General Real Estate

Found 28 blog entries about General Real Estate.

As you prepare your home for sell, you need to be certain to check each room carefully in order to make sure it looks its absolute best.  By following these simple tips, you can make sure each room looks its best for your potential buyer.

Bedrooms

When preparing your home for a showing, you want to make sure each bedroom looks its absolute best.  If you have a room that could be a bedroom but is being used for a more personal use, such as a music studio or a sewing room, it is generally better to change it back to a bedroom if at all possible.  This way, the potential buyer can more easily “see” himself or herself living in the home.

Some other steps you should take in order to make sure the bedrooms look great include:

•    Repair any cracks that the room may…
4,362 Views, 2 Comments

When you purchase a home, your Realtor will likely use a number of terms that you are not entirely familiar with.  While your Realtor should be happy to explain these terms to you, it helps if you have a good idea of what they mean before you start the home buying process.  Here are just a few terms you should know!

•    Certificate of title – A document demonstrating legal proof of ownership
•    Chattels – Personal property, of which there are two types.  The first type are real chattels, which are fixtures and buildings.  The other type are personal chattels, which are furniture, clothes, and other similar items.
•    Contract of sale – A written agreement that establishes the terms and conditions associated with the sell of property.
•    Covenant – The…
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The financial experts at Freddie Mac have reported that mortgage rates have moved higher for the second week in a row. According to the report, a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loan averaged a rate of 4.94% during the week ending on December 14, which is up from the previous week's 4.81%. This figure is still down when compared to the rate from one year ago, however, which averaged 5.19% at the time. When it comes to one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages, the rates increased to 4.34% for the week ending on December 14, which is an increase from the 4.24% rate from the previous week.

Although homebuyers certainly don't want to see the mortgage rate go up, the fact that the rates are increasing is a sign that the economy is moving in a positive direction. At the…
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Americans have long believed that purchasing a home is a good investment.  Thanks to the recession, many experts hypothesized that many would no longer view home ownership as a great investment. According to a recent study conducted by Bankrate Inc., however, home ownership is still viewed as a solid investment by most.

According to the study, more than 9 out of 10 people who participated inn the survey still feel that owning a home is a good investment. This may seem like a bit of a shock considering that 25% of Americans currently owe more on their homes than what their homes are worth.

In addition to still believing that home ownership is a good investment, the recession does not seem to be making much of an impact on Americans in other areas of the…
4,730 Views, 2 Comments


It is essential to have homeowner’s insurance in place when you purchase a home.  If you are borrowing money in order to purchase the home, the lending institution will require you to purchase homeowner insurance before the transaction can be completed.  This is because the lending institution wants to make sure its investment is protected if the house were to be damaged or destroyed.  Even if you are no longer carrying a loan on your home, however, it is a good idea to have insurance in place.  After all, a home is a major investment and will cost thousands of dollars to replace if disaster strikes.

What Does Home Owner’s Insurance Cover?

The items that are covered by your homeowner’s insurance will be specified within your policy.  In general,…
6,514 Views, 2 Comments


The average rate for a 30-year-fixed mortgage has dropped to the lowest level in 37 years!  Mortgage rates started falling after the Federal Reserve launched their new effort to aid the markets by purchasing up to $600 billion of mortgage-related securities in November.

30-year, fixed mortgages are at 5.06 percent, according to financial publisher HSH Associates, the lowest since the 1960s and down from 5.3 percent yesterday.  It is the best news in months for anyone looking to lock in a 30-year mortgage.
 
The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also dropped to 4.92 percent from 5.2 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac.

Local mortgage bankers are already reporting a surge in refinance and home purchase activity as borrowers rush to…
4,485 Views, 1 Comment


When moving to a new home, there are many things you need to do in order to make sure it is ready for you to move in to. When caught up in all of the excitement of the move, however, it is easy to overlook some of the things you should do in preparation for your move.  Therefore, keep these things in mind when making your move.

Don’t Forget About Utilities


When you move into your new home, you want to make sure you can enjoy all of the comforts of home.  Therefore, be certain to make arrangements for electricity, water, gas, cable, and phone to be turned on the day before you are ready to move in.  In addition, get in touch with the phone company so you can find out your new telephone number and double check with your long distance provider to make sure…
8,333 Views, 1 Comment


When you are selling a home in Texas, you will need to be aware of Title Insurance and how it affects you.  In the state of Texas, the sale of title insurance is regulated.  As a result, the premiums of this insurance are determined by the sale price of the property.  This means title companies cannot discount the premium cost.  Although many sellers are upset by the need to purchase Title Insurance, mostly because they feel it benefits only the buyer, it is actually beneficial for you to have this insurance in place as well.

Having Title Insurance in place helps to protect you from legal issues that may arise when you sell your home.  By having the insurance in place, you can enjoy peace of mind in knowing that you are protected.  To better understand…
4,908 Views, 0 Comments


When purchasing a home in Texas, you will need to look into obtaining title insurance.  With this type of insurance, you form a contract with a title company as determined by the Texas Department of Insurance.  Before making your purchase, it is important to understand how title insurance works and the type of title insurance you will need.

The Owner’s Policy of Title Insurance

One form of title insurance you will need to obtain is the Owner’s Policy of Title Insurance.  This insurance is actually issued to you and provides you with protection against specific title risks.  Some of these risks include:

  • Clerical Mistakes
  • Defective Acknowledgement on Documents
  • Delinquent Taxes
  • Forgery
  • Fraud
  • Illegal
69,833 Views, 16 Comments

According to the Associated Press, the Federal Reserve has approved Bank of America Corp’s move to purchase Countrywide Financial Corp. 

The 32 page order was issued on June 5th and Countrywide plans to hold a special meeting with its shareholders on the 25th in order to finalize the sale.  According to the Fed board, Bank of America will control approximately $773.4 billion in deposits once the deal is closed, which means it will remain the nation’s largest depository institution with 10.9% of the insured bank deposits in the country.

Bank of America had initially stated it would pay approximately $4 billion for Countrywide and would exchange 0.1822 shares of its stock for each share of outstanding Countrywide stock.  Over the past few months,

6,747 Views, 1 Comment