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If you are interest in buying a home, and have never been through the process before, there are a few things that everyone should know before they buy a home. If you have been through the process of buying a home before you may already be familiar with the entire process, but a quick refresher will always make the process run smoother. The worst thing that could happen is that you might learn something new that may help you avoid some potential problem when you are buying a home.

You might not be aware of the multitude of mortgage options that are available in the real estate market today. Many people know about the 30 year fixed mortgage and are oblivious to other options that might be better for their particular situation. The best things to do in this situation is to sit down with your banker or accountant and ask the hard questions to find out what the best mortgage options are to fit you needs.

Most people also do not take full advantage of the services of a real estate agent. A real estate agent who specializes in a particular area you are interested in will be able to help you find a home that suits you needs faster then going through newspapers or searching online. When buying a home it is often a good idea to enlist the services of a buying agent, a real estate agent whose job it will be to help you traverse the process of finding and buying a home. Buying agents have a full range of services that you may not be aware of that will make the entire process smoother and faster.

In the long run, buying a home is not a difficult process, although it can be if you do not take enough time to understand the entire transaction. You can cut down on any difficulties in buying a home by knowing about the process before hand and having some professional advice throughout your process of buying a home will be invaluable as well.

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After you find the perfect home that you want to live in for many years to come, the next consideration on most people’s mind is if they are getting a good deal. After all, if you find the perfect home but cannot afford it in the long run, what is the point? Most people are so emotionally charged when they find the home that they really desire that it is not easy to determine if they are getting a good deal or if they have gotten swept away by the deal of owning that home. Fortunately there are a few objective things you can look at to decide how good a deal you are getting.

1. Common sense is your best basic tool to determine if you are getting a good deal. Basically speaking if you try to take the excitement out of the decision and look at the home with discernment, you can usually figure out if it is a good deal. After all you wouldn’t pay a million dollars for a run down home in a bad neighborhood. This might seem extreme, but it is a great example.
2. Compare the cost of the home you are interested in buying to other recent sales in the same area. This allows you to see just how good of a deal you are getting based on the past experience of other home buyers. Regardless, you will find out whether you are paying too much money for a home, or if you are getting the deal of all deals. You can find this information online, or by getting in touch with a real estate agent. The seller may even give you these details if they feel that they are offering a great deal.
3. Hire a real estate agent to help you find and buy a new home. This way you will have a professional on your side that can guide you every step of the way. Although this may not seem like a big deal, doing this will go a long way in ensuring that you do not get taken advantage of.

When all is said and done, following these three recommendations will help you to figure out if you are getting a good deal, but remember that cold hard facts cannot replace your own discernment.

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So, you have purchased your new home, Congratulations! Now it’s time to prepare yourself and your family, pets, and belongings, for moving from your current home to your new one. Now you’re probably quite excited about your upcoming home move, but not so excited about the actual moving process. Moving can be a very daunting task, made harder at times than necessary, by a lack of proper prioritizing. The moving process can go a lot smoother if you plan the steps you need to take, in detail, before starting the move.

The first thing you should decide upon, is wither or not you will be doing the actual moving yourself, or if you will hire movers to do it for you. Although this can be pretty expensive, it saves a lot of time and effort. If you decide on movers, then all you really need to do is box everything up, label it, and have it ready for the movers to load and move. Start with knick knacks, books, and other things you use rarely. Remember to take the time to wrap all fragile and breakable items, the little extra time and effort involved, will benefit you.

Many moving companies will provide you with the moving boxes and packing material needed.

If you decide not to use a moving company, your best bet would be to take the proper time and pack accordingly… taking the time to return borrowed items and claiming items lent to others. You may find that although you are moving to a bigger space, you may not want to take everything with you. Moving to a new home is the perfect time to “downsize” many of the things you may not want, or even things you forgot you owned.

