Real Estate & Investing

Jhoana Cooper asked:


Countryside living has become very popular nowadays.  More and more people are considering farms and lake side properties not as vacation spots but places to build their homes.  There are many benefits that you can enjoy from countryside living especially if you will settle on Virginia farms or Virginia waterfront properties.  However, always remember that there are special things you need to consider when buying farms and waterfront properties in Virginia.  Here are some practical tips which could help you in choosing the best countryside property in Virginia.  

First, if you want to buy Virginia farms or Virginia waterfront properties, make sure that you can look for financing as early as possible.  In fact, before you look for a waterfront property or vacation ranch, you should ensure that your credit rating is good and you have a pre-approval.  Waterfront properties and large tract of Virginia farms are more expensive than standard homes.  You will need a so-called jumbo mortgage loan to acquire such properties.  Because of the amount of loan, banks and lenders would be very apprehensive to extend credit if you do not have excellent credit rating.  Approval for jumbo loan takes a very long time also.  So if you want to enjoy a trouble free purchase of waterfront and farm properties, always ensure that your financing can be settled as early as possible. 

If you are buying a Virginia waterfront property with existing structures, make sure that these structures can withstand the special weather conditions in the area.  This is also true if you are buying Virginia farms.  Specifically, you need to find out if the structures on the property are wind proof and totally secured from water seepage or infiltration.  Check also if there are adequate dikes or tree lines that can protect the structures.  Living in the countryside is a very pleasant and enjoyable experience.  But you have to ensure that your country homes are well protected from the elements.  Besides, you can get favorable home insurance premiums if your properties have adequate protection. 

Finally, you must consider the basic amenities and public utility services that are available for the properties.  If you are going to buy a secluded Virginia waterfront property, make sure that you have easy road access and there are available transportation to and from a nearby city.  If you are going to buy Virginia farms, you need to check if there are nearby schools, fire stations, and police offices in the area.  You must also ensure that your countryside properties can be serviced easily by power and water utilities.  These basic services are important for your daily life.  Make sure that you can have easy access to these services from your farm or waterfront house.

Virginia farms and waterfront properties are ideal places to raise a family.  You can enjoy clean environment, peaceful surroundings and stress free living if you have Virginia countryside properties.  However, be sure that you can get adequate financing for such properties as early as possible.  It is also important to ensure that you can enjoy basic services so your life in the country would be pleasant.

Joe Cline – Austin Real Estate Broker asked:


Decide to Buy

The first step in buying a house is to try and understand what you hope to achieve. When you begin to think about buying a new house, there are many questions you should ask yourself such as: Why do I want to move? How soon do I want to move? How long do I plan on living in the home? For some people renting or putting off buying makes sense. Expect to commit to your home for 3-5 years if you want to avoid losing money on the home.

Needs Analysis

Once you decided that home ownership is right for you will want to decide a few things: What are the most important features to you in a house? How much do you want to invest in your home? Initially? Every month? Do you have lifestyle changes coming, such as adding a baby, having kids move out, or retiring? What part of town do you want to live in? What school district do you want your kids to go to school in? Once your goals are clearly defined you have your target.

Get Pre-Qualified

An important part of the home buying process is to be qualified for a loan. You should get a “pre-qualification” letter before you start actively looking for a house. Most lenders can provide this over the phone or with a simple 1-page questionnaire. This typically takes 20 minutes. Some data you should have ready is your and your spouse’s name, address, phone numbers, social security numbers, and past two years of employment, residential, bank, asset and debt information. If possible, you should try to get pre-approved for a loan which is a more serious level of commitment from a lender than a pre-qualification. To receive a loan pre-approval, all employment and credit is verified. This will mean that you are approved for a loan, subject to a final credit check and an appraisal of the subject property.

Make sure to inquire about all loans costs (origination fees, discount points, etc) and find out about closing costs. Closing costs are the fees for services, taxes or special interest charges that surround the purchase of a home. They include up front loan points, title insurance, escrow or closing day charges, document fees, prepaid interest and property taxes. Studies show that the closing costs, which can average 2 to 3 percent of a total home purchase price, are often more costly than many buyers expect. Unless, these charges are rolled into the loan, they must be paid when the home is closed. Finally, make sure your lender provides a Good Faith Estimate according to the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z). This allows you to “compare apples to apples” between different lenders.

Home Search

After you’ve found a house that you like, fits your needs, and has potential, you’ll need to prepare an offer. Determine whether or not the house is priced fairly by doing a thorough Comparative Market Analysis. Then review the seller’s disclosure and make appropriate adjustments and write your initial offer. Offers should include an earnest money check (made out to a title company), and an option money check (made out to the seller).

Some of the words in the previous paragraph may not be familiar to you. Let’s look at them:



Option Money – a check made out to the seller in exchange for the unrestricted right to terminate the agreement for a specified number of days. This is not found in many states.



Earnest Money – a check made out to a Title Company as a show of “good faith” that you are seriously intending to buy the house. The amount is usually around 1% of the home’s value.



Escrow Account – a special account administered by the Title Company that holds your earnest money until closing.



Title Company – a company that verifies the validity of a title and offers insurance to protect against problems with any liens on a property or clouds on a title. This company also conducts the closing.



Closing – the actual process of transferring the title of a house from the seller to the buyer (including assigning any liens to lenders for mortgages).



Inspection and Repairs

To protect your best interests, have structural and systems inspections done by qualified inspectors of your choice. Your lender will typically also require a termite and wood destroying insect (WDI) inspection. The inspection is a great opportunity to ask questions about your prospective home and learn important information about where everything is and how it works.

When the inspection reports come in, you will need to decide if the home is acceptable “as is”. If you require repairs to be made, then you will have to negotiate with the seller. At that point, you make a counter offer to the seller requesting either that the repairs be done before closing or extra money to be given to you at closing to cover repairs. The seller can either negotiate these points with us or decide to not continue to negotiate. If the seller rejects the offer and you do not want to buy the home as is, the contract falls through, the seller would be free to accept another offer, and your earnest money would be returned to you. If you come to terms an amendment to the contract will be made and we will waive our option to terminate. Then you will contact your lender to request an appraisal and start planning your move. A day before closing or on the same day, it is recommended that you walk through the house to make sure that everything is in order. This protects you from closing on a home that has been damaged in the move out process or that has been taken possession of by another party.

Closing

The exciting day is finally here! You will review the settlement statement (HUD-1) so that you can clear up any questions before closing. Possession of the home generally happens the same day that papers are signed, but sometimes a snag in the funding of the loan will cause a delay in possesion. For this reason it’s best to allow an extra day (or more if we are closing on a Friday or day before a holiday) before you need to be able to move in.

After closing you should file a change of address. File an official change of address form at you local post office or online in the advance so that your mail delivery will not be interrupted. Many corporations, such as credit card companies and magazine subscriptions, take 1 or 2 months to process a change of address.

Congrats! You are now a proud homeowner!