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Tips For Winning A Real Estate Bidding War

tips for winning a bidding war for a home

Tips For Winning A Real Estate Bidding War

In today’s real estate market all over the US home buyers are seeing fewer homes available for sale and having to compete with multiple other buyers for those same homes.  The end result is bidding wars where home buyers have to compete against other home buyers in hopes of getting the winning bid.  There are some strategies that home buyers can use to put their offer on top and this article looks at those strategies and why they may be a good strategy or not.

Pay In Cash

A good way to beat out other buyers who will mainly be using financing to make the purchase of the home is to offer cash for the home.  Sources of the cash can include 401(k) loans, loans from family members, bank or business lines of credit, cash savings and more.  With cash the buyer can shorten the time period for closing (if the seller wants that) as well as waive the appraisal contingency.  One less contingency in the offer means the seller has one less thing to worry about going wrong prior to closing.  With a cash offer the seller also does not have to worry about a mortgage lender pulling the loan at the last minute.  After closing the buyer always has the option to get a mortgage on the home and put the cash back from where they got it from.

Get A Mortgage Pre-Approval

The message about mortgage pre-approval is often repeated and bears repeating here.  Going into a bidding war on a home without a pre-approval letter when buying...

What Is Deed In Lieu Of Foreclosure?

What Is Deed In Lieu Of Foreclosure? graphic

What Is Deed In Lieu Of Foreclosure?

Deed in lieu of foreclosure is a term used by mortgage lenders to mean the homeowner gives up their ownership of the home to the lender in order to avoid a foreclosure action against them.  There may be any number of reasons why a homeowner wants to give up ownership of their home and a foreclosure is a huge negative mark on one’s credit score.  For the mortgage lender a foreclosure action can be a lengthy and costly process.  This article explores deed in lieu of foreclosure and why a homeowner may want to choose that option.

How Does A Deed In Lieu Of Foreclosure Work?

Sometimes deed in lieu of foreclosure is referred to as jingle mail since the homeowner is literally mailing the keys of their home to the lender as a statement that they are giving up their ownership of the home.  The process is not that simple though as title to the home needs to be transferred back to the lender.  Usually this can be done by signing the deed over to the mortgage lender and filling out any other paperwork the lender requires.

Generally, lenders are willing to take a deed in lieu of foreclosure since it will be less costly than pursuing the foreclosure process.  Of course, this assumes that there are no other liens or other loans secured by the property.  If there are tax liens, mechanics liens, home equity loan liens on the home that could make the process a little more difficult for the primary mortgage...

How Do Real Estate Websites Work?

how do real estate websites work graphic

How Do Real Estate Websites Work?

As a home buyer or seller you may have come across many different real estate websites.  While there are different “brands” of real estate websites they usually all share one thing in common, they show current listings of homes that are available for sale on the market.  Some websites can show which homes are for sale all around the United States whereas others are limited to specific areas.  This article explores how real estate websites work and which websites may be the better option to go with.

Who Owns These Real Estate Websites?

The big nationwide real estate websites like Zillow, Redfin, Trulia, Realtor.com and some others are owned by big corporations.  Those websites get nationwide access to all the multiple listing services woman holding chalkboard question marks(MLS) around the US so they can provide home buyers with current homes listed for sale.  Those national real estate websites and their home listings though may not always be accurate depending on how they get the information for their websites.  Some of them are pulling the information directly from the MLS while others use a third party to pull that information together for them which can result in some delays of status updates on properties.

There are other national real estate websites that have listings from where ever they have a physical presence in the market.  Most home buyers and...

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