For most owners selling in today’s marketplace, appreciation from past years assures profitable sales, but perhaps not as profitable as if the owner had sold last year. Still, owners in all cases would like to maximize their profits. If you’re a seller, there are 10 negotiating steps you can take to make sure your home has the best chance for a top price and a quick sale. Maybe the most important concept is to “know the marketplace”. In terms of negotiation it’s not good enough to know recorded sale prices because they frequently don’t tell the whole story. For instance, two homes may both have recorded sale prices of $500,000. One may actually have sold for $500,000 while the other sold for $500,000 but the owner gave a 3 percent seller credit to the buyer for a new roof and appliances — that’s $15,000 off the top.

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Your first consideration will be compiling all the information you’ll need to insure a profitable transaction. You must know what sort of liens (including tax liens) or bankruptcies have been placed on the property, since you will be held responsible for paying them off. You can find this information from a title company for a nominal fee, or for free in the county clerk’s office. Sellers are glad to entertain offers before the house goes on the block. Except in foreclosure cases, most sellers, including corporate ones, have already tried the conventional route. They’ve had to prepare for open houses, endure snarky comments by looky-loos and entertain lowball offers.

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search for : tax liens, title company, county clerk’s office

Fortunately, most on-site problems with new houses are correctable, such as paint scratches or doors that don’t close right. Buyers of new houses should (a) understand the terms of the builder’s warranty; (b) hire a professional home inspector to thoroughly check the house before the sale closes; and (c) inspect the house with the builder (called checking a “punch list”) so both parties are aware of problems needing correction under the builder’s warranty. Realizing the importance of having satisfied customers, the best builders promptly take care of any defects reported by the buyers.

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Wondering why your buyer’s offer fell through? Sometimes, that pre-qualification letter their real estate agent showed you and promised would make them an eligible buyer wasn’t really worth the ink and paper it was printed on. Pre-qualifications are based on what the buyer tells the lender. Few of the buyer’s financials are verified and a pre-qualification letter pretty much states how much a buyer will hopefully qualify for. It’s pretty much a wish list for getting a mortgage. A good way to avoid the perils of a pre-qualification is to get a pre-approval, which goes one step beyond a pre-qualification. A pre-approval requires a credit pull, which includes the credit score and credit history of the buyer.

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Setting the stage to position a home for sale or staging is a smart marketing move when it’s time to move a home in just about any kind of market. Home staging is to the interior of a home what curb appeal is to the exterior — nipping and tucking, furnishing and accessorizing, buffing and polishing until the place looks like a model home, without being clinical. But it can also include curb appeal. With just the right special effects, the effort can transform a home into a house of dreams and help potential buyers visualize potential. Done wrong and a home can become more like the set of a horror movie.

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The Council of Better Business Bureaus recently began offering what amounts to an online short course in curing what’s financially ailing hundreds of thousands of homeowners. The course is tailored for financially troubled homeowners and others who don’t know the difference between a budget and a savings account, a default and a foreclosure or a credit report and a credit score. One such tip concerns how to develop a working budget. If you don’t know where your money goes you won’t know where you can cut back, but that’s not all. A budget not only helps you save money, but also develop sound spending habits, set and achieve financial goals, increase your income and work on other financial issues. This report is largely a printable form that allows you to get started right away listing your income and expenses in preparation for your financial nip and tuck.

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Home affordability calculators are based on mortgage loan origination ratios known as the front ratio and the back ratio. The Bankrate glossary defines the front ratio as, “The percentage of monthly before-tax income that goes toward a house payment — a key ratio that lenders use when deciding whether to approve a mortgage application. Traditionally, lenders didn’t like it when the total mortgage payment (principal, interest, taxes and insurance) divided by gross monthly income exceeded 28 percent. Modern risk-based pricing, however, has made lenders more flexible.”

