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Maple Grove, MN Real Estate News

By Our Home Team
(Our Home Real Estate)
#7 Vendor Coordination   After your offer has been accepted, the property will need a thorough examination. Working with your lender, you may need to have a formal appraisal and a survey done for the property designated in the contract. A property inspection, a foundation inspection, and an environmental inspection may also need to be completed to make sure that the property is up to the standards set forth in your written agreement. If there are issues or inconsistencies brought to light during this time, it may delay or even nullify the contract depending on the contingencies set forth in the contract. Having these procedures done in a timely and professional manner is a must. Investigate each vendor to make sure that they are reputable and have a clean operational history.   Homeowne...
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By Our Home Team
(Our Home Real Estate)
#6 Negotiating to Buy   Once your offer is made there may need to be some negotiating in order to reach an agreement. Keep in mind that almost everything is negotiable when you are buying a house. This can give you a great deal of leverage in the buying process, that is, if you have adequate information and you use it in an appropriate manner. Some of the things that you may have to negotiate on are:   - The price - Financing - Closing costs - Repairs that need to be done - Appliances and fixtures - Landscaping - Painting - Occupancy time frame   The key to successful negotiating is keeping in mind that the end result must make both you, the buyer, and the seller happy. Otherwise, negative feelings will persist throughout the remainder of the process and someone may walk away feeling th...
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By Our Home Team
(Our Home Real Estate)
#5 Making an Offer                                         Now that you have found the home you would like to purchase, it's time to make an offer. Taking into account the recent sales of homes in that neighborhood which are similar in size, quality, conveniences, and amenities, what are you willing to pay for the home?   Make sure that you have everything down in written form... no verbal agreements. Present the seller with a written document detailing what needs to be done by both parties to execute the transaction. The contract should protect the best interests of all parties involved and should be comprehensive in nature. Once it is accepted by the seller, it may be too late to make any changes, so make sure review your offer thoroughly before submitting it. The contract, though not...
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By Our Home Team
(Our Home Real Estate)
#4 Home Search   There are a few ways to go about doing this. You can access local publications highlighting available real estate in the area, you can contact local Neighborhood Associations, visit the local Chamber of Commerce, look on the Internet, and you can even drive through neighborhoods that you feel would meet your needs. Driving around a particular area looking for a home that is for sale is good because you can actually see the house, but it can be very time consuming and very "hit or miss."   Your agent can save you time and money by keeping up-to-date on available properties that possibly meet your criteria and your agent will screen these properties for you. You can eliminate the haphazard searching through papers and the Internet and let the listings come to you through ...
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By Our Home Team
(Our Home Real Estate)
#3 Neighborhood Information   Now that you have your list of needs and wants and you know how much you can afford to spend, it's time to look at some houses! Well, not just yet. Step back for a moment and consider the larger picture. People don't just buy a house, they buy the neighborhood the house is in. Think about that...if you found the perfect house but it was in a neighborhood that was not to your liking, would you make an offer on it? Most likely the answer would be, "No."   So, you will need to make another list of what type of neighborhood you want to live in. You will most likely want to consider things like how living in the neighborhood will effect your drive time to and from work, what amenities are offered (swimming pool, tennis courts, park, etc.), and, if you have child...
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By Our Home Team
(Our Home Real Estate)
#2 Preapproval vs. Prequalification   Now that you have your list of features you want in your new home, you are ready to start looking! Well, not just yet. You are going to need to know in what price range to look. There are two ways to go about this. You can get prequalified or preapproved for a mortgage. Either way you will need to contact a mortgage company.   There are some key differences between prequalification and preapproval for a loan that you need to be aware of. Loan prequalification is a simple process. It takes into account very basic information regarding your financial status and gives you an amount for which you may qualify. This can be done strictly on a verbal level or electronically over the Internet. The prequalified amount is based solely on the information you pr...
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By Our Home Team
(Our Home Real Estate)
#1 Needs Analysis   Congratulations on your decision to purchase a new home. Your first step toward buying your new home will be to analyze your needs. By analyzing your needs you will be able to get a clear picture of exactly what you want your new home to look like and how it should function for you.   First, you should write down why you are looking for a new home. For example, are you currently renting and would like to have a home where you can begin building equity? Maybe you recently married and have outgrown your current residence. Or, maybe you have just gotten a promotion which requires you to move to a new city. These factors will all have a bearing on how you approach your home search.   Second, establish a time frame that you would like to stay within for buying your home. ...
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By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
The Video that CNBC posted on You Tube explains part of the Subprime problem. How they sold subprime mortgage paper as Grade AAA. Easy to understand explanation. They have been doing the same thing with Alt A (stated income) paper as well. The video shows in a flip chart fashion that everybody can understand.  
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If you're still not convinced of the value of a REALTOR®, here are more reasons to use one: Your REALTOR® can help you determine your buying power - that is, your financial reserves plus your borrowing capacity. If you give a REALTOR® some basic information about your available savings, income and current debt, he or she can refer you to lenders best qualified to help you. Most lenders - banks and mortgage companies - offer limited choices. Your REALTOR® has many resources to assist you in your home search. Sometimes the property you are seeking is available but not actively advertised in the market, and it will take some investigation by your agent to find all available properties.Your REALTOR® can assist you in the selection process by providing objective information about each prope...
