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Role of a Real Estate lawyer

First your lawyer will send you a letter outlining what documentation he or she may need from you. Since you will likely be paying at least $1300 plus for legal services, I think it’s important that you know what your lawyer will be doing for you! Below is some detailed information on the role of a real estate lawyer and on what you need to do when working with your lawyer and securing a mortgage. Don’t wait to higher a lawyer just before you taking position of your new purchase, make sure you interview them way before your closing date.

Your Real Estate lawyer should advise you what expenses you’re likely to incur with respect to the closing procedures, including:

Land Transfer Tax

disbursements

legal fees

property tax

If you’ve bought a new home from a builder, the Real Estate lawyer can give you an educated estimate as to how much you should budget for „hidden charges“ such as:

Ontario New Home Warranty Enrolment Fee

Hydro and Water meter installation charges

Fencing charges

Grading Deposit charges

many others

If all the conditions in the Agreement have been met and the Offer is firm, the lawyer proceeds to investigate the title to the property. Initials searches include:

utility searches

property tax searches

building, zoning and planning searches

registered title searches

Letters are sent by your lawyer:

to all municipal or regional utility departments to confirm that there are no arrears or outstanding charges

to ensure there are no conditional sales contracts, easements or unregistered agreements, liens

to discover other encumbrances affecting the property or equipment being left by the Seller

Easements are a big issue and cases are always being written up in the newspapers and real estate journals, about buyers who didn’t realize they weren’t allowed to put up fencing or create a parking space because the property survey they were working from didn’t actually show the City’s rights to access the property. Your lawyer’s job is to make sure all this is disclosed to you. Your lawyer will also advise the utility departments of your name and the scheduled closing date, and request that final meter readings be done on the closing date so the final bills can be sent to the Seller.

A Tax Certificate is requested by your solicitor to verify the amount of the current year’s taxes and to ask about any arrears and outstanding charges for taxes. Your lawyer will also write to the Building and Zoning Department to get the full particulars of zoning by-laws and restrictions and permitted uses (so you’ll know if you’re allowed to operate a business from your home or build a huge deck, for example). It’s important that you send your lawyer a copy of the survey for the property as soon as possible – if the Seller has a survey, I’ll get it for you if it’s not already included in the offer documents. If no survey exists, tell your lawyer so he/she can advise how your interests can be protected through Title Insurance.

A Search of Title to the property is begun in the Land Registry Office to make sure the Seller is the true owner of the property, has the right to sell you the property, and that the property is not subject to any encumbrances, encroachments, easements, liens, agreements or mortgages that were not disclosed in the Agreement or Purchase and Sale. You may have heard of fraud cases where people’s homes were sold out from under them by con artists who had no title to the land! This is where your lawyer really earns his fees. This search has to be completed prior to the Requisition Date (title search date) shown on your Agreement of Purchase and Sale.

Other important functions of your lawyer include:

Carry out a search of Executions in the appropriate Sheriff’s Office to ensure that there are no executions against the prior owners of the property that would affect your title.

Prepare and deliver a letter to the Seller’s lawyer requesting that any items revealed in the initial searches be dealt with on or before closing.

Review the contents of the Mortgage Commitment letter your bank will prepare when you arrange your financing, and consult with you about the results of signing it.

Advise you of any closing-day costs related to mortgage financing when your financial institution provides you with a final Mortgage Commitment Letter.

If your lawyer is also acting on behalf of the financial institution (it often happens), he/she will prepare all necessary documentation for the mortgage and submit this package to the financial institution for approval prior to closing:

– Certify title of the property to the financial institution on closing.

– Advise you about any government programs designed to assist home buyers that would apply to you, including Land Transfer Tax Rebate programs, Ontario Home Ownership Savings Plans, RRSP plans, and CMHC 5% Down Payment information.

– Let your insurance broker know the name, address, phone number and fax number of both your lawyer and of the financial institution providing your mortgage. Your lawyer needs a letter confirming that insurance coverage is in place effective on closing – this is super important because the bank will not advance the $ to close your purchase until they know that you have property insurance.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

Real estate investing is all about perception. Your perception of where the market is going, in conjunction with where it’s actually going. The aim, as always is to buy low and sell high.

