According to Jeff Jensen of CT Home Mortgage, this week's Mortgage Lending Rates are as follows as of 6/25/09:
Conforming 30 Year fixed rate is 5.25-5.625%
Jumbo 30 year Fixed rate is 6.25%
5/1 ARM is 4.5%
3/1 ARM is 4.75%
5/1 Adjustable I/O rate is 4.75%
Jumbo 15 Year Fixed rate is 5.25%
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Why A Final Inspection Is Necessary
In the sales contract, the sellers of your new home agreed to leave all the light fixtures, custom blinds, and refrigerator. When you walk in the home on moving day, to your surprise, all of those things are gone. In addition, the locks on the back door are broken; there is a huge stain on the living room carpet, and the garage opener doesn’t work.
Although this may be extreme, it could happen, which is why it is important to have a final inspection of the home you are purchasing before the closing. A pre-closing inspection gives you, one last opportunity to verify that you are getting all that was promised in the sales contract. Although buyers still have legal recourse if they discover—even after closing—that the condition of the home is not as it should be. The best time to identify problems is before closing when the seller will be motivated to correct any deficiencies in order to close the transaction.
Typically, a buyer takes possession of a property one to three months after signing the sales agreement. But, a lot can happen before the actual move-in. Appliances and fixtures can break down, and walls, carpets and doors can be damaged during the seller’s move-out. Sometimes the seller will simply have forgotten that he or she has agreed to leave the refrigerator or window coverings with the house. Whatever the reason, problems identified before the closing have the best chance of being remedied.
If possible, schedule the inspection right before the closing, such as the day before. Your real estate professional will attend the inspection with you. What should you be inspecting? Using a copy of the sales contract as a checklist, first make sure that all items that should be in place (appliances, built-in furniture, window coverings, fixtures, etc.) are there.
Test each appliance to make sure they work properly. Bring along an electrical clock or hairdryer to test each electrical outlet. Test all electrical switches and the garage door opener, if there is one. Run the garbage disposal and turn on every water faucet, checking under the sinks for leaks. Flush the toilets. Inspect the floors, carpets, walls and doors for recent damage.
If you discover that something is damaged or missing, make a note of it and inform your attorney immediately. In most cases, the seller is usually able to take care of small problems immediately, either by making a needed repair or offering compensation to handle it. And, if there are major problems, the seller can even sign a statement acknowledging the deficiency and agree to correct it. Although pre-closing inspections take time and may be inconvenient, they are important and well worth the buyer’s time. Trust me, it is substantially harder to try to get the seller to fix or replace a deficiency once he has your final closing payment!
Although this may be extreme, it could happen, which is why it is important to have a final inspection of the home you are purchasing before the closing. A pre-closing inspection gives you, one last opportunity to verify that you are getting all that was promised in the sales contract. Although buyers still have legal recourse if they discover—even after closing—that the condition of the home is not as it should be. The best time to identify problems is before closing when the seller will be motivated to correct any deficiencies in order to close the transaction.
Typically, a buyer takes possession of a property one to three months after signing the sales agreement. But, a lot can happen before the actual move-in. Appliances and fixtures can break down, and walls, carpets and doors can be damaged during the seller’s move-out. Sometimes the seller will simply have forgotten that he or she has agreed to leave the refrigerator or window coverings with the house. Whatever the reason, problems identified before the closing have the best chance of being remedied.
If possible, schedule the inspection right before the closing, such as the day before. Your real estate professional will attend the inspection with you. What should you be inspecting? Using a copy of the sales contract as a checklist, first make sure that all items that should be in place (appliances, built-in furniture, window coverings, fixtures, etc.) are there.
Test each appliance to make sure they work properly. Bring along an electrical clock or hairdryer to test each electrical outlet. Test all electrical switches and the garage door opener, if there is one. Run the garbage disposal and turn on every water faucet, checking under the sinks for leaks. Flush the toilets. Inspect the floors, carpets, walls and doors for recent damage.
If you discover that something is damaged or missing, make a note of it and inform your attorney immediately. In most cases, the seller is usually able to take care of small problems immediately, either by making a needed repair or offering compensation to handle it. And, if there are major problems, the seller can even sign a statement acknowledging the deficiency and agree to correct it. Although pre-closing inspections take time and may be inconvenient, they are important and well worth the buyer’s time. Trust me, it is substantially harder to try to get the seller to fix or replace a deficiency once he has your final closing payment!
Current Morgage Lending Rates 6/18/09
According to Jeff Jensen of CT Home Mortgage, this week's Mortgage Lending Rates are as follows as of 6/18/09:
Conforming 30 Year fixed rate is 5.25-5.625%
Jumbo 30 year Fixed rate is 6.25%
5/1 ARM is 4.5%
3/1 ARM is 4.75%
5/1 Adjustable I/O rate is 4.75%
Jumbo 15 Year Fixed rate is 5.375
Conforming 30 Year fixed rate is 5.25-5.625%
Jumbo 30 year Fixed rate is 6.25%
5/1 ARM is 4.5%
3/1 ARM is 4.75%
5/1 Adjustable I/O rate is 4.75%
Jumbo 15 Year Fixed rate is 5.375
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
An Educated Buyer
Westport Homeowners are succumbing to a continued Buyer’s Market. If you are a buyer, however, you may be reveling in the opportunity to get a great deal, or a better home than you could have afforded a year ago.
