Tag: Homeownership
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Federal Update: New Contract for Deed Rules
Contracts for deed – sometimes called installment contracts, land sales contracts, or owner carry – leave the deed until the borrower pays for the home in full. Until then, the borrower lives in and maintains the home. This is a type of seller-financed home sale – and it’s one way to avoid getting entangled with…
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How Do Homestead Laws Save Deed Holders Money?
You’ve just bought a home. At closing, a title representative tells you to request your homestead exemption. Or maybe you bought your home and a homestead exemption form arrived (surprise!) in your mailbox. You know you should file the document in your home’s county, but you might be baffled as to why. A state’s law…
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It’s a Crime! Deed Theft Crackdown Gets Serious
Deed theft deprives homeowners — and generations that follow them — of the precious home equity they worked so hard to earn. When someone sets out to exploit someone else’s deed, the targets are often seniors, minority households, and people who own debt-free homes in gentrifying neighborhoods. In New York, as of 2024, deed theft…
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To Avoid Foreclosure, Which Should I Do: Deed in Lieu? Or Short Sale?
OK, it’s decision time. You’re dealing with financial challenges: a breakup, employment shakeups, or just too much debt against your property. You hold a deed, but can’t keep up with your housing costs. And you definitely want to avoid having a foreclosure on your credit history. What should you do now? A deed in lieu…
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Looking for a Path to Homeownership? Look Again at Down Payment Assistance.
The typical person can’t afford the typical home. As property values keep rising, down payments aren’t getting any easier to make. If you know the feeling, have you looked up down payment assistance? It can be a grant, with no repayment requirement. Or it could be a loan — possibly a forgivable loan. Even if…
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Can My Name Be Added to a Deed Without My Consent?
As a general matter, no. A deed transfer is not valid unless it’s delivered and accepted. A deed holder who is leaving a home to a beneficiary needs to talk with that beneficiary, and other loved ones. They should know what to expect for the deeds’ future. They should understand the reason the home is…
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A Minnesota First: Twin Cities Suburb Requires Removal of Race-Based Deed Restrictions
Mounds View, Minnesota is making history with its new ordinance requiring home sellers to remove race-based deed restrictions before selling. Mounds View adopted its new ordinance on July 23, 2024. It’s official. Mounds View, a Minneapolis – St. Paul suburb, will now require the removal of racially restrictive covenants from deeds. Racial covenants (a.k.a. race-based…
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Real Estate, Meet the Bots. Not Everyone’s Amused.
Digs, a purveyor of software for home builders and managers, is doing what many companies are doing these days. It’s revving up the artificial intelligence (AI) tools on its platform. With Digs, home builders and deed holders collaborate and store information. They make digital twins to simulate touring or working in the actual homes. Builders,…
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Whether You’re Selling or Buying: How the Deed Works
Whether you’re about to receive the deed to your first home, or could use a refresher on all things deed-related, we’ve got you covered. A deed is a legal document (also called a legal instrument) that serves to transfer a real estate title from a current owner to a new owner. That is, the deed…
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A Deed in a Box? Understanding the Deed in Escrow
Deed in escrow has multiple meanings. In this article, we’ll discuss the concept as it applies to community restoration, and we’ll also discuss the deed in escrow as a way of averting a foreclosure.
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What’s the Low-Down on This Housing Market? Harvard Weighs In.
The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard has just published its 2024 State of the Nation’s Housing report. HOUSING COSTS STRAIN OWNERS AND RENTERS ALIKE, the report proclaims. MILLIONS PRICED OUT OF HOMEOWNERSHIP. The headlines say it all, right? While construction is starting to bolster inventories, the new report notes certain persistent issues: record…
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Received an Offer to Have Your Deed Mailed to You for a Fee? Toss It!
This year, Recorder of Deeds Jeanne Sorg has an important message for home buyers in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Look out, Sorg tells homeowners, for deceptive letters mailed to residents from outfits like Property Site. (That’s just one example of the companies who send out these letters, Sorg notes.) The letters at issue say the companies…
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Driving Change: Can a Real Estate Company Use AI to Root Out Prejudice in Deeds?
Seattle real estate firm John L. Scott is on to something. The company is working with Amazon Web Services to create intelligent document processing. The goal? To help deed holders easily check for race-based deed restrictions — and take action. Race-based prejudice is all too common in deeds across the United States. The language…
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Deed Theft Should Not Exist
What Does It Take to Safeguard a Title? If you hold the deed, you can’t be evicted, right? True — except if your deed is pulled out from under you by a nasty actor. It shouldn’t happen, but it does. Just ask Dada, a homeowner in Oklahoma City. Someone recorded a quitclaim on Dada’s deed,…
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The Rise and Rise of Down Payments
A down payment is the portion of a home’s purchase price the mortgage borrower pays upfront. You knew that. But did you know the median down payment for U.S. homebuyers is now more than $55K+? That’s remarkable. It was less than $45K just last year. Buyers often try to put 20% of the purchase price down.…