You want to buy a cheap tract of dirt and sell it as a high priced piece of developed real estate, after it’s appreciated enough to turn a tidy profit. Selling the property is an art in and of itself.

Buying an initial tract of dirt lends itself to some solid, rational guidelines:

First, look at trend lines for housing prices in your area. While most housing markets are in decline (and the housing markets in Florida and California are adjusting from more than a decade of over-valuation), there are markets where the housing prices are going up. This is a decent leading indicator that there’s a market for expansion.

Second, look for job related news. Home purchases require a steady source of income. New employers moving into a city, or a government branch office opening up are a strong indicator that good, well paying jobs are likely to come up. Where well paying jobs roost, home purchases follow.

Related to this, talk to your local city planning office. Are there recent purchases of „right of ways“ to lay down sewer lines? Is the local telephone cable making plans to run out fiber optic lines – a „must have“ trend in new home construction. These things point to areas where home growth is immanent. Other big tip offs are school bond issues (found in your local news paper) and new parks being opened up.

Before you look at the land, check out the adjacent commercial real estate usage. Look for „family friendly“ or „residential friendly“ commercial properties: Houses that are close to grocery and clothes shopping tend to fetch a higher price than ones that are farther away. If there’s a movie theater nearby, or plans for an elementary or middle school, factor that into the size of the homes you build, and what their amenities will be; buyers looking for those features are looking for „mover upper“ homes – with a bit more floor space, and two (or three) bedrooms for the kids. Other spots to look for are anchor stores, like Wal-Mart and Best Buy. These companies spend millions on surveys of purchasing patterns before buying a store location; if they’re buying a plot of land, you’ve got about a year to a year and a half window to look into nearby real estate for single family residential and rental residential properties.

You can even flip this on its side – if you can talk to a group of commercial real estate investors, building a shopping center as the nucleus for home development is also a viable combined strategy. This also applies to highly urban areas. Many downtown areas that have been abandoned by businesses can be converted to apartment buildings, and some of the older housing projects are being torn down for mixed-use spaces with combined commercial and residential areas. In particular, you can often get block grants to help with the financing on projects like this, and there are programs from HUD that can help out a great deal with „urban renovations“.

Another source to investigate is the demographics in your area. Look at the US Census figures (and local county figures) for median age, and median birth rate per capita. You want to invest in areas where the population is growing already. High skews in the ’40s and ’50s indicate that you’ve got a bunch of people who are going to retire soon, and retirees are highly prone to selling properties off. Places to watch carefully are most of the urban parts of California, and great swaths of the rural Midwest, where demographic trends have been changing entire towns since the 1950s as the country’s population has shifted to urban areas.

If there’s a local planning council, or urban development council, make it a point to get the minutes of all the meetings from the past year. The city council offices will have them on file as a matter of public record. Also try to get into the next range of meetings as an observer. Discuss with the city and county managers where they see housing and construction trends moving. What you’re looking for is real estate that will be desirable in two to three years; look at road planning atlases, and look for all the data you can find. Also look for real estate that will be scenic – lake front property is as close to a guaranteed bet as you can get in real estate investing, particularly if there’s a lake that’s at the „far end“ of a development axis. Likewise, if there’s land that the city council is looking to acquire for parks, buying the adjacent lots now means you’ll be able to sell them later.

Lastly, talk to the professionals in your communities. Talk to architects who can tell you if they’re busy or not. Maintain professional contacts with engineers, bankers and attorneys. They will usually know about projects well before the general public. Also make a habit of reading the local newspaper’s business section. Often times, the first clue that a business may move in to your area is buried at the bottom of a column on page 8.

Using the guidelines suggested above will help you to find „sleeper“ raw land properties. These „sleeper“ properties are perfect for the buy low, sell high strategy used by successful commercial real estate investors.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

To install or not to install?

This question is at the forefront of debates concerning the management of nursing homes. At present, the issue of whether or not to put security cameras in nursing homes and where these should be placed is extremely controversial and is far from resolved.

