Purchasing, Leasing Or Selling A Home

Checklist: Questions For Your Real Estate Agent

When selecting a listing agent or a buyer's agent, it is wise to ask a few tough questions before deciding who should represent you. Not all real estate agents are equally competent and ethical, and the deals their agencies may offer can vary widely. Below is a list of questions to ask a real estate professional..

How long have you been licensed? Some buyers and sellers aren't worried about whether they're dealing with a newly licensed agent, but others - especially those new to real estate transactions - feel safer with an experienced realtor. Either way, it's just good to know.

How long have you actively worked in the area? What geographical areas are you most knowledgeable about? It's good to know whether your agent has a feel for the market in the area you're selling in, or where you're interested in buying. For example, a buyer's agent experienced in a particular area may have a network of seller contacts she can introduce a buyer to before their houses are even listed. An agent familiar with a particular territory will also know housing values, plans for civic improvements which may change housing value or create assessments, and even the neighborhood hot topics.

How many home sales have you closed in the last three months? This is an important

question. If an agent hasn't sold many homes lately, is it because the agent only works part-time, and won't be spending as much time for you? Is it because of a general slump in the local market? If the agent has sold an exorbitant number of homes lately, will she spend enough time on your interests and be available to communicate?

Do you work full time or part time as a real estate agent? This question will tell you a great deal about how much time an agent will have for you. It may also be a good indicator of how seriously an agent takes the business.

Have you earned any specialty professional real estate designations that would benefit me (e.g., first-time homebuyer programs or training as a buyer's agent)? Some training may be very important to a buyer or seller. For example, it may be very beneficial to a buyer to have an agent who has been training in first time homeowner financing. Or, a seller might find that having a listing agent trained in financing properties needing rehabilitation would help sell their home. Even if special training or designation may not be important to your particular transaction, it will tell you about the agent's interest and expertise in the field.

How will you market my home to prospective buyers? Some homes are easily sold with only a few newspaper ads. Others are better sold by networking with buyers and other agents looking for homes that fit special needs. Knowing what an agent is willing to do to sell your home will inform you of the effort this agent will make and whether your home is likely to be sold quickly at a fair and competitive price.

How are your fees structured? Can I have that information in writing? Fees can vary all over the map. Whether you are a seller looking for a good listing agent, or a buyer looking for the right buyer's agent, ask!

Do you have full access to the area Multiple Listing Service (MLS)? When buying a home, it's good to know what pool of homes the agent will be accessing to show you. Make sure the pool fits your needs. For example, a first time homebuyer looking for a real deal may be interested in foreclosed properties or HUD homes. If your buyer's agent doesn't have a good source of information in these areas find one who does..

Will you decide what homes to show me without regard to co-fees offered to cooperating agents on MLS listings? Similar to the questions above, this will tell you whether your agent will put your interests first, or his own..

Buying or Selling a Home with a Well

More than 42 million Americans are served by a private well water system. When it comes to buying or selling these homes, your customers need the best possible information about their drinking water. Most homebuyers would never consider purchasing a home without a thorough inspection of the structure and its operating systems. Buyers must take the same care to inspect the property's well system and the quality of its drinking water. Many mortgage lending institutions, as well as some local governments, require inspections and tests before settlement. Disclosure laws and customary real estate practices also may govern well and drinking water issues. For sellers, evidence of high quality drinking water increases a property's marketability and appeals to increasingly health-conscious buyers. Private wells offer a safe, modern and affordable source of clean water. Even better, the homeowner remains in control of the water supply. Sellers can avoid delays at settlement by addressing water quality concerns before the house is placed on the market or comes under contract. Proof of a recent water test and well inspection reduces the chance of any surprises far along in the sales process. If your clients object to the minimal costs involved, remind them that a house with a well system in disrepair or with contaminants in the water will be worth much less than a comparable property with a properly maintained water system.

