US Rethinks Roles of Fannie, Freddie Wall Street Journal - Now, bankers say, the current economic crisis will force Congress and the Obama administration to decide how to repair or rebuild those institutions, ...
Bay Area sees deals on homes for under $100000 San Francisco Chronicle, USA - Despite the repair issues, many agents said the homes can be bargains, representing a chance for first-time home buyers to own for less than the cost of ...
Rental Strategy Helps Landscaper Succeed Associated Construction Publications, GA - When working near home, Northern Landscape does most of its buying and renting from Milwaukee Tractor & Equipment, Milwaukee. ?My dad did business with ...
A nation's new frugality Indianapolis Star, United States - It means bypassing the fashion mall for the discount chain store, buying secondhand clothes and furniture, or trading down to store brands. ...
Even in a recession, some Northeast Ohio businesses poised to do well The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com, OH - Nov 29, 2008 In the current downturn, he has put his home-selling business on hold and works every day with family members at his shop, Frank's Auto Repair on West 45th ...
Give yourself a gift! York News-Times, NE - There isn?ta day goes by when a business isn?t asked to help out a group or to support a cause right here at home. It may be as simple as buying an ...
Holiday Tips for a Greener Milwaukee OnMilwaukee.com, Milwaukee - This involves buying gifts for those that you love & those you don't, this is either the most wonderful time of the year, or if you have bad insulation in ...
Here's how to kill the big chill Baraboo News Republic, WI - Doing some simple caulking and buying a few plastic window kits from your local hardware store is fairly inexpensive and doesn't take much time, ...
Still flipping houses despite the downturn Seattle Times, United States - Nov 29, 2008 House flipping ? buying, fixing up and selling a house for a profit ? became popular fodder for TV shows in the last few years. However, falling home prices ...
Starting over Kennebec Journal, ME - During a burglary at his home in November 2007, a safe was taken. The crime crossed Guerrette's mind when he thought about buying the coin shop. ...
Source: Google News
Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: repair + home + buying Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/4/2008)
UDR Announces Second Quarter 2008 Results WELT ONLINE, Germany - Total monthly income per home is approaching $1200, and the average age of the portfolio is 15 years. Fifty percent of second quarter same store net ...UDR
Blog... Irrelevant U? Not buying it TerpTown.com - Though it's only practice, the feeling is that both are ahead of the damaged-beyond-repair Kyle Wright and Kirby Freeman. The Canes will have their growing ...
Inside Congress's housing repair kit Boston Globe, United States - Jul 31, 2008 First-time buyers can receive a $7500 tax credit for buying a home by next July 1, a provision aimed at recharging sales in slumping markets. ...
To The Rescue: Restoration Franchises Enjoy Steady Growth Franchising.com (press release), CA - Restoration projects, he says, present an opportunity to upgrade a home or business. For example, while making an estimate on a home repair job, ...
Do your homework Globe and Mail, Canada - Aug 2, 2008 First, don't let the fact that a new home comes with a warranty be the deciding factor in buying it. If you take a really close look at new-home warranties ...
Antique boat repair shop moves to Sarles Boatyard Annapolis Capital, MD - Aug 3, 2008 Mr. Cramer also said the interest in wooden boats has grown as people spend money on the boats they have instead of buying new ones in a down economy, ...
Buying a house? Review credit score Pacific Daily News, GU - Aug 2, 2008 Unfortunately, if your credit report shows delinquent payments -- and the information is accurate -- there's no quick way to repair the damage to your score ...
Pitfalls of buying foreclosures Boston Globe, United States - Jul 28, 2008 I advise all of my home-buying clients to include the right to a "pre-settlement inspection" in the sales contract. This final inspection must take place ...
Homeowners rent out property as they wait for a better market Los Angeles Times, CA - Aug 2, 2008 Laurie Arreola, pictured with her sons Ben, 5 and Dylan, 8, decided to rent out her North Hollywood home instead of sell after buying a home in Claremont. ...
Source: Google News
Consumers?Prior Experiences and Perceptions in Auto Repair Choice GJ Biehal - Journal of Marketing, 1983 - JSTOR ... J. Biehal Consumers' Prior Experiences and Perceptions in Auto Repair Choice
Introduction ... Hem- pel (1969) found that 32% of his home-buying sample examined ...
