Choosing a home inspector

If you are buying a property, you should definitely choose to have a qualified home inspector preform a detailed home inspection. It pays to have a pair of trained eyes looking over the minute details of a home you are contemplating purchasing.

A home inspection is not meant to give the buyer a laundry list of minor cosmetic items that you are going to ask the seller to have repaired at the sellers expense. It is meant to uncover both major and minor problems that may be considered unsafe, as well as items needing immediate attention that may be costly to have repaired.

If major undisclosed defects are found in the home, you will have more clout to ask the seller to repair the defects at the sellers expense. If the defects are overly expensive and the seller will not negotiate to have them fixed, you have the right to rescind your offer to purchase based on the inspection report.

It is important that you have a professional inspector, as the seller will have a right to a copy of the inspectors report page citing the defect. Having an unqualified person such as a knowledgeable family member as your inspector will not give you the same clout to negotiate.

While interviewing inspectors that you might want to hire, here are some great questions you may want to ask before you make your final choice on who will be performing your home inspection. Click on the link on the next line.

Ten Questions You Should Ask Your Home Inspector

Thanks,
Best regards,
Jim Dvorovy

Your guarded credit information is being sold

Do you recall the proverbial story about the wolf guarding the henhouse?

Here is an excerpt from a newsletter provided by Bill James III, President/CEO of Residential Bancorp. Bill relates that the companies that collect our credit information are actually selling our credit information to entities that may not be looking out for our best interest. Read the excerpt between the dashed lines:
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ALERT: YOUR NAME IS BEING SOLD — TAKE ACTION NOW!

Having credit checked is an important and necessary step in the home buying process, as well as something that is done on a regular basis for any number of reasons — increasing a credit line on your Visa, applying for insurance, or buying a car. But very few people realize that each time their credit is checked, the "inquiry data" that the credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion, Innovis or Experian) has on file has now become a commodity. This information is being sold by the credit bureaus to other lenders...and also to companies that sell and resell the same names and personal information.

That's right — the credit bureaus have found a way to increase their revenues at your expense...and without your permission. These "inquiry leads" include name, address, phone numbers (including unlisted), credit score, current debt and debt history, property information, age, gender and estimated income. They are selling your personal, confidential information to competing creditors...and making millions. Your privacy is being sold, not just once, but over and over again.

And lenders that purchase these leads at a premium will then do everything they can to recoup their investment and turn a hefty profit. Super sneaky bait and switch tactics are being used to lure clients away from their reputable lender. Clients have even been called by disreputable lenders and told that the lender they had been speaking to previously "passed on" the information to them, because they knew that they'd be able to offer much better interest rates and terms. Ouch!

The good news is that you can make it stop, right away. And pass this information on to everyone you know — your friends, family members, neighbors and coworkers.
The consumer credit reporting industry has provided a way to "opt out" and remove your name from these lists. You can contact them by phone at 1-888-567-8688 or online at http://www.optoutprescreen.com/. You must opt out at least 48 hours prior to having your credit checked to make sure it is processed in time. You can choose a five year or lifetime option, and the lifetime option does require a signed form. If a credit report needs to be run prior to the 48 hour waiting period — at least you are aware and informed, and can be on the lookout for suspicious phone calls or mailers from someone who has purchased your data.
BONUS: Opting out will also protect you from "pre-approved credit offers" arriving via mail...one of the leading causes of identity theft in the US.

You certainly have the right to shop for the best professional to meet your lending needs — but this should be done when and how YOU choose, not being done without your consent or permission. Looking around should be on your terms, not being done as a sneak attack, because they think you won't know better. And unfortunately, these unsolicited marketing tactics are a nuisance and intrusive, but quite legal.

So take your privacy back. Take five minutes right now — opt out, and pass it on. Refuse to be a part of this system.

(end of excerpt)
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Thanks,
Best regards,
Jim Dvorovy

Get A Clue!

