The Silva Group – Helping You Move Forward

Direct question? Yup.

I’ve been thinking about my blog lately and I realized that those are the two most important questions I can be asking about you, my readers.

Who are  you?

Maybe you live in Nashville.
Maybe you don’t.
Maybe you’re interested in real estate.
Maybe you’re not.
Maybe you just happen to think I’m a cool dude.
Maybe you’re crazy.

Whoever you are, I want to write about things that matter to you. Therein lies the dilemma…

Solution:

1 pound of riffing on any and all topics from Apple Computers to Zig Ziglarisms.
1/2 cup of local Nashville information.
1 tablespoon of national stuff – News, Trends, Politics, and so on…
Top it off with a little dash of real estate information.
If you’re a buyer or seller, you can find plenty of that type of info on my site.
I won’t beat you up with it in my blog anymore than I already have.

Now that we’ve covered the audience issue…
why exactly are YOU reading THIS blog?

We can come back to the cool dude idea, because it strokes my ego, but I digress…

Here’s the meat of it:

I’d like to think you’re here because I write about interesting things that matter to you. If you want more, tell me. If you want less, speak up. My only worth as a REALTOR, consultant, writer, or friend is directly derived from my value to  you.

Tell me what you think makes me valuable to you, and I’ll do that.

So there you have it; my new vision for this blog.

(Subscribe Here!!!)Let’s take this little ride together…(Subscribe Here!!!)
…and see if we can’t learn a little something from each other along the way.

Comment away.

Photo Credits:Marco Belluci, Seattle Miles

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So you’re thinking about buying something that costs way more money than you think you’ll ever see in one place at one time. On top of that, you plan on borrowing the money and paying for it for the next 30 years! Scary, right?

It doesn’t have to be!

Get some help. Do some homework. Buying a house, done right, will turn out to be one of the smartest decisions you ever make.

Let’s look at the first issue; cost.

Yes, a house can represent a significant amount of cash, especially to someone young who has yet to reach their full income potential. The reality is that you don’t have to pay that all at once. In the vast majority of first time home purchases, you never end up paying all that money for your first house.

You put as much money down as is comfortable and required by your lender, mortgage the rest, and pay monthly (just like rent.) Except, mortgage payments (minus interest) apply directly to the equity in your home. The magic word here is equity.

Equity = (how much your house is worth) – (how much you owe on it)

Think about that. Instead of paying rent to a landlord so that you can live in an apartment, you pay a mortgage that increases the equity you have in your home. (aka, you KEEP some of that money.) It works just like a savings account. You build up this equity in your home that you can either borrow against or apply to the purchase of your next home.

Not to mention, the home will appreciate in value (about 3-5% average but possibly much more) over time, which will only add to the equity you have in your home.

Get it? You buy a house now, pay on it over the next 5 years, then use the equity you’ve built in it to purchase a bigger, nicer, prettier house in a better neighborhood and repeat the process. Play it right and you end up with your dream house on a lake 20 years down the road.

One last thing, I can’t forget to mention the first time home buyer tax credit. Get a contract on your house by April 30th and close by June 30th and you get a free $8000 check from the government. Put that money back into your house and that’s another $8000 of instant equity!

We’ve touched on that second issue, but let’s revisit the concern over a 30-year mortgage payment.

You’re committing to this monthly payment for the next 30 years. That can be a little daunting, but let’s think about it.You buy your first house. Are you really planning on staying there for the next 30 years? Maybe, but no one really does.

5 years later (on average), it’s time to move on to the next best thing. You sell the house and pay off the old mortgage. Thus, removing that 30-year elephant you had on your back.

Sure, you’ll probably have to finance the next home purchase, but at this point you’ll have more money to put down and, hopefully, a much higher income than you did when you were in your early twenties. Maybe this time you can afford a 15-year home loan.

Maybe you still have to go with 30. Here’s a little trick:

Make one extra payment each year towards the principle of your home loan and you can reduce the term of your loan by 7+ years.

No. That’s not a magic trick. It’s real. It has to do with the way interest capitalizes on your loan. Make extra payments and you’ll find yourself in a beautiful place.

All that said, first time home buyer, your logical brain should be resting easily. However, your emotional brain, the one that rules the world, probably isn’t convinced.

Call or email me and we’ll talk about what your best options are and how you can set yourself up for a bright financial future.

No, I won’t try to sell you anything.

Good luck! I’m only a phone call away if you need some help. I love helping people get on the right track.

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Welcome to the last in my series of 10 blog posts. Thank you for sticking with me for the past week and a half. I hope that by the bottom of this page, you will be completely prepared to go out there and purchase a home!

Step 10: What’s next?

So you’ve completed all the steps up to this point. You found a Realtor, you found a home, you made an offer, you signed all the paperwork, you closed, and now you’ve gotten the keys to a house that you can now call yours. What else could be left for you to do???

Well, first off, you want to find a safe place for all those papers you received copies of at closing. They are all extremely important when it comes time to do your taxes. Later on, they’ll figure into the home-selling process as well.

At closing, you should have figured out the status of all the utilities on the home. They need to be paid up to the closing date by the owners of the home. After that, you should make sure to transfer them all to your name to avoid any service interruptions.

About two weeks after closing, call your local property records office to ensure that the new deed has been recorded and there is an official record of your ownership interest in the home.

When sellers vacate a property, they don’t exactly scrub it down for you. After closing, the house will be ready for you to go in, clean it out, remodel it, paint it, etc. The sky is the limit!