Once the majority of the packing is completed, you are ready to take the next step. If you are moving out of your immediate area, remember to have your electricity, cable, gas, and water turned off in your old home, and turned on (or switched over to your name) in the new home.  Coordinate the connects and disconnects so that you aren’t paying for utilities in two locations. You should let your utility service providers know that you are preparing for a home move a few weeks before your home move date.  If you are relocating within the same area, you can simply arrange for a transfer of service.  However, if you are moving to an area that does not use the same utility providers, then you will need to completely disconnect service.  Make sure to file a change of address card with the U.S. Postal service, so you won’t miss any important mail.  Then you can update your address with these contacts as you receive mail at your new address.  You can also do this online at www.usps.com.

Keep your bank up-to-date on the progress of your move, if you plan to keep the same accounts, you can simply have your address updated on the accounts.  You should also look into having new checks printed with your new address, about 3 or 4 weeks prior to your move. Will you be staying with the same bank, or switching to a new bank, because of your new home’s location. If you do plan to open an account in a new bank it should be done during the home move preparation period. Remember: you will need to have access to your money in your new home, there are a million things that can happen, and you will need to make sure you have it financially covered.  If you are changing banks, you should leave your old account open until all checks and other charges have cleared. 

Pay attention to the details, if you are going to be driving a long distance, you should have your car serviced before the home move.  It might take you some time to find a good place to have your car serviced in the new area.  Schedule any final appointments with your doctor and dentist so you will have time to find care providers in your new area.

Enjoy your new home!

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How do you decide when it is time to buy a home? This question is asked time and time again. While there is no one right time to buy a home, the real answer is an overly simplistic ‘When you are ready’. So the real question should be ‘How do I know I am ready to buy a home’ and luckily there are a few key things to help you decide.

One of the largest factors in determining I fit is time for you to buy a home is your personal finances. Many people get wrapped up in the idea of buying a home that they over look the costs that are associated with the home after you buy it. You should do research into property taxes, home owner association fees as well as the basic utilities and other monthly expenses. Property taxes have been the major stumbling block on many people decision not to buy a home.

Next you should be sure to buy a home that fits your needs now and into the future. Many people are so wrapped up in the process of finding the perfect home for today that they forget that they will be living there for many years to come. You want to make sure that the home you find meets your needs for as long as you plan on living there and if the homes you are finding might not meets you needs in 2 to 5 years, it might be best to keep looking.

Remember, when you buy a home you should be doing it for all the right reasons and the reasons for buying a home will be different for everyone. Take you time to make sure you have done your due diligence and completely understand how the purchase of this home will affect you entire life for years to come. Making the right decision now will bring you years of joy and laughter and it will be worth every penny you pay for it.

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So here you are, ready to buy a home… or are you? That question is quite a common one for a lot of people. Buying a home is nothing like buying a car. Buying a home is a huge step in a person’s life, and making this type of decision requires you to ask yourself honest questions. Allowing the time and space to give yourself honest answers. Before you decide to move forward there are many things that you will first need to consider. You should remember to be patient, taking the time and energy to look into all the details. If you do this, you should not have any problems answering all of your questions. There by making a decision on whether or not you are ready to purchase a home.

The first thing to really look at is your finances. Can you afford to buy a home? What is your price range? What is your credit score? Where do you want to live? (Remember that the location and the neighborhood area of the home, greatly affects the price.) In order to determine if you have enough money to buy a home, you should write down all of your expenses, as well as how much money you bring in on a regular basis. This way you will know right from the start if you can afford a home, and if you can afford it, how much you can afford. This gives you an idea of how much you can pay in house or mortgage payments per month, or if you are going to need outside financial assistance.

Another thing to consider is your current personal situation. There could be many reasons as to why you may want to move out of your current home and into a new one. It could be that you are tired of paying rent, or doing maintenance on someone else’s property. Perhaps you are getting married, or have a child on the way and you need more room? Or maybe you have decided to start a new career, working from your own home, and have great need of a new home that will more closely accommodate your new work situation.

Remember to keep an open mind, and that your price range usually determines your luxuries. Sometimes compromise is the key word.

