Real Estate News

Happy New Year,

Make it a better world. “Pay it Forward” as in the movie. If you haven’t seen it, do!

Welcome,

Basically, almost everyone wants to buy a house and honestly everyone of legal age and competent mind can if they have the will and knowledge. Sure you can buy all the get rich schemes on the web and off the high intensity infomercials but do they really work for everyone? Or do most of them end up on a shelf? Check eBay when you get done here. It is unbelievable that people pay hundreds of dollars for these so called courses with dreams of making fortunes and then auction them off for 30-40 dollars. That was a terrible investment. They would have fared much better by taking legitimate courses or at least not spending their money.

You may ask, how does one buy a house without money and good or any credit? No joking around Donald Trump does it every time, using other people’s money. If you try hard enough you can find someone to sell you their property with owner financing. You just make arrangements with them for the sale price, the interest rate and term. You and they may prefer a short term loan, say ballooning it in five years. This means you make the regular payments for 60 months. This should be adequate time to get stable income and credit, even if you have filed bankruptcy. Of course there are many more ways of acquiring real estate.

Would you consider selling your own property, or does it scare you to death. It really isn’t that big a deal or a lot of dumb agents wouldn’t be doing so well. Do I sound disgusted with some agents? I am. As an appraiser and broker I have seen a lot of corruption and it enrages me. That’s one reason we decided to do this. But, if you are working with an agent, hopefully you spent some time selecting a good one with an impeccable record. In today’s market contracts are received within minutes of placing a sign in the yard. Contracts are available on-line, at the office stores and in the library. The average real estate sales commission is 6%, which most people don’t know is negotiable. By law there is not supposed to be a set amount across the board. Many times companies offer lower commissions and then some agents won’t show the property and are even bold enough to say so. They will show new construction which is typically 5% but nothing else.

If you choose to sell your property here are some starter points. Make it look good from the street. Decisions begin right there. Many times a purchaser will take one look and say no. Make your schedule very flexible so when they want to see it they can, or they’ll move on. Clean the clutter and dust. Have some coffee brewing or some bread baking. Let the people freely browse the house with you. Don’t lead them. Many times your familiarity with the house causes you to just rush through, but they need time!

The Importance Of Purchasing Title Insurance For Real Estate

It is important to obtain title insurance whenever you purchase real estate, whether you are buying a home, business or investment property. Title insurance protects the buyer of a piece of real estate from loss due to problems with the title, or deed, to the property. These problems can arise due to transactions in the past that were not completed properly. For instance, a husband and wife own a house but she never signs off during the sale. In a case like this, the wife may come back later and claim that she owns half of the house. Title insurance protects you in cases like this.

Title insurance also protects the buyer from liens against the home that they might not be aware of. For example, the IRS can put a lien on someone’s house if they are behind on their taxes. The city can place liens if the water bill or other service bills are unpaid. Even contractors who have done work on a house can place liens against. When you obtain title insurance, the title insurance company will check to see if there are liens against the house and they will disclose their findings before you buy. If it is later learned that there was a lien that the title company did not find, then the title company will be responsible to pay the cost to resolve the problem.

If you are getting a mortgage to purchase property, your lender will insist on you getting title insurance. The title insurance protects the lender as well as the buyer. You will not be able to obtain a mortgage to purchase a piece of real estate without purchasing a title insurance policy for the property.

Purchasing title insurance is vital because there is no way that you can know what has happened in the property’s past without extensive research. Even then, unexpected things can happen. What happens if you buy the house from a man who inherited it from his grandfather, and then someone else claims that the house should have gone to them and decides to contest the will? Situations like this can be very messy, but if you have title insurance, then the insurance company will have to pay you back for the house, and often your legal expenses as well, if you end up losing it due to problems with the title.

Since you are making a large investment whenever you purchase real estate, you need to make sure that your investment is well protected. There are many things that can affect the title to your property, and obtaining title insurance is the only way to make sure that you won’t lose your investment if there turns out to be a problem with the title of your property.

The Benefits Of Having Professional Indemnity Insurance For Real Estate Agents

The world of real estate is very unpredictable. And so, it is really better to know some ways to protect real estate agents. One excellent way of doing so would be to invest in professional indemnity insurance.

Professional indemnity insurance for real estate agents protects you, the agent, from any civil liability for claims made by third parties, due to the conduct or actions of the business. This action may have caused damage or loss. Some lawsuits may involve breach of contract, breach of statutory provisions in laws, and allegations of misrepresentation, among a host of others.

Professional indemnity is a good investment not only because it is currently mandatory, wherein the government now requires licensees qualified under the Property, Stock, and Business Agents Act 2002 to maintain a $1 million indemnity insurance, with a number of set policy inclusions.

– It is a good investment because it is also a critical means for financial protection when confronted with claims that allege certain misrepresentations or mismanagement. In the event of such potentially ruinous lawsuits, the real estate agent insurance policy you have chosen should allow you to protect your assets, and, of course, your business. Asset protection is especially important when you’re running a startup.

– This kind of insurance can also protect you, long after you’ve retired or closed your real estate company. This applies to policies that come with run off coverage. Run off coverage takes care of claims made years after your company has stopped operating.

– With coverage like this, you can certainly go about your life after closing shop and still be able to achieve total peace of mind even with the threat of a lawsuit for services you have rendered years before. But the right insurance, real estate agents like you must know, is not just going to provide financial and asset protection. It can also encourage potential clients to obtain your services.