Word of the Week
Word of The Week: FHA 203(k)
When buying a distressed property like a Foreclosure or Short Sale, you may have limited options for what type of financing you can use. The main reason many homes can’t use regular FHA or Conventional financing is because the property may be without plumbing, electric, or other living essentials. These “typical” types of financing require [...]
Word of The Week: Joint Tenancy
So you’re at the closing table signing your life away when all the sudden your closing agent asks you and your spouse, “Will you be taking ownership as Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common?” You quickly give each other the raised eye-brow and turn to your agent to inquire, “What’s a Joint Tenant?”
In this Word [...]
Word of The Week – HVAC
It this installment of our Word of The Week, I thought it would be fitting to examine another one of the Real Estate Industry’s famous acronyms: HVAC.
First off, HVAC is an abbreviation for Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning. It’s basically short hand for all your heating and cooling systems in a property. The reason why [...]
Word of The Week: BPO
Oh, the wacky world of real estate always love to confuse people with acronyms anonymous.
However, that’s why I’m here to help clear the confusion for you.
BPO simply stands for Broker’s Price Opinion.
This is when a Real Estate Broker (or agent) analyzes the neighborhood and give a price opinion on a particular house’s value. This is slightly different [...]
Word of The Week: Tax Assessed Value
This term is coming up a lot in today’s Housing and Real Estate Markets.
For years we had soaring Market Prices and nobody really cared what the tax value was assessed at. However, now tax values are higher than actual market values, and people are starting to notice in a big way.
Definition: Tax Assessed Value is a dollar [...]
Word of The Week: Compromise
OK, so maybe this isn’t exactly a “Real Estate Term” in specific, but I wanted to take a moment to address the word Compromise and discuss how it fits in with the Home Buying Process.
We all know that Compromise is necessary in life, and making a real estate purchase is no different. The fact is [...]
Word of The Week: Seller Paid Closing Costs
It’s a buyer’s market. Ask anyone on the street or anybody in the Real Estate business and they’d concede this much. Along with the term “buyer’s market” there are a number of items that people assume are true for this type of Housing Market.
More Homes Available
Lower Prices
Lower Mortgage Interest Rates
These are just a few of [...]
Word of The Week: Sheriff’s Sale
Lately, I have been bombarded with questions about Short Sales and Foreclosures. Which makes sense, since these 2 types of Lender-Mediated Sales made up about 60% of the Twin Cities Closed Sales in January 2009.
That means 6 out of every 10 homes that sold in January ‘09 were either a bank-owned or short sale. Needless [...]
Word of The Week: Arbitration
*Disclaimer – I am not an attorney or legal adviser. Always consult an expert when dealing with legal matters*
When writing up a Purchase Agreement for a property in Minnesota, you will have to sign off on a line that states you have been explained the choice to use Arbitration or Litigation when resolving disputes on [...]
Word of The Week: Pending
This is a term you’ll see a lot more in the coming months. There are certain status designations that properties on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) get filed under.
They are:
Active
Pending
Expired
Cancelled
Sold
Temporarily Not Available for Showings.
They’re pretty self explanatory, but it’s always the gray areas in life we seem to gloss over. So, here’s some more information [...]