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By Our Home Team
(Our Home Real Estate)
A real estate agent can help you understand everything you need to know about the home buying process. Not all real estate licensees are the same; only those who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® are properly called REALTORS®. They proudly display the REALTOR " ®" trademark on their business cards and other marketing and sales literature. REALTORS® are committed to treat all parties to a transaction honestly. REALTORS® subscribe to a strict Code of Ethics and are expected to maintain a higher level of knowledge of the process of buying and selling real estate. An independent survey reported that 84% of home buyers would use the same REALTOR® again. Real estate transactions involve one of the biggest financial investments of most people’s lifetime. Transactions today ...
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By Our Home Team
(Our Home Real Estate)
Abusing Your New-Found Wealth Although tapping into your equity provides you with a whole host of positive situations, there are some things to avoid. 1.    As you live in your new home, avoid outlandish remodeling. Sooner or later, whether you're retiring, moving to a new town, or find it difficult to maintain your home, you will probably want to sell. This shouldn't be something you think about all the time; however, it should be something you consider when making updates and remodeling your place. The stranger you make your home, the lower a price it will fetch, and the more difficult it will be to find a buyer. When making improvements, try adding things that will increase the value of your home, and avoid making changes that are completely out of the norm. For example, add ceramic...
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By Our Home Team
(Our Home Real Estate)
Using Your Equity If you're not familiar with how using equity works, allow us to explain some of the ways in which you can tap into the value of your home: 1.    Some people chose to "trade down." Trading down is when you move into a less expensive home on or after retirement. For example, if you own a home that sells at $250,000 and purchase a home that costs $150,000, you've just freed up $100,000 in cash. Although you are subject to certain requirements, you can realize up to $250,000 in tax-free profits if you're single, and up to $500,000 if you're married. 2.    Another way you can use your home's equity is by borrowing money against it. So, if you find yourself in a tight spot financially, you can borrow against your equity, providing you with a low-cost source of cash. The bes...
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By Our Home Team
(Our Home Real Estate)
                                         How Owning a Home Affects Your Wealth Owning a home should significantly increase your financial net worth, which is the difference between your assets, including bank accounts, retirement accounts, stocks, bonds and mutual funds, and your liabilities or debts. You might think that it's counterintuitive: having a mortgage, or a debt, should not make you more financially solvent. But it does. In general, any home you own will increase in value, or appreciate, over the decades while you pay down the mortgage debt you used to buy the home. Even if you don't notice much appreciation in your home, due to forced savings caused by paying down the balance on your mortgage, you will still significantly increase your net worth. In other words, the more you...
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By Our Home Team
(Our Home Real Estate)
Finding Homeowner's Insurance Homeowner's insurance is a requirement of owning a home when you take out a mortgage. No mortgage lender will permit you to close the deal unless you can prove that you have adequate coverage. Lenders will also frequently request that you pay the entire first year's premium on your policy on closing. There are several things about homeowner's insurance that you should know, so read on.  1.    Upon purchasing a new home, you'll want to protect your investment. Homeowner's insurance allows you to protect not just your new home, but also the things inside it, including personal property such as clothing, furniture, kitchen appliances and other valuables. 2.    It is important to take the time to shop for homeowner's insurance ahead of time. Although insurance...
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By Our Home Team
(Our Home Real Estate)
                                             What You Need to Know About Personal Property Taxes Personal property taxes can be another unexpected cost when buying a new home. If you're still renting, you might not be familiar with how personal property taxes work. Below, you'll find some useful information on what personal property taxes are, how much you might expect to pay, and why they're something you should be aware of. When you buy and own your own home, your local government will send you an annual, semi-annual, or lump-sum bill for personal property taxes. These statements usually originate from the County Tax Collector's Office, though it may be different where you live. Getting this bill in the mail is never fun because most locations will bill you only once or twice per yea...
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By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
With summer weather, thefts from vehicles increase in parks, residential neighborhoods, and public parking areas. You have the ability to help prevent this crime from happening. Follow these tips to help avoid becoming a victim: • Lock your doors and roll the windows up tight. • Park in a well lit area if you expect to return to your car after dark. • Never leave valuables such as wallets, purses, computers, cell phones or jewelry in plain view - even when the car is parked in the garage or driveway. • Valuables in the trunk are at risk. If you must put valuables in the trunk, place them there before arriving at your parking destination. • Close your garage door and lock the service door into the house. Many items are stolen from vehicles parked inside unsecured garages. • Watch for su...
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By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
Home Buyers Want to Know Your Home Inside And Out While home-buyers are as individual as the homes they plan on purchasing, one thing they share is a desire to ensure that the home they will call their own is as good beneath the surface as it appears to be. Will the roof end up leaking? Is the wiring  safe? What about the plumbing? These, and others, are the questions that buyers looking at your home will seek professional help to answer. According to industry experts, there are at least 33 physical problems that will come under scrutiny during a home inspection. We've identified the 11 most common of these, and it not identified and dealt with any of these 11 items could cost you dearly in the terms of repair. In Most cases, you can make a reasonable pre-inspection yourself if you know...
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By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
This short video explains the confusing "Truth-in-Lending" disclosure and how the APR is computed. I discuss the flaws in only looking at APR to determine what is really the lowest cost option.
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By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
This short video explains the similarities and the differences of what a fee appraiser produces with what a professional real estate agent produces. It explains some of the constraints the appraiser is under which the real estate professional is free to ignore. The term CMA refers to a Competitive Market Analysis:
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By David Kosmecki
(American Pacific Mortgage)
This short video gives you the background on what happens when an appraiser does an appraisal. It gives you an understanding of how the appraiser determines value. At MortgagesUnlimited you always get a copy of the appraisal at closing. If you are using someone else, always insist on getting a copy for your records.
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