How VA and FHA Appraisals can affect the price.

Home appraisal inspections on FHA and VA loans are a little more detailed than on conventional loans (and more expensive). The appraisers are required to perform certain minimum inspections as well as evaluate the market value of the property. Although these inspections are not as detailed as a professional home inspection and should not be considered a substitute, sometimes repairs are required.

These are additional costs the seller would not be obligated to pay for someone obtaining conventional financing, so your offer should include a maximum figure for these repairs. Otherwise the seller is signing the equivalent of a blank check, and they do not want to do that.

At the same time, whatever figure you put in will most likely affect the seller’s willingness to negotiate on price. If you put $500 as an estimate, the seller may be $500 less negotiable on their price. If no repairs are required, you may have been able to get the house for $500 less than what you and the seller agreed on as the price.

The solution is to add a clause to your offer that goes something like this. "If required repairs cost less than the maximum amount allowed, the excess will be credited toward buyer’s closing costs."

Currently their are 124 homes for sale in Piatt county. See them all at www.piattcountyhomes.com

When buying a home, consider the condition.

Since you have toured the property you are interested in, you should know how it compares to the general neighborhood. All you have to do is put the home in one of three categories - average, above average, or below average.

When evaluating a home’s condition, there are a number of things you should consider. Structural condition is most important - items such as walls, ceilings, floors, doors and windows. Then paint, carpets, and floor coverings. Pay special attention to bathrooms and bedrooms and whether the plumbing and electricity work efficiently. Look at the fixtures, such as light switches, doorknobs, and drawer handles. The front and back yards should be in reasonably good shape.

The missing ingredient will be information on the condition of the homes from your comparable sales list. Provided you chose the right agent to represent you, they will have actually visited most of those homes and be able to provide key insights.

Find your next home at www.piattcountyhomes.com

Home Buyers Play With Things....

Are You Getting the House Ready to Sell?

Do not do anything expensive, such as remodeling. If possible, use savings to pay for any repairs and improvements – do not go charging up credit cards or obtaining new loans. Remember that part of selling a house is also preparing to buy your next home. You do not want to do anything that will affect your credit scores or hurt your ability to qualify for your next mortgage.

When looking at a house, prospective home buyers often do not really know what to do. So they play with things. They flick light switches. They open everything with a handle. They turn on all the faucets and flush all the toilets. Having nice shiny fixtures makes an impression.

All your sink fixtures should look shiny and new. If this cannot be accomplished by cleaning, buy new ones. If you don’t buy something fancy, this can be accomplished inexpensively. Make sure all the hot and cold water knobs are easy to turn and that the faucets do not leak. If they do, replace the washers.

It sounds like hard work, but it's pretty easy -- even for the inexperienced.

Check to make sure you have good water pressure and that there are no stains on any of the porcelain. If you have a difficult stain to remove, one trick is to hire a cleaning crew to go through and clean your home on a one-time basis.

They seem to be wonderful at making stains go away. And of course, then call your favorite Realtor... Call Corey@ 621-8034.

Real Property -vs- Personal Property.

When selling or buying a home, you need to think ahead about what you are actually selling along with the property and the house. The general rule is, "if it attached to the structure or the ground, it is real property and stays with the house."

This confuses some people, especially when selling their first house.

For example, as a renter you may have been used to removing your curtains and taking them with you when you move. Since they are probably "attached" to the wall in some manner, the buyer may assume all window coverings are staying with the house.

This can cause a disagreement. Disagreements in real estate spread like viruses, moving from minor issues to more major issues. Emotions rule and logic melts away like a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a black asphalt playground in August. It can become an ugly sticky mess.

Disagreements have the potential to become "challenges" .

The point is that you need to think about these things in advance. If you have to unscrew a screw, claw out a nail, detach anything from the interior or exterior structure, or uproot anything from the ground -- and you want to take it with you when you move -- put it in the contract.