Merits of Installing Security Cameras in Nursing Homes

The most important argument in favor of security cameras is their deterrent value against abuse and substandard care. These security cameras have been given the moniker „granny cams“ and are said to be a positive step in reducing the potential for elderly abuse. Experts believe that granny cameras could singlehandedly restore public confidence in nursing homes because they give family members instant access to recently stored footage. They can, thus, closely monitor the well-being of their parents or grandparents.

Security cameras retail for at least $630 and may go up as high as $1,590. On top of this, there is a $20 monthly fee for accessing the server and another $10 monthly to upload images via a data-only line.

Drawbacks of Installing Security Cameras in Nursing Homes

Not surprisingly, the strongest opposition to the use of granny cams comes from the industry itself. Nursing-home operators and staff consider video surveillance a needless invasion of privacy. They fear that security cameras would make it so much harder to retain good staff and attract new ones. Moreover, they believe that use of security cameras will compromise a patient’s dignity, particularly when bathroom and bathing activities are filmed and then reviewed by security. Another argument used is the additional expense. After all, a nursing home would need not just one, but several, security cameras distributed in strategic places throughout the nursing home.

The Debate Continues

While not trifling, however, the costs of purchasing the equipment and the installation expense are comparable to the cost of updating housekeeping, food, or recreation services. This means that the purchase and installation of security cameras should be treated as necessary an overhead cost as staff salaries, for example.

Additionally, experts believe that security cameras help nursing home operators minimize their legal responsibility should an employee or a nursing home resident be found guilty of abusive behavior. By having digitally captured evidence on hand, nursing home owners can thereby reduce unnecessary and groundless litigation.

At present, a dozen state legislatures are actively considering passing the granny-cam legislation. Existing laws mandate that an operator must inform the staff ahead of time of the presence of cameras and their respective placements. Otherwise, video surveillance may be considered illegal. There are no law expressly prohibit the use of security cameras. What prevents their wide use, however, are practical barriers in the form of pricing and vehement opposition from the nursing-home industry.

So, to install or not to install security cameras?

Nursing-home operators vehemently answer „no“ while experts openly advocate their mandatory use. If you are a nursing-home owner, the added institutional cost would mostly likely make you cringe. If you are one of the many in search of a nursing home for a loved one, your answer to this question should dictate your choice of nursing homes. However, do not make it your only consideration. Check the facility’s history of deficiencies and citations from formal regulatory inspections.

It will be very difficult for this controversy to be resolved speedily because it is an issue that hits too close to home. It simply is not possible to put a price on safety, or negotiate dignity.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

Since, for most people, the value of their home, represents their single – biggest, financial asset, wouldn’t it make sense, and be beneficial, when it comes time, to try to sell it, to hire a real estate agent, who understands the local market, and realistically, can evaluate, fair market value? For a variety of reasons, many homeowners have an unrealistic perspective of what the actual value of their house, and, when a house, is listed, at an unrealistically high price, rather than correctly, from the start, it generally, harms the end – results! With that in mind, this article will attempt to, briefly, consider, examine, review, and discuss, 5 reasons, real estate agents, must recognize properly, and consider, the fair market value, when they suggest pricing.

1. Manage expectations: Since the process of marketing, and selling a house, goes more smoothly, when agent and client, are on the same – page, and work, together, with true teamwork, it’s important for the agent to hire, to manage your expectations, realistically, by, telling you, what you need to know, not just what you want to hear (TM).

2. Initial listing price, in the correct range: Avoid the mistake, of, determining and setting the initial listing price, of your house, in an emotional, ill – informed, way, but, do so, based on a professionally prepared, Competitive Market Analysis, or CMA. This should direct you, to the best range, to list, your home.

3. Know advantages and disadvantages: The agent, you seek, must know, and understand, the local market, and how your property compares with others, listed, for sale, on the real estate market! It requires, knowing and better understanding, and clearly explaining to you, the comparable, strengths and weaknesses, compared with others. Take the time, and make the effort, to clearly, know, the advantages and disadvantages, which might make a difference.

4. Evaluate potential offers: Hire an agent, who is capable, of, objectively, evaluating potential offers, and suggesting, whether you might be better off, accepting or refusing one, and/ or, offering some counter – offer!