Remember not to agree to a loan, or financial assistance that you don’t understand in detail. Know exactly what you are getting into. Not having a high Credit Score, shouldn’t mean you get taken advantage of, having to pay astronomical prices, in surprise balloon payments. Don’t agree to a mortgage or loan online, without fully understanding every aspect and fee. A “Good” decision made today, trying to finance a home you might not be able to afford, could be a very “Bad” decision in 10 years when the rates change, or house prices drop by half. If you don’t understand something about any part of the loan or assistance process, find a friend or family member, someone who does understand, and can explain it to you, this is entirely for your benefit, to help you make a correct and well informed decision.  

Unfortunately for most people the bottom line is; if you don’t have a good Credit Score, or the money upfront… you’re not going to be able to buy a home, in today’s market. This only means today. Remember to stay Positive and Know that if you budget your finances, and set your goals… soon you will easily be able to afford the perfect home for you.

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For many people the hardest part of buying a home is saving up for the down payment. This is true not only for first time home buyers, but for repeat home buyers a well.

If the traditional 20 percent down payment rule were enforced many eligible borrowers would be denied a mortgage. Given this fact it is not surprising that many lenders have started programs that offer mortgages with little or no down payment.

These programs create the means by which many homebuyers can actually purchase a home and remove the stress of saving such a large sum of money. The down side to this is, as always, the cost. In many cases the interest and other costs will exceed the 20 percent down payment over time.

Evidence shows that borrowers that pay a lower down payment tend to be a greater risk for defaulting on mortgages. With this in mind many lenders will increase the interest rate for the mortgage when the down payment is less then the standard 20 percent. The bottom line is that the mortgage will most likely cost you more when you do not have the resources to pay a standard down payment.

Private mortgage insurance, or PMI, is another cost that you incur when you make little or no down payment on your home.  This insurance, also called PMI, is required by the lender when you make a down payment that is less than 20 percent of the price of the home.  This insurance is designed to protect the lender in case that you default on your loan.  If you are unable to pay your mortgage, PMI pays our lender.

The amount of PMI depends on both your purchase price for your home and the size of the down payment you provide. The lower your down payment the higher the PMI will be.

Once you have earned 20 percent or more equity in your home you can cancel your PMI.  At this point, the lender deems you are at a lower risk of defaulting on the home loan.  Make sure you remain current on your payments so that you are able to cancel the insurance once you have reached 20 percent in equity.

As with everything, the ability to purchase a home without a down payment comes at a cost.  The increased interest rate and private mortgage insurance increase the monthly payment you have on your mortgage.  If you want to avoid these extra costs, take some steps to save up as much of a down payment as possible.  Even if you are unable to completely eliminate these costs, you can reduce them by paying the largest down payment you can afford.

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Most people are surprises to find out how complicated buying a home can be. There is much more then finding a home that meets you need and making an offer for it, although with a little preplanning the process can go a lot smoother.

Even if you have gone through the process of buying a home before you may not know as much about he overall process as you may think. Plus, it may have been a while since your last real estate transaction, so brushing up on your knowledge will help make buying a home smoother.

There are many books, manuals and seminars that you could take weeks or months to learn how to buy a home, but most of what you need to know to have a successful transaction you can find on the Internet. The important thing is that you spend some time and energy becoming familiar with the processes you will be going through when you buy a home.

Before you contact a real estate agent and before you even start looking at open houses, the most important thing you need to do is define what your reasons are for buying a home. When you understand your own motivations, and can explain those motivations to a real estate agent, the process of finding the home you are going to buy instantly becomes easier.

After you know why you are going to buy a home, you need to figure out how you are going to buy a home. This involves a serious look into your personal finances. You need to be able to qualify for a mortgage, afford the monthly payments and make sure you have enough breathing room in your budget to allow for unexpected expenditures that aren’t related to buying a home.

Once you have a good idea of your monthly finances you will need to start looking at mortgages. Learn as much as you can about the current mortgages, interest rates and special programs that are going on in your area. Find out about the whole process of getting a mortgage from filling out the application to where to send your monthly payments. Often times finding the right mortgage is as important as finding the right house.

Now that you know about mortgages and your personal finances, figure out exactly how much you can afford to pay on a monthly basis. By looking at your monthly income and expenditures, you can easily determine how much you can afford, but be sure not to stretch yourself too thin. Having a little cushion for a rainy day is always good advice.

