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BUYING REAL ESTATE - Questions & Answers
Q. How do I know what
price home I can afford?
A. The best thing to do is call a mortgage
lender (shop at least two!) to know how big a
mortgage you can handle. A mortgage amount is
based on your monthly earnings less debt that
takes over ten months to pay off. Most lenders
will lend so your payment is 34% of that amount.
Some lenders can make the loan higher if your
credit, job history and debt is very good.
Q. How much
down payment do I need to buy a home?
A.
To get the best interest rate, 20% down payment
is often needed, but at today's low rates, even a low down loan can have affordable rates. Your
loan type determines the minimum amount
necessary to put down. A typical Conventional
Loan will need 20% down, a typical FHA Loan
requires 3%. Both of these loans will have
closing costs, and may have "points" (one point
is 1% of the loan amount). A typical VA Loan
requires 0 down, with the seller paying closing
costs. There are over 100 different types of
loans with different terms; a lender will help
you find the right one for your situation |
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Q. Do we need
to see a Lender before looking at houses?
A. YES.
(Unless you have well over 30% down payment).
Your eventual offer will be stronger if you
already have an approval and know what your loan
amount and terms will be.
Q.
What will my monthly payment be?
A. That
depends on several factors, your rate of
interest, property taxes, and your insurance
premiums. Currently the common mortgage rate is
7.25% which is just under $7.00 per thousand
dollars of loan. Example: $100,000 mortgage will
be $682.18 a month for a 30 year loan. Your
yearly tax can be included as well as your
insurance, (it's called PITI for Principal,
Interest, Taxes and Insurance).
Q. How
do I know if property will qualify for a new
loan?
A. The home should have a whole
house inspection, and/or pest & dry rot report.
An appraisal insures you and the lender the
property is worth the price.
Q. Can you
tell me about the schools?
A. Most
communities have websites, which have school
information. Our own web site, c21jcjones.com,
has links to schools and other community and
recreation sites. Just click on "about the area"
Q. What kind of crime is in the area?
A. Like questions about schools, you can check
community and/or police web sites. Dave Daniel,
our own Josephine County Sheriff, indicated that
while we (like nearly all other communities)
have some property crime; violent crime is quite
low. This is a safe community to raise a family
or retire.
Q. What are the utility
costs?
A. Average cost for electricity,
gas and wood heat varies greatly based on where
the home is sited, number of windows,
insulation, square footage, and type of heat as
well as individual lifestyle. In our area,
Pacific Power can provide a history of
electrical costs for a particular property.
Q. Will the Seller take less?
A. Price
is often negotiable. The only way to know is to
write an offer at a price acceptable to you.
There will always be some motivation behind the
Seller's decision to sell their property, and
they may or may not show flexibility. But, a
good Realtor will make every effort to place the
home on the market with a price that is
competitive and priced to attract buyers.
Q. Where do I go to get a home loan?
A.
Mortgage Lenders can be found in the Yellow
Pages, WWW or through Local Banks or Credit
Unions. Some lenders will pre-qualify you over
the phone. Here are three: CENTURY 21 MORTGAGE
1-888-716-1296 MISSION HILLS 1-888-848-5301
EVERGREEN FEDERAL 1-800-275-6148
Q. Do
property values increase in Grants Pass, what
are the trends?
A. The long term average
home price in April, 2001 was $138, 596, while
in April, 1997 the long term average home price
stood at $113,490. That indicates an increase of
roughly 4.5% per year. Prices reflect supply and
demand, and inventory is lower now than in the
past. Rural acreages are becoming in short
supply, and values on 5-acre parcels went up 14%
in 2000.
Q. How do I choose a Realtor?
A. You should choose a Realtor who
specializes in the type of property or area you
are looking for, as well as interviewing to see
how comfortable you feel with them. It is also a
good idea to call the Oregon Association of
Realtors to check if there have been any
blemishes on their record of practice. Above
all, when you select an agent, tell them
honestly your needs and limitations. Agents will
reward your loyalty to them with hard work on
your behalf.
Q. How much water from a
well is sufficient? What makes a good well?
