer exploring real estate this spring, there’s plenty to learn about, from bank-owned properties to the strict criteria for getting a mortgage these days. And now the federal government has added something to the mix, aimed at helping buyers shop for loans: the revamped Good Faith Estimate.
Designed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help borrowers better understand the terms of their loans, the new three-page form has been a required part of the mortgage application process since Jan. 1, 2010.
In some ways, the form is doing its job, experts say—and in other ways it’s adding confusion to a process that already besieges buyers with a mind-boggling array of details. But many in the mortgage industry—which fought against the development of the new form—say it is causing so much confusion it’s actually spawning additional, explanatory forms, causing delays in some transactions, and leaving some borrowers worried about signing papers that don’t reflect what they’ll really have to pay. “It’s not clear. It’s not simple,” said Doug Jones, a broker at Mortgage Magic in San Jose.
“There are issues with the form—in places, it is cumbersome and confusing,” said Diane Thompson, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. “But it is nonetheless a dramatic improvement over where we were.” Thompson said the good faith estimate forms that had evolved over the past 30 years “were a mess because they weren’t standardized.” Now, standardized terminology and a fuller disclosure of fees benefit borrowers, she said.
Before the form was redesigned, good faith estimates had “no teeth” to bite lenders or brokers who pumped up their fees between the time a customer applied and closed the loan, said Nina Simon, director of litigation for the Center for Responsible Lending in Washington, D.C.
But the new form stipulates that some charges—such as the loan origination fee—can’t change at all after they’ve been quoted to a customer on a good faith estimate. Other charges, such as those for some title company services, can only increase 10%. If those fees increase more than 10% after the good faith estimate is issued, the lender must pay the difference.
In addition, the good faith estimate has a section written in straightforward language that spells out each loan’s basic terms. For example, one line says “Can your interest rate rise?” Followed by check-boxes for “No” and “Yes, it can rise to a maximum of… The first change will be in…”
But mortgage brokers have developed a long list of complaints about the new form. For example, there’s nowhere to show how much the borrower will pay in pro-rated property taxes. And brokers have the incentive to inflate the estimate of their fees, because once they’ve issued the good faith estimate, they can’t boost those fees, even if subsequent changes to the loan package cut into their compensation.
But HUD, which redesigned the decades-old form in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis, says that those who are complaining about the new procedure misunderstand its intent. A document on the HUD website devotes 31 pages to explaining the form. “It’s designed to be a shopping document, to allow borrowers to be able to select the very best loan available to them,” said HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan.
Still, some borrowers end up confused, expecting a document that says “total estimated settlement charges” at the bottom will, well, provide an estimate of total settlement charges.
But, because of what’s included—and omitted—from the three-page form, the amount shown on the bottom line is often significantly different from what the customer will actually have to pay to close the transaction. For example, in the San Francisco Bay Area, the “transfer taxes” that are due when property changes hands are typically paid by sellers. But they must be reflected on the GFE form, and can amount to thousands of dollars, prompting some borrowers to assume the amount shown on the form is one they must pay.
When Warner de Gooijer applied for a loan to buy a home in San Jose recently, he was confounded by the huge dollar figure looming at the bottom of the good faith estimate, which must be provided to borrowers within three business days of when they apply for a mortgage. Then his loan officer explained that he wouldn’t actually have to pay the amount shown at the bottom of the good faith estimate. “But do I trust my loan officer or the paper I’m signing?” said de Gooijer, who nervously wondered whether he’d be liable for the large amount anyway.
“The GFE is intended to help borrowers compare loans and costs for loans,” said Tracie Southerland of Opes Advisors, a mortgage lender in Palo Alto, Calif. “What borrowers come to us to know is, ‘When I get to the closing table, what kind of check am I writing?’ The new GFE does not have any place that captures that.”
The change is prompting some lenders to develop new worksheets of their own, so they can show the customer what he or she might really have to fork over at closing.
Copyright© 2010 RISMedia
Valerie Fitzgerald specializes in luxury residential real estate in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, Santa Monica and Malibu. Valerie has more than 20 years of real estate experience and is known for her solid reputation in the Westside Los Angeles brokerage community. She’s also the author of the book published by Simon and Schuster Heart and Sold: How to Survive and Build a Recession-Proof Business.
Check out Valerie Fitzgerald Beverly Hills Real Estate Listings
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