Buying Your First Home by Rick Lobley - HTML preview

Rick Lobley

Sr. Loan Consultant Money Tree Financing Group, LLC. rick@getmoneytree.com 888-253-6364
House Hunting Checklist

Use the list below to keep track of all the information you gather about each house you tour. Then use the information from this list to determine what house is best for you. Remember, not all of these questions may be answered on the property sheet that the Seller or Realtor gives you, so make notes.

General questions: House address:

 

City of: County of:

 

Asking price:

 

How old is the house?

 

Style of house:

 

Number of bedrooms:

 

Number of bathrooms:

 

Square footage of house:

 

Size of garage (1,2,3 car):

 

Lot size:

 

Property tax rate:

 

Ample storage space?

 

Room for expansion? How does noise travel through the house? Can you hear every noise from the bedroom?

 

Have there been any renovations/major repairs done? By who? Any Warranties?

 

Is there a basement? Attic?

 

What appliances are included?

 

Privacy?

 

Neighborhood: Attractive?

 

Quiet?

 

Clean?

 

Well-lighted street?

 

Trees?

 

Other comments:

 

Shops nearby: Grocery store? Mall?

 

Wal-mart, Target, K-Mart, etc?

 

Gas Station?

 

Restaurants?

 

Schools:

 

Elementary:

 

Junior High:

 

High School:

 

Other facilities: Hospital?

 

Police station?

 

Fire station?

 

Library?

 

Parks?

 

Bank? How close is house to your work?

 

Utilities bills: Electric/Gas:

 

Water:

 

Garbage:

 

Cable:

 

Internet: Other comments:

Please make copies of this checklist to use for each home you view.
What Every Home Buyer Should Know About "Title Insurance"

For your protection and that of the Lender (who is in effect "purchasing" the property with you), safeguards are put in place when obtaining a loan.

What is Title Insurance, and why should it matter to me?
Title Insurance, is defined as "An insurance policy which protects the insured (purchaser and/or lender) against loss arising from defects in title. " It matters to anyone who has a monetary interest and risk in the property being used as collateral, because any claim that may arise before, during or after the sale of the property could cause a devaluation of the value of that property, or loss of some or all ownership interest.

What does Title Insurance do?
Basically, it protects you the Owner and/or the Lender from losses as the result of claims on one's ownership of land. For instance, a seller may forge a signature of another, creating a loss for a new owner. Other problems that can occur include:

fraud unfiled liens
improper court proceedings recording mistakes
missing heirs incompetency of previous seller(s)

Title Insurance can protect you from all of these and more!!!

What else do I get?
Probably one of the most comforting features of Title Insurance is the obligation of the insurer to defend you against claims of others. A neighbor may claim rights to a portion of your land. Without Title Insurance you would have to bear the cost of settling this dispute through the courts, regardless of the validity of the claim.

Are there different types of Title Insurance policies?
There are two basic forms of Title Insurance--an Owner's Policy and a Loan Policy. As the names indicate, the Owner's Policy covers you the land owner and the Loan Policy covers the lender on a particular parcel of real estate.

If a loan policy is issued, why do I need an Owner's Policy?
A Loan Policy offers no protection to you the land owner. A claim may arise that does not jeopardize the lender's interest, but may, in fact, cause a great loss to you the owner. An example would be the one outlined earlier, when a neighbor claims rights in your land.

How long am I protected?

 

You and your heirs are protected for as long as you or your heirs own the property.

How much does it cost?
Fees vary from state-to-state, and county to county.
However, Title Insurance is required whenever you purchase or refinance a loan.

Can The Seller Require You To Close With A Particular Closing Agent?

According to R.E.S.P.A.(Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act), "Section 9 of R.E.S.P.A. prohibits a seller from requiring the home buyer to use a particular title insurance company, either directly or indirectly, as a condition of sale. Buyers may sue a seller who violates this provision for an amount equal to three times all charges made for the title insurance."

** Watch out for statements in your contract made by the Seller that require you to close with a particular closing agent, or use a particular title insurance company to close your loan.
Section 9a of R.E.S.P.A. (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) contains a special prohibition against a Seller requiring, "as a condition to selling the property, that title insurance covering the property be purchased by the Buyer from any particular title company."
Point: If the Seller takes the position that the Buyer would have to pay the title costs if the Buyer wishes to use another title company, one can argue that this effectively requires the Buyer to use a particular title company by use of economic coercion.

In short, the right to decide which company the Lender's Title Insurance will come from is allowed to the Lender, or the party that is actually providing the funds for and taking the risk in the subject property. This is only logical, because any discrepancies in the title would endanger the collateral value of the property, and cause great risk to both the Buyer and the Lender. Also, the Lender has to be assured that the company that provides the title insurance has adequate reserves in case of a claim. [See Senate and House hearings regarding Section 9 - 1976]

There are two (2) different entities involved with the closing procedures and the issuance of Title Insurance:
1) The Closing Agent (or Attorney); and 2) The actual Insuring Company of the title search and report.
1) The Closing Agent actually prepares the legal documents that will be signed by one or both of the parties, and has a "search" run on the title of the property in question to determine the history of ownership. This search should list any outstanding liens, encumbrances, or irregularities in ownership. Once the Insuring Company issues their commitment to insure, the Closing Agent arranges the scheduling and performs the closing.
2) An Insuring Companyis the entity that actually takes the monetary risk in guaranteeing that they will protect the Buyer should any claim against the ownership of the property subsequently arise.

A Lender, therefore, needs to take careful precautions to screen the company that will be providing the Title Insurance to make sure that their practices and systems of Title Search and review are sound and accurate.

Money Tree Financing Group can assist you and make sure you avoid making costly mistakes in obtaining your financing. We broker for over 40 of the largest lenders across the country. What that means for you is that we have the opportunity and ability to offer a variety of methods in financing to fit every client’s needs.

We hope that this information is useful to you in your pursuit to purchase, refinance or build the home of your dreams! We have learned that the best way to serve you is to think of ourselves as your Super Servant. You have our guarantee that we will carefully listen to your individual needs and work our hardest to get you the best deal around.

We want to be your Personal Lender for Life!

For additional information concerning your mortgage needs, please call us TOLL FREE at 1-888-253-6364
or email us at
info@getmoneytree.com.
We look forward to serving you!