Archive for May, 2008
Behind the Scenes Look at Your Loan
May 28th, 2008 Categories: Buying Real Estate
It’s a mystery to many people how loans actually take place. You know you need to speak with a lender but what exactly are they in charge of? What is going on after you get acceptance on your offer?
The lender is a crucial part of your buying team- they are overseeing your loan from beginning to end. A good lender equals much less stress for you during your escrow!
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at a 30 Day Escrow:
1. Prequalification and Preapproval- done before writing an offer!
2. Loan Application (during this time, the lender will order the appraisal, escrow or agent will usually order the preliminary title report)
3. Loan Submitted to Mortgage Company
4. Processor Review (collects escrow, appraisal, prelim, etc.)
5. Submit to Lender
6. Lender Approval (release of the loan contingency)
7. Collection of Conditions
8. Lender Review of Conditions (give a clear to close, sends to doc department)
9. Docs Drawn
10. Docs Sent to Escrow
11. Borrower Signs
12. Docs Sent Back to Lender
13. Lender Reviews
14. Lender Funds
15. Loan Closes (title records)
16. Celebrate!!
If you have any questions about these steps, please let us know.
Lenders out there, please feel free to give your two cents about these steps as well!
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Termite Inspections, Reports and Work - Who is Responsible?
May 21st, 2008 Categories: Bel Air - Holmby Hills, Beverly Hills - BHPO, Brentwood, Buying Real Estate, Cheviot Hills - Rancho Park, Culver City, Hollywood Hills, Home Improvement, Home Resources, Inspection Resources, Malibu, Marina Del Rey - Venice, Pacific Palisades, Real Estate, Real Estate News, Santa Monica, Selling Real Estate, Sherman Oaks - Studio City, West Hollywood, Westwood - Century City
So you’re about to buy or sell a house and the subject of termite inspections come up in discussion - usually when the offer is being written and/or presented.
Here is what YOU need to know:
CUSTOMARILY, the Seller is responsible for the inspection, providing the buyer with a termite report, and ultimately a termite clearance at the close escrow. The Seller usually pays for Section I work, and the Buyer can pay for any Section II work needed.
What is “Section I” and “Section II” work?
Section I is any EXISTING termite infestation, damage or wood destroying organisms such as dryrot fungus and the like. This may include local treatment, whole house tenting, and replacement of damaged timber.
Section II is anything found to possibly invite termite infestation or cause wood damage in the future, such as debris in the attic, earth to wood contact, etc.
There are circumstances when the Seller is NOT responsible for all the “termite work”, some examples are:
- When it’s an ALL CASH purchase. The termite clearance is necessary to close escrow because it’s often a condition for funding by the lenders.
- When the property is a TEAR-DOWN. If the intent by the buyer is to bulldoze the property to the ground, no one really cares if there are termites or rotted wood all over the place.
- When the SELLER specifies in the contract they will not do any work, or caps the dollar amount they are willing to pay for work needed. The Buyer then can agree to pick up the difference.
95% of the homes that are sold here in SoCal require some termite clearance action. Homeowners are well advised to maintain a termite treatment regime once a year to keep those buggers away.
Call us anytime for a referral to a reputable company to add to your home vendors list!
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So, What is the MLS Anyway?
May 15th, 2008 Categories: Buying Real Estate, Real Estate, Selling Real Estate
Once you start looking for a home or getting involved in real estate in any shape or form, you’re going to hear the MLS mentioned over and over. What in the world is this? How does it work?
Basically, the MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service and is a database service that all brokers use for their listed properties. Area brokers belong to their local MLS system and pay an annual fee to be a member. This way they can keep track of homes that are actively on the market, those that are looking for back up offers, in escrow (pending) or have closed. They can also go into the listing history of properties and compare comparable sales in the area for clients making offers or getting ready to list their property.
How are the search features different from regular search engines like yahoo.com or Google? Or brokers’ sites like coldwellbanker.com? Or real estate specific search engines like Realtor.com?
All the real estate search engines will basically get you the same info- it’s just the lag time behind the market that makes the difference here. I’m not sure about the other brokerages but I know that when you look at Coldwell Banker’s site, you’re not just going to see Coldwell Banker represented homes. You’re going to see every home that fits your search criteria. Realtor.com is the same way. It’s a great place to see all of the homes. The issue is that it’s a few days behind the market.
So, to get real market-time information, brokers go to the MLS. You may not think that a few days would matter but it most certainly does for HOT homes. Those can easily be snatched up by the time it hits Realtor.com.
Since the MLS is a closed service, you need to be an agent to place your property on the system. As an agent, I can, however, set up clients on a private MLS website so they can have access to everything that is on the market that fits what they’re looking for. This way they will see everything available in real market-time and be updated as soon as a property comes on the market, comes back on the market or gets a price reduction. I can also set up clients who are selling their property on their own site so they can also keep track of the competition.
So, my suggestion is that if you’re looking to buy, get started on an MLS website ASAP- even if you’re thinking about buying down the road. And if you’re looking to sell, have your agent set you up on a website as well so you can become familiar with current competition.
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