That way there are no possible misunderstandings later.

There are currently more then 125 homes for sale through out Piatt County.

To see them all visit www.piattcountyhomes.com

Now Is A Great Time To Buy Or Sell A Home

Consider These Facts:

Interest Rates Near Record Lows: Interest rates are comparable to 40 year lows, offering many homebuyers a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Large Inventory Wont Last: There are currently more then 2300 homes and properties for sale in central Illinois. There has been a record number of homes and property on the market in recent months, offering you the consumer the greatest choice in decades.

Prices Overall Have Stabilized: Contracts for home sales in August were up 4.3 percent and locally the outlook is for home prices to increase again next year.

Positive Outlook: Former Federal Reserve Char, Alan Greenspan recently said that housing prospects are looking up. “Most of the negatives in housing are probably behind us. The fourth quarter should be reasonably good, certainly better then the third quarter.” According to industry estimates, 2006 will be the third best tear on record for home sales.

Real Estate Is A Great Investment: Homeownership is a safe, secure way to build long term wealth. The national median price of homes bought ten years ago has increased 88 percent.

The number of US households is expected to increase 15 percent during the next decade, creating a continued high demand for housing.

Don’t Delay: Now is a great time to buy or sell a home. Call us today and we will make you our next success story.

Piatt County Has 126 Homes Currently Listed For Sale. See Them All At www.piattcountyhomes.com

Why Close At The End Of The Month?

Mostly, this has to do with lowering your out of pocket costs by minimizing the amount of "prepaid interest" you pay on your mortgage at closing.

Interest on your mortgage begins running from the date your transaction closes, but most loans are due on the first day of the month. So when you close, you "pre-pay" the interest between the closing date and the end of the month..

For example, if you close on the 29th of October, you prepay one day of interest to cover the rest of October's interest. Your first payment will be due December 1st, when you will actually be paying November's interest.

As a different example, if you close on the 6th of November, you prepay 24 days of interest. This means you have to bring in more cash to close your real estate purchase than would have been required by closing just eight days earlier.

However, the benefits of a late-in-the-month closing are only short-term.

With the October 29 closing, your first payment due-date will be December 1. With the November 6 closing, your first payment is not due until January 1.

It just takes less cash "out of pocket" to close near the end of the month. That is the major benefit.

When Your Selling Price is too High, Beware!

So you’ve decided to sell your home and have a fairly good idea of what you think it is worth. Being a sensible home seller, you schedule appointments with three local listing agents who’ve been hanging stuff on your front doorknob for years. Each Realtor comes prepared with a "Competitive Market Analysis" on fancy paper and they each recommend a specific sales price.

Amazingly, a couple of the Realtors have come up with prices that are lower than you expected. Although they back up their recommendations with recent sales data of similar homes, you remain convinced your house is worth more.

When you interview the third agent’s figures, they are much more in line with your own anticipated value, or maybe even higher. Suddenly, you are a happy and excited home seller, already counting the money.

A Sales Practice Called "Buying a Listing"

If you’re like many people, you pick Realtor number three. This is an agent who seems willing to listen to your input and work with you. This is an agent that cares about putting the most money in your pocket. This is an agent that is willing to start out at your price and if you need to drop the price later, you can do that easily, right?

After all, everyone else does it!

The truth is that you may have just met an agent engaging in a questionable sales practice called "buying a listing." He "bought" the listing by suggesting you might be able to get a higher sales price than the other agents recommended. Most likely, he is quite doubtful that your home will actually sell at that price. The intention from the beginning is to eventually talk you into lowering the price.

Why do some agents "buy" listings this way?

There are basically two reasons. A well-meaning and hard working agent can feel pressure from a homeowner who has an inflated perception of his home’s value. On the other hand, there are some agents who engage in this sales practice routinely.

10.22.2006 Piatt county has 119 homes for sale.
See them all at http://www.piattcountyhomes.com/