Posts Tagged purchasing
How much is my House Worth? How should you Know?
Posted by Top Home Loans in Economy, Mortgage Advice on July 18, 2010
When purchasing, refinancing, selling, or buying, you are asked how much your house is worth. Most people have no clue how much their house is worth, but I don’t know is the wrong answer. You may cost yourself thousands of dollars in fees and extra expenses by saying three words ‘I Don’t Know’.
It is expected that you won’t know how much your house is worth without the insight from a mortgage broker or a realtor. However, in most cases they won’t come out and tell you how much your property is worth, they will ask you. The correct answer to this question is to take the value you think it is worth and increase that by about 20%. If you overshoot your property value, this is much better than if you guess lower than what your property value is actually worth.
What happens if I guess lower than the property value?
If you guess lower than the property value, then if the broker uses some form of value automation, then it will be approved at the lower value, and you will be stuck with that value matched to your property. This means that you may be leaving thousands of dollars on the table and be losing out on possible equity with your property. Underestimating your property value is the worse this that you could possibly do.
What happens if I guess higher than the property value?
A higher guess is a correct guess for many reasons. It allows you to maximize your equity because it will give you the best possible result, and it will provide you with an exact number on how much your property is actually worth. An automated approval system won’t usually work when you guess higher, so they will have to send an appraiser to view the property. The appraiser will do a full appraisal, and they will return an exact number based on the information that is available. If done correctly, then your guess will be revised lower; however, it will still be higher than what you had originally thought that the value would be.
What if I don’t know what my property value is?
Before talking to the bank or your mortgage broker, you should figure out approximately what your property value is. How do you find out how much your property is worth? Their are many websites online including MLS that will tell you approximately how much your property is worth. They will be able to find properties that are similar to yours, and they will tell you how much the property is worth. They will also be able to find similar sales in your area, and they will tell you how much the property was able to sell for.
Once you have a rough estimate of how much your house is worth, then increase this value to meet a 20% increase and to meet the value you need. Once you have completed this, then you will be able to call your mortgage broker and start your application for the mortgage.
What do you think your house is worth? How do you figure out your property value? Leave your response in the comments below.
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Low Ball your Home Offer; Why People will Accept much less
Posted by Top Home Loans in Mortgage Advice, Mortgage News on June 18, 2010
Recently, the spigot of new home buyer’s coming into the market has deteriorated quite substantially. Months ago a house would sell in days; however, with the recent changes in mortgages, home buyer’s are few and far between. The market is quickly changing from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market. If you are in the market to purchase a new property, there are plenty of properties available for you to purchase within many different areas; however, is paying the asking price for a property wise?
There are plenty of houses that are competing for your purchasing dollar. If you have the available money, and a mortgage approval, then you may be able to get a house for much less than the current asking price. Bidding low is a great way to get a deal from an anxious seller. Many sellers need to sell because they are purchasing a new property, and many sellers must sell to avoid losing equity in their property, so low balling is an effective way to get a reduced price.
How do you low ball?
Your real estate agent should be a professional at this to get you the best deal. What your real estate should be doing is calling around to multiple real estate agents to find out what properties they can make a low ball offer on. Once they find several, they should give you an acceptable price and all the details about the property. Once reviewing the different available properties, it is then time to create an offer. The best time to submit an offer is early in the week when you are sure they do not have any other offers. Once received, they will review and issue a counter offer.
The counter offer is not final, and you still may be able to negotiate a lower price. It is best to confirm the price and the value of the property in comparison to your objectives. If it meets or exceeds your objectives, then you may have a deal. If it does not, then you may have to look at another property.
This process may take months to complete, so if you do have the time, then this can act as an effective method to build equity, and contribute towards your net worth.
The bigger the bargain that you are able to get on the property, the more equity that you will have available in your property. A 20% discount is usually reasonable for a low ball offer. Make sure that you are making reasonable offers, and not absurd offers.
Have you made a low ball offer? How much were you able to knock off the asking price?
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The Green Housing Revolution and What you Need to Know
Posted by Top Home Loans in Economy, Real Estate on November 30, 2008
Things in the world are changing at an extremely fast paced. The home that you live in now could look extremely different in the next ten years. It is extremely important that you know of all the changes that are going on in the world and you take advantage of those potential changes. Some examples of these changes are as follows:
- Today, you use electricity from a hydro company. Tomorrow, you will do it yourself by wind or solar energy.
- Today, you have garbage, recycle, and a green bin. Tomorrow, everything will be recycled and placed in one trash or potentially used for energy in your house.
- Today, your home is built with bricks, cement, and other decomposing materials. Tomorrow, your house will be designed to not decompose and to absorb energy.
- Today, we drive pollution causing vehicles. Tomorrow, our vehicles could reduce pollution.
What Effect does this have on me?
With technology advances, many governments are trying to get people to be more ‘green’. This has a direct effect on population levels, pollution levels, travel income, health, quality of living, and other major effects on the nation.
The two links are for Ontario and British Columbia where it shows the list of possible ‘green’ upgrades that you could make to your property in order to make your home use less energy and increase the value of your property.
Ontario Green Initiative Renovation Rebates
British Columbia Green Initiative Renovation Rebates
The most important thing is that you could receive thousands of dollars from the government to increase the value of your property. If you are purchasing a new property, then this is even more important because you can save money by choosing new additions to your property that will provide you with rebates. The more money that you can get from the government for free, the better.
Make sure that you do all the necessary research about ‘green’ initiatives that your government is taking before deciding on purchasing or completing renovations on your current or new property.