Articles – Real Estate Deeds Made Easy Since 1997
What’s the plan when your spouse or co-borrower needs to come off the mortgage? Will you refinance, keep a modified version of the loan, or sell the home to pay the loan off?
Here’s a quick Q&A to explore the possibilities.
Continue reading “How to Take Someone Off the Mortgage”
Hindsight is 20-20 vision. Homeowners learn something from each home they buy. Looking back, most homeowners can tell you what they did well — and a few things they could have done better. So, what can’t-miss items need your attention before you buy?
We’ve said it before. There’s no overstating the power of a great real estate agent and a diligent mortgage specialist. Their combined know-how can guide you through every step.
Still, you’ll want to keep your own eyes open. Without further ado, here are 6 questions to ask yourself when preparing to buy a home.
Continue reading “Own Without Remorse: Six Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying a Home”
When it’s time to meet with their mortgage experts and apply for loans, most home shoppers accept mortgages with fixed interest rates. When they do, the interest rates are locked in throughout the life of their loans. That’s a good thing, of course, if interest rates are low when the buyers get their loans.
Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) can seem complex and unpredictable by comparison. At its outset, the common “hybrid” adjustable-rate mortgage starts with a low, fixed teaser rate that the borrower keeps for a certain period — normally three, five, seven, or ten years. Then, it becomes adjustable.
After the initial, fixed-rate period, the payment is recalibrated based on the current interest rates and following the terms set out in the mortgage. Often this is done annually. An ARM could be written as 5/1, for example, meaning the borrower enjoys a low, fixed rate for a five-year period, and after that, mortgage payments will be adjusted every year. So, a borrower who goes to the adjustable rate has to make higher or lower monthly payments as interest rates fluctuate.
An adjustable-rate mortgage typically puts a limit (cap) on the homeowner’s payment increases. Nevertheless, there’s an element of risk in a variable rate. It’s possible that the borrower will have to make much larger monthly payments in later years.
Let’s turn to why some home buyers choose adjustable-rate loans despite this risk.
Continue reading “Should You Get an Adjustable-Rate Mortgage? Here Are 6 Reasons You Might”
Most home sales are arm’s length transactions — deals between former strangers. But selling to a relative, colleague or friend can also make sense in certain circumstances.
When friends or family members transfer homes to each other, they have a few special questions to consider. Because every relationship and every home sale is unique, we cannot cover all situations. Nor can we provide legal advice to our readers. But we can spot some general issues sellers and buyers should know. Let’s dive in!
Continue reading “Friends, Relatives and Colleagues: How to Sell Your Home to Someone You Know”
In March 2020, Covid was dubbed a global pandemic. To slow the spread of the virus, U.S. states issued stay-at-home orders for people working in real estate—at first deemed a non-essential business. Appraisals for real estate contracts were non-essential in Pennsylvania, for example, beginning March 19, 2020.
One month later, Pennsylvania issued revised guidance. On-site appraisals would be allowed. So would in-person notaries, title and title insurance services, home inspections, and final home walk-throughs.
During the season of upheaval, the process of transferring a home changed. So did our priorities. To some extent, our adjustments will become hallmarks of a generation. Here, we look at what was temporary, and what’s now part of real estate for good.
Continue reading “Post-Pandemic Life: Is Home Selling Forever Changed?”
Summer 2021 will be a hot one for the real estate market, says the Home Buying Institute. But is the raging home-buying bull market sustainable? With property values up well over 10% in many areas, some market watchers are asking if housing is a bubble.
In fact, there are several good reasons for optimism ahead. But these days, we’re doing our best to prepare for anything. So, let’s look at the positive signals first. Then, let’s check over the concerns heading into late 2021.
Continue reading “Real Estate Markets in the Second Half of 2021: Bull and Bear Cases”
Art met real estate in a new way this year. Krista Kim’s Mars House design appeared on the first irreplaceable, non-fungible token (NFT) for a virtual house and garden. Kim’s virtual experience was followed by an NFT listing for a home in New York (a real one) on the Ethereum blockchain.
Think it’s all a flash in the pan? Look again. Blockchain’s tamper-resistant ledger system offers tremendous benefits for real estate deeds. It’s poised to transform the way we trace a chain of title. And the rise of NFTs just shows how fast things are moving.
Continue reading “Deeds, Reimagined: Is a New Day Dawning for the Chain of Title?”
For years running, Texans have been protesting their property taxes. This year (2021), Texas homeowners had until May to object to their county assessors’ valuations of their homes. When they win their cases, their homes’ market prices don’t change. But their tax bills do.
County procedures enable Texas homeowners to contest their property tax assessments. Some Texans now regard the process as a necessary savings strategy in a challenging economy.
Continue reading “Do-It-Yourself Stimulus? The Rise of the Property Tax Protests”
What’s a closing scam? Consider the Colorado home buyer who, a few weeks back, opened an email from the title company. It contained precise instructions for wiring the closing money. The amount requested — about $80,000 — matched the amount the title company had already discussed. Everything looked legit.
Two days later, the title company was requesting the money. Why hadn’t it been received? Because those wiring instructions weren’t from the title company after all. Criminals had insinuated themselves into the company’s email accounts, impersonated the title agent, and diverted the funds.
When a buyer is stung by fraud, money is hard to get back, says the American Land Title Association (ALTA). This buyer was fortunate. Redfin’s Title Forward escrow and settlement subsidiary sprang into action. Title Forward brought in CertifID Funds Recovery Services and the Secret Service. The buyer recovered the 80K.
Continue reading “Fraud Update: Closing Scams Now Make Up Nearly Half of Cybercrime Losses”
Ever heard those fantastic stories where the home buyer pays $10,000 and sells the house later for $200,000? You might be hearing about tax deed sales. They are not mere fantasies — but, as you might imagine, you are unlikely to be the only one attending an auction. By the time everyone’s done bidding, profit margins can be disappointing. Moreover, homes with tax liens can be in pretty bad shape. A lot of work and money goes into code-compliant home renovations.
So, not every tax deed sale is a fabulous deal. Buyers need to welcome risk, prepare for a lot of work, and come to the auctions well equipped for the territory.
But is your county a tax deed sale state? Or is it actually auctioning tax lien certificates? Or is it a smattering of both? Tax deed sales can ultimately convey properties to the high bidders. In contrast, there’s no home conveyance when you buy tax lien certificates.
Let’s look more closely at these types of investments, and their risk-reward profiles.
Continue reading “Tax Deed Sales: Buying Homes by Paying Other People’s Taxes”