Well, what the Beatles should know about St. George short sales depends on which Beatles we’re talking about. Paul and Ringo are still alive, but they are rarely, if ever, seen in the Saint George, Utah area. And if Paul and Ringo should know about a St. George short sale, they’re either looking for a bargain or they simply love the beauty and climate of Washington County for the next of their many houses.

Whether those Beatles are interested in the real estate of Southern Utah is for me to know and for you to find out. (You wouldn’t want me to fall out of their graces for revealing secrets, would you?) Perhaps there are other Beatles who may wish to buy a house in St. George. Beatle-loving entomologists, who changed their name to Beatle or folks born with the surname Beatle are options to pursue a St. George short sale; and while ESPN broadcaster, Michelle Beadles, may love St. George, her name is spelled with a D.

Regardless of which Beatles or blokes are considering a St. George short sale, they should know the following six things.

When the owner of a property owes more than it’s worth, he or she may be in the less-than-ideal financial position to sell the property as a short sale. This means that he must get the lender’s permission to sell the house or land for less than what is owed. If the seller convinces the lender that he is in financial hardship and can’t continue to make the mortgage payments, the lender will often agree to a sale of the property for less than the balance of the mortgage. This is preferable to default and foreclosure for the lender, because, for example, $200,000 is better toward a debt of $235,000 than nothing, and foreclosures cost the lenders much more.

Selling your house as a short sale is softer on your credit score than a foreclosure is. You can sell the house, get some emotional relief, and move on to preparing to buy another home, with little hit on the Fico. Keep in mind that the longer the lender takes to approve the short sale and the offer from a buyer, the more months you’ll be late on your mortgage payments, which do affect the FICO score.

The seller doesn’t have to pay sales commission to the real estate agents; the lender pays them.

Because the lender has to approve both the seller’s application for a St. George short sale and also the offers by potential buyers, the sale can take months, usually about 120 days.

The number of prospective buyers of short sales is smaller than for typical real estate because of the waiting time. Some buyers simply don’t have months to wait in purchasing a house, so you have less competition when making offers on St. George short sales.

When making an offer on a short sale, be aware that because of the likely financial duress of the seller, he may not have been able to maintain the property very well, so it will likely need repairs and fix-ups.

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What The Beatles Should Know About St. George Short Sales

Article By: Clear Content Marketing

We’re not talking about dreams of the boogie man, your family abandoning you, falling, or being chased by the bad guy.  Or, are we? In some cases, this type of nightmare is exactly what we’re talking about. Read on to find out why. This article presents four nightmares that title insurance can prevent for Saint George home buyers.

First Nightmare

Suppose you bought a house, painted it, moved in, fixed its broken whatevers, landscaped the yard, and started raising a family.  You’re a proud St. George home buyer. After a few years, you get a call from the County Assessor’s office, telling you that the person who sold you the house did not have the right to sell it on that property because he did not have a proper deed/ownership.  The grandson of Joe homesteader, from 60 years ago, is now claiming ownership of the property that the house is sitting on. Now, the fun begins! First, you try to talk to the grandson, but that goes nowhere. Next, you talk to a lawyer, but any advice from the lawyer is bad because it is either “You have to move,” or “You can fight it in court.”  Both are nightmares, and both cost money.

Second Nightmare

As a Saint George home buyer, you may be one of the many who are buying new construction.  St. George is considered among the fastest growing cities in the USA, and there is plenty of land and lots being developed for new construction.  Suppose the house gets completed, and you are given approval from the inspectors to occupy it. After a few weeks, you get a letter from the plumber who claims partial ownership of the property because the general contractor failed to pay the plumber for his work on the house.  You call the contractor, and he has filed bankruptcy. So, you either pay the plumber to release the lien on the house or get a lawyer involved. Just what you always wanted!

Third Nightmare

The third nightmare happens occasionally to St. George home buyers when they build or place something at the back of their property to enhance quality of life, such as a basketball court, chicken coop, shed, or swimming pool.  Suppose you built a mansion for your chickens. A few weeks go by while you’re humming and whistling to the cackling of the hens, and enjoying your new facility. Then your fun comes to a screeching halt with a hard knock, knock, knock at your front door, The man in a hard hat says, “There’s supposed to be an easement at the back of your property, Mr. Coop, so utility vehicles can access electricity and phone lines.”  What? Yep, it’s a pre-existing easement (space) which you didn’t know about because you did not buy the right title insurance.