Research the Well's History

Try to get as much information as possible on the construction, maintenance and condition of the well. Ask the seller or contact the company that drilled the well for the well log or well history (also known as a water well record or drilling report). Most states require well contractors to file a well log on each new well drilled. County or town health departments also may have records on when the well was drilled and how it was constructed. The well log will include a reference number for the well, the well owner at the time of construction, location of the well and various construction details. These may include the drilling method used, depth of the well, amount and type of casing, size and type of screen, and type of pump. Ask for any records of maintenance and inspection of the well system after construction. Also request a copy of any water quality tests taken in the years after the well was drilled. Most states encourage homeowners to test their well water once a year, usually in the spring. If the homeowner doesn't have records, check with the well driller or the local health department for water test results.

Review the Well's Condition

The well log should help determine the location, age and condition of the well. There are other aspects of the well to consider. The list on the following page includes the ideal conditions for a well. Each is a strong selling point for the quality of drinking water available and the proper construction of the well.

Well location:

• Surface water doesn't reach or is diverted from the well.

• The wellhead is visible and above ground.

• Preferably, no permanent structure should be located within 10 feet of the wellhead, allowing proper access for future repairs and service.

• The well should be located as far away as possible from any potential pollution sources, and these distances should meet or exceed all state, county or local requirements.

Well construction and maintenance:

• Well type - The well is a drilled well, not a dug or driven well. If it is a dug or driven well, it should be brought up to current standard or code.

• Casing height - The lining of the well (the casing) is 12 or more inches above the land surface. In flood prone areas, the casing is one to two feet above the highest recorded flood level. This ensures that no substances can wash into the well.

• Condition of casing and well cap - There should be no visible holes or cracks in the well casing. Well caps should be vermin-proof, watertight and securely attached to the well casing.

• Casing depth - The casing depth should be sufficient to meet state and local codes.

• Backflow protection - Measures are taken to prevent backflow (reverse flow in water pipes) and, where necessary, anti-backflow devices are installed.

• Well inspection - The well has been regularly inspected and records are available.

Well capacity and yield:

• The well log or drilling report contains information on the well's capacity and yield in gallons per minute.

• Many communities set minimum well yield requirements. Call the local health department or ask a well professional for minimum well yield requirements in the area.

Water treatment systems:

• Water treatment devices should be appropriate and regularly maintained. These include point-of-entry equipment, which treats the water as it enters the house, or point-of-use equipment, which treats the water at an individual tap, such as the kitchen sink. If you still have questions about the condition of the well, contact a well professional about further well inspection, water testing and/or the need for well repair. Finally, encourage homebuyers to schedule future inspection, maintenance and testing to keep their new well system operating at peak efficiency.

Conduct a Water Test

At a minimum, every well should be tested annually for bacteria. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also recommends testing for nitrate/nitrite and pH, and recommends consulting with experts about the need to test for contaminants of local concern, such as arsenic, lead or radon. Home sellers should schedule their annual drinking water test for just before their property is listed. Buyers should conduct a drinking water test before closing and make sales contracts contingent on test results, just like a home inspection. State and local health departments will have a list of state-certified laboratories qualified to test for specific contaminants on behalf of the homeowner or buyer. Choose a lab that can return test results within two weeks in a form that is understandable to the average homeowner. The cost of testing will vary by state and lab. The laboratory will provide specific sampling instructions and clean bottles or small plastic bags in which to collect the water sample. Homeowners must carefully follow these instructions, as a carelessly collected sample can give inaccurate results. Compare test results with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maximum containment levels for the contaminant, which are guidelines used for public water supplies. EPA does not regulate private wells. Go to www.epa.gov/safewater/hfacts.html for individual standards. There also may be state or local standards for contaminants, such as sodium, that EPA does not regulate. Any positive test for bacteria requires disinfection of the well system. Chlorine, ultra-violet light or ozone treatments will kill E. coli or other harmful germs. Other contaminants usually can be reduced to acceptable federal standards through point-of-use or point-of-entry systems installed in the home.

Review Mortgage Lender Requirements

Individual water wells are owned and maintained by the homeowner, and are subject to compliance with all requirements of the local and/or state health authority having jurisdiction.

For FHA mortgage insurance, the following is mandatory:

• For new construction, the well must be located a minimum of 50 feet from the septic tank, 100 feet from the septic tank's drain field, and a minimum of 10 feet from any property line.

