My father was selling real estate during the late 1970s when interest rates for a mortgage loan were at 18%.
I recently sold a home where my client got a 3.125% interest rate on their mortgage loan.
Read those two lines again.
Home buyer demand hits highest level in 11 years
January continues to be a hot month for the housing market.
Weekly mortgage applications jumped 30% for the week ending Jan. 10, a sign that homebuyers are emerging in 2020.
As I mentioned in the past, buyers typically take a break in December, then start their search again in January.
Can I fire my real estate agent?
Check the first page of your listing agreement for the contract’s expiration date.
Once that date passes, the contract then becomes expired, your agent no longer works for you, and you are free to hire a new agent.
If you sell your home through a new agent before the listing agreement with your old agent expires, you will have to pay the new agent AND the old agent a full commission. ☹️
Check the expiration date of your homes listing contract
If you’re selling your home, and you sign a listing contract with a real estate agent, be aware of the contract’s expiration date.
Memorize that date!
If your agent is not doing a good job selling your home, once that date passes, you are free to hire a new agent.
You will no longer be obligated to pay the old agent a penny in commission.
Escrow on a home purchase is usually 30 days.
When you accept a purchase offer for your home, escrow begins.
The escrow period is the time from offer acceptance to the day the title of your home officially changes from you to the new buyer.
During that time period the buyer of your property is doing their inspections and getting the loan to buy the home.
A buyer using a conventional loan (5% or more for the down payment) will usually close in 30 days.
However, a cash buyer doesn't have to go through the loan process, so they usually close in 7 - 14 days.
Buyers using a FHA loan usually close in 45 days.
This home has been on the market for 598 days
598 days on the market... OUCH!
Have you ever heard of a Geo dome?
Home title recordings occur between 8am - 6pm.
You still own your home up until the second that the county recorder's office officially records the title transfer of your home to the buyer of your property.
In other words, the ownership of the property has officially transferred from you, the owner of the home, to the new owner, the buyer of your home.
On the day you are scheduled to close escrow, recording can take place any time from 8am-6pm.
Until you get that phone call confirming recording, you are still the owner of that home and are responsible for anything that takes place at that property.
