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Today's Featured Article:
Photo Gallery Virtual Tour Buyer Booklet Schedule a Showing 5BR, 4 BA, 3 GAR 4473 sf in demand Forest Haven! read more (323 words) |
Photo Gallery Virtual Tour Buyer Booklet Schedule a Showing 2BR, 1BA,1 GAR 2183 sf 2-level historic condo near Grain Belt! read more (157 words) |
Photo Gallery Virtual Tour Buyer Booklet Schedule a Showing 4BR, 2 BA, 2 GAR 2048 sf home near Hidden Valley Park & School! read more (98 words) |
 60xx
Saxony Dr, Edina, 5BR, 3 BA, 3 GAR sprawling rambler near Parkwood Knolls (Edina schools), 3 fireplaces, remodeled kit & baths, newer roof/mechs. $500's.72xx Glouchester Dr, Edina, 4BR, 2 BA, 3 GAR colonial with many updates including new kit, guest suite, and lower bath. 3 fireplaces, huge tandem 3rd stall 37xx Washburn Ave, Mpls, 3BR, 2 BA, 2 GAR stately 2 story just 1 block off Victor Memorial Parkway. Pristine woodwork with freshly painted walls and plenty of Old World Charm! $250's Request Advanced Showing |
Photo Gallery Virtual Tour Buyer Booklet Schedule a Showing 4BR, 2 BA, 2 GAR 1951 sf rambler near Bassett Creek & Park! read more (113 words) |
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How to Prepare for the Closing
After making the decision to buy a home, many buyers are surprised by the amount of work required for a successful closing. To ensure that you are prepared to close on the home, you may want to develop a checklist of necessary steps with your real estate agent. As you prepare to complete the sale and move into your new home, consider the tips offered here concerning the most important tasks facing homebuyers.
After you have filed your loan application and placed a deposit on the home, your mortgage lender will provide you with an estimate of closing costs. As the amount provided by the mortgage lender is merely an estimate and can change prior to closing, you are allowed to inspect all the loan documents the day before closing. Once you have confirmed the amount, including the remainder of the down payment, you will need to obtain a certified or cashier’s check. In most cases, personal checks are not acceptable for payment of closing costs, so work with your agent if you have concerns about the proper methods of payment.
Most real estate professionals recommend performing a final walk-through inspection of the home before finalizing the sale. In most cases, the contract between both parties will include a clause allowing the buyer to inspect the property within the 24 hours prior to closing. At this time, the buyer should make sure the home is vacated, all appliances that the seller agreed to leave in the home are intact and any repairs included in the terms of the sale have been completed. If needed, you can also request that the seller perform a walkthrough with you to explain all of the home’s details.
For the most part, this final walkthrough is the buyer’s last opportunity to ensure the terms of the contract are met. If any problems are uncovered during the inspection, you can work with your agent to obtain funds from the seller for repairs or postpone the closing until all repairs are made.
Another requirement of the closing process is the purchase of homeowner’s insurance. Required by nearly all mortgage lenders, this insurance protects both homeowner and lender against loss in case of damage to the home. Most homeowner’s insurance policies will include personal liability for the buyer – protecting the homeowner in the event of accident or injury on the property – and a combination of coverage against theft, fire, flood and region-specific weather concerns. By working with your real estate agent and mortgage lender, you should be able to find an acceptable policy that meets the requirements of the loan. At the time of closing, you will need to provide proof of insurance to the mortgage lender before finalizing the sale.
In some cases, title insurance may also be required by your mortgage lender. This simple policy protects both the buyer and lender in the event that problems with the title are uncovered after the sale is finalized. If required, both the lender and homeowner need individual title insurance policies, yet these are usually combined into a joint policy to be financed by the buyer.
Prior to the closing date, the buyer should also transfer all utility accounts from the seller. Besides being a required part of many closing proceedings, this small step will ensure that your new home is ready for move-in after the sale is completed.
On closing day, you can expect to sit down with the seller, your agent, your lender and the legal representation required to finalize the sale. If you have completed the steps outlined here and arrive with proper documentation, you can expect a smooth closing. In fact, if you follow your checklist prior to closing day, you can begin focusing on life in your new home as soon as you like.