• New wells must be drilled, no less than 20 feet deep and cased. Casing should be steel or other durable material that is leak-proof and acceptable to the local health authority and/or the trade or profession licensed to drill and repair wells in the local jurisdiction.

• Individual water systems no longer require automatic testing or inspection, unless it is mandated by the state or local jurisdictions, if it is believed that the water may be contaminated, or when the water supply relies upon a water purification system due to the presence of contaminants. The lender also has the option to require testing.

• When testing is required, the water well must meet the requirements of the local authority. If the local authority does not have specific requirements, the maximum contaminant levels established by the EPA will apply.

• Individual water systems/wells should be located on the subject property site. If not, they must be on an adjacent property, and evidence of water rights and recorded maintenance agreement must be provided for acceptance of the well as a primary source of water, for an FHA insured property. For more information on the HUD standards, go to www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/ref/sfh1-21b.cfm

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There are News articles throughout the U.S. about indictments for mortgage fraud. Think again if you  think you could never be scammed,

Today, the most common mortgage scams played out in the media are perpetrated against those who are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure and homeowners who are eager to sell their properties. Other types of mortgage fraud exist, too, though.

In order to avoid mortgage fraud, you'll want to understand the motivation behind it. There are two basic classifications of mortgage fraud - fraud for property or housing and fraud for profit.

Fraud for property or housing typically occurs when a potential homebuyer desires certain property that they clearly cannot afford. The borrower submits intentionally fraudulent information regarding income, employment, assets or debt in order for the income to appear inflated qualifying the applicant for the loan. This is done with the thought that no one will dig deep enough to discover the facts. Sometimes, the borrower will enlist family members or mortgage professionals to assist in the fraud.

Lenders, however, often detect this kind of fraud through thorough review and validation of documents and by keeping diligent records. Contrary to what many might think, it is against federal law to assert intentional incorrect information on loan applications. Those who do are at risk of being charged with a felony and serving time in prison.

Fraud for profit scams often involve a group of mortgage professionals who defraud a potential homebuyer, a potential lender or a homeowner in danger of foreclosure. One example of this is a mortgage scam played out in the Midwest just recently. A builder, real estate broker, mortgage broker, and appraiser were all involved in a scam to inflate the value of homes in order to skim off the excess of the actual value. The difference of the value of the home versus the loaned amount was distributed among everyone involved in the scam.

After the discovery of the fraud, homeowners find out that they are stuck with paying for property that is valued less than what they actually loaned. Lenders, on the other hand, were forced to foreclose on some of these properties that ended up being worth far less than the amount owed on the property.

Above-average, intelligent, middle-class professionals have been duped as well as the average Joe. Almost no one is beyond the long arm of a mortgage scammer's reach. You can, however, become better educated in the antics of fraudsters in order to thwart the most common scams used.


The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provides thorough information on mortgage scams and how to avoid them. Just go to their site at ftc.gov and search under look for the tabs under Consumer Protection. You'll find all you'd ever want to know about how mortgage fraud occurs and how to avoid it.

In addition, free advice is available through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) certified agents. Speak to a HUD certified housing counseling user by calling (888) 995-HOPE.

Great interview.......

RealSource.net Executives Discuss 2010 and the Distressed Asset Marketplace by Peter L. Mosca

[Note: To follow is an excerpt of a radio show interview conducted by Peter L. Mosca, host of Income Property Investment Talk dot com, with the executive team at RealSource: Michael Anderson, CCIM; founder and co-owner, Nate Hanks, CCIM; co-owner, and Blaine Walker, President and 2010 Chairman of the Realtors Commercial Alliance. To listen to the show archive or download an MP3, go to www.IncomePropertyInvestmentTalk.com/1213009.]

Mosca: Gentlemen there are positives and negatives to all aspects of our professional and personal lives. With about 37 or so hours left in 2009 most in the real estate industry are grateful it's coming to an end. Defined by many as the worst year in history, the hurt was deep, widespread, and palpable. Mike, how do you feel about the pending demise of 2009?

