I'm sure that there are many home owners out there that are asking that question. And there are many possible answers to this question. The home owner can start to answer this question for themselves by doing their own analysis of the way their agent is marketing their home.
1. Does your home's MLS listing have any photos included? At least there should be a photo of the front of your home. If your agent didn't even bother to take a photo of the front of your home, how much are they really going to bother marketing your home.
2. Have you heard from your agent or been able to reach them by phone or e-mail in the last 2 weeks? If they don't have time to speak to your for a few minutes every couple of weeks, then how dedicated are they to marketing your home? Their answer to you, once you finally do get in touch with them, is that they have so many other homes they are marketing. You need to tell them that they may need to cut down on the number of homes they are marketing to a number that they can manage and service. The worst thing any agent can do is to completely ignore their client once they get their signature on a listing agreement. That is completely bad business practice.
3. When you were discussing the price that your house should be marketed at, did your agent give you a specific dollar amount or a dollar range? If they gave you a specific amount then look for another agent...no one can predict the future with any amount of certainty. If they provided a dollar range, did you agree to price it at the upper range or the lower range? Whose idea was it to do this? If it was yours, you need to rethink your pricing strategy. In a declining market, one always wants to establish a price toward the lower range. If, as a home owner, you don't know what a declining market means or how it is determined then you need to look for another agent because this is one of the very BASIC things that your agent should have told you. If the agent recommended the upper range without a set timetable for price review then you need to look for another agent because they really don't know what they are doing. You may have a great pride in your home, to the point that you feel very strongly that your home is the BEST home in the neighborhood...with absolutely no equal...then you had better be able to quantify that. Because the market does not care about your opinion. The market (i.e. buyers) only care about things that they can see and touch.
The key to selling any home is marketing the home, promoting and exposing it to as many people as possible. And for people to take notice the keys here is price and location.
Every home is unique, but the one common thing among all of the sold homes is that they were aggresively marketed, priced to sell, and the real estate maintained contact with the home owner.
A mortgage is a kind of an agreement made to pay the money, which was loaned, to a person by keeping the house as collateral. Mortgage is a promise made to pay the debts by putting it in writing basically. Mortgages have terms and interest rates which are either adjustable or fixed.
Mortgage terms:
Mortgages are designed in such a way that they can be paid in installments for a certain period. The time frame which allows the person to pay back his mortgage is called the term. The term may be 10 or 15 or even 30 years. The length of the term determines the amount of money to be paid, which is actually spread in installments.
Mortgage interest rate:
The interest rate depends on the percentage to be paid on the mortgage loan amount. The interest rates vary according to the credit score of the person. If the credit score of the person is very high, the interest rate and the amount of monthly installments are lower. If the credit score is lower then the interest rates and the monthly installment amount are higher. Hence a good credit score will help getting lower interest rates to the debtor.
Types of mortgages:
Mortgages - Adjustable rate of interest
Under this type of mortgages, the interest rate changes from period to period according to the fluctuations of the market. The degree of change of mortgage interest rate is directly associated with the index to which it is tied. Since index will differ as they may be tied to a foreign bank rate of interest in certain cases, it is good to ask to which index the adjustable rate of interest is tied to. Usually they are fixed for a period of 1-5 years and then become adjustable.
Mortgages - fixed rate:
The interest rate of the loan amount is fixed in the case of fixed rate mortgage till the end of the term regardless of the market fluctuations. The debtor will never have to pay more than the fixed interest rate at any cost. The only means by which a fixed rate mortgage can change is through Refinancing.
Refinancing:
It is a process of changing the existing mortgage terms of agreement. The debtor can go for refinancing when the interest rates are lower so that he can save money qualifying for the lower rate of interest. The length of the term can also be adjusted to be either long or short using refinance option. Care needs to be taken when going for refinancing of mortgages as it entails for new closing costs. Fees and closing costs are involved in this method.
Appraisal:
The crucial part of mortgage is the appraisal. Before going for a loan from a bank, the value of the house must be assessed properly. An appraiser can determine how much the house is worth actually by inspecting the features of the house and by comparing it with the neighborhood houses. If any addition or embellishment is made to the house, it can raise the value of the house, but may require to appraise the new value of the document.
If you combine a bad economy, a large glut of abandoned homes and a high number of people in need of housing and you've got a recipe for a rich ground for con artists that pose as landlords and targeting renters.