Every now and then, a topic needs to be repeated, if only because the original post is either buried deeply into the archives, or new information is found that covers the material much more thoroughly.

I know that I didn't even "have a CLUE" when I bought my last house. I thought everything went fine during the transaction of purhcasing my present home. About a month after moving in, I received a letter from my insurance company stating that my homeowners insurance was being canceled in 30 days! There was a list of items the insurance company cited such as the property needing a new roof, rain spouting, and front steps. Mind you, this was "my" favorite national name insurance company through which I had exclusively used for all my family's insurance needs for over 25 years! My mind went numb. It was my first ever rejection by an insurance carrier, I confess to a sense of hurt pride that despite my long loyalty and high monthly payments to them, they were canceling me.

While frantically attempting to obtain a new policy, my hopes were dashed repeatedly by several large name insurers. It seems that if one national carrier cancels your policy, none of the others are interested in writing a policy for you either. Finally I was able to obtain a homeowners policy through an independent insurer. My new agent related to me that the house that I had bought had evidently had some prior insurance claims turned in by previous owners, making my property appear to be a "nuisance property". I had unknowingly ecome the victim of the CLUE exchange list.

CLUE stands for Comprehensive Loss Underwriters Exhange.

Had I of known about the insurance industry's "CLUE" report, perhaps I could have sidestepped a lot of grief. The industry keeps a file on loss claims filed against a property, and new owners could easily become the victim of purchasing a home that has had and may still have some "issues".

Read an excellent in-depth article by Terry Watson that was featured in the National Association of Realtors magazine by clicking on the link immediately below:

GET A CLUE

Thanks,
Best regards,
Jim Dvorovy
330-685-4615

Low credit scores = higher PMI

Low credit scores can have a huge impact on your monthly mortgage payment in the form of higher Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) payments.

If you are comtemplating the purchase of a house, it pays over and over to guard your credit score, and keep it as high as possible.

Clink on the link below to read an excellant article that spells out in detail how a low credit score affects your monthly mortgage payment in other ways besides higher interest payments,

Low credit scores mean high PMI rates

Thanks, and best regards,
Jim Dvorovy
330-685-4615

Thinking Of Buying A Condo?

If you are thinking of buying a condominium in Stark County, there are certain things you should investigate before making your offer to purchase. Five quick questions you may want to ask:

1) Is the condo association professionally managed?
2) How do the monthly condo fees compare with nearby condo complexes?
3) What is the financial condition of the homeowner's association?
4) Are there any special contracts or leases or unusual rules?
5) Ask current residents what they most like and dislike about living there.

To read the entire article written by Robert Bruss, click on the link below:

Five Questions You Should Ask Before Buying A Condo

Thanks,
Best regards,
Jim Dvorovy

How much should I offer??

It's only natural for buyers to want to negotiate on the sale price in order to feel they have received the highest value for their purchasing dollars. The negotiations during a purchase agreement can be especially daunting for first time home buyers, as they have often gotten advice from parents and other respected sources to "never make a full price offer", "you can always come up".

Just what is a proper price to offer on a property? I read a great report and will post a link to it here. Before posting the link, may I offer any buyer to walk into the office on any day, and ask me or another agent to pull up a report of all recently sold properties in whatever location in which they have an interest. There are always a few exceptions to the rule, of course, but most often one will find results very similar to the percentages listed by the author in the article you will be reading. Click on the link in the next line:

Lowballing in a cool housing market

Thanks,
Best regards,
Jim Dvorovy

Home Selling from A to C (Acceptance to Closing)

There is a super article posted on the National Association of Realtors website that lists some of the pitfalls that may cause a delay in the closing of a transaction. The article gives a great synopsis of the transactional process from the perspective of both the buyer and the seller. If it would be of interest to know what is taking place each step of the way, as well as the length of delay time caused by typical "snags", please browse the article:


http://www.realtor.org/realtororg.nsf/pages/post_contract_pitfalls

Thanks,
Best regards,
Jim Dvorovy