Top Real Estate Articles June 2021
It is time again to review some of the top real estate articles from around the web and bring you valuable information.
This group of articles has information about some unusual situations, such as buying a home that you don’t plan to live in as well as selling a home during a financial crisis.
As always, we present this information to help home buyers and home sellers as well as assist other professionals that are currently working in the real estate industry as they provide top service to their clients.
Unique But Useful Mortgage Programs
In most cases, getting a loan to buy a home is a relatively straightforward process. A person, or persons, will apply for a loan to buy a home. These people intend to live in the property as their primary residence. The lender approves the loan, the people sign many documents and then move into the place.
However, there are a handful of situations that are different from the previous scenario.
Luke Skar presents us with a few of the scenarios in this article about uncommon mortgage programs. For example, someone can buy a house that will NOT be their primary residence, nor will it be a vacation home, and it will NOT be a rental property.
Oh, and if that is not unique enough, were you aware that a qualified veteran can have 2 different properties, both with a VA mortgage, at the same time?
And there is a bonus at the end of the article that explains how someone might get approved for a mortgage without using a W-2 or a paystub to qualify for the loan.
How Do Seller Concessions Work?
When you have never bought a home before, numerous things can be confusing about the process. One such topic is seller’s concessions. With a seller concession, a buyer can have the owner of the purchased house pay for some of the buyer’s closing costs.
Buyers can take advantage of seller concessions, so they do not take the cash out of their pocket. Real Estate transactions can be structured, so the price is increased so the seller is not truly paying for the concession.
The Maximum Real Estate Exposure article explains everything you should know about seller concessions.
Considerations When Buying In a Neighborhood Setting
If you have never bought a home before, you might not consider your preferred location as much as you should. For example, there is a significant difference between purchasing on a busy road vs. a country road setting. Likewise, buying a house in a subdivision will differ from a busy street or country road.
Purchasing in a subdivision location requires more due diligence due to several factors. As explained in the article at Active Rain, you could be dealing with a homeowners association where you may or may not like the rules. In subdivision settings, there are often covenants applied to the owners. Are the covenants something you will enjoy or hate?
Take a look and see some of the things to think about before you buy a subdivision home.
You Need to Work with a Professional Real Estate Agent
In most circumstances, it is usually a good idea to leave the hard work to the professionals. For example, if you have some major issue with your car, it is better to have a licensed mechanic review the problem rather than some guy that occasionally fixes cars.
Or if your roof is leaking, you want a professional roofer to inspect the problem and offer the best solution. It is also true when buying a home, as pointed out by Alex Capozzolo in his writings about the benefits of working with a Realtor.
Alex tells us that it is more than just the agent’s knowledge of the market and prices that is valuable. It is also getting a transaction completed in a legal and timely fashion that most people overlook.
Having your real estate agent working for you when you buy or sell a home can save you lots of trouble and make the entire process much easier for you, the lender, and the other interested party.
Preparing to Sell Your Home
Selling a home takes the same preparation and attention to detail as getting approved to buy a home. Getting the home in a suitable condition, and paying attention to the essential aspects, will help the home sell quicker and for more money.
Kristen Herhold lays out a plan for preparing a home to sell, regardless of the price range or the location. She explains the importance of cleaning the home and gives tips to maximize the home’s available space.
Getting the home looking its best to attract the most prospects is also covered both in summary and with links to more detailed information.
The article also includes one primary tip to help a place sell over 30% faster than the competition.
Selling a Home During a Financial Hardship
Let’s face it, with the significant impact brought about by the Covid virus; it is not shocking to learn that some people are having a hard time making their financial obligations.
Many mortgage lenders have recognized that some people are facing real hardship. To help with this problem, some lenders will provide forbearance for qualified individuals.
A forbearance can mean reduced mortgage payments for a temporary amount of time or no payments are due at all for a temporary time. The terms and conditions will vary according to the borrower and the lender.
However, the big question arises: can I sell a home if I am currently in a forbearance agreement? Vicki Moore has the answer to that question and many other details in her blog post about forbearance.
She goes over how a forbearance agreement can help someone facing difficult financial circumstances and the negative aspect of forbearance agreements.
