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Ask Cary Real Estate, What is a Short Sale?
What is a Short Sale? A Short Sale occurs when a home seller is allowed by their lender to sell the home for less than what’s owed on the mortgage.
If you are a home seller you may be thinking – I like that idea – not having to payback as much as I owe – well of course it’s not that simple. Typically several things need to occur before your mortgage holder will consider a short sale:
1) You are delinquent on your house payments
2) You have no other assets or ability to cover what you owe
3) Short Sale is the only option to avoid Foreclosure
4) Lender considers short sale necessary and possible
What to Expect During the Home Inspection, Home Buyer Tips from Cary Real Estate
Most buyers really don’t know what to expect during the home inspection. Should they attend? How long will it take? Here’s a few tips to help you be prepared and know what to expect.
Should you attend the home inspection? Yes.
If at all possible plan on attending the home inspection. While it is not required for the buyer to be present during the inspection I’ve found that it helps. You get to see the inspector working and can learn great tips about preventative maintenance items. Read the rest of this entry »
Cary Home Buyer Tip #9 – Understanding Earnest Money with the NC Offer to Purchase
What is Earnest Money?
Who Holds the Earnest Money?
How Much Does the Earnest Money Deposit Need to be?
What happens to the Earnest Money if I Don’t Close on the Home?
These are all great questions that home buyers ask before purchasing a home in North Carolina. Here’s a typical scenario for a buyer purchasing a resale home in the Cary-Wake County-North Carolina area You’ve found a home you’re interested in and ready to make an offer. That first offer needs to be in writing – for a re-sale home here in the Cary area we’ll use the standard NC Offer to Purchase Contract. Along with the written offer, you will write an earnest money check.
What is Earnest Money?
Think of earnest money as a deposit on the home, a show of good faith. If/when your offer becomes a contract your money will be held in trust and subject to NC Trust account regulations. At the time of closing the earnest money deposit will be credited towards your purchase of the home.
Who is the Earnest Money Check Made Payable to?
Typically the Listing Company. Most listing firms in the Cary area maintain a trust account for purpose of holding earnest money deposits, however some small firms choose not to maintain a trust account, in this case we can use the CaryRealEstate.com trust account or use the trust account of a local real estate attorney.
How much should the Earnest Money Deposit be?
Technical Answer, the amount of earnest money is negotiable between buyer and seller. Real life answer, usually around 1% of the offer amount. Think of your offer as a gift to the seller – the terms and condition of your offer are like the wrapping paper and bow. The larger the earnest money amount the ‘prettier’ the bow.
What Happens to the Earnest Money if I Don’t Close on the Home?
Notice I saved this one for last? The best answer here is, IT DEPENDS! You, the buyer, may or may not be entitled to a refund of your earnest money – depending on why the closing did not occur – the offer to purchase is the guideline. Here’s the catch – even though it may appear obvious that you are entitled to a refund, both parties (buyer & seller) must sign off on how the earnest money is disbursed before the firm holding the earnest money can release the money. If the parties can not agree then it can become a legal matter.
Could I write more about the intricacies & nuances of earnest money? Absolutely. Would you still be reading, probably not! Please let me know if you have any specific earnest money questions that I did not address.
Please Note: The North Carolina Real Estate Commission has a Question and Answer Brochure available here.
Cary Real Estate Home Buying Tip #11 – How to Analyze a Home That Has a Feature You Don’t Like
Looking at homes can be a challenging task with many factors to consider. Here’s a very practical way of analyzing items/features about a home that you do not like.
I call it my ‘Flow Chart of Elimination“ Catchy title right . . I know you’re excited.
So you’re out looking at a home and you see something that you do not like.
Question #1 Is it the house or the current owners decorating style/furniture?
Sounds silly but it happens all the time – a buyer will walk into a home and comment “I don’t like this at all, only to find out it’s actually the sellers taste in decorating!
Okay so you made it past number 1 – it really is something to do with the house/lot – lets proceed . . .
Question #2 Can it be changed?
This is a simple yes or no – for example a carpeted floor CAN be changed over to hardwoods BUT if the home backs to a busy highway that’s NOT going to change.
If the answer is a “No”, it can’t be changed then ask yourself “Is this something I’m willing to accept / compromise on – if so keep looking at the property – it you are not willing to compromise or accept the item and it can’t be changed then move on to the next property!
If the answer is “Yes” – the item can be changed you have a new set of questions -
Are you Willing to Change the item and are you Able to change the item.
Willing: If its changing the carpet over to hardwood then you are ok with spending the time finding a hardwood flooring contractor, meeting with the contractor, picking out your stain color, dealing with the process etc
Able: You have the financial resources to have the work done – remember most likely this will not be included in the purchase price/mortgage for the home.
If the answer to willing and able is yes then keep looking at the home. If you’re a no on either willing or able then its back to considering if you are willing to compromise on this feature.
This may sound like a formal and dry process but once you commit the concept to memory it’s very fast to process. I hope this helps you in your home search. If you’re looking for a home in Cary, North Carolina please let me know – I have more tips!
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This Blog Post Provided by David Williams, Broker/Owner of CaryRealEstate.com
David is a Cary Native and A Trusted Advisor / Friendly Authority on Cary Real Estate
Licensed NC Broker & Realtor
919-386-9101
David@CaryRealEstate.com
