It’s All Greek to Me, Real Estate Terms as a Second Language

The Mysterious Real Estate Language

Selling or buying a home can be a mysterious journey for those not familiar with real estate terms. While many home buyers and sellers have a general understanding of how the process works, the language of real estate can actually cause more fear than the process itself. However, by learning a few of the common real estate terms you can feel more at ease when approaching selling or buying your next home.

Repeat After Me…Common Real Estate Terms

Closing Delays: How Can It Be Avoided?

For a home buyer, there is nothing more frustrating than experiencing a closing delay. After making sure that all the documentation is in order and making all the arrangements for the moving day, not being able to get the keys and move in to your new home can be a nightmare. Don't let this happen to you. Consider these tips to help you avoid having your closing date put off.

4 Useful Tips to Avoid Closing Delays

Communicate. 

Most closing problems can be avoided by keeping the communication lines open, so check with your lender on a regular basis. Also, don't hesitate to contact the settlement company if there is anything that you don't understand.

Have enough money. 

To avoid any delays, you should have enough funds in your bank account to cover your closing costs. Most experts agree that you should budget 3% of the final home price for this. Your lenders can give you a rough estimate of your closing costs but this may change on the day of the closing. Have some extra money to cover for any incidental costs for good measure.

Check your documents.

Any incorrect, misspelled or missing information in your documents can cause closing delays, so check all of the information carefully prior to closing.

Bring a valid ID. 

Without a valid government-issued ID, the title company will not notarize your signature on the closing documents, so don't forget to bring a current driver's license or passport on closing day. You wouldn't want something as simple as this to prevent you from getting the keys to your new home, right?  

Buying a new home can be a very exciting time for your family, so follow these tips and you can be sure that closing delays wouldn't get in your way.

For more valuable tips on selling or buying a home, please visit my site at http://www.pamsantoro.bhhsgeorgia.com/. You can also contact me at 678-656-6627 if you have any questions about local market conditions, financing or anything that can help you with in your search for real estate.

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Beware the Neighbors from Hell: Bad Neighbors Can Devalue Your Home

No matter how great your property is, you cannot expect to sell at a good price if you are surrounded by bad neighbors. Unfortunately, everyone has them.

According to the Appraisal Institute, the largest professional association of real estate appraisers in the country, bad neighbors can significantly reduce the value of nearby properties by 5% to 10%. 

Since home values can be affected by external obsolescence (economic or locational factors outside the property), homeowners should always be aware of what’s going on in their neighborhood and be prepared to take the necessary steps to correct the problem before it gets out of hand.

So, what should you do when you are surrounded by troublesome neighbors? Here are some tips that you may want to consider.

·         Find strength in numbers. Speak with your other neighbors and approach the offending neighbor together. Make sure you get a consensus when identifying issues before making a move.

·         Review local laws. If you cannot convince other neighbors to complain against the offending neighbor, review your local laws and ordinances to see if they are committing any violations. If they are, report the issue to the code office.

·         Hire an attorney. If none of these options work, then you may want to consider hiring an attorney to solve the issue and avoid any potential loss in your home’s value.  

In the same manner, potential homebuyers should also be more vigilant when looking for their next home. They should visit the neighborhood at different times of the day to get a feel of what’s really going on in the area, and reduce the likelihood of living near a neighbor from hell.

About me

I am a Mom and a Alpharetta, GA Realtor working with home buyers and home sellers in the Alpharetta, Cumming, Johns Creek, Milton, Mountain Park, Roswell, Duluth, Buford, Marietta, Canton and Woodstock areas.

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