5. Close the right deals: There are smart, right deals, and, some, which may not be the right ones, for your specific home! The initial, Competitive Market Analysis, should help to guide you, so you might know, when, and where, any specific offer, may fall, within a specific range! Once, it makes sense, the effectiveness of your agent, must help, to close, the right deal!

Pay attention, and make the sale of your house, less stressful, and more beneficial! Will you be prepared, and hire the best agent, for your needs, and purposes?

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

May 27, 2010 Down Payment Assistance Programs (DPA’s) for First Time Home Buyers By: Michael A. Foote, CMB

There is money available for first time homebuyers today. In a much needed addition to financing products available today, down payment assistance programs are available once again. Down Payment Assistance Programs are generally a local, state or federal grant or bond program designed to assist certain persons with certain income levels in certain areas, with money that can be used for down payment and closing costs on many purchase loans.

These tax free grants or loans are generally forgivable provided the buyer stays in the home for a designated amount of time. And these dollars can dramatically change the amount of money required for closing when these first time homebuyers buy a home. For example, a typically FHA borrower may have to come up with over 4-7% total of the sales price whereas a borrower with a WISH down payment assistance program may only need to bring in 2-3% total. That’s a huge amount of money on a several hundred thousand dollar transaction. If you amortize out that difference the savings are literally tens of thousands of dollars since most closing costs are financed in the new mortgage.

So what does the process with „DPA“ look like when compared to the regular loan process. Quite frankly, it’s seem less to the user insofar that the lender will generally have to deal with the additional hoops during the process. For the borrower/buyer they probably wouldn’t know the difference. The only real difference is a potential for a slightly longer loan processing time. So is DPA a good idea? Well, lately it has been a challenge for Realtors to get clients using FHA let alone FHA WITH Down Payment Assistance so an argument could be made that using DPA on an Offer to Purchase could be a determining factor for the seller’s side when these choose the offer to open escrow with. The only cure for this pitfall will need to be more product on the market for properties up to the $400,000 range as DPA generally have no purpose and no qualifying borrowers as the sales price rises and/or in areas of high per capita income. Undoubtedly, DPA has a place in today’s financing landscape and those of in the industry are happy to have it, it is one more additional tool to increase homeownership for low to mid income families. And this product will help sell the forecasted shadow inventory rumored to be lurking around the corner.

Only time will tell if that come to fruition or not. These programs are not free from abuse, there have been in the past scams related to DPA and officials, lenders, and large institutions have really scaled back what is allowable as DPA. Also economics play into the availability of these from all the time. There are many DPA’s completely drained of funds.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

If you are going to buy your first home, you may be excited as well as nervous. This process can be full of complexities. Therefore, you may want to be properly prepared in order to make sure that you buy the best home to satisfy your needs. Given below are some common mistakes that you may want to make during this adventure.

1. Not doing Proper Research

First of all, you may want to understand the needs and finances of your family. For this purpose, you may want to analyze your assets and liabilities. Once you are approved for finance, you can go ahead and start your search for the right house. You should be familiar with your neighborhood as well. Make sure that your neighborhood has quality schools, transport facilities, and other amenities.

2. Opting for the Wrong Mortgage

Before you look for the best house, you should be in the best position to negotiate. Make sure you choose your finance package after proper research. You may also want to use the services of an independent finance broker in addition to your bank. These institutions have access to a lot of finance products and lenders.

3. Waiting too Long

There is no doubt that the prices of real estate properties continue to fluctuate based on the rule of demand and supply. However, if you just keep waiting for the prices to come down, you are putting the future of your family at risk.

So, what you need to do is set your budget considering your future needs. This will help you buy the right house at the right time.

4. Crossing your Budget Limit

It is not a good idea to go beyond your budget limit. You may want to go for a property that can satisfy your budget. Even if you like a house, you should only go for it if it falls in your price range. After all, you don’t want to get in trouble down the road.

All of us want a little more than we can actually afford. So, no matter what your real estate agent suggests, you should never be tempted. Spending more than what you can afford can put you in financial trouble in the near future.

