Credit Report Repair Guide

Since the Real estate customs differ from state to state, I decided to write a short informative guide for US buyers that would like to purchase a property in Vancouver, Canada. If you’d like to find out more, please don’t hesitate to visit my Vancouver BC Real estate website.

Finding the property

Before your agent starts their research for the right house for you, he or she will make you familiare with the way the agency works and also will familiarize you with the ‘Working with a Real Estate Agent’ brochure, which you will be requested to sign.

Then your agent starts his or her search for suitable houses for you. The showings in Vancouver are usually not spontaneous, since not only the listing agent and you the buyer attend the showing, but also the buyer’s agent has to show up, and getting all these people at one place at the same time is not as simple. Once your agent discovers the accurate house you were looking for, it is time for him (her) to prepare the Contract of Purchase and Sale, which will act as an offer for the seller. You will not be able to bring in the right price to the seller without some background information, so your agent will get them and together you come up with a price offer. Since Vancouver has extremely competitive real estate market, be prepared for multiply offers: you will have to fight if you want to win.

Closing the contract

If your proposal is accepted by the seller, you’ve got to wire funds for the deposit, which is usually 10% of the sale price. It might take even 2 weeks before the money arrives from the USA to Canada. You might choose to use some solid third party services (e.g. House Global Foreign Exchange) that would guarantee a timely delivery of the deposit, since that’s part of the contract. The contract could be subjected to many issues as financing in place or home inspection report and so on. Once everything has been dealt with, you can remove the subjects. As per the closing date – it is mostly scheduled 2 days before the possession date. All amendments has to happen before the possession date.

Legal arrangements

The transaction then moves onto the lawyers or notaries for preparation of legal documents to transfer the title to you, the buyer. The federal and provincial taxes must be addressed at this time. Don’t forget to arrange your schedule because you have attend Vancouver to signing the deal. Or if that doesn’t go along with your plans, have the documents delivered to a law office where they can be signed under seal. The funds then will have to be transferred to the Vancouver lawyer’s trust account.

written by Credit Repair Guru \\ tags: buying property, real estate, US buyers, Vancouver

I am not sure that there is a better business than real estate but I am also not sure if there is a tougher one in today’s market. Home values countrywide are incredibly low and continuing to drop in places. Those in really bad shape now are the ones that bought five or so years ago when homes were way overpriced. Those in really, really bad shape are those who also got into a mortgage that seemed like a good idea at the time but made little sense in the long-term.

In Southern California where I reside, the prices of homes five years ago were incredible and the market for buyers was like taking candy from babies, a lot of candy. This is the time I moved across the country to Los Angeles and had my heart set on buying a home. I was always told buying was better than renting no matter the conditions and I believed it.

This mindset put my wife and I into a condo that we could not nearly afford. When we applied for the mortgage we were sure we would be denied but when they said yes, we just figured they were smarter than us. Well, the mortgage was an interest only and so we were not building equity. When my wife got pregnant again, she decided to leave her job and full-time salary with it. We were setting and had set ourselves up for trouble. As things got worse and bills piled up, we found ourselves on decrepit furniture with home space heaters to warm us.

As was bound to happen, the housing market and economy collapsed. Our home devalued quickly but our mortgage payments did not. Now, not only could we not afford the home, we couldn’t sell it at a profit and barely sell it at a loss. We went through a bankruptcy to get rid of our debt and decided that to free ourselves up from all financial burdens, we would sell the home through a short sale if we could.

Now we are in a rental and much better off but we learned many valuable lessons. If I had it to do all over again, here is what I would do.

Income property is where I would put my money. I would have a tenant to pay the bills for me. The home would need some work when we bought it but not too much. Nor more than a coat of paint and a few cheap home decor accents wouldn’t take care of. The home would not be more expensive than I could afford and would even be quite a bit below my price range. Finally, the mortgage would be fixed and income earning.