Create a list of the things that you need and a separate list of things that you want for your home. Understand that these two lists are different priorities and that you need to be able to compromise on something from both lists to find the right balance. Some things are so important that you cannot live without them and others are things that would be nice or convenient to have. Understanding your priorities will help you figure out what home is perfect for you and help you determine how much you are willing to spend on it.

Any preparation you put into buying a home will pay off through the entire experience, so be sure to take the necessary steps to make the process as smooth as it can be for you and everyone else.

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When looking into buying a new home there are many different things to consider. What would be best for your family is not always the easiest decision to make. Making the decision even more complicated is the choice between buying a home in good condition and purchasing a fixer upper. There are pros and cons to both options and it is ultimately up to you to decide which option is best for your situation. Just remember that you should not purchase a fixer upper unless you are sure you have the resources to complete the repairs that are needed.

When a fixer upper is being sold on the real estate market, the seller tends to know that they are not going to get full market value for their home. Knowing this will help you get a better deal on any home that needs fixing. The seller knows that there is work that needs to be done and is more interested in selling the home at a lower price then completing the repairs themselves. While saving money alone should not be the only reason to buy a fixer upper, it definitely is a good motivation to look into buying one.

Often people will purchase a fixer upper with ever intention of making the necessary repairs, but they need to live in the home at the same time. This complicates the process of fixing the home, especially if the repairs that are needed are in the kitchen or bathrooms. It takes a great commitment to doing the needed work to make a fixer upper your dream home. Make sure that you are 100% sure that you are willing to do the extra work before you purchase a home in need of major repairs.

One of the greatest benefits of purchasing a fixer upper is that you have full control over the repairs and renovations that you make to the home. This is extremely attractive to many people as this allows them to create a home that looks and feels the way they desire it to.

While a home that is designated a fixer upper is not right for everyone, it may be the perfect opportunity for you. Some people want the experience of creating their perfect home while others would not take the responsibility if their lives depended on it. The choice is yours; make sure to make the right one.

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It is a fact of life that dishonest activity exists in most every marketplace, including real estate.  The good news is that the federal government has passed laws that protect home buyers from the negative affects of these unscrupulous activities.  As a home buyer, certain rights granted to you as you search and apply for a mortgage loan for your home.  Just knowing what your rights are helps protect you from anyone who might take advantage.

Borrower’s Rights

When borrowing money as home buyer, there are several rights granted to you by both the Consumer Credit Protection Act and the Fair Credit Billing Act.  Both of these are federal laws in the United States.

You have the right as a home buyer:

• To shop for around for the best loan among different mortgage lenders and brokers.
• To be informed of your loan’s total costs; including interest rates, points, and other fees assessed by a lender or broker.
• To be informed of any fees that will not be refunded to you in the event that you cancel the loan agreement.
• To know any and all reasons for denial if your loan is turned down.
• To receive a free copy of the credit report that was used in denial of your loan.  The lender should give you information about obtaining this credit report.
• To have income from child support, alimony, and pension considered in qualification for a loan.
• To ask questions about anything you do not understand about loan charges and terms.
• To know what you and the lender are paying the mortgage broker for a loan.
• To be considered for a loan regardless of age (unless under the legal age to sign a contract), gender, marital status, race, color, religion, and national origin.
• To receive an appraisal report for the home.

RESPA

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Acts, administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, prevents mortgage lenders and brokers from charging certain types of fees.

All lenders are required, by RESPA to disclose certain information to you pertaining to your mortgage application.  You, as the home buyer, must receive a Good Faith Estimate from the lender or mortgage broker.  The Good Faith Estimate, or GFE, details an estimate of fees that you will be charged for your mortgage.  The lender must also provide you with a Mortgage Servicing Disclosure Statement if the loan is to be serviced by or transferred to another lender. 

Finally, the Special Information Booklet, containing information about real estate settlement services, must be given to you as a home buyer.  These documents should be given to you within three days after your application has been received.  In the event that your application is denied within three days, the lender does not have to provide with the documents.

