How to Assess the Real Cost of a Fixer Upper House!

• 

  How to Assess the Real Cost of a Fixer-Upper House

  When you buy a fixer-upper house, you can save a ton of money, or get yourself in a financial fix. Read

Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.

Copyright 2013 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Thinking of buying a home in San Diego? Your Realtor is FREE !!

Thinking of buying a home in San Diego? Did you know that working with a Realtor is absolutely FREE! There are no charges out of your pocket to work with a professional Realtor who will help you find your new home in San Diego.

When you hire a professional Realtor to help you find your new home in San Diego, that Realtor will get paid when, and if, they are successful in helping you. And their payment comes from the seller of the home via commission. It is in the Realtor's best interest - and yours too - to work as hard as they come to find your home in San Diego.

Your professional Realtor will search the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), will network with fellow professional Realtors, will make appointments to view homes in San Diego, will be in constant contact with you to make sure you are looking at homes that suit you and your budget, and will guide you through the process and paperwork during escrow once you have found your new home in San Diego!

A professional Realtor in San Diego is licenced through the National Association of Realtors, the California Association of Realtors and the San Diego Association of Realtors, and follows strict standards to ensure that your search for your new home in San Diego is successful and secure!

Start your search for a home in San Diego here - http://www.janeloveday.com


Jane Loveday
Licence # 01439083
Windermere Pacific Coast Realty
619-519-1615 Cell
http://janeloveday.com
http://www.facebook.com/realestatesandiego

What is a Short Sale?

When a homeowner owes more on his mortgage than his house is worth, and he cannot afford his payments anymore (loss of a job, interest rate hike, for example) one of his options is called a "short sale."

When lenders agree to do a short sale in real estate, it means the lender is accepting less than the total amount due. Not everyone qualifies for a short sale however, and if you are considering a short sale on your home, there could be drawbacks. For your protection, I suggest that all borrowers:

•Obtain legal advice from a competent real estate lawyer about a short sale

•Call an accountant to discuss short sale tax ramifications on a short sale

Although all lenders have varying requirements for short sales and may require that a borrower submit a wide array of documentation, the following steps will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.

•Call your Lender

You will need to contact the short sale department and get the short sale supervisor's name - the name of the individual capable of making a decision.

•Submit Letter of Authorization for a short sale

The short sale request letter should include the following:


•Property Address
•Loan Reference Number
•Your Name
•The Date
•Your Realtors' name & Contact Information

and

•Hardship Letter

Make it honest, tell the lender why you are in such a financial hardship situation, it makes a plea to the lender to accept less than full payment. Lenders looking at a short sale understand, especially these days, how the economy can affect income and expenses.

Your Realtor will also provide your lender with paperwork to help with the short sale process, and it can take a while for the short sale to be approved.

You will need to find a buyer willing to wait through the approval process, sometimes there may be more than one buyer, the first offer will be submitted, while any and all others will be held by your Realtor as back-ups in case the first offer disappears during the process. This is quite common, and short sales are becoming the norm, we Realtors are very knowledgeable about the process, if you need help contact me and I will be able to help you.





Jane Loveday
Windermere Real Estate Agent
Licence # 01439083
619-519-1615 Cell
http://janeloveday.com
http://www.facebook.com/realestatesandiego
sH

A day in the life of Real Estate!

It’s not easy, but there are some funny times and funny stories – in Real Estate there’s always something unusual happening. How about a house with absolutely nothing in it – no flooring, light switches, bathrooms (including the toilets), nada – it happens even in the best neighborhoods.

There was a Realtor in England who showed a home, thinking the owner was asleep, showed the clients out only to go back and discover the owner had passed away on the sofa!

A colleague of mine was feeling ill at his open house, again, laid down on the sofa only to be woken up by visitors poking him, he’d fallen totally asleep, thank goodness is still around!

Another colleague shared that he went to one house thinking he had an appointment to show it, the owner wasn’t aware but said it was ok to show, only to find out he was at the wrong house on the same street – embarrassing just a little.

Or my favorite – showing condos downtown San Diego, thank goodness my client was in her own car and I was in mine – we came out of one particular building only for me to find my car had been towed – we continued looking in her car!

There are so many different stories, some funny, some sad, but always a day in the life in Real Estate is never boring!


Jane Loveday
Windermere Real Estate Agent
619-519-1615 Cell
http://janeloveday.com
http://www.facebook.com/realestatesandiego

Searching for a new home on the Internet!

Are you starting your search for a new home on the Internet? Do you visit Realtor.com, Trulia.com, Zillow.com? Of these Realtor.com is the most accurate, here you will find all the updated listings. Trulia has a lot of innacurate information, homes that are now in escrow still show up as being active, and Zillow with it's Zestimates can be way off base!

However, to get the most accurate information when searching the internet you need to start your new home search via the internet with a Realtor, such as myself, who has access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) - you should be able to search through their website, and you can also have them set up a completely customized search based on your own criteria, anything from price, size of yard, location of laundry, how many garage/parking spaces, patio, balcony, pool, just about anything you can think of.