The article on MSNBC outlines this new scam being perpetrated on renters. It outlines what to watch out for and how to protect yourself. Even if you're an owner of an empty property, you still need to protect yourself and your property.
But in the end, the renter is left with nothing or ends up squatting on someone else's vacant property while paying "rent" to a fraudster, all unbeknownst to the property's real owner. There have been a couple of documented cases; in Las Vegas, a woman arrested for just such a scam had provided a contract and written rental receipts to a mother of two. Tenants in such cases did not intend to occupy a house illegally and aren't going to be charged with a crime, police say. But the renters are going to have to move on short notice and are unlikely to see their security deposits again.
In Miami recently, a con artist went so far as to create a fake warranty deed and introduce himself to neighbors as the new owner. "He showed me the house. He had a key. He knew the floor plans of the house, everything about the house. It was convincing," the alleged victim, a teacher who handed over a $3,000 deposit.
You can read the whole article "Renters: Beware of new twists on an old scam" here.
The proposed law allowing bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages, known as the cramdown bill, was voted down Thursday by the U.S. Senate.
The financial industry opposed the bill, arguing that the change would drive up interest rates and make the market less stable. Some senators also were concerned that their constituents who pay their bills on time would resent this measure.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who led the opposition, says the vote "ensures that homeowners who pay their bills and follow the rules won't see an interest-rate hike at the whim of a bankruptcy judge."
The reform was a key part of President Obama's foreclosure prevention plan, leaving some to question ultimate likelihood of its success.
"It won't render the loan modification program useless, but it removed an important ingredient that would have helped realign everybody's interests," says Barry Zigas, director of housing policy for the Consumer Federation of America.
In the last two days we have received numerous flyers in our e-mail from some local mortgage representatives telling us that First Time Home Buyers can receive their $8,000 credit UP FRONT and use this money as a DOWN PAYMENT. This sounded too good to be true so we checked it out - this was too good to be true.
My wife, Linda, personally phoned the IRS this morning, February 27, 2009 and spoke with an IRS expert on the First Time Home Buyers Credit. This is what we learned:
The 2009 tax credit is for $8,000 and for properties purchased in 2009 by first time home buyers and does not have to be paid back provided the buyer lives there for 3 years.
The buyer can apply for the 2009 tax credit on their 2008 income tax return if they have not filed yet. If the buyer has already filed their 2008 return and received their refund or paid their taxes, they can file an amended return and receive the $8,000 tax credit without having to wait to file the 2009 taxes. Of course, the buyer can wait and apply for the $8,000 tax credit when they file their 2009 income taxes next year.
This provision, while a little confusing, was designed to jump start housing market. However, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES can a buyer apply for this $8,000 credit BEFORE THEY CLOSE ON THE PROPERTY AND USE THIS MONEY FOR A DOWNPAYMENT. They are not a FIRST TIME HOME BUYER until they have (bought) closed on the house and have the keys in their hands.
If you think about this logically, you would realize that if in fact this was an $8,000 gift for a down payment, it would be all over the news. We wouldn't need some mortgage representative to tell us about it. This very loose interpretation of the First Time Home Buyers credit is just another attempt to get around the rules.
We can think of some serious ramifications of applying for a tax credit you have yet to earn. We can sum it up in two words TAX FRAUD. We do not want any mortgage representative telling our buyers to commit fraud. We can imagine some nightmare scenarios that we do not wish to be involved, the least of which the buyer does not settle, for whatever reason, and has applied for and received the $8,000 credit. The worst of this is that when the ‘buyer' is audited the following year, for applying for a tax credit that they did not earn and they tell the auditor that their real estate agent told them to file for the money.
We suggest that anyone who is interested in finding out the FACTS regarding this $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers, that they call the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040 and ask to speak to an agent who is familiar with the FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS CREDIT and ask the direct question, "Can a first time home buyer apply for the $8,000 credit before they close on a property and use this money for a down payment?" The answer will be NO. But check it out for yourself. If you have a buyer who has been told this by a mortgage rep and does not believe you when you tell them they cannot apply for this credit before they close on the property, give them the IRS number. Keep in mind that you are calling the Federal Government and will be on hold for 15-20 minutes. But it is worth the wait to learn the facts. Use your speaker phone, the time will fly by.
If something sounds too good to be true, it is our responsibility to wade through the muck and verify, verify, verify. The last thing we need is another mortgage catastrophe a few years out.