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Owing to the subprime meltdown, there’s a new push toward FHA loans. Assistant Secretary for Housing, Brian Montgomery, testified before a congressional committee in favor of modernizing the process for the benefit of “troubled subprime borrowers.” Requested changes include: Eliminating a 3 percent down requirement, which would enable more low income borrowers to qualify; increasing the maximum loan to reflect the increase in home prices brought by the housing boom; assigning rates by risk to enable borrowers with higher credit scores to receive lower interest rates. FHA loans with low interest rates can be approved with low down payments. Adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs), which can help buyers to get through the first, and often most difficult, year of ownership, are also available.

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search for : subprime meltdown, FHA loan, subprime borrower

Just listed is this beautiful Wilkes County NC Log Home and Mountain Property.

MLS Number: 50863, List Price: $359,900

Bedrooms: 3, Full Baths: 2, Half Baths: 0, Est Total SqFt: 2600, Type/Style: Log Home, Area: Area 6, Middle School: Cntrl Wlks, High School: Wlks Cntrl, Construction: Log

Foundation: Combination, Roof: Metal Roof, Floors: Carpet/Hardwood/Tile, Garage/Carport: None-Garage, None-Carport, Interior Features: Master Bedroom, Main Level, Large Master Bedroom, Walk-In Closet(s), Hardwood Floors, Fireplace(s), Great Room, Exterior Features: Double Pane Windows, Wooded Lot, 1-5 Acres, Hot Tub, Subdivision: N/A, Lot Size: 2.47, Apx SqFt: 2600 – 2800 SF, Basement: None

Contact Elizabeth Carter, 336.973.5594 or Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247 or email eacarter@charter.net

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All new homes have defects, regardless of the competence and integrity of the builder or the construction supervisor. If this were not the case, the essential imperfection of humanity would be disproved. Some new homes have repair lists that are long, while other lists contain only a few items. In most cases, defects are minor in nature, but serious problems, such as violations of safety requirements, are not uncommon. In the long run, a thorough home inspection benefits the builder, as well as the buyer, by reducing the number of repair callbacks that might occur after the home is sold. It lessens the possibility of injury to occupants, and limits the likelihood of future lawsuits.

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Now-a-days , it is not unusual for a home inspector to arrive with an array of gadgets that will “see” through walls to provide clues to what’s going on inside them, that will measure the thickness of steel without poking through it, and that will analyze electrical circuits without dismantling the circuit-breaker box. One effective high-tech device used by home inspectors is the infrared camera. With a good one, a trained technician can get an idea of what is going on behind the walls, ceilings and floors. The camera allows an inspector to determine if there is adequate insulation and provides clues about hidden structural, electrical and moisture problems.

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With foreclosures spiking around the nation, homeowners should learn the foreclosure laws in their states – what you don’t know can hurt you. “The foreclosure laws tend to be very parochial,” said Lawrence Jacobson, a real estate attorney in Los Angeles. One major divide is whether the principle instrument securing the loan is a conventional mortgage or a “deed of trust.” They are not the same even though everybody uses the term “mortgage” interchangeably. Mortgages involve two parties, borrowers and lenders, while deeds of trust have third parties, called trustees, who hold temporary title to the properties until borrowers pay off their loans. That difference can be crucial when a borrower falls behind in payments. With deeds of trust, the trustees don’t have to go to court to initiate a foreclosure; with a mortgage, the lender almost always does, which slows down the process.

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Biweekly mortgage payments schemes don’t do much for you, yet they tend to cost a lot in fees and expenses. You can do as well on your own by making an additional principal payment each month with your current mortgage. You definitely don’t want to refinance your 4.5 percent mortgage in an attempt to find a way to pay off the loan in less than 12 years. I think you’re confusing the bank’s response on the biweekly mortgage with your ability to make additional principal payments on your loan. Ask your bank what would happen if you made an additional principal payment each month on your loan. Your monthly loan payment wouldn’t go down, but you would shorten the life of your loan.

