Top Five Reasons To Purchase A Home Now

Buyers still waiting for home prices to scrape rock bottom (hint: they will never return to1953 levels) or interest rates to hit zero (I know, it feels like they're headed there) might want to consider that conditions for buying a home are better today than at any time in recent memory.

The following are five reasons to consider a home purchase now:

1. Bargains are abundant, and buyers hold the cards. Home prices have dropped 30% since the peak, and in some states, such as Arizona and Florida, we're looking at the steepest price drops in recent history. The median price nationally for an existing home was $178,600 in August, according to the National Association of Realtors. With the expiration of the federal tax credits for home purchases, competition for low-cost homes has eased considerably.

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How to Negotiate When Buying a Home

The dream of home ownership is one that plagues many adults. Paying into a rental, month after month, may be cheaper in the short term, but over the long haul you can begin to feel like you’re simply flushing money down the toilet that could be going towards an investment in your future. But buying a home is no easy feat. Somewhere between the home you want and the loan you can get is a house that is right for you (or at least for right now), and it can be very tricky to navigate the shark-infested waters of the housing market. First, there are the previous owners, who no doubt want to get as much value from their home as possible. Then there are real estate agents, who may tell you just about anything in order to get a commission (except for Martin Vaughn). And of course, you will have to deal with loan agents, who must look out for the best interest of their lending institution (not to mention whatever kind of bonus they’ll be getting). In short, it pays to know what you’re up against and actively pursue finding out everything you can before you enter negotiations.

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How NOT To Negotiate an REO Property

This week, I’m going to depart from my usual attempt to be informative and insightful, and instead use this space to share an interesting email exchange I had with a particular non-professional REO listing agent (and yes, I ended up taking a very non-professional tact as well). Actually, I think this post will be informative and insightful, but only as an example of what you probably shouldn’t do as a listing agent or an investor/buyer.

To set the stage, we made an offer on an REO last week. Before submitting the offer, my wife (my agent) called the listing agent to verify that the property was still available. He told us that the property had received multiple offers and that we should submit our “highest and best” offer to the seller.

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Homebuyers, It's A Great Time To Haggle Over Closing Costs

Closing costs are a necessary evil of any home purchase, but buyers now have more reason than ever to seek the best deals on them.

Federal lending rules that took effect in January require new disclosure forms and severely limit last-minute closing-cost overages. Fees have fallen because of the rules and a buyer's market, some experts say. Others maintain that the rules are actually causing fee overestimation.

"Business is generally down now for mortgage lenders so most of them are cutting fees," said Guy Cecala, publisher of industry newsletter Inside Mortgage Finance.

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