Buying Your Home
Lease Option
Friday, February 22nd, 2008When a renter signs a lease with an option to purchase a property for a specific price within a certain time frame, that is called a lease option. In most lease-option situations, a portion of the rent is applied to a future down payment.
Lease options are most popular among buyers who don’t have enough funds [...]
What’s a house worth?
Monday, January 14th, 2008A home ultimately is worth what someone will pay for it. Everything else is an estimate of value. To determine a property’s value, most people turn to either an appraisal or a comparative market analysis.An appraisal is a certified appraiser’s estimate of the value of a home at a given point in time. Appraisers consider [...]
What is the return on new versus previously owned homes?
Monday, January 14th, 2008Buying into a new-home community may seem riskier than purchasing a house in an established neighborhood, but any increase in home value depends upon the same factors: quality of the neighborhood, growth in the local housing market and the state of the overall economy.One survey by the National Association of Realtors shows that resale homes [...]
What is the difference between list price, sales price and appraised value?
Monday, January 14th, 2008The list price is a seller’s advertised price, a figure that usually is only a rough estimate of what the seller wants to get. Sellers can price high, low or close to what they hope to get. To judge whether the list price is a fair one, be sure to consult comparable sales prices in [...]
What are the standard ways of finding out how much a home is worth?
Monday, January 14th, 2008A comparative market analysis and an appraisal are the standard methods for determining a home’s value.Your real estate agent will be happy to provide a comparative market analysis, an informal estimate of value based on comparable sales in the neighborhood. Be sure you get listing prices of current homes on the market as well as [...]
How do you determine the value of a troubled property?
Monday, January 14th, 2008Buyers considering a foreclosure property should obtain as much information as possible from the lender, including the range of bids expected.It also is important to examine the property. If you are unable to get into a foreclosure property, check with surrounding neighbors about the property’s condition.
It also is possible to do your own cost comparison [...]
Can I find out the value of my home through the Internet?
Monday, January 14th, 2008You can get some idea of your home’s value by searching the Internet. A number of Web sites and services crunch the numbers from historic public records of home sales to produce the statistics. Some services offer an actual estimate of value based on acceptable software appraisal standards. They also depend on historic home sales [...]