Fourth Nightmare

Finally, we get to the literal nightmares.  If you fail to get a good records search on your property, as a St. George home buyer, you may find out later that the lot upon which your house stands was many years ago used for dumping toxic waste, or even better, was a cemetery.  Now, you have something to dream about: poison chemicals passing from the soil of the garden into your vegetables, or zombies reaching up through the ground, climbing out, and stomping around your yard. If you’re lucky, the zombies will mow the lawn and feed your chickens.

Four Nightmares Which Title Insurance Can Prevent

Article By: Clear Content Marketing

Exciting and scary are the most common adjectives used by first-time home buyers.  Buying your first home engages your emotional, mental, and financial worlds like no other decision, with the possible exception of marriage.  You can go into it blindly or with savvy. Knowing these six tips can save a lot of heartache, stress, and money. This article presents six of the most important things every first-time home buyer should know.

Stable Employment and Good Credit

1. Build a steady employment record and strong credit score.  First-time home buyers need a solid record of work and payment history on other debts.  Prepare for at least one to two years. Mortgage lenders (underwriters) want to see six months to two years of employment and income, so be able to show a steady track record.  If you’re self-employed (1099), you’ll need one or two years of tax returns, showing a profit. Wage earners (W-2) sometimes need to show only six months of steady income. Be sure to pay all debts on time every month.  If you have a car payment, never let it go past 30 days late because that’s usually when a negative mark hits the credit bureaus. Making your secured and unsecured loan payments on time will raise your credit score, which helps you to qualify for a mortgage with a good interest rate.  (A FICO score over 700 will make getting a good loan much easier than a 630 score will.) Save as much money as you can for a down payment, closing costs, etc. A down payment will give you instant equity and lower the interest rate of your loan.

Public Programs For First-Time Home Buyers

2. Talk to people and check the internet for programs that help first-time home buyers.  Most of them are administered by government or non-profit entities.  They’re in most cities, and they offer assistance on down payments and low interest rates.  If that pursuit meets a dead end, talk to the private mortgage companies.

Buy Less Than You Qualify For

3. If you qualify for $250,000, aim for less than that.  For example, if you get a house for $200,000, you’ll have more discretionary income for home improvements, lifestyle, and savings.  You don’t want your house payment to be shackles around your ankles.

Be Smart About Where You Want To Live

4. In deciding where you want to live, experts recommend considering family, work, health, convenience, and investment.  If your disabled mother needs you, it’s probably not good for anyone if you move far away from her. Consider your work life, what you enjoy doing and where you can make a living.  Location can affect allergies, illnesses or pain, stress, hobbies, and mental health. For example, if you tend to get depressed in cold, dark winters (SAD, seasonal affective disorder), don’t move to Alaska, no matter how much the job pays.  Do you want the convenience of the city, or do you value more the quiet and the freedom to keep animals, which the country offers? Do you want your home to appreciate fast in value for profitable resale, or is long-term stability more important to you?  First-time home buyers sometimes get so excited about a particular house that they neglect to consider how living there will affect the other aspects of their lives.

Make A Smart Offer

5. Low-ball offers are ok, if you don’t expect any help from the seller in paying for closing costs, and if you have a good down payment.  If you are going to ask the seller to contribute to closing costs, then offer closer to their asking price. You can also include a clause that you will beat anyone’s offer by $1,000, if you really don’t want to lose the house to another buyer.  After inspection, you can continue to negotiate when there are repairs to be made.

Research The Property Boundaries And Development Plans

6. Check with the city, or get a land survey to identify the exact boundaries of the property.  You may be surprised. This is a common mistake by first-time home buyers.  You have to know your property boundaries before dedicating time, work, and money to landscaping.  Also, ask the HOA or developer about any future plans for facilities near your house so you can decide if that facility is acceptable to you or not.

Six Things Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Know

Article By: Clear Content Marketing

 

This article is a continuation of the Saint George UT title insurance post A Beginner’s Guide to Title Insurance – Part 2.

In Part 1 we established the nature and importance of Saint George UT title insurance. Now we’ll discuss how to go about acquiring it and the process behind being covered.

Disclaimer: Remember that no matter what, you need to consult a representative from Eagle Gate Title to make sure you understand what is and isn’t covered, regardless of what’s said here, what is said on sites, or what friends and family may tell you. Policies sometimes change and there are so many different circumstances that yield different types of coverage.

Primarily, a title search needs to performed before a policy can be issued. A title search assures that there are no problems with the title in question. In the scenario where title issues are found, the responsibility to take care of them falls on the seller. And in the very unlikely scenario where the seller decides that they won’t clear the title, the Saint George UT title insurance company will be unable to provide coverage on the title of their new property. Again, this is an unlikely scenario, but it still bears mentioning here.