A. There are two things that make for a good
well: adequate reliable flow and potability
(purity). Lenders generally want a flow test
showing 5 gallons per minute for 4 hours. If
there is a holding tank you can get by with 2 or
3 GPM. 10 gallons per minute is considered a
good well. Most household pumps won't be able to
pump that much, even if the well can produce
more water. Oregon law requires a bacteria and
nitrate test on sale of residential property
with a well, and some buyers may want a "top 10"
mineral test (for common minerals) show whether
or not the well is a "good" well.
Click Here For Our
Mortgage Calculators
SELLING REAL ESTATE -Question & Answers
Q. Should I price my home
high enough to allow for expectations of low
offers?
A. NO!! A well priced home will
more likely get a full price offer, while too
high a price eliminates buyers interest, leading
to more time on the market and inviting "lowball
offers". Overpriced homes almost invariably end
up selling for less than properly priced
properties
Q. Will I need money up front
for closing costs or repairs?
A.
Generally no. Bills for repairs can be sent to
the escrow company to be paid out of the
seller's closing proceeds. This needs to be
arranged in advance with any contractors,
however.
Q. What are the most important
improvements I can make to my property?
A. Any improvements you make should be made to
improve your enjoyment of your property. It is
rare that any improvement will return its cost
in the short term, the most cost effective are
kitchen counters and appliances (75%), a bath or
family room addition (72% &70%). Replacing
shabby carpets or drapes and repainting,
however, may make an otherwise unattractive home
much more saleable. This is less an improvement
than correcting deferred maintenance. You can
make the home more saleable by "detuning" the
home; that is removing clutter, too many
pictures, and taking out bulky furniture items.
This makes the home seem larger and more airy.
Q. How much is your commission?
A.
Commission fees are not set by law. They are
negotiated between the seller and broker through
the agent. Fees are nearly always based on
contingency: if the property doesn't sell, no
fee is owed. Fees are based on costs of doing
business, such as; administration of the office,
marketing costs, fees to the listing agent, and
fees offered to cooperating brokers and agents.
Fees have to be high enough to cover costs and
attract capable professionals to work on
marketing the property. Naturally, brokers and
agents also hope to earn a profit for their risk
and efforts. Full service realtors and agents
have higher costs of preparing flyers,
advertising, marketing and overhead and the
level of service they provide to sellers, and
earn those by better pricing, marketing and
negotiating on behalf of their clients. Like
anything, quality costs more but is less
expensive in the long run.
Q. How long
will it take to sell my home?
A. It
depends on your location, the property
uniqueness, property condition, and listing
price. If you price your property at Fair Market
Value it should take between 2 to 4 months.
Lower priced properties priced at market often
sell within days or weeks. Higher priced
properties or truly unique properties may take
as much as a year or even more, unless they are
very attractively priced.
Q. How do I
know the roof is good?
A. It depends on
the age of the roof, and whether it has been
kept free of leaves and moss. Look for curled,
broken or missing shingles, obvious wear where
the tar shows through asphalt shingles, or heavy
moss buildup. If the home is over fifteen years
old, it is wise to have a roofing contractor do
an inspection for estimated remaining life (most
lenders are satisfied if the roof has a three
year life or more).
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Q. How are you
different from other offices?
A. We are
especially proud of our reputation as a "listing
office" (we consistently have over twice as many
listings per agent then the local industry
average). Our excellent performance is due to
our staff of hard working, high energy,
effective real estate professionals. CENTURY 21
J. C. Jones American Dream agents can provide a
customized marketing program designed to attract
qualified buyers. We maintain an excellent
working relationship with other offices in the
community, meaning they are eager to show our
listings. In the four years we have been with
the CENTURY 21System, we have been awarded both
the Quality Service award for excellence in
customer service and the Gold Medallion Award
for high production three times. Our slogan is:
WE WORK HARD TO BE GRANTS PASS' MOST PRODUCTIVE
AND RESPECTED REALTORS.
CLICK TO READ PETER'S BIO
or Click
Here For Our Mortgage Calculators
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Peter
Gleysteen
Centurion Broker
Cell: 541-660-8622
Office: 541-476-6502
Peter's
E-mail |
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Rivers, Creeks, Ponds
and Special Settings |
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