Stu Barnes

Unless you have been living in a shell and have not turned on the TV in the past 3 or so years you are well aware that America as well as the rest of the world has been subject to a major downturn in the overall economy. Experts....if there are any in the economic field claim that downturns occur every twenty years or so and it usually has a catalyst behind it.....this one was the housing market.

This downturn though in my opinion was spurred by GREED...nothing more nothing less. When thoroughly examined and broken down to where it is explained in layman's terms, you seem to notice that it all goes back to the same theory.....if it seems to good to be true...it is; hence people buying homes with no job or credit is basically what happened. Though this is WAY too complicated for me to understand myself and break it down, there is a series on CNBC called "The House of Cards" and it does the best job so far explaining what has happened. I must warn you though...it will make you mad.

As of last summer ('08) there were approximately 7.5 million sub-prime loans being serviced and many of those could have possibly qualified for a prime loan; an A credit rating. Around 70% or more of these were ARM loans that the rate re-adjusted to a higher rate 1-2-3 years later depending on the terms. The majority of these loans were written in 2005-2006 and the first adjustments started about 24 months later.....this blends into the time-frame of the meltdown...2007-2008 and will more than likely continue.

We are now all in recovery mode AND for agents like myself SURVIVAL mode. Things are definitely getting a little better, but very slowly. It is a great time to buy; low prices and low rates, but to buy you must have good credit and a job......two things people should have had before the meltdown. In Wake County in 1998 there were almost 1,000 foreclosures....in 2007 there were almost 4,500 and in 2008 there were just over 2,000; so you can see they are going down. Hang in there with me and as always visit our site for more Real Estate information.

When buying a home there are many things you are going to hear and not understand...that is why you not only have a Realtor to help you buy or sell, but you also have other professionals at your service including home inspectors, pest inspectors, Real Estate Attorneys and many more. Title insurance is one of those things you will see on a good faith estimate and ask what is it and do I need it to purchase a home.

The answer is yes and no (sometimes you don't have to have it) but ALWAYS recommended. If you are financing your home, your lender will require you to obtain a title insurance policy. In NC the closing attorney usually orders the policy. If you are paying cash you may not be required to buy it, but it is strongly recommended and here is why:

Title insurance is a policy protecting the borrower or lender or both from loss or damage caused by a defective title to real property. It is different than most insurance in many ways, but the two most obvious are: 1) it is paid for by a one time fee at closing (typically $2 per thousand and varies per appraised value of property) 2) it covers not what may happen in the future, but what may have happened in the past. The way I usually explain this to my clients is just to picture you enjoying your brand new home and come to find out that many many years ago the farmer who owned the whole parcel your subdivision is on....never actually sold the property free and clear (for whatever reason). Somehow the title is not clear; called cloud on the title and you may not actually own the home. That is when your title insurance would kick in to protect you. That may not be the best example, but you get the idea. For more information on Real Estate please visit us here. Hope this helps.

It happens everywhere; for the most part. Development. With development comes a few things hard to ignore, like the sudden scampering of animals; namely deer, the new homes right next to an old abandoned farmhouse, maybe some fishing ponds that look out of place, but the one thing you may notice or may NOT notice at first; is grave sites.

In the South...it was commonplace to bury family members on the farmstead (which is a cool term for family land). Some sites found can date back to the 1700's and those parcels of land can be forgotten by family members over time believe it or not. Recently in Wake County developers have been discovering more grave sites as they start clearing land for new subdivisions. At first sites could be hard to see because tomb stones weren't always the practice to bury, some just used flat markings some as a unique rock flat with the soil.

When these sites are found the developers either preserve the site, contact surviving relatives and let them handle the site, or dig up the graves and re-intern them. Sometimes it could cost $5K-$10k per grave so it can really get expensive. So if you ever thought developing land was easy and had no obstacles....I could put up an argument.

Many concerned future home-buyers and sellers first question when deciding to buy or sell is can I do it myself? What will it cost? What is the first step? How much should I list for or offer to purchase a home? All of these are legitimate questions and most have very simple or very complicated answers depending on your knowledge of the field.

In North Carolina(laws vary per state) most buyers will hire a Buyer's Agent to represent them in a transaction. In most cases the seller pays the commission so for the most part you as a buyer would not pay anything; and with representation you get just that....someone who is knowledgeable and can advise you on what happens step by step in the process while making sure you don't pay too much for a new home. If you have an exclusive buyer's agent they have a fiduciary trust/relationship with you and all information about you is confidential so you can tell them your inner feelings about a property or financial situation and BY LAW they cannot divulge to the other party. Having a buyer's agent is a very good idea when buying a home.

When selling you will have a listing agent or a.k.a. seller's agent. They have the same duties to the seller as a buyer's agent has to the buyer. The seller's agent has a duty to represent the seller and get the most for the property as possible.

Realtor's have a strict code of ethics to follow, so just because the other agent may represent the other party, they are not out to get you....they must be honest and hold accountablity towards you/the other party.

I have heard this statement before which doesn't necessarily only pertain to the Real Estate field. "You don't pay me for what I do, you pay me for what I know". It sounds a bit aloof, but it rings true in many professions. There are many things/issues that can pop up in transactions and if you don't have a professional with experience on your side you are open be taken advantage of by someone. Changes to contracts such as amendments, schedules, exhibits and closing statements are very common and I myself pride myself in taking continuing education and keeping an active license by staying abreast of changes to real estate laws and regulations, principles and practices. For more information please visit us here. Hope this helps.

RESPA is an acronym used in the field of Real Estate and Lending meaning Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

Formed by Congress in 1974, RESPA in meant to curb abusive practices that proved to be costly to home-buyers and to increase the understanding of the settlement processes and cost associated with buying a home. RESPA's purpose has two main objectives:

1) to provide consumers with information about the real estate mortgage transaction and the costs associated with it *Realtor.org

2) to prohibit certain practices, such as referral fees between settlement service providers, that result in higher costs and reduced quality to consumers *Realtor.org

Basically, whenever you see an ad for a certain loan RESPA will require certain disclosures to accompany it in the text so you know what all the "legalese" means to the average person. RESPA also has a lot of requirements for the HUD-1 statement you will receive at the closing. The HUD-1 is basically a receipt of the home purchase transaction. So in your next transaction if you keep hearing the term RESPA, just remember it is an Act of Congress established to protect the public/you from predatory (individuals/companies) that may take advantage of your transaction. For more information visit us here.