More often than not, the title search will come back positive at which point the Saint George UT title insurance company will issue the buyer a policy. This policy will come with three assurances. The first is that the title search was performed satisfactorily. The second is that the new title insurance policy has accounted for any problems that may have arisen during the title search. And the third is that the policy will cover the buyer in the event of any future mishaps as laid out in the document. Also remember that Saint George UT title insurance policies do not cover any claim that is greater than the home’s purchase price.

Depending on what state the property that needs title insurance is in, the nature of coverage can differ. Even different counties and certainly different insurance companies themselves differ in what is and isn’t covered and at what amount. However, almost all Saint George UT title insurance companies cover the following: documents that weren’t filed properly, unknown heirs, forged documents, other issues overlooked by a title search.

There are additional circumstances involving a property title that can come up and may not be covered by a standard Saint George UT title insurance policy. Sometimes policy extensions can be purchased to include some of the following scenarios, but here are some things that are usually not covered under a standard policy: post-policy claims, environmental protection laws, zoning problems, boundary line disputes, issues off public record. Be sure to go over fine printand ask questions before signing off on your title insurance policy so you exactly what is and isn’t covered.

In Utah, the seller is generally responsible for paying the owner’s policy and the buyer is generally responsible for paying the lender’s policy. But in other states, these responsibilities can vary. Georgia, for example, requires both insurance’s to be paid for my the seller. In Illinois, the buyer (rather than the seller) pays for lender’s insurance. Different forms of Insurance costs are also affected by location. Title insurance regulation varies depending on what state the property is in. Contact Eagle Gate Title for cost information regarding Saint George UT title insurance policies.

We conclude by reminding readers that Saint George UT title insurance protects homeowners not from potential, future problems but rather from past problems that have taken place before the policy was purchased. For instance, in the event that a self-declared property heir files a suit after the Saint George UT title insurance policy was purchased, no coverage will be provided. But if, during the title search, a lawsuit by an heir was overlooked that existed prior to the purchase of the insurance policy, coverage will be provided.

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A Beginners Guide to Title Insurance- Part 2

St. George Title Insurance

Article By: Clear Content Marketing

 

At Eagle Gate Title, we put extra effort into making sure that those we serve rest assured that they are dealing with the most trustworthy and efficient of all St George title companies. Because we know that our customers expect the best when they choose us, we maintain high expectations for ourselves. What should you expect from a really good title company? Here are some things that we do at Eagle Gate to stay at the top of our game that we feel potential customers should always expect from St George title companies in order to know that your closing process will go smoothly.

No Paper

There are very few industries left in the modern world that truly require physical filing cabinets full of paperwork. Technology has allowed the filing of documents to be more efficient than ever before as most companies have gone almost exclusively digital when it comes to files and documents.

Great Customer Service

Because St George title companies provide a necessary service that can’t be skipped in order to complete a real estate transaction, there are some out there that don’t prioritize customer service. This is unfortunate because we believe that there is nothing more important than making a concerted effort to be as friendly as possible to our clients while meeting all of their needs. Buying property is one of the most important decisions that we all make in our lives and St George title companies should treat each customer experience with an equal level of respect and importance.

Punctuality

Being punctual in the title industry is considerably complicated and requires a significant amount of planning and determination. This is because there are so many different parties involved in the closing process that are all on their own timetable; title insurance agents, lenders, underwriters, real estate agents, buyers, and sellers. With so many individual minds playing essential roles, only the best St George title companies manage to consistently meet deadlines with precision.

Safe and Efficient Escrow Transfers

The process of transferring Escrow funds must be rigidly secure so that each and every customer knows without a doubt that their money is protected. A title company’s escrow transferring process should be executed with precision.

Speedy Underwriting

A great indicator of a really good title company is the speed and efficiency at which they execute the entire underwriting process. This is a sure sign of an organization that is well-versed in mortgage lending and real estate law, and one that has its operations down to a science.

Adept at Handling Disputes

Unforeseen problems such as claims or disputes do arise from time to time despite the best efforts of everyone involved and in these situations, it’s up to the St George title companies to defend them against the written policy. Organizations that are more than capable of expertly handling any legal matter that may come up is another great indicator of a title company that is worth working with.

Strict Compliance

This goes without saying, but you should never choose a title company that doesn’t adhere to industry regulations and the law. Even when choosing among St George title companies it’s best to do a bit of research, ask around, read reviews, and make sure the folks that you’re considering using have a reputation of being honest and trustworthy.

Conclusion

At Eagle Gate Title, we implement each and every one of these industry best-practices including many others not mentioned. When it comes to St George title companies, you can be sure that when you work with us, you’re working with the best.

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What Should You Expect From Us As A Buyer?

St George Title Companies

Article by Clear Content Marketing