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How to Know if a VA Renovation Loan is the Right Choice

September 20, 2022 By Jeremy

How to Know if a VA Renovation Loan is the Right Choice

Choosing between VA renovation and traditional home renovation loans, or a VA loan in general doesn’t have to be tricky. It all depends on your situation and needs.

For example, VA renovation loans allow you to purchase property and rehab it where some traditional home renovation loans don’t allow you to buy the land. And by taking a VA renovation loan you’re combining a traditional loan to purchase the property and a renovation loan to rehab it saving you time and money. Although this sounds good, VA renovation loans aren’t right for every situation.

VA renovation loans can only be used to purchase a primary residence and on repairs or upgrades that improve the safety and livability of the property. You cannot use VA renovation loans for vacation homes or accessory dwelling units like you can with many traditional home renovation loans. There are other restrictions that make VA renovation loans unique from other loan types.

The work done on your home using VA renovation loans must be completed by a licensed VA contractor. Examples of these repairs include:

Repairing/replacing plumbing
HVAC, electrical systems
Roof repair or replacement
New siding

But on a positive note, a VA renovation loan can be used to make your home handicap accessible or energy efficient. And there are numerous advantages of VA renovation loans over traditional home repair loans. [Read more…]

31 “Door Shutting” Superstitions For Buying a Home

September 13, 2022 By Jeremy

If you are buying a new home, these 31 new home superstitions will help to ensure that you have years of good luck in your new house!

Here’s how to bring good luck into your new home:

When Shopping for A New Home
At Your Closing
While You Are Moving In

When Shopping For A New Home

Look for an eight in the listing price or use eights in your offer to bring you luck and/or wealth.The number 8 is the luckiest number in Chinese and Eastern culture because 八 sounds like 發 (fa), which means “wealth”, “fortune”, and “prosper” in Chinese. The more eights there are, the better.
Don’t buy a home with the number 13 in the address or street name or you’ll have bad luck.The appearance of a 13th guest at two ancient events gave the number 13 its unlucky reputation. Judas was the 13th guest to arrive at the Last Supper and was the person who betrayed Jesus. In ancient Norse lore, evil and turmoil were introduced at a dinner party in Valhalla by the mischievous god Loki who was the 13th guest.There are some exceptions:
- - In Italy, the number 13 is considered lucky, but you’ll want to avoid the number 17 instead.
  - In China, you’ll want to avoid the number four instead due to the Cantonese and Mandarin word for death closely resembles the word for four.
According to Filipino beliefs, you should avoid dead-end lots.A dead end lot can cause financial misfortune and/or a death in your family.
In order to have good luck, Feng Shui dictates your home must have east-facing windows.Besides the sun rising in the east, the “East” symbolizes new beginnings and family.
The number of steps on any staircase should not be a multiple of three.In keeping with Ancient Chinese traditions, the steps are counted as oro (gold), plata (silver), and mata (bad luck or even death). The last step must not be on mata.

At Your Closing

[Read more…]

7 Reasons Real Estate Agents Get Sued & How to Avoid It

September 6, 2022 By Jeremy

This post has been fact checked by Lisa Rogers at time of publishing by Principal Attorney at ArkLaws.

Even the most diligent real estate agents can get sued, and it happens all the time. But that doesn’t mean you have to panic if you get served. Most lawsuits against real estate agents can be prevented if you are proactive and take steps to protect yourself to avoid the courtroom.

If you’re an agent and find yourself getting sued, contact us today and we’ll be happy to talk to you and point you in the right direction.

The seven most common reasons real estate agents get sued are:

Breach of Duty
Breach of Contract
Fraud
Negligence
Failing to Disclose a Property Defect
Giving Legal Advice
Not Protecting Client Data

Breach of Duty

Breach of duty means that you fail to do something that is your responsibility to do, and it is one of the most common reasons real estate agents are sued. Because of your expertise and experience, your clients trust you to act in their best interests with honesty and transparency.

Breach of duty claims can be filed for any number of reasons including: [Read more…]

How to Know Which VA Loan to Choose

August 30, 2022 By Jeremy

Finding the perfect home or land can be tricky. Knowing which type of VA loan to select does not have to be. Whether you need to make the property handicap accessible, want to add an accessory dwelling unit for aging parents, or turn unimproved land into a dream home; the guide below will help you choose the right VA loan based on your needs.

First you’ll find a comparison table that shares each type of VA loan with the benefits and how they compare. Once you’ve finished looking through the table, scroll down to find explanations without all the financial and legal jargon and examples of when this type of loan makes sense. And unlike a lending website, we’re an independent third party who receives no compensation for creating this content. Our goal is to help Veterans and veteran families, so there is no bias towards one particular loan or another.

	VA no down payment loan	VA cash out refinance	VA IRRRLs	VA renovation loans	VA supplemental loans	VA energy-efficient loans	VA construction loans
No money down	X	X	X	X			X
No income verification	X		X
Doesn’t require appraisal			X
Borrow up to 100% of home value		X		X
Can be used to refinance		X	X
Buy and repair a home with one loan	X			X
For smaller home maintenance projects		X			X	X
Use for “green” projects		X			X	X
Has VA Funding Fee	X	X	X	X	X	X

Pro-tip: If you are a disabled veteran, there is an exemption from paying the VA funding fee and most states offer you a property tax exemption. You also have access to Specially Adapted Housing (SAH), Special Housing Adaptation (SHA), and Temporary Residence Adaptation (TRA) grants.