These laws have been put into place to protect you, as a home buyer, from scams, discrimination, excessive fees, and other malicious business practices.  Educating yourself to the rights you have as a home buyer brings you one step closer to obtaining a home loan.  Present yourself to mortgage lenders and brokers as a home buyer that is aware of the rights provided by the law.

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Buying a new home is a huge step in anybody’s life. In fact, buying a home is usually the largest purchase that you will make throughout your life. With that being said, you need to know what you are doing when buying a home. A lot of this has nothing to do with the actual property that you hope to purchase. Instead, you need to be worried about where the money is going to come from to complete the transaction. A great many home buyers think that they can afford more than what they can actually handle and these same buyers do not have a lot of knowledge when it comes to the mortgage industry.

Unless you can afford to buy a home with cash you are most likely going to need to take out a mortgage. Luckily, there are many different mortgage options that you can look into. The only problem is that so many people think that there is only one type of mortgage. When it comes down to it, nothing could be further from the truth.

Generally speaking, you will want to become familiar with at least two different types of mortgages; fixed and adjustable rate. If you only look into one or the other you may find out in the end that you spent more money than you had to.

A fixed rate mortgage is exactly what it sounds like. You will have the same rate for the entire length of your loan. With a fixed interest rate mortgage you can choose from terms ranging from 15 to 40 years. The choice is yours, and you will have to base this on your own personal situation.

On the other side of things you can also consider an adjustable rate mortgage. With these you will not be locked into one rate, but instead have a rate that fluctuates based on the industry. These are great if rates stay low, but if they begin to climb you are going to find yourself spending more money.

While an adjustable rate mortgage may give you a lower interest rate you are taking a chance that rates will stay low throughout the life of your home loan. At the same time a fixed rate mortgage will give you the safety and security of always knowing what your rate will be, but at the risk of you spending more money if interest rates happen to fall.

Overall, a mortgage is something that you will probably need if you are buying a new home. Instead of agreeing to the first mortgage you come across, why not look around a bit? Not only are there many different options to choose from, but you can also get better interest rates from some lenders.

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What in your mind when buying a new home? Are you thinking about the way that you can start your new life there? How about the money that you are going to have to spend? Possibly the schools your children will attend? While there are many things that will keep your mind occupied when shopping for real estate, there is one thing that you do not want to forget about. Do you know what that may be?

Simply put, you will want to buy real estate with the idea of reselling it in the future. Sure, you may end up keeping a home for a long time, but this does not mean that you should forget about the resale opportunities that it will have to offer.

When buying any type of real estate you should make the assumption that you may not be in the same home for the rest of your life. This means that you will eventually want to take the property and resell it to somebody else. For most people this is never a problem, but if you do not take this into consideration when buying in the first place you may find yourself in deep trouble.

Take this situation for example. You may find a great home that suits your every need, including your budget. The only issue is that the home is in a part of town that has been on the decline in recent years. If you really want the home you may end up buying it, and hoping that everything works out; and it may very well do this. But what happens if the neighborhood continues to rapidly decline? Pretty soon you will be living in your dream home in an area that is not safe. In turn, when you go to resell this real estate you are going to have a very difficult time.

This situation would more than likely lead to you losing money on the deal in the long run. And anytime that you lose money on real estate you should not be happy with yourself. There are plenty of properties that you can buy which will increase in value over time.

Overall, you need to buy real estate with the idea that you may have to sell it sooner or later. Of course this should not be the only thing that you consider, but it is definitely something that should remain in the back of your mind throughout your home buying experience.

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Once you’ve found the home you want to settle down in, the next step is to make is yours. This is done with a series of steps one of which is signing the sales contract. Signing a sales contract can be intimidating, since the sales contract is a legally binding document, you are perfectly right to feel so. Nevertheless, as long as you make sure the information contained in the sales contract is in your best interest and equally fair to the other parties involved, you have nothing to fear.