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Before you even begin the application process, you should be upfront with questions and as well informed as possible about the property. Know where your potential landlord stands on pets, qualifications for tenants and other possible deal breakers. If you do have any potential red flags, such as lack of current employment, need for a co-signer or having a checkered credit history, mention those things at the beginning. One of the worst things a potential tenant can do is make a property manager go through the whole application process only to find out they have credit problems or they need a co-signer.

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Approximately $1.1 trillion dollars in mortgage loans was refinanced in the United States last year. Did you remember to take an increased mortgage interest deduction on your tax return if you were entitled to one? You are allowed to take a deduction on your personal tax return for mortgage interest you pay on a loan that is secured by either your principal residence or a second home, up to one million dollars in acquisition indebtedness. That means mortgages, lines of credit and home equity loans all qualify, as long as they are secured by your home, and you are the primary borrower, and legally obligated to repay that loan.

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• Beautiful and affordable NC Lakefront property near Boone NC
• Lakefront Lots on Kerr Scott Dam & Reservoir
• 18 Lots – 14 are Lakefront and meet private dock requirements.
• Gated community with Lots ranging from 2.3+- acres to 6.8+- acres.
• On the Hwy 421 side of the lake just off South Minton Road, Wilkesboro, NC 28697

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search for : NC Lakefront property, Lakefront Lots on Kerr Scott Dam & Reservoir, Wilkesboro, NC 28697

Generally, sales fail to happen because the buyers discover something new about the transaction that they didn’t know after they made their offer. This could be new information about the property, the property condition, the neighborhood, how much they can afford or the price they agreed to pay. Often, the transaction may fall apart because the buyers couldn’t get the loan they needed to complete the purchase. Mortgage preapproval can be accomplished within a day or two, and ideally should be done before an offer is made. Preapproved buyers know they are creditworthy and how much they can afford to pay.

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When you obtain a mortgage loan, you will be required to sign a large number of documents, all of which contain terms which are a mystery to many potential homebuyers. And to make matters worse, you will be asked to sign a “power of attorney” authorizing the lender (or the title company) to make corrections should errors be found at a later date. Mortgage loan documents currently being used by most lenders do not meet this objective. “Most of us have had the experience of being overwhelmed and befuddled by the huge stack of documents full of confusing language in small print presented to us for signature at a mortgage closing.

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When you’re buying a home, one of the last steps of the process is to conduct a final walk-through of the property. These walk-throughs are usually scheduled the morning of or the day before closing — after the seller’s furniture and artwork has been removed — to verify that the new home is clean and in move-in condition. However, sometimes buyers receive surprises when they see what’s behind the decor: faded floors, holes in walls or dirty rooms that can make a buyer balk at going through with the closing.

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Just listed is this one of a kind, 2.86 acre Main Channel, Waterfront Lot on beautiful W. KERR SCOTT LAKE in Wilkes County North Carolina.

Main Channel Waterfront.
2.86 acre Waterfront Lot.
Beautiful View of Lake.
Over 300 feet on main channel.
Wooded and Unspoiled.
Gated community and private, paved road.
Community water and underground utilities.
Has new dock, one boat slip and slip for two jet skis.
$359,000

Contact Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247 or email Greg at grstike@charter.net

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If you work with upscale buyers, have builder clients who turn to you for advice on amenities to include in their new product, or have sellers who need to update to maximize value, you need to know what’s currently in demand (and adds value) in the luxury home market. Today’s luxury homes are packed with amenities and offer his-and-her features that luxury homeowners of a decade ago never even dreamed about.

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Putting the home on the market before it’s ready. Most times this happens because the seller gets impatient or is a procrastinator and has pushed himself up against a moving deadline without getting the pre-sale work done. So it comes on the market with the horrible carpet (that gets replaced during the marketing of the home); or they are painting it while it goes on the market. Presentation is everything — so get the work done before marketing the property. Over improving the home for the neighborhood. This happens with additions, bump outs, and upgrades that make the home stick out from among its competitors so much that it’s an anomaly, instead of a nice addition to the community.

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Many homeowners are under the mistaken impression that a standard homeowners policy provides more insurance protection than it does. A standard homeowners insurance policy doesn’t cover what you may think — not flood or earthquake damage, not stolen or damaged vehicles on your property, not a break in the water service or sewage line and not termites moving in nor pets stolen away. An NAIC survey revealed that 24 percent of respondents indicated their policies insured their homes for the actual cash value, while 64 percent said their policies covered the replacement cost.

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Investors who time any market hope to buy at the nadir and sell at the zenith, but homebuyers have a trickier time knowing when to sit on the sidelines and when to jump in. The reason? There are several. Buying a home is one of the largest financial investments a homebuyer will make. Transaction costs are expensive enough that homeowners remain in their homes approximately six years before trading up or down. As the recent buyer’s market shows, homes aren’t liquid, and may not find buyers at the price and in the time frame that sellers prefer.

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Grilling special kind of cooking that comes with guidelines you ll want to be sure to follow to ensure your cookout is both sanguine and safe. Begin with choosing the right grill. Propane gas grills have been the industry leader since 1995, when their sales surpassed charcoal grills for the first time. Grills also come in an endless variety of sizes, styles, colors and costs. There’s one to fit virtually an area ranging from small apartments and condos to fully-equipped, permanent outdoor kitchens.

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BASF, which built a “near-zero energy” house in Paterson, N.J., is bringing technology used to create that home to low and moderate income neighborhoods in other cities, according to Jack Armstrong, business manager for the German-based chemical company, who oversaw the project. Armstrong said that a zero-energy home can be “cash-flow positive” to the homeowner from the “very first day,” because while achieving this level of performance can add $45 to $90 in monthly mortgage payments, it can save $140 a month that the typical consumer was paying on utility bills “before the era of wildly fluctuating energy costs.” Wormley, Armstrong and others acknowledge that these solutions to energy costs and housing affordability are long-term, and will do little to help consumers deal with higher utility bills this summer.

search for : near-zero energy, monthly mortgage, energy costs

Most log homes come as kits, packages that include all the structural materials for the walls, roof and sometimes flooring. According to the Log Homes Council, most companies produce milled logs, or logs shaped on a machine. Those logs typically have a smooth surface. Another alternative is hand-peeled or hand-hewn logs, which have been shaped by an individual craftsman. The result is a more rustic, textured log. Companies also differ on what the final kit includes. Most kits include the basics, like the walls and the roof, and leave the final finishes, like hardwood floors, a back deck or granite kitchen counters, to the owners. Other companies may put buyers in touch with suppliers for windows, bathroom fixtures or fireplaces.

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If you are early in your career and you expect sizable pay increases in the years ahead, you may want to stretch to buy a somewhat larger house. After all, if you purchase a place that you quickly become dissatisfied with, you could soon find yourself trading up to a better home. That will mean forking over a 5% or 6% selling commission, mortgage-application costs, lawyer’s fees, moving expenses and more. Don’t, however, misconstrue what I am saying. I am not endorsing the contention that real estate is the best investment you can make, that you should buy the largest house possible or that you should take out the largest mortgage possible.

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Self-directed IRAs are billed as “putting the ‘I’ back in IRA.” They let individuals determine what, when, and where to invest their retirement money. And they are catching on — in no small part thanks to the stock market’s volatility and the real estate market’s recent riches. Investments in other things, most notably real estate, are fully permissible under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. It prohibits retirement plans from investing in just two types of investments — life insurance contracts and collectibles. Everything else is fair game.

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U.S. bank regulators Friday tightened standards for mortgage lending in a bid to curtail risky practices that have been blamed for a record level of foreclosures. Borrowers should not be penalized for refinancing a mortgage before a low introductory rate resets to a higher level and lenders must have evidence a borrower can repay, according to a statement of principles issued by the regulators. As the housing market has soured, many of those borrowers fell behind in their payments and a record portion of borrowers faced losing their homes in the first three months of the year. Many of the biggest lenders to subprime borrowers have been pushed into bankruptcy.

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search for : foreclosures, subprime borrower