Customized internet home searches can be emailed directly to you as soon as a new home is listed, ir there is a price reduction on one already mailed to you or if one goes into escrow. Or you can have it notify you on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. And it's completely FREE! You can continue to search other sites, but a customized search through a Realtor, will give you up-to-the-minute accurate information without you having to do the hard work yourself!

Start your internet home search here - http://www.janeloveday.com - or contact me directly to set up a customized search for you today!

Jane Loveday
Windermere Real Estate Agent
619-519-1615 Cell
http://www.janeloveday.com
http://www.facebook.com/realestatesandiego

What do I know about Real Estate? Not much apparently!

I recently took a very brief quiz from the National Association of Realtors about understanding today's home buyers and sellers. I scored 4 out of 11! Why am I telling you this? Because the market is constantly changing and we are striving to keep up with the wants and needs of buyers and sellers.

One question was "What was the most common incentive that sellers offered in the sale of the home?" I thought it would be closing costs, but I was wrong, it was a home warranty policy!

Another was "How long does the typical buyer search before purchasing a home?" It used to be pretty quick, but now I thought 8 weeks. WRONG! It is actually 12 weeks.

However I was right on 4 remember, and I think most importantly, "What service do buyers most often say they want from a Realtor?" being right on this "Finding the right home to purchase". Also "What service do sellers most often want from their Realtor?" of course, is "Pricing their home competitively".

So as I and my fellow Realtors continue to educate ourselves as to your needs and wants, know that understanding you, your timeframes, preferences and emotions, helps to make us better serve you. I am here, I can help!

Jane Loveday
Windermere Real Estate Agent
619-519-1615 Cell
http://janeloveday.com
http://www.facebook.com/realestatesandiego

HOW TO BUY A HOME 101 !

Choose your Realtor - Make sure you find someone who not only understands your needs, the area you are searching but is also someone who you get along with and can trust. visit www.janeloveday.com to search San Diego!

Obtain Pre-Approval from a lender – It is imperative that you meet with a lender to determine how much house you can afford, how much you will need for your deposit and closing costs. A first step would be contacting Broadview Mortgage Corp, they also have homebuying seminars and can be reached at 866.667.6724 or email inquiry@broadviewmortgagecorp.com

Find your Perfect Home – once you have given us your criteria, and the more detailed the better, I will be able to create a custom search to totally suit your needs, I'll show you all the property available and make your search a success!

Making an Offer – I'll prepare your paperwork, explain and advise the contingencies you will be under, and help you make the best offer based on current market conditions – this is currently a strange market, prices are low but not necessarily dropping, and it is not unusual to encounter multiple offers on properties. We will help negotiate on your behalf to ensure a successful response from the seller.

Open an Escrow! - Congratulations, once you have acceptance you will need to place your initial deposit into escrow which is held until your loan is funded and final documents are signed.

Your Contingency Period – This is a time frame during the beginning of the escrow period that protects you, it is written into the purchase contract and is usually 17 days from the opening of escrow. This applies to obtaining an appraisal, conducting a property inspection, reviewing the pest inspection, reviewing seller disclosures and getting your loan in place.

Home Insurance etc - After the contingency period, and before close of escrow, you will need to obtain home insurance for your future home, file a change of address with the Post Office, submit a change of address to the Registrar of Voters, make arrangements for your move, cancel and order any services such as gas and electric, cable, water.

Close of Escrow – Prior to close, you will need any balance of deposit to be placed into your escrow account, your lender will have all your paperwork to sign ready, you’ll have any balance of closing costs also deposited with escrow, a Notary will meet with you to sign all and last paperwork, and a day or so later, the County Recorder will record your new trust deed and you will take ownership of your new home. CONGRATULATIONS !!!


Jane Loveday
Windermere Real Estate Agent
619-519-1615 Cell
http://www.JaneLoveday.com

Mortgage Protection Program for Californians Only is Extended!

If you were a first-time homeowner last year (2009) your agent should have registered you with the Mortgage Protection Program through the California Association of Realtors (CAR) - certain restrictions apply - you cannot be self-employed or owned a home within the past 3 years for example. The Mortgage Protection Program offers you benefits if you lose your job during the first year of your home purchase. It is only available to California home buyers.

This benefit offers you up to $1,500 per month for up to six months if you lose your job due to layoffs, and qualified co-buyers can receive monthly benefits of $750 per month for up to 6 months, and it is free to you! The Mortgage Protection Program was due to end December 31st, 2009 but has now been extended through to the end of this year.

Buying a home is one, if not THE, most stressful thing you can do, this program helps alleviate some of that giving you an added layer of security. The California Association of Realtors Housing Affordability Fund (CARHAF) is a non-profit organization which receives donations primarily from Realtor members and associations, committed to addressing housing challenges in California. For more on the Mortgage Protection Program visit http://www.car.org/members/hafmainpage/carhafmortgageprotection/ and don't forget to call/email me with any questions - I am here - I can help!



Jane Loveday
Windermere Real Estate Agent
619-519-1615 Cell
http://www.janeloveday.com/
http://www.facebook/realestatesandiego
http://www.twitter.com/sdrealestate