From here, what you do with your home is completely up to you. Be sure to keep all of the proper insurance coverage up to date so you’re covered in the event of fire, theft, flood, earthquake, and so on…

Thank you so much for sticking around. I hope that this series provided some useful information for those new to the home buying process.

Happy house hunting. Let me know if I can help!!

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Welcome to the ninth in my series of 10 blog posts. Stick with me for all 10 steps, and you’ll be armed with all of the information you need to get out there and purchase a home.

Step 9: Closing
So now that you’ve gone through this whole process and finding a house, making an offer on it, negotiating, getting inspections, getting funding, and finding insurance, when do you get the house? When does ownership magically pass on from the seller to the buyer? That’s what closing is for.

The closing table brings together all of the various parties in a transaction. Its a fairly short process in which all of the final papers are signed, the keys are given to the buyer, and the funds are given to the seller. Sometimes the buyer and seller are at the process together, but usually each conducts their own closing in a separate setting.

The best part about the closing process itself is that the buyer has to do very little. If you’ve been on top of your game as far as loan applications, inspections, repairs, and insurance go, then it’ll be a piece of cake. A good Realtor will have been managing and monitoring the activities of all the parties involved, so as to minimize any surprises that may hinder the closing.

Just before you close, be it a day or a few hours (your choice,) you will have the opportunity to do a final walk through. This is basically a quick inspection that the buyer does to verify that the house is still in the same condition it was when they agree to buy it. This prevents the sellers from trashing the house on their way out.

Congratulations! You just bought a house. The keys are yours, the title is yours, and you’re free to move in. Next time, we’ll talk about the final steps involved in your move.

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Welcome to the eighth in my series of 10 blog posts. Stick with me for all 10 steps, and you’ll be armed with all of the information you need to get out there and purchase a home.

Step 8 Get Insurance

We wouldn’t drive our cars without insurance, right?

Most of us get health insurance to cover the doctor’s bills, right?

So why wouldn’t you insure your home? This is the biggest investment you’ll probably ever make. You need to protect it.

There are several types of insurance involved in purchasing a home.

Title insurance: This is paid for, typically, with an up-front fee at the time of closing. A title insurance policy protects the purchasers against any defects in the title (ownership) of the home. This compensates buyers for any damages resulting from undiscovered claims against the home’s ownership. A “lender’s policy” covers the amount of the mortgage. An “owner’s policy” covers that amount as well as the amount of the down payment.

Homeowner’s insurance: This type of policy covers fire, theft, and liability. Lenders require this coverage when you take out a home loan. It not only protects their investment in the home, but it protects your property. Many items can be covered under homeowner’s insurance; wedding rings, office equipment, and furniture for example.

Flood insurance: Generally required in high-risk flood-plane areas, this insurance is issued by the federal government and provides as much as $250,000 in coverage for a single-family home plus $100,000 for contents. Ask your Realtor if your chosen home is in a flood-plain and what choices in flood insurance exist.

Home warranty: Not necessarily an insurance plan in itself, a home warranty protects the purchaser in the event that things start to break in the home. Home warranties bought from third parties by home builders are generally designed to provide several forms of protection: workmanship for the first year, mechanical problems such as plumbing and wiring for the first two years, and structural defects for up to 10 years. Home warranties are typically 1-year service plans bought by the seller. If, within that year, something were to break that was covered under the warranty, the warranty company would step in and take care of it.

Your Realtor can point you in the right direction when it comes to getting information on home insurance. A good insurance broker can access rate quotes from several different companies and put together the best coverage that will meet your needs.

Now that you’ve learned how to protect this sizable investment, you’re ready to close on it! Come back next time and we’ll talk about getting your keys and moving on in!

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Welcome to the seventh in my series of 10 blog posts. Stick with me for all 10 steps, and you’ll be armed with all of the information you need to get out there and purchase a home.

Step 7: Make an Offer

So you’ve found your dream home and you’ve found a way to pay for it. Now what? Do you walk up to the seller with a check, tell him to wrap it up, and leave with your bright, shiny new house? Unfortunately, no, it’s not that easy. There is a process to follow. A good Realtor can guide you through it and make sure you understand what you’re doing.

Real estate contracts have a good deal of legalese involved with them. In the state of Tennessee, the standard real estate contract is 9 pages long. Not only does it name the price to be paid, but it outlines the terms out the deal. It provides deadlines for financing and inspections as well as contingencies that allow the buyer to back out of the deal if certain conditions are met (for example, the house is about to fall down.)

How much should I offer? Well, that depends on a myriad of factors. What is the condition of the house? What are similar homes in that neighborhood selling for? What is the seller’s situation. How much can you afford? The list goes on. That’s why it’s important to have a Realtor. He or she can counsel you on the market statistics, find out about the seller’s situation, and consult with you to develop the best strategy for getting you the most home for the least money.

To make an offer, you simply go out and find the house you want and then draw up the contract with your Realtor. They should go through it with you step by step and make sure you understand EVERYTHING. This is a very important document. You have to understand that by submitting the offer, you are legally binding yourself to purchase that property should the seller accept your offer. Along with the offer, you would typically send a check for a somewhat significant amount of money to show your willingness to purchase the home. This check will be applied to the purchase of the home. If you were unwilling to carry out the terms outline in it, you would be in default; meaning you’d probably lose that earnest money and you may even be sued!

The contract also sets up timelines for when things have to be accomplished such as loan applications and inspections. The closing date will also be specified in the contract. You’ve got to be on top of these deadlines, because failure to meet them will again result in default. We don’t want you losing your money and the house! Don’t fret, however, because a good Realtor won’t let that happen.

The next important step in this series involves you protecting your investment. Stay tuned for Step 8:Get Insurance.

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