Shades of Grey: Part 1
April 2nd, 2007 by RYBPurchasing a home should be one of life’s simplest and most rewarding experiences. The process itself represents a right of passage into a world of responsibility tempered by the emotional and financial comfort of homeownership. The place where you choose to live, after all, is much more than an investment. Potential buyers, already pressured and rushed, can find themselves unprepared for the uncomfortable questions that often arise before closing. Regular readers might remember a post that I contributed to this site two months ago. I graphically recounted the personal behavior that led to my incarceration in a federal prison after many years of working in the title industry. It’s my intention, through a series of posts, to share consumer-oriented advice that can’t be found elsewhere. Feel free to contact me with questions via email at edr@rybconsulting.com or to visit a title industry blog that I host. Title-opoly deals honestly with a wide spectrum of real estate issues and many of it’s readers are consumers, government regulators, or professional educators.
You’ll find that most of my opinions are very conservative since they were shaped by unique experiences. For example, most real estate pundits blame consumers for a startling increase in reported fraud statistics and subprime foreclosure rates. I don’t, and point squarely at the real estate industry and more specifically at it’s self imposed and very complex culture. Most people working in other careers simply lack the time and ability to learn enough about the system to mastermind a fraudulent deal. Real estate crime requires a great deal of planning and coordination among numerous insiders or others with knowledge and contacts; it takes a team. Consumers blindly following the recommendation of licensed professionals sometimes find their integrity or sensibilities compromised.
Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Mel Martinez, sought sweeping reform of real estate settlement practices after closing on a home in the D.C. area. Secretary Martinez, a seasoned attorney and the nations’ top real estate regulator, found himself both confused and concerned after spending an hour at a table with unrecognizable documents strewn in front of him. I can’t keep that from happening to you, but I can arm you with an intimate understanding of the pitfalls of any housing transaction and their possible consequences. I’ll describe the criteria that you need to consider when selecting a real estate agent, loan officer, or title/escrow agent. You’ll learn enough about the proper progression of events from contract to closing to stop and ask poignant questions when something doesn’t seem right. And, if an unspeakable situation does present itself, you’ll know enough to recognize it as such and will have an exit strategy in place that protects your interests. A community-based approach to fraud prevention presents opportunities for consumers to avoid exploitation, especially when it’s initiated by industry insiders.
An informed and concerned community of consumers is the fraudster’s worst enemy!
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Tags: bremerton real estate, poulsbo real estate, real estate fraud, silverdale real estate
Creative and entertaining ways of dealing with telemarketing calls at dinner time has become something of a national pasttime in America. And, it is estimated that 80% of Americans sort their mail over the garbage can! If you wait long enough, you can buy everything from a vacation to a vacuum cleaner from somebody you’ve never heard of, who either calls you or sends you mail. Not to mention the subject of email spam. Marketers are a creative bunch and their techniques for finding you can seem mysterious. It’s not mysterious at all though. Marketers simply pay your credit reporting agency to provided them with a list of possible customers. “What about my privacy?”, you ask “Can the credit agencies do that legally”? Your privacy is intact and yes, they can, are the answers to those questions.
These articles run the gamut from shocking to discouraging. Many of the articles blame this situation on the sub prime lending practices in recent years. Many of the articles predict that First Time Homebuyers will no longer be able to attain the American Dream! Many say that 100% financing is gone for good. I say: Don’t believe everything you hear (or read). Zero Down Home Loans are alive and well.
Many residential properties here on the Kitsap Peninsula have a private or shared-party well as their water source. As a Buyer’s Agent, I normally include NWMLS Form 22R (Well Inspection Addendum) along with the Purchase & Sales Agreement. This addendum requires that the Sellers disclose how many connections are served by the well, and verifies an adequate supply of household and yard water to the property. In addition, if required by the Buyer’s Lender, the Sellers will provide, at their cost, a health letter from the County to certify that the water is free from any biological, bacteriological, or chemical agents. This process requires that a water sampling be taken by an approved third party testing lab.
