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What happens after a buyer and seller agree on a price for a home?

After you find the home you want to buy, you, as the buyer, will present an offer through the real estate agent to the seller, outlining the purchase price, time to close escrow, contingencies, amount of deposit, etc. The seller can reject the officer, accept or counter. If a deposit is required, an escrow account is set up. Various property inspections are performed to determine the overall condition of the property. The Transfer Disclosure Statement is filled out by the seller and given to the buyer, which details the present condition of the property, including defects and malfunctions. If defects are uncovered, it is necessary to decide if the repairs will be done at the seller’s expense, or taken as a credit against the purchase price.

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What does a home borrower do when his real estate loan is mishandled by the lender? How do you dispute irregularaties?

The first thing that a home borrower must do when there are mortgage disputes or mortgage irregularities is to personally call and speak to a representative of the lender in an effort to resolve it. Following the initial conversation, make notes and follow up with a letter confirming the discussion. Keep a copy of the letter for future reference. Going forward, it is valuable information should there be a later appeal.

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Rights When Your Home Mortgage Loan is Sold and Assigned to Another Lender

The practice of selling or transferring the servicing of your mortgage loan is very common in the mortgage industry and your mortgage servicing can be transferred more than once during the life of your loan. Whether or not a borrower has any rights to object to and perhaps stop an assignment of his or her loan for servicing or ownership depends entirely upon the written agreement between the borrower and the lender for the loan. Simply put, if the written documents do not prevent the lender from selling the loan to the borrower and its servicing rights, the borrower has no rights to stop the transfer and assignment.

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How are My Property Taxes Assessed, and How Often Will My Taxes Change?

In the majority of states, property value is assessed for property tax purposes every five to seven years. However, some states only assess the value of the home upon the sale or refinancing of the property, while other states assess property values every year. The assessment of your property’s value is used to find your required annual property taxes. If you are in a majority state, in which the value of your property is only assessed every five to seven years, the determined tax rate will stay consistent during this time period.

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