5. Falling in Love

If you have found a house that you have fallen in love with, make sure the seller’s agent does not get even a hint of it. Typically, agents are very smart, which is why they can read your emotions. If you cannot afford a house that you just love, don’t just pay more than what you can afford. You can find a better alternative at the right price.

Long story short, you may want to avoid these 5 mistakes if you are looking to purchase your first home. By avoiding these common mistakes, it will be easier for you to get the right house at the right price. Hopefully, these steps will help you get the best deal without making costly mistakes.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

This subject gets pondered a lot, by both buyers and sellers. I want to address it, but I want to disclose upfront that I am a realtor, so my perspective will be somewhat biased.

If you are purchasing a new home, I would always, ALWAYS recommend using the services of a realtor. First of all, and this may be your most important reason, you do not pay for any of the services provided. That’s because the realtors on both sides of the transaction are paid by the seller as part of their Listing Fee.

Beyond any economic reasons, however, a realtor will have access to every property for sale that is listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for your area. Simply by providing a few details about what you are looking for and where, a realtor can literally make hundreds of homes available to you for your review (depending on how specific your parameters are). That gives you the chance to review the list from the comfort of your home and weed out those properties that don’t suit your needs. If any questions are raised during your research, your realtor will be the one to track down the answers for you..

When you have narrowed down your selection and have chosen properties you’d actually like to visit, working with a realtor is key. Most sellers that list their home, do so in order to make sure that their home is being shown to „real“ buyers being accompanied by a licensed real estate professional. For convenience, most listings provide for a lockbox or Sentrilock box for secure access to the home. Obtaining the lockbox code will be impossible unless you are a licensed realtor. Homes that are being sold by the owner (FSBO’s) are a different matter and I will get into that later in this post.

The buying process includes a number of steps that a realtor can not only facilitate, but expedite, as well. Once a buyer has decided on a property, the realtor can prepare your offer documents (contracts, addenda, disclosures, etc.) for your signature and present them to the seller. One your offer is accepted, your realtor can guide you through the process to a successful close of escrow. This will include having the home inspected, the attorney review of the contracts and the processing of your mortgage financing. If a buyer doesn’t have access to an attorney, lender or home inspector, a realtor will be able to provide references for those services.

Your realtor can also provide significant help in the negotiating process. They know the current market and can tell you whether the home is priced accordingly. They will also be able to assess the market value of the home based on its condition or any upgrades the seller has made.

From a buyer’s perspective, it only makes sense to utilize the services of a professional as you search for your dream home. This is especially true when you consider that you pay no fee for those services.

As a seller, the decision becomes a bit more complicated. Many sellers are discovering that the market value of their home is not as much as they had hoped and they have to sharpen their pencils in order to break even. When you consider a realtor may charge a listing fee of anywhere from 4-6%, the list of costs to sell your home, after the payoff of your mortgage, can make that break even point difficult to attain.

The advantages to listing your home with a realtor are myriad. They include, but are not limited to, the accurate analysis of your home’s market value, the Open Houses, staging recommendations, signage, Multiple Listing Service inclusion and, most of all, the extensive marketing of the home (THE most important advantage).

If a homeowner decides to sell their home by themselves (FSBO or For Sale By Owner), all these costs are borne by the seller. Obviously, the marketing becomes the most costly item. Putting a For Sale sign in your yard and paying for a 2″ x 2″ ad in your local newspaper will not reach the amount of prospective buyers needed to sell your home in a reasonable amount of time. The speed at which a home is sold is directly proportionate to the amount of buyers that view the home. A realtor’s marketing campaign, if effective, can produce a consistent stream of showings. Showings produce offers and offers lead to successful closings.

In the final analysis, a seller has to look at their net proceeds to determine the viability of listing with a realtor. Even with all the advantages listed above, if a seller has to bring money to the closing table, that will weigh heavily on their decision. Being a realtor, I would always recommend listing your home with one of my esteemed colleagues. However, I am not oblivious to the economic conditions that many homeowners face and many people have successfully sold their homes as a FSBO.