Public Housing Home-Ownership: Will It Work and for Whom? - WM Rohe, MA Stegman - Journal of the American Planning Association, 1992 - questia.com ... Moreover, the home equity is likely to be higher in ... Those buying shares in the limited
equity cooperatives ... scarce CIAP modernization funds to repair units that ...
[BOOK] Tips and Traps When Buying a Home R Irwin - 2003 - books.google.com ... The old advice that homebuying always pays off is no longer automatic in ... If you
don't want the bother of home maintenance and repair ?If rental ...
An assessment of home buyer and real estate broker attitudes toward service quality MW Little, TA Myers - Journal of Professional Services Marketing, 1987 - haworthpress.com ... Board a? Realtors Helped Buyer To Kww Area Explaining llouse Payments Arranging Repair Services For New liome (if needed) OEEered HomeBuyer Warranty Assisted ... -
Overcoming adverse selection in buying an existing home - CR Gwin, SE Ong - Journal of Property Investment and Finance, 2001 - emeraldinsight.com ... Page 6. JPIF 19,3 288 maintenance. This allows the buyer to perfectly infer the
true maintenance of the home and the true expected repair expenses. ...
Low-income homeownership policy as a community development strategy - E Scanlon - Journal of Community Practice, 1998 - haworthpress.com ... for homeownership and to learn necessary skills such as homerepair (US Department ...
Farmer and Barrell (1981) argue that homebuying is lucrative finan- cially ...
[BOOK] Smart Guide to Buying a Home - A Glossbrenner, E Glossbrenner - 1999 - books.google.com ... convince yourself that you can do the neces- sary repair work yourself ... time buyer
is someone who has not owned a home in the ... 6 ? SMART GUIDE TO BUYING A HOME...
[CITATION] Choosing Home-Buying Professionals AM Lender, A Realtor, H Inspector -
Source: Google Scholar
Think hard before buying home that needs repair
Q: I recently made an offer on a 1,150-square-foot home that was less than the seller was asking. I attached a home inspection contingency. My concern is that the owner accepted the offer but noted on counter that she would not pay for any repairs and has no cash. Her broker said she's very difficult to work with.
In the cellar of the home there's an old fuse box. A friend of mine who's an electrician took a look at it and said it would cost about $1,500 to upgrade to code. If the owner doesn't want to give me the $1,500 or share the cost, should I go to her real estate agent to see if she'll kick in some cash? I don't want to lose the home due to this problem.
A: You can always ask the seller to chip in to pay for needed repairs, but she may simply say no. That's a seller's choice. Once you know her position, you can decide whether or not you want to buy the house "as is," knowing you'll have to make repairs and that some might be costly.
In this case, if it's true that the seller has no money and appears to need every cent she'll get from the sale, you could ask the agent to chip in a little. But the agent also has the right to turn you down. If everyone turns you down, you have to figure out how much cash you have and if the price you're paying for the house makes it worthwhile to upgrade the electrical and do whatever else is necessary to make the place liveable.
I encourage you to think about whether this house is a good deal for you at this time (and the answer may be quite different for another buyer).
Q: My question deals with the good faith estimate. Could I ask my mortgage broker to work up a few different scenarios with different types of mortgages? For instance, could I ask him to crunch the numbers for a 80/15/5 and a 80/10/10, and also see what the figures look like if I decide to pay points?
Is that too much to ask? I'm a visual person when it comes to numbers. I need to see them on paper to understand them and make sure I'll be able to meet my mortgage obligations.
A: You can certainly ask your loan officer to put various scenarios in writing. But, typically good faith estimates are provided only after you apply for a loan. The lender may be happy to tell you what his or her fees will be in conjunction with several different loan types, but it may be unnecessary to ask for a good faith estimate since most of the fees (except any points) should be the same no matter what loan program you decide on.
It concerns me that you haven't taken advantage of the many online resources that could help you work through the numbers yourself.
At BankRate.com, you can find out what various lenders are charging for a variety of different loans. You can also find calculators that will help you work through the numbers.
Eloan.com also has an excellent amortization calculator (go to Eloan.com and at the bottom, look up tools and mortgage calculators) that will help you play around with various scenarios, including if you decide to prepay your mortgage.
On my own Web site, ThinkGlink.com, I have a number of calculators you can use.
While any loan officer worth his or her salt would be delighted to help you, the only way you'll really understand the numbers is if you crunch them yourself. Take some time and learn how the down payment and interest rate change your payment. You'll be a much more knowledgeable borrower and will actually know what you're talking about with your loan officer.