The sales contract should include several pieces of information that have an impact on the home sale. Here are the key pieces of information that most sales contracts will include:

• A legal and physical description of the property being purchased. The legal description is used by the county government to identify the property even if the street address changes. The legal description of the property will never change.
• The selling price and method of payment should be included. In most cases, a mortgage is the method of payment. In this section of the sales contract, there should be details about the amount of the down payment, mortgage loan, and earnest money deposit. The name of the escrow that will hold the earnest money must be included. If you have any contingencies about the mortgage, they should be listed as well.
• The closing date must be included. Details about when and where should be explicitly laid out in the sales contract.
• What is included and what is not included in the sale should be detailed. If the seller agrees to throw in appliances, it must be listed in the sales contract. Otherwise, you could end up purchasing your own appliances.
• Any warranties that are included with the home should be detailed in the sales contract. A description of the warranty for the home should also be listed.
• If there is a well and septic, they must pass testing. This information should be placed within the sales contract.
• Termite and pest inspection should be conducted. The sales contract should detail not only who will pay for the inspection, but also the party responsible for any repairs if infestation or damage is discovered.
• The exact date that the buyer will take possession of the home should be included. This date can be anytime before, at, or after closing.
• The sales contract should include the amount of time that the seller has to respond to the offer, whether it is to accept or counter the offer.
• Provision for arbitration is sometimes included.
• Either the seller or the buyer will have to pay for property insurance up until closing date. The sales contract should stipulate the responsible party.
• Any property disclosures pertaining to the house should also be included in the sales contract.

In many cases, the seller will have the sales contract, especially if he or she is working with a real estate agent. You might also want to have sales contracts on hand. You can purchase these from an office supply store like Office Max or Office Depot.

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In an real estate market where homes starts are starting to noticeably slow down, it seems that one segment of the industry is still moving forward well; the green construction segment. In the industry green construction is anything that make the building more energy efficient then standard building materials.

From my perspective this is an obvious move. If you add about $2,500 to the average home price to produce the home with energy saving green materials then your monthly energy costs will stay lower then without. If this only saves you $25 a month you will recoup this amount in less then eight and a half years and with the costs of energy going up at the rate that it is a $25 a month saving seems conservative to me.

While I do not tend to be on the global warming band wagon myself, I firmly believe that we need to move towards cleaner renewable resources and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. I see the use of green construction materials also with solar power as a way to help reduce the reliance that a home has on the energy grid and under the proper circumstances it could even be profitable to the home owner.

Hopefully the market will find itself realizing the demand for more energy efficiency and a larger portion of new home starts will go green.

RealEstateJournal.com

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Reading this article on RealestateJournal.com you’d think that he banking industry never expected the interest rates to go up again when it was making these loans in the first place. After a few years with some interest rate hikes and people are no longer able to pay the outrageous mortgages that they got with interest rates that were too good to be true.

The real problem that I did not see addressed in this story was the fact that the original loans were given to people who were borrowing outside of their means to begin with. Couple that with the interest only loans that I saw people accepting for years and you now have a recipe for disaster and the banking industry created it for itself.

I never saw the wisdom in the interest only loans, even when an accountant friend of mine explained how the interest only loan he got was going to save him money and make his budget more flexible. Not typically being a pessimist, the only thing I could see was the potential for interest rates to double or triple from their lows a few years ago and taking those interest only mortgage payments along with them.

I was expecting this to happen last winter, but it seems that it is happening now. The only thing that I am regretting at this point is that I am not going to be in a position to purchase a home in the next few months. One that I would have purchased with a standard 30 years fixed rate, of course.

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The RealEstateJournal.com is reporting that new home starts have fallen to the lowest point in the past 10 years. This is a 14.3% decline and from my own personal perspective to be expected.

For those of your who don’t know I live in the San Francisco Bay area, which is one of the more difficult housing markets to get into unless you have hit it big with your latest web 2.0 project. I’ve been watching the housing market for several years now expecting things to slow down, but each time I see one sign of slowing another comes along to say that things are just fine.

So I’m taking this news with a grain of salt and wait to see how things move in the next few months. Spring is just around the corner and that always seems to liven up the homes market, and if there are no new homes for people to purchase they will just have to buy previously owned homes.

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