Whatever your decision and whether you are a buyer or seller, there are always going to be obstacles that you must overcome. If you find you can’t seem to navigate these obstacles alone… call your local realtor.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

Did you know that over 88% of all house buyers search for their house by looking on the internet? The internet has become the primary medium for potential buyers to search for a house. Using the internet to market your house is a comprehensive mass marketing approach to selling a house. And when selling your house on your own you need to take an all out approach so you can distribute the message that your house is for sale to the masses. You also need the message to be loud, clear and appealing. There are many websites that can assist you in selling your house, though some are more effective than others, and these websites will get you as much exposure as any real estate agent will get you. Regardless of what website you do choose to use, make sure you have great pictures and a great virtual tour to upload to the website. Great photos and virtual tours sell houses.

Since 88% or more of potential buyers will use the internet to search for their next house, it is clear you need to focus your attention to internet marketing and make sure you are marketing in all the right places. So where do you market on the internet? Don’t waste your time marketing in places where your house listing will get mediocre or zero exposure. Based on years of experience we recommend you only market on effective internet websites that have been proven to get mass exposure and successfully sell houses. We have many websites to recommend, but there are a few that stand out. Most of which are FREE.

The first place to market your house is Craigslist, which has become an excellent online classified resource used to sell real estate. Make sure your headlines and ads sparkle and the content of the classified is clear and detailed. Make sure you respond quickly to inquiries since internet prospects will continue to look for houses to see what else is around the bend.

The second website is Facebook, which now has over 140 million unique visitors in the U.S. and can give you incredible trustworthy exposure. You can share your listing with your friends or create a separate new page specifically for your house.

The third effective internet resource to market your house is Postlets, which is a website service that automatically posts your house listing on many other online websites. It’s easy to use and gives you great exposure to the masses.

The fourth are for sale by owner websites, also known as „FSBO“ websites. FSBO Websites are the Do-It-Yourself option that allows you to market your house listing through the Multiple Listing Service („MLS“) system, which was once a place exclusive to real estate agents alone. Marketing through a FSBO website will give you the same exposure 99% of real estate agents have. And if you combine that exposure with the other places we’ve touched upon, you will outshine most real estate agents‘ marketing efforts.

Now of course there are other great places to market your house, but the ones listed will get you pointed in the right direction.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

Playa del Carmen real estate is currently one of the favorites for Americans, Canadians and various other nationalities. It interesting to note that Playa del Carmen has gained this status in a relatively short period of time. In late July, 2010, Playa del Carmen celebrated the 17th anniversary from the date that it originally became a separate municipality. Comparisons of the past to now highlight several important points of what real estate in Playa del Carmen has become since its humble beginnings.

While 15 years ago, Playa del Carmen property listings may have included a handful of condos, some excellent land options, for those who had the vision (still very much „off the beaten track“ at that time) and a few traditional Mexican homes, Playa del Carmen MLS listings now include these, and much more – luxury beachfront condos with high-end penthouses, beautiful villas, and golf courses residences, to name just a few of the current options.

Shopping at that time would have been quite limited; now there are two new malls, a Walmart, and several similar stores, a Sam’s, an Office Depot and Office Max, high-end clothing stores, jewelry shops, among other stores. For a place to spend the evening, there are many restaurants, cafes, and bars; live music includes everything from Mariachi to modern jazz and reggae.

The surrounding area at that time was mostly jungle; while the jungle still remains, very in tact, there are now many more eco-parks, offering close contact and activities to enjoy this natural wonder. Besides the golf courses mentioned above, there are also marinas for yacht lovers, and paintball for those who love a little adventure.

One thing that really hasn’t changed much are the beaches themselves. While these wide, white beaches, stretching out for miles and miles were entirely abandoned since ancient Mayan times until a few local Mexicans established a fishing village in the 1930’s, even after that very few others took notice of them, until Cancun was established in the early 70’s. In the mid-90’s Fifth Avenue already existed, but now, more than ever, residents can enjoy this wonderful pedestrian mall, which is the vibrant heart of the area’s tourism.

Consider buying Playa del Carmen real estate, enjoying life on some of the world’s finest beaches, and discovering for yourself why this little fishing village has become a favorite place for expats to live.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg