Buyer Help

Email Question – How much fixing up is too much?

Buyer Help

Question: Is it worth putting in some work on the houses or should I just run away? How much fix up is too much? Answer: There isn’t an exact science about how much is too much.  It’s all very personal and very dependent on the ability (financial, emotional, and hammer-swinging) of the person doing the [...]

7 November 2011 Read the full article →

When can I buy again after a short sale or foreclosure?

Buyer Help

This is from one of our favorite lenders, Jeannie Bolger at Nova Home Loans. Don’t despair! You can buy after a short sale or foreclosure. Plus Jeannie and her staff will help you repair your credit during the waiting period. Heather Barr is a Realtor and a happy workaholic. She eats more than someone her [...]

7 October 2011 Read the full article →

Rapidly dwindling inventory of bank owned homes in metro Phoenix

Buyer Help

In his September 15th market summary Mike Orr of Cromford Report said We are projecting about 4,500 new foreclosure notices during September, a drop of some 16% from August and about 2,850 trustee sales, a drop of about 21%. Part of the drop is because September has 9% fewer working days (21) than August (23). [...]

23 September 2011 Read the full article →

Condo financing near-impossible to get

Buyer Help

A while back, I wrote a piece called Condo Re-Financing: Tricky to Impossible. Nowadays, that lending dilemma has grown — it’s next to impossible to get a new mortgage to purchase a condo, according to my favorite lenders Kevin Reiser and Jeannie Bolger. (need an ace loan officer? call me or text me and I’ll [...]

19 September 2011 Read the full article →

How to make an offer on a Fannie Mae home

Buyer Help

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This is a post about how to make an offer on a Fannie Mae-owned (foreclosure) home in metro Phoenix, Arizona where I’m a licensed Realtor. If you’re reading this from out of area, or long after Summer 2011, please consult a professional in your area.   Need a metro Phoenix-area Realtor? Contact me! To make an [...]

2 July 2011 Read the full article →

Do buyers of bank owned homes pay for back owed HOA dues?

Buyer Help

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Got this question from a current buyer client: Hi Heather: Silly question, we are not responsible for back HOA fees, are we? Jennifer This isn’t a silly question at all. The short answer is “no”. The longer answer is below. Keep in mind I’m talking about buying a bank owned foreclosure (“REO”) home in the [...]

21 April 2011 Read the full article →

What credit score do I need to get a mortgage?

Buyer Help

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The minimum FICO credit score needed to qualify for a mortgage changes frequently. As of February 2011, the general answer is … buyers need a FICO credit score of about 640 to qualify for a home mortgage. BUT…  there are exceptions. Bottom line: if you have a score under 640 you might still qualify for [...]

8 February 2011 Read the full article →

Buy a home for 1% cash down

Buyer Help

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Although most of the low-down and no-down payment purchase programs are long gone with the financial crash of 2008, we do have 1 lender who has 1 loan program that’s a 1% cash down payment program. Here’s an example of a recent client of mine who used this program. Home purchase price – $85,500 Seller [...]

7 January 2011 Read the full article →

How do I tell if a house is a “meth home”?

Buyer Help

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Sadly, meth is always in the news. Here is a little helpful information and a few links to help potential home buyers and/or homeowners sort out the hype from the truth. The U.S. Justice Department maintains a website of homes that are suspected to potentially be meth homes. The Justice Department’s website contains a list [...]

2 December 2010 Read the full article →

How much earnest money should I offer?

Buyer Help

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WHAT IT IS Think of earnest money like a deposit. Sometimes buyers need to send a copy of their earnest money check with their offer, sometimes not. Your Realtor will know when you need a copy of a check. Regardless, once the buyer’s offer is accepted, the earnest money must be sent to the title [...]

29 October 2010 Read the full article →

Bother your Realtor. Please.

Buyer Help

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Recently a consumer visited our website to search the MLS and submitted an online question about a home she found there. I sent her our standard “thanks for visiting our site, let us know if we can help” email. This is the rest of the email exchange between she and I. Thank you for getting [...]

24 October 2010 Read the full article →

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