Real Estate Update

Posts Tagged ‘Good’

Most real estate purchases are bought with loans so getting a good faith estimate and pre-approval letter from your lender helps the process start off on the right foot. The good faith estimate, or GFE for short, is required by law to be provided by lenders when you are seeking a loan. It lists out the estimated closing costs, monthly payments, and interest rates for the loan program you are looking at getting. The pre-approval letter is provided by lenders once they have run your credit and get your income / debt information. By getting the GFE and pre-approval letter, you can be confident that the loan will get processed with no surprises. There are also additional benefits to getting pre-approval and GFE before you even begin the property search. For one, by discussing your debt to income ratio with your lender and obtaining the GFE, you can determine your maximum price. It helps to know the maximum sales price when shopping around so that you do not waste time and energy looking a over-priced properties, and also vice verse, you do not waste time and energy looking at under-priced properties. You can find an area in your price range that fits your needs and narrow down your search. You also will determine your monthly payments with the GFE. The monthly payments should include the property taxes, insurance, principle, and interest plus any private mortgage insurance (PMI). If the monthly payments are higher than you wanted, then you can adjust your sales price to be lower. Another reason to get your pre-approval and GFE before starting your home search is that you may find out some issues with your credit or financial situation that you could clean up before moving forward with a purchase. For example, the first time I bought a house, I found out that I had a $50 charge on my credit report from 3 years ago, which brought my credit score down. And with a lower credit score, I would have gotten a worse interest rate on the loan. I say ‘would have’ because I was able to pay off this collection and clear up the ding on my credit before going into the loan underwriting process. Finally, by getting a pre-approval letter, you have proof for a seller that a lender has confidence in being able to fund the purchase on your behalf. This helps with presenting offers and negotiating. Many sellers will not even accept an offer unless it is accompanied by a lender’s letter. Furthermore, if you do not have a letter, the seller may counter higher given that he feels he is taking on more risk that you may not be qualified for the loan amount. Also, if you happen to get into a multiple offer situation, your offer will be much stronger with a pre-approval letter.

Dillon Beach of Marin County is in the San Francisco-Oakland metro area. It is a sparsely populated quaint fishing village. Dillon Beach resort is the only place of any activity in the village. Generally people from Sacramento valley visit Dillon Beach on weekends, enjoying the rural life and its attendant charm. As anyDillon Beach realtor will tell you, the housing units are shared equally by the residents and visitors owning their second homes who come here to spend the weekends.

The following information gives an insight into the household incomes and ownership patterns at Dillon Beach as per census 2000.

(1) Median household income at Dillon Beach is $47,679 against the national average of $41,994.

(2) Total number of housing units is 403.

(3) Renter occupied units as percentage —- 3.7%

(4) Owner occupied units as percentage —- 32.8%

(5) Rent as a percentage of household revenue is 22% as against the national average of 26%.

(6) Median value of the house unit is $361,900

The following requirements make up a good realtor to be found while dealing with a property at

Dillon Beach

(1) Realtor should protect the interest of the client at all times and treat all clients equally.

(2)Realtor should estimate the market value of the property accurately and not give out a higher or lower value, detrimental to the interest of the client.

(3) Realtor should not mislead the client on the perceived benefits available through them.

(4) Realtor should disclose upfront to the buyer and the seller, in case he represents both of them in the same transaction.

(5)Realtor should submit offers and counter offers as soon as possible and correctly too, until the deal is fully closed to the satisfaction of both the buyer and seller.

(6) Realtor should not reveal confidential information provided by the client to others, use it unfairly and unjustly. They can only reveal on court orders, in case of criminal intention of a client or to defend against wrongful accusation.

(7) All the rights and safety aspects of the property must be competently managed.

(8) Realtor must protect adequately against unforeseen contingencies by anticipating with experience in the real estate trade.

(9) The amount of compensation offered to subagents, buyer agents or brokers should be fully disclosed.

(10)Realtor should disclose the commission structure fully in writing before choosing them.

(11) Realtor should also indicate his personal interest with respect to any property before hand and not mix his personal interest and professional conduct.

(12)Realtor should disclose the financial benefits that accrue to him, while recommending auxiliary services such as home owners insurance, mortgage finance or title insurance.

(13) Realtor should not deny service to anyone because of race, color, religion, sex or nationality.

(14) They should not encourage panic selling and give out the true information as far as possible.

(15) Realtor should not undertake any sale or promotion of a property without any authority.

(16) Realtor should not have faced disciplinary proceedings in more than one Board of Realtors.

Having discussed the requirements of a good realtor, the low level of activity at Dillon Beach, it is necessary to choose the realtor with experience to help you over come the sluggishness in the market and conclude the deal at Dillon Beach with satisfaction.