VA No Down Payment Loans

[Read more…]

What is a Special Warranty Deed and What It Is Used For

August 23, 2022 By Jeremy

A special warranty deed is a type of general warranty deed used to transfer ownership from one owner (a person, group of people or entity) to a new owner when the seller cannot guarantee 100% ownership of the property they are selling.

The biggest difference between a special warranty deed and a general warranty deed is that the special warranty deed guarantees that there are no problems with the title during the time the seller owned the property, but it makes no guarantees about the time before the seller owned the property.

In other words, a special warranty deed provides less protections for the buyer than a general warranty deed, but both are still good and trustworthy.

Special warranty deeds are used for:

Transferring real estate to a trust like a living trust
Selling commercial property
Transferring real estate to a business like an LLC
Selling multi-family residential property
Estate transactions for a deceased owner
Foreclosed properties
Real-estate-owned (REO) properties
Short-sale properties
When a builder sells a property

Both general warranty deeds and special warranty deeds offer the same general protections for a buyer, but the similarities do not have to make them confusing. There are differences too.

The Differences Between Specialty vs. General Warranty Deeds

[Read more…]

What is an Accessory Dwelling Unit?

August 16, 2022 By Jeremy

An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is an additional living space located on your property that is furnished with its own kitchen, living area, and separate entrance. Unlike a stand alone home, ADUs do not have a separate address, and in the US you cannot sell it on its own. And unlike multi-family structures including fourplexes, you can build for a single occupant or family.

Accessory dwelling units are popular for homeowners that have elderly family members and do not want to put them in a nursing home, or who simply want to make some extra money. And those aren’t the only reasons to add an accessory dwelling unit.

Reasons to add an ADU to your property include: [Read more…]

Foreclosure – What it Means & How to Avoid It

August 9, 2022 By Jeremy

If you’ve just received foreclosure papers, you may be wondering what happens next. Your first step should be to take a deep breath. Millions of people get these notices and the bank does not want to take your home. You also have rights while you’re in the foreclosure process to protect yourself from losing your home.

Foreclosures are very expensive for the mortgage company, so your lender is already prepared to help you avoid going through the process, and that is what you’ll discover in this post. But first, let’s look at what a foreclosure is.

What is a Foreclosure?

A foreclosure is where a person, company or organization has a mortgage and defaults on multiple payments. Once this happens the lender will begin the process of taking ownership of the property, and that is called foreclosure.

The first step in the foreclosure process is called pre-foreclosure which starts with a letter sent from the lender to the mortgage taker and ends with an auction or sale of the property, or a resolution where the mortgage taker and lender cut a deal. [Read more…]

10 Tips on Staging A Home For A Quick Sale

August 2, 2022 By Jeremy

How do you capture a buyer’s heart for top dollar and get to the closing table faster? By staging your home to sell! And staging your home doesn’t have to be a massive effort or incredibly expensive.

Making small changes to your home like updating your lighting both inside and out allows you to raise your sales price and decreases the time your home is on the market. Home staging is the technique of creating an emotional connection between your home and a potential homebuyer so they’re ready to make an offer on the spot.

Proper home staging has three effects:

Help buyers emotionally connect to your home.
Increases the perceived value to get you higher offers.
Allows a buyer to better “visualize” how they’ll use your home if they buy it.

Fun fact: According to the International Association of Home Staging Professionals, home staging sells homes 5 – 11 times faster! And with the average cost of staging being 1% of a home’s sale price, homeowners usually will sell for 20% over the asking price making you more money!

So how do you perform a proper home staging? Here are 10 tips you can do quickly, easily, and on your own!

Tip #1: Start With Your Curb Appeal [Read more…]

What is a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure?

July 26, 2022 By Jeremy

A deed in lieu of foreclosure is an arrangement you make with your lender to avoid foreclosure after you’ve exhausted all other options. When you make this agreement, you transfer your house’s deed to your lender. Your lender then forgives the amount left on your loan and agrees to not foreclose on your home. And don’t worry, a deed in lieu of foreclosure is nothing to be ashamed of, thousands of Americans find themselves in tricky situations from job loss to medical bills.

A deed in lieu of foreclosure is normally used as a last resort. And a deed in lieu of foreclosure may be a good option for you if you are:

Behind or no longer can afford your mortgage payments
Underwater on your mortgage
Facing a long term financial hardship
Struggling to sell your home
Don’t have a lot of equity in your house
Trying to avoid public notoriety
Don’t want an eviction from your home

The Differences Between Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure vs Other Traditional Options Include: [Read more…]

What Happens With a Reverse Mortgage After You Die?

July 19, 2022 By Jeremy

What happens with your reverse mortgage after you die depends on if the person you want your house to go to is a co-borrower, a non-borrowing spouse, or an heir. Most of the time, a spouse will keep the home and get to stay in it, but that isn’t always the case. Let’s take a look to see what happens with the reverse mortgage after you die and what that means for each person.

If you are a spouse

With reverse mortgages, there are rules that determine what happens if you lived in the home with your spouse. These rules depend on several factors:

When you co-borrow the loan

Once one of the borrowers dies, the co-borrower will continue to receive the benefits of the reverse mortgage which includes the loan payouts and ability to stay in the home.

The living co-borrower must still pay the property taxes, homeowners insurance, flood insurance premiums, HOA fees, and any other special assessments. If they do not, the loan can go into default, pre-foreclosure or foreclosure. The reverse mortgage will then become due when this person dies. [Read more…]