Anderson: First of all Peter I wanted to say congratulations to you and Dean for an amazing year of radio broadcasts. I've looked back at what you guys have done in 2009 and I think that that's been a bright spot for all of us in the real estate industry. As far as 2009, it has been a tough year in a lot of ways. The market was overheated. In Greenspan's words, 'irrational exuberance was prevalent throughout 2007 and 2008.' Lending was a little bit too easy and what happened was the inevitable market correction. I remember being at an Urban Land Institute meeting in Miami in late 2006, and the first guy got up that was a major developer of condominium space in Miami, and said, 'ladies and gentlemen it's over and the reason is that it's not for lack of product and it's not for lack of buyers, but pure plain and simple it is that we can no longer at these inflated prices even with cheap money get people qualified. They price themselves out of the market.' That's what happened.

Hanks: As you look around the commercial real estate industry values have gone down at unheard of rates, incomes have shrunk at phenomenal rates, and yet I was talking to some people the other day that have been oblivious to the recession that we are in. One was a nurse at a hospital and another worked for Delta at the reservation center. In our industry -- the one that we live, breathe, and eat 24/7 -- it has been a tremendous shake down and probably one of the worst single years in history as far as values and personal incomes. When there is such a downturn, there is always an opportunity.

Walker: You have to go back before 2009 to the housing market and the unwise lending practices, when the thought was that everybody in the United States should be a homeowner. That's a great thought but it's not practical. There are those that are not ever going to own a home. There are those that will be renters and we had lending practices that allowed almost anybody to buy a home and what happened is rather than stimulating a lot of those that couldn't buy homes it also stimulated the investment market. We had people buying homes with the anticipation that they were going to go up rapidly because of the rapid increase that did occur and a frenzy was created. That feeding frenzy caused the market to go out of line and with the low interest rate and easy accessibility of cash that caused prices to go crazy. There were investors coming in and flipping properties, buying it and seeing that five and 10 percent increase per month in some instances but on an annual basis a minimum of 15-to-30 percent with land going up higher than that. As a result, you could see the writing was on the wall. The affordability index was totally out of whack, nobody could buy, inventory was built in anticipation of what appeared to be a lot of demand but then the demand went away once the affordability index went out of whack. In 2009, we've been seeing the results of that.

Mosca: One of the biggest positives in '09 was the fact that there were some terrific investment opportunities especially in the distressed assets marketplace. Can you talk about that?

Anderson: The only time you get a chance to see a wholesale market develop in real estate is when you have government involvement. I've seen this happen in the '86 tax revision when we lost the savings and loan industry and all of those values got so deeply reset and lowered not only just below the 30 year trend line but substantially below the 30 year trend line where there was a chance to participate in real estate investment at a wholesale market. Although those are traumatic for the economy and for all of us and the loss of the capital market is definitely devastating what is wonderful about this is that you get a chance to buy real estate in some cases well below replacement costs. That's an opportunity I've only seen it twice in my career. It seems like these cycles, these deep resetting cycles only happen about every 20 to 25 years. 2009 was one of those monumental years for that opportunity. Remember, you make your money when you buy the property, but there has to be a clear exit strategy. Clearly the winners were those who invested in distressed residential. Our experience is out of our portfolios that we acquired and we participated in and there was a rush for land that was most surprising of all because it didn't have a capital market attached to it. There was no real liquidity to it but there was an opportunity to buy at very, very deep discounted prices.

Mosca: Did 2009 cause the real estate industry as a whole to go back to the basics?

Hanks: Back to the basics in my mind is economics. You have to find the right markets. Finding them will be the biggest challenge as we are coming out of this. Back to the basics is also about picking the right assets. It's doing the right due diligence in order for you to be able to understand what's going on with that asset and the potential for it and the potential downside for it.

Walker: Getting back to basics means getting back to wise lending practices. Unfortunately, as I indicated before, we got away from making sure that a person had a job, they had income, they had good credit and that they had some type of a down payment. Now we are coming back to those fundamentals in the housing market. We are starting to see lenders review the borrower to make sure that they can qualify for the loan. In the commercial end, we are seeing the fundamentals stand very strong. Market is obviously a part of that. People are looking at the marketplace and specific markets to see how they are doing. They are also