Vicki also provides tips for deciding if selling is the best option for you and why it is a good fit for your current needs.
How a Lien Impacts Selling Your Home
In legal terms, a lien is a claim against you or your estate. Some organization has determined that you owe them money. The lien is then placed on your property to force you to pay back the amount.
When selling a home with an existing lien in place, there are several things to consider. Andy Kolodgie dives into this topic and covers multiple points of the process.
First, there are different types of liens. A mortgage is one kind of lien that can be placed upon a property, along with several other varieties.
Secondly, Andy describes the different ways to approach paying off the lien. There is a simple approach: to get the money together and pay the lien off. Then other options may involve real estate attorneys or other legal entities.
Finally, Andy covers the difficult question, “can my home sale be interrupted by a lien?”
Avoiding Problems With an Appraisal
A contract to sell a home is based on two main numbers: the amount the buyer is willing to pay for the home and the property’s actual market value.
There is no issue if the home’s value exceeds the asking price. This is simply a case of the seller being willing to get rid of the home for a discounted price.
The problem arises when the property’s market value is decidedly lower than the price listed in the sales contract.
Tom Horn, an appraiser working in the Birmingham, AL market, has some suggestions for avoiding problems with an appraisal.
In Tom’s professional opinion, the easiest way to avoid issues with the lender regarding the home’s market value is quite simple. Have the appraisal completed before the home is listed for sale. This gives you, the seller, an accurate value of the home.
However, there are other things to consider and tips to help sellers in a crazy market where buyers are offering prices above market value.
Using these tips and staying away from problem areas will help you to get an accurate appraisal and a solid sales contract that a mortgage lender can approve.
Using A Real Estate Agent That is Your Buddy or Kin Folk
In most transactions, asking a friend or relative to help is common and usually a good idea. If your cousin is a good mechanic, perhaps he can get you a discount on your new brakes. Or if your niece is an up-and-coming hairdresser, maybe she will cut and color your hair at her home for a reduced price.
However, buying or selling a home involves more than a car repair or a hair appointment.
Kevin Vitali points out some of the pitfalls of using a friend as a real estate agent.
One essential item to keep in mind; buying or selling a home opens up your personal information to all parties involved. If you are nervous about a close friend or your favorite relative learning this information, you may want to consider a different agent.
Selling a Home With a Bonus Space
One of the more popular areas in a home sale is what’s referred to by many real estate agents as a bonus room. A bonus room can be used for just about anything, which is why it is incredibly popular. Do you need a kid’s playroom? How about an exercise space? Maybe you have always dreamed about having a room for a home theatre.
Whatever your needs, a bonus room can be a wonderful space in any house. See what you need to know about bonus rooms in the helpful resource.
Dealing with Aluminum Wiring
Although it is not normal, some houses may have a wiring system that contains aluminum instead of copper. Due to a copper shortage around the time of the Vietnam war, some homes built during the 1960s and 1970s may have aluminum wiring.
In this article from Spring Homes, they point out that the most significant issue of dealing with aluminum wiring is the threat of fire in the home caused by the wiring.
The article also provides some options for fixing the problem before it can destroy the home. One of the options can be pretty expensive, but it is the safest route to take. Another option is cheaper but must be handled by a professional electrician and needs to be approved by local building codes and regulations.
Closing Thoughts
Hopefully, you have found some nuggets of information that you can use either personally or professionally in this collection of articles and blog posts. Our goal is to stay up to date with the current trends and changes in real estate and pass that info along to improve the overall quality of our industry.
Previous Best of Real Estate Articles
See previous roundups sharing valuable tips and advice for buyers and sellers.
- Best of Real Estate articles May 2021 – May had some really excellent resources for buyers and sellers. Have a look at the helpful advice.
- Best Real Estate Articles April 2021 – have a look at some of the terrific articles published in April covering numerous real estate topics.
About the author: This real estate roundup for June 2021 was written by Luke Skar, a 19+ year veteran of the mortgage industry. He strives to stay up to date with the latest changes and trends in mortgage lending as well as real estate.
Through his mortgage blog, websites, and social media accounts, his goal is to help the community with as much factual knowledge as possible that helps all parties in real estate transactions.
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