This way, I would not have to worry about covering mortgage every month. Plus, my home would have real value and, I could hang on to it long enough to make it a truly valuable resale property, no matter the market conditions.

written by Credit Repair Guru \\ tags: Bankruptcy, buying property, leasing property, mortgage, real estate, real estate crisis, renting property

I am not sure that there is a better business than real estate but I am also not sure if there is a tougher one in today’s market. Home values countrywide are incredibly low and continuing to drop in places. Those in really bad shape now are the ones that bought five or so years ago when homes were way overpriced. Those in really, really bad shape are those who also got into a mortgage that seemed like a good idea at the time but made little sense in the long-term.

I live in California, where the prices of homes five years ago was way above the assessed value and people routinely had buyers with fat checkbooks knocking down their door to get into homes. Unfortunately, I had just moved to Los Angeles, and I needed a place to live. Going with the conventional wisdom of buying is better than renting, I bought property.

I bought a place way beyond my means. Why? Because I was able to get a mortgage which I never thought I could. So, I got into a house that cost too much with an interest-only mortgage that I could barely afford. I was building no equity and, when we had our second child and my wife decided to stay home, giving up her full-time salary, we were set up for disaster. We couldn’t pay our bills and, when things broke, we were stuck with home space heaters to keep us warm and deteriorating furniture to sit on.

Sure enough, the bottom dropped out and the housing market as well as the economy took a nosedive and crashed. Our home value declined, but our mortgage was still the same. We were barely scraping by month-to-month and now we couldn’t even sell and make money. Finally, after a bankruptcy, we decided to become totally free and clear and get rid of our home with a short sale.

Today we rent and are on the path to recovery. We did learn many lessons and had I to do it all again, I would do it very different.

Income property is where I would put my money. I would have a tenant to pay the bills for me. The home would need some work when we bought it but not too much. Nor more than a coat of paint and a few cheap home decor accents wouldn’t take care of. The home would not be more expensive than I could afford and would even be quite a bit below my price range. Finally, the mortgage would be fixed and income earning.

The last thing I would want is the worry of a mortgage month to month that I couldn’t cover. The only thing I would want is a home with real value that anyone could see and I would be able to hang onto it long enough to make it a really great resale property, whatever the economy threw our way.

written by Credit Repair Guru \\ tags: Bankruptcy, buying property, leasing property, mortgage, real estate, real estate crisis, renting property

I am not sure that there is a better business than real estate but I am also not sure if there is a tougher one in today’s market. Home values countrywide are incredibly low and continuing to drop in places. Those in really bad shape now are the ones that bought five or so years ago when homes were way overpriced. Those in really, really bad shape are those who also got into a mortgage that seemed like a good idea at the time but made little sense in the long-term.

Here in California, where I live, people were literally and figuratively banging down doors to get into homes five years ago. And they were paying way more than the homes were worth. I was one of these people. Having just moved to LA and wanting to buy something rather than rent, I spent way too much on a home and got into an interest only mortgage.

I knew I couldn’t afford the place I ended up with. But, they gave me the mortgage so maybe they knew something I didn’t. My house was overpriced and my mortgage was way too pricey and not a good deal at that. I had little equity and no more coming anytime soon. Then, my wife and I had our second daughter and my wife left her job to stay home. We lost her full-time salary and were heading up-creek further without a paddle. We were literally sitting on collapsing furniture with home space heaters at our feet because we couldn’t afford to repair anything when it broke.

As everyone knew it would, the housing market took a dive and prices dropped along with the economy’s deflation. Our condo was worth much less than what we paid, although our mortgage was still the same amount. We couldn’t survive in our current situation and we couldn’t make money selling our house if anyone even agreed to buy it. So, after filing bankruptcy we attempted a short sale.

Now we are in a rental and much better off but we learned many valuable lessons. If I had it to do all over again, here is what I would do.

Income property is where I would put my money. I would have a tenant to pay the bills for me. The home would need some work when we bought it but not too much. Nor more than a coat of paint and a few cheap home decor accents wouldn’t take care of. The home would not be more expensive than I could afford and would even be quite a bit below my price range. Finally, the mortgage would be fixed and income earning.

This way, I would not have to worry about covering mortgage every month. Plus, my home would have real value and, I could hang on to it long enough to make it a truly valuable resale property, no matter the market conditions.

written by Credit Repair Guru \\ tags: Bankruptcy, buying property, leasing property, mortgage, real estate, real estate crisis, renting property