The moment you decide to work with firms that make announcements like “We Buy Houses in Baltimore MD” and find the best one to work with, you’ll have to go through the home-selling journey that usually culminates during the settlement process. Although you’ll have to read and sign several documents to transfer your property to the buyer, one of the most important pieces in the paperwork is the HUD-1 settlement statement.
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Life After a Foreclosure
When you buy a home, you don’t plan on losing it through foreclosure or having to sell your home through a short sale. Ending your home ownership experience this way is emotionally painful, plus hard on your credit. On a positive note, though, you have a chance to start fresh to rebuild your life. There are several major challenges presented by foreclosure. Dealing with a sense of loss. Losing your home can lead to a feeling of failure and cause stresses in your family. You may feel that life is out of control, especially if you stay until the sheriff comes to evict you. A housing counselor may be able to help through some of feelings, while helping you forge a concrete plan for your future. Finding a new place to live. You may qualify for relocation assistance to help you put a deposit on a new place or pay for some moving expenses, but without help, relocating can be costly. Some landlords may be reluctant to rent to you after foreclosure or may want a larger security deposit. Depending on were you live, the rent may not be much less than the mortgage, although your overall expenses will probably be less. Owing a balance and taxes. If you default on your mortgage, and your home is sold for less than the mortgage balance, your lender can come after you for the remaining balance in many states. Even if you win that battle, the IRS might send you a 1099c…
7 Mistakes People Make When Trying to Sell their House – Part 1
This is the first post in a three blog series.
Selling a house can be an easy task. It’s the one-size-fits-all approach that could mislead you from doing what’s right for your property. Your property is unique and though you want to gauge your market, your area and your neighborhood, it isn’t always wise to ape what every other seller on your street is doing.
Here are some questions that you need to answer to check if you’re doing the right things for your house:
1. Underestimating the Competition
Your property may be unique, but if a buyer has come to see your house, chances are that they will also check out the other available houses on your street. It’s not a bad idea to go out and investigate all the comparable prices of houses in your area and neighborhood. It’s time well-invested. Better still; hire an appraiser who would have done your homework for you. They will be able to point out problem areas or asset depreciators that will stop you from making a good sale. Sometimes, just fixing or upgrading a few things in your house could raise its value by a huge amount.
2. Overestimating the Value
Know what home buyers are looking for. Do your own research. Often sellers look at other houses on their street, and set the home price structural similarities. A three-bedroom-two-bath home with a hot tub Jacuzzi in the master bathroom and a fully upgraded kitchen is bound to sell for a higher price than a regular three-bedroom-two-bath.
Some critical features that buyers have been looking for include: location, neighborhood and community, structural design and size, number of bedrooms/bathrooms, special amenities, availability of schools, privacy and other facilities. Some things are not in your control, but there are areas that can we worked upon. If you decide to sell your house as is, you want to take some of these factors into consideration.
Preparing Your Home for Sale on a Very Tight Budget
When you go to sell your home, you may very aware of what real estate agents always say: Fix up your home to get the best price. The recommendations run the gamut from fresh paint to a new kitchen. Frontdoor.com suggests that you put up to 15% of your home’s value into improvements. If you are selling your home to prevent foreclosure or for other financial reasons, putting a lot of money into the place may not be an option for you. What you will want to do is invest your time and money in the improvements that will do the most good. Ideally, you should get a home inspection so you know what problems your home might have. Even if you do not have the resources to fix too much, you can work with your real estate agent to plan two things: Your course of action in making repairs with limited resources. The best selling price point for your home, given that you are unable to make the type of improvements needed to get the best price. Need to move but have little cash to prepare your home for moving? The common wisdom used to be that you could get a home equity loan to finance repairs. With tightened credit requirements and falling home values, this is no longer good advice. (Try for it, but it probably won’t work!) Even if you have minimal funds to work with, there are a few things that will help you sell: First,…
Cutting Down on Clutter
Where Did All This Stuff Come From…? Whether or not you’re planning to sell your house any time soon, it never hurts to get things in order. Even the tidiest homeowners are amazed by how quickly houses can become inundated by the clutter and items they accumulate. Here are some easy tips toward consistently maintaining order and balance in your home, and ensuring that come sale time you don’t find yourself waging the war against disorder for the first time. You Need Discipline and a Game Plan Instead of dabbling and making gradual improvements here and there throughout the home, focus your efforts on one room at a time. Don’t move onto another room until the task at hand has been thoroughly completed. Force yourself to stay disciplined, and adopt the “in and out” approach. For every new item you add to a room, remove an older one. If you have kids, make the cleaning process fun for them (yes, it is possible). Whether it’s by giving them incentives to keep their rooms tidy and their personal belongings out of public spaces, or showing them how rewarding the result can be give them a tangible reason(reward, privilege, bribe) to observe these rules even when they haven’t been reminded to. Have a vision of what the room SHOULD look like before you tackle it. Use hangers to sort the clothes you wear the most from the ones you break out only on special occasions. Needless to say, garments that are out…
Understanding Short Sales
You’ve probably been hearing a lot about short sales in the past few months- chances are you know someone who’s been through the process. And if you’ve been hit as hard by the current recession as many have been and have a home you’re having trouble affording, you may be considering a short sale as a viable option. What’s a Short Sale? Let’s assume you understand the basics of the concept, and are familiar with the broad strokes: basically, a short sale is what occurs when a lender agrees to accept less than the amount owed against a home because there is no longer enough equity to sell and pay all costs of sale. Put simply, if your payments are in arrears and it’s looking more and more like the lender won’t be able to recoup the full cost of the home, a short sale may be their best way of their getting something rather than nothing. It Isn’t Perfect, But… There’s no question that a short sale is far from an ideal outcome for anyone who owns a home. If you find yourself in dire straits with either foreclosure or a short sale looming as your only two options, which do you choose? Consider which does more damage to your credit? Opinions on this topic vary, but the bottom line is, they both do a lot of harm. Foreclosure typically knocks between 200 and 300 points off your score, while short sales have been known to trim your credit…