Closing Costs: What You Should Expect‏

When it’s time to sign on the dotted line, do you know what costs to expect?

Closing costs are a major part of buying a home. Depending on the cost of the home, they can really add up, too. Typically, a home buyer can expect to pay between 2-5% of the purchase price of a home on closing costs. That’s not an insignificant sum.

What are the closing costs? They are fees related to the purchase of your new home. These are things over and above the amount you’re borrowing for your mortgage and any associated interest charges. In addition to your down payment, there are monies due to your lender and other parties–and it’s important to note that most of these are the responsibility of the buyer (there are some exceptions, like in the case of VA and other such loans).

What You Can Expect To Pay In Closing Costs

·         A fee for running your credit report–this fee is minimal and usually paid at the time the report is run.

·         A loan origination fee, which lenders charge for processing the loan paperwork for you.

·         Attorney’s fees.      

·         Discount points, where applicable, which are fees you pay in exchange for a lower interest rate (be sure to check with your lender).

·         Appraisal fee (charged by your lender).

·         Survey fee, which covers the cost of verifying property lines.

·         Title insurance, which protects the lender (and you!) in case the title isn’t clean.

·         Title search fees, which pay for a background check on the title to make sure there aren’t things such as unpaid mortgages or tax liens or any other such holds on the property.

·         Escrow deposit or earnest money, which may pay for a couple months’ property taxes and private mortgage insurance.

·         Title recording fee, which is paid to a city or county in exchange for recording the new land records.

·         Underwriting fee, which covers the cost of evaluating a mortgage loan application.

We mentioned that closing costs average between 2-5% of the purchase price of your new house. So, if your home cost $150,000, you can expect pay between $3,000 and $7,500 in closing costs. These costs can’t be rolled into your loan, so you should make sure that you have that cash reserved.

Your lender will give you a good faith estimate of what you can expect at closing, but this isn’t an exact figure. Within a day of your closing, you will receive a form HUD-1, which will go over, in detail, all of your closing costs.

Remember: these costs aren’t always set in stone and if they’re too far removed from what you’ve been led to expect, you can always walk away.  As with all matters related to purchasing a home, be educated. The last thing you want is to be taken by surprise.

Have Questions? Need Help? Visit http://findneworleansproperties.com/

SELLER OPTIMISM GROWS

As prices continue to rise, more sellers are putting their homes on the market than this time last year. This movement is a sign of confidence in the gains sustained through the winter and an indication of a strong early beginning to the spring home buying season. Data from realtor.com® reveals the number of properties for sale in February rose 10.1 percent above February 2013 levels. The median list price at $199,000 increased 7.6 percent compared to the same month last year.

Overall these figures indicate a continued reinforcement of steady gains and market stabilization that we’ve been watching since late last summer.  This is the market these sellers have been waiting for.

Many have speculated that as homeowners gained equity across 2013, sellers otherwise prevented from making ‘life event’ associated housing changes, for various reasons such as births, children entering school, aging home owners downsizing to smaller residences and others, now are finally able to tap into the resources necessary to make those changes. The increase in inventory is even more noteworthy given the severe climate conditions that likely dampened a more typical month of listing activity across much of the nation.

If you are planning to sell or buy real estate visit http://findneworleansproperties.com/

Location of Sex Offenders, Drug Labs and Toxic Dumps on Listing Pages

In a bid to bring transparency in online real estate search to new heights, RealtyTrac has baked a batch of data on unpalatable neighborhood characteristics into its listing detail pages.

The information — which could be construed as a massive collection of red flags — includes the location and details of environmental hazards such as underground spills, polluters and hazardous waste sites, as well as former drug labs, sex offenders and building permit activity.

RealtyTrac evens the playing field between heart and mind by helping consumers see behind the air-brushed perfection of typical real estate information.

RealtyTrac obtains most of its inventory through listing syndicator ListHub rather than IDX feeds. But in a growing number of markets where broker members of the RealtyTrac Network supply the site with IDX feeds, listings represented by all brokers participating in IDX — not just RealtyTrac’s partners — are accompanied by information on nearby criminal and sex offenders, environmental hazards, and other information that could rattle listing brokers and their seller clients.

RealtyTrac is importing the new neighborhood data from the Homefacts.com, which it acquired in 2012. Like Homefacts.com, RealtyTrac’s local information, including the information it’s just added, appears in “tiles” that paint a picture of a listing’s surroundings.

For more information visit http://findneworleansproperties.com/

THE FUTURE OF SHORT SALES

Short sales and foreclosures played a starring role during the Great Recession. According to National Association of REALTORS® statistics, in the summer of 2009, distressed sales made up just under 50 percent of all transactions as. Fast forward to last fall, and that number dropped to only 14 percent.

Short sales are becoming less common for many reasons. For one, many markets are now well into recovery mode. Home values are rising and sellers who were underwater only a year ago have a bit more breathing room today. With fewer homeowners in financial distress—and the worst of the cleanup from the housing bubble behind us—banks and courts are finally processing through their backlogs of distressed properties. And employment growth means more homeowners can afford to stay in their homes and make their mortgage payments.

In addition, short sales are becoming less favorable for sellers. For the last few years, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, which protects sellers from having to pay tax on unpaid or forgiven debt, has made short sales a viable option for many underwater homeowners. However, the Act was sunset at the end of 2013. A short sale in 2014 could significantly impact your tax obligation, making it less attractive.

Buyer interest in distressed properties has also cooled. Too much hassle, and most short sales and foreclosures are not such a great deal after all. Finally, lenders themselves are also less interested in short sales. As market values increase, there is less need for lender/borrower negotiated sales. Added to that, the return of third-party purchasers (institutional investors or cash buyers purchasing at foreclosure auctions) is shifting the pendulum back toward traditional foreclosure auction and REO.

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT http://findneworleansproperties.com/ 

Fashioning French New Orleans: Clothing the Colonial Child

6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014 The Cabildo, New Orleans

During the Colonial era, most Americans followed the European custom of dressing their children as miniature adults. But in New Orleans, frequent shortages of textiles and the large number of orphans made clothing children more challenging. Guest speaker Sophia White will explore this and other topics as she discusses children's clothing in New Orleans during the French Colonial period. This free public event is presented by the Louisiana State Museum and Friends of the Cabildo. For more information visit http://findneworleansproperties.com/

REAL ESTATE, NEW ORLEANS : THIS IS WHAT COMING TO THE JOY THEATRE

REAL ESTATE, NEW ORLEANS : THIS IS WHAT COMING TO THE JOY THEATRE

THIS IS WHAT COMING TO THE JOY THEATRE