The first step to home purchase, is finding a top notch Real Estate Professional. Then, get yourself preapproved in writing by an actual mortgage lender. Then, once you have found the home of your dreams, you can concentrate on the specifics of that home, instead of loan details.
So, you’ve completed your homework, and found a house, but your job is not done. How will you know if you are paying the right price? The following are four questions that sellers hope buyers don’t ask!
1. “Why are you selling your home?” This may be one of the most important questions a buyer can ask a seller. When there is a specific situation or deadline, the prospective buyer needs to know. For example, if there is a forthcoming foreclosure sale soon, the buyer needs to be able to act quickly to save the house from foreclosure loss. Similarly, if the sale reason is divorce, it can affect the time needed to present a purchase offer to two sellers, especially if one of the sellers is not living locally, or if attorneys are involved. You may not be able to find out the reason for sale, and even if you do, it may not be the seller’s real motivation…but it’s certainly worth a try.
2. “How much did the seller pay for the home?” This amount is public information, and can be easily found at Town Hall, if the seller chooses not to disclose the amount. The information is important to buyers because it can be a guide to how much leeway the seller may have. For example, if the seller paid $300,000. for a house with a $550,000. asking price, there may be some room for negotiation. Some sellers have not adjusted their expectations to current market conditions. In this case, they will own their home for awhile, if they are unrealistic.
3. “How was the asking price determined?” Too many asking prices are “PFA”, which means plucked from air! Some sellers set their asking prices on (a) what they think their house is worth, (b) purchase price plus capital improvements or (c) a percentage annual increase, multiplied by the number of years of home ownership. Truth be told…none of these methods are great guidelines. A better method for setting price is for the listing agent to prepare a comparative market analysis (CMA). This will show recent sales prices of comparable neighborhood homes. It will also include current asking prices for other homes currently on the market (the competition).
4. “ Has the seller prepared a written property disclosure statement?” Connecticut law requires sellers to provide a written disclosure statement. These forms ask residence owners to disclose known home defects. The primary purpose is to provide buyers with knowledge of known home defects prior to completing a purchase offer agreement. Be warned, some sellers lie. We hope no one does…but let’s face it…it can’t be helped…memories are short. Even in an “as is” home sale, the seller must disclose known significant problems with the residence.
Most of us do not purchase a new home very often, so do your homework. The bottom line, you can never be too prepared or ask too many important questions. And don’t forget to contact me directly when you need a great listing or sales agent!
The first step to home purchase, is finding a top notch Real Estate Professional. Then, get yourself preapproved in writing by an actual mortgage lender. Then, once you have found the home of your dreams, you can concentrate on the specifics of that home, instead of loan details.
So, you’ve completed your homework, and found a house, but your job is not done. How will you know if you are paying the right price? The following are four questions that sellers hope buyers don’t ask!
1. “Why are you selling your home?” This may be one of the most important questions a buyer can ask a seller. When there is a specific situation or deadline, the prospective buyer needs to know. For example, if there is a forthcoming foreclosure sale soon, the buyer needs to be able to act quickly to save the house from foreclosure loss. Similarly, if the sale reason is divorce, it can affect the time needed to present a purchase offer to two sellers, especially if one of the sellers is not living locally, or if attorneys are involved. You may not be able to find out the reason for sale, and even if you do, it may not be the seller’s real motivation…but it’s certainly worth a try.
2. “How much did the seller pay for the home?” This amount is public information, and can be easily found at Town Hall, if the seller chooses not to disclose the amount. The information is important to buyers because it can be a guide to how much leeway the seller may have. For example, if the seller paid $300,000. for a house with a $550,000. asking price, there may be some room for negotiation. Some sellers have not adjusted their expectations to current market conditions. In this case, they will own their home for awhile, if they are unrealistic.
3. “How was the asking price determined?” Too many asking prices are “PFA”, which means plucked from air! Some sellers set their asking prices on (a) what they think their house is worth, (b) purchase price plus capital improvements or (c) a percentage annual increase, multiplied by the number of years of home ownership. Truth be told…none of these methods are great guidelines. A better method for setting price is for the listing agent to prepare a comparative market analysis (CMA). This will show recent sales prices of comparable neighborhood homes. It will also include current asking prices for other homes currently on the market (the competition).
4. “ Has the seller prepared a written property disclosure statement?” Connecticut law requires sellers to provide a written disclosure statement. These forms ask residence owners to disclose known home defects. The primary purpose is to provide buyers with knowledge of known home defects prior to completing a purchase offer agreement. Be warned, some sellers lie. We hope no one does…but let’s face it…it can’t be helped…memories are short. Even in an “as is” home sale, the seller must disclose known significant problems with the residence.
Most of us do not purchase a new home very often, so do your homework. The bottom line, you can never be too prepared or ask too many important questions. And don’t forget to contact me directly when you need a great listing or sales agent!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)