The staff at Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC writes select articles about important topics related to real estate. For more information about buying a home or selling your current property, visit JoshSprague.com today! |
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What to Look for During Your Home Inspection Before making an offer on a home, nearly all real estate experts recommend conducting extensive inspections. Home inspections are designed to protect you from unexpected repairs and costs after move-in. If any problems are found during a pre-sale inspection, the buyer can then negotiate with the seller to have the issues resolved before closing or incorporate the cost of repairs into the offer. By assuring the buyer that they are purchasing the best home for their money, home inspections are an invaluable resource in the home buying process. In most cases, home inspections analyze a number of factors both inside and outside the home. We begin with the six most critical inspection concerns for the exterior of the home. • Foundation – The most important thing to check for in the foundation are cracks. If any cracks or irregularities are noticed in the foundation, a further inspection may be needed to check the integrity of the construction. • Roof – When the roof is inspected, it must first be determined if any leaks are present. If the roof is free of leaks, a proper inspection will then attempt to determine if the roof possesses any flaws that could cause leaks in the future. During inspection, it is also important to notice if any large trees hang over the home. Wet leaves from such trees can sometimes cause serious problems for homeowners. • Drainage – The most important thing to consider is how the home is situated on the property. To ensure adequate drainage and prevent flooding in the home, the surrounding land should slope away from the home and 6-8 inches of the concrete foundation should be visible. Additionally, all gutters and drainage spouts should be angled away from the home. • Windows and Doors – Besides looking for broken glass, a check of the windows should cover many factors. Ideally, all windows should open and close properly with a good seal, be free of rot around the window sills and have all screens intact. Similarly, all doors opening to the exterior should open and close properly with a good seal to prevent extra heating and cooling costs. • Siding, Trim, Gutters and Paint – An inspection of the exterior siding or paint should check for the presence of bubbling or peeling. Also, all exterior fixtures that do not impact the structural integrity – such as ornamental trim and rain gutters – should be checked for overall condition. • Decks and Porches – If the home has a deck or porch, the inspection will try to uncover the presence of rot or insect damage. Now, we will look at six factors that should be thoroughly inspected within the interior of the home. • Walls, Floors and Ceilings – All walls, floors and ceilings inside the home should be checked for the presence of water damage – usually present as mold or other stains – and signs of insects or pests. The areas near plumbing fixtures should be given extra attention to check for mold and water damage, while gaps or cracks in exterior walls should be checked for the presence of insects. Lastly, all wall and floor surfaces – such as paint, plaster, wood floors, tile bathrooms and carpet – should be checked for overall condition. • Appliances – Typically, home inspectors will run one dishwasher cycle and check all functions of the oven and stove. If the home is being sold with a full set of appliances, it is wise to check the working order of refrigerators, washers, dryers and microwaves. • Electrical, Heating and Cooling Systems – These inspections of the home’s infrastructure are some of the most telling assessments of a property’s quality and, by extension, value. An inspection of the electrical system will typically test all outlets, light fixtures and circuit breakers. If it is an older home, an inspection should look for updated features such as ground fault interrupt (GFI) outlets in the bathrooms and kitchen. When checking heating and cooling systems, inspectors typically test the furnace, monitor the response of the thermostat and assess the overall ventilation of the home. • Plumbing – The inspection of the plumbing system begins with a check for leaks around all fixtures and pipes. Next, both cold and hot water pressure should be tested by turning on multiple faucets. In the bathrooms, the areas around each bathtub and shower should be inspected for water damage. Lastly, try to ensure that the hot water heater is up to code and functioning properly. • Basement – If the home has a basement, the most important thing to check for is the presence of water damage. An inspection of the basement is primarily an extension of the previously mentioned check for walls, floors and ceilings. • Chimney and Fireplace – An inspection of the chimney and each fireplace will check for loose bricks and mortar, assess the overall stability and check for obstructions within the chimney. Keep in mind, if an inspection uncovers a problem, you should not necessarily be deterred from buying the home. More than anything, the inspection will help you determine the value of the home and prevent you from overpaying or experiencing unwanted repairs. Depending on what is uncovered during the inspection, you may want to conduct an additional inspection of the problematic element or simply work with the seller to resolve the issue as part of your offer.
The staff at Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC writes select articles about important topics related to real estate. For more information about buying a home or selling your current property, visit JoshSprague.com today! |
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Questions to Ask a Seller When Considering an Offer The process leading up to making an offer on a home can be a daunting. After you’ve found the right home, you will still need to assess various factors that can impact both the details of your offer and the seller’s willingness to work with you. If you are considering making an offer on a home, you may want to start by getting some information about the seller and their history with the home. The first question to consider is: Why are you selling? In some sense, what you are really asking is: “how motivated are you to sell your home?” Assessing the type of answer you receive to the initial question may help you structure a potential offer. For instance, if the homeowner has already purchased another property or the family is trying to relocate, you might be dealing with a flexible seller. Gaining some insight into the seller’s motivation will help you determine not only how motivated they are to sell but also how they might assess your offer.
Another question that can help you understand how the seller might view your offer is:
How much did you pay for your home?
Though this might seem like privileged information, such statistics are actually public record. Generally speaking, the seller who purchased their home for a low price and built up equity in the property over several years may be more flexible when approached with offers. On the other hand, homeowners who haven’t seen such an increase in their home’s value might be more reluctant to lower their asking price.
After gaining an understanding of how the seller might treat a potential offer, you may want to ask questions about the upkeep of the home and the quality of the surrounding neighborhood. Beginning with the quality of the property itself, you will certainly want to inquire:
What types of repairs have been done recently?
You may want to start by asking the homeowner about your specific concerns. Homeowners will always be happy to tell you about upgrades that have been made to the home, but you may want to pay attention to what isn’t mentioned. It is important to ask because you will be able to tell if a kitchen or bathroom was remodeled after viewing the home or consulting the disclosure document, but you might miss some smaller issues that could impact the details of your offer.
To further protect yourself against surprise renovation costs in a new home, you may want to verify the age and working condition of all major appliances. If possible, check the service records of important appliances (furnaces, water heaters, etc.) as these often serve as markers of a home’s overall upkeep. You can also try securing a monthly estimate of utility costs; these statistics will not only help you estimate future costs but could potentially highlight unhealthy energy consumption within the home’s infrastructure.
Lastly, regarding the surrounding neighborhood, try to open the conversation about the area by asking:
What can you tell me about the neighborhood?
Allow the seller to tell you the good and the bad. By asking the seller for their overall impressions of the neighborhood, you will probably learn things about the area that a more specific question might not have yielded. Follow up the seller’s initial response with questions that are important to you and your family. Based on your needs, you could ask questions like the following:
Is there any new construction planned in the neighborhood?
What are your thoughts about the nearest schools?
Are any businesses or schools scheduled to close? How would you describe the neighbors?
The research you conduct with your agent prior to making an offer is one of the best ways to ensure that your family finds the right home for the right price. As you approach the offer stage, remember that you are not alone and can work closely with your agent to learn as much as possible about the property and the details of the buying process. Furthermore, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help if you have questions or concerns about a potential offer.
Though the process of making an offer on a property may seem stressful, your diligence will pay off when you finally find a house to call home.
The staff at Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC writes select articles about important topics related to real estate. For more information about buying a home or selling your current property, visit JoshSprague.com today! |
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