All Posts Tagged With: "Closing"
Real Estate Settlements: Public Cheated Out Of $10 Billion — Per Year!
It was in 2002 when HUD Secretary Mel Martinez told the world that consumers could save as much as $10 billion a year by making the settlement process more competitive. Martinez — now a Republican senator from Florida — offered a simple proposal: Instead of buyers and sellers purchasing settlement services one transaction at a [...]
19Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 1 comment | Continued
How To Cut Real Estate Closing Costs
It may well have been the most unusual stewardship seen by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in recent years. HUD Secretary Mel Martinez has both resigned and left behind an impressive record. What’s remarkable about Martinez — now a U.S. senator from Florida — is that during his time in Washington HUD operated [...]
13Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Adjustments At Closing
Question: We’re selling our home and have prepaid our property taxes through June — two months from now. How do we get this money back? Answer: A sale agreement should contain a clause that deals with adjustments. The prepaid property tax, for example, should be a credit to you at closing and a cost to [...]
31Aug2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
What Happens If The Seller Goes Bankrupt Before Closing?
If you are the buyer or the broker you immediately head to your attorney. The goal of a bankruptcy proceeding will be to satisfy as many creditors as possible, therefore the sale may well be in everyone’s interest. However, the sale will likely require court approval and that could delay closing. As well, one needs [...]
30Aug2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
When Must New Homes Be Completed?
While it would seem to make sense that a home could be completed by a given date, the reality is that new home construction includes elements which are beyond the builder’s control. For instance, weather, the availability of building supplies, labor shortages, and other factors can each delay construction. Thus, it makes sense for builders [...]
30Aug2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
What’s A Cash-Back Transaction?
It is sometimes claimed that it’s possible to buy a home and receive both the house a substantial amount of cash at closing. For example, a home will be “sold” for $100,000. The deal will be financing with a 95 percent loan-to-value mortgage. However, the seller will provide a $15,000 certificate of deposit to the [...]
30Aug2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Why Does Closing Cost So Much?
Closing is expensive for several reasons. First, state transfer taxes are typically based on the sale price of the property or the amount of mortgage debt. These tend to be very large sums, so even a small percentage can be a lot of money. Second, payment for many services occurs at closing — title insurance, [...]
30Aug2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Must I Attend Closing?
Check with your closing provider, but in most jurisdictions — if not all — the answer is “no.” The purpose of closing is to assure that all requirements of the sale agreement have been met. The closing papers need to be signed by all parties to the transaction, and often notarized or witnessed. However, the [...]
30Aug2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
What’s A Real Estate “Walk-Through?”
When you purchase an existing home you enter into a sale agreement at one point but only close on the sale some weeks later. To assure that the property is in substantially the same condition as when the sale agreement was signed, a buyer will “walk through” the property just before closing. If you are [...]
30Aug2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
How Should I Handle Pre-Closing Structural Problems?
Question: We bought a house six weeks ago. Two days before closing, the seller drove a car through the back of the garage and into the kitchen? Who’s responsible? Answer: The seller. When you signed the purchase agreement it was understood that the property would be delivered to you in substantially the same condition as [...]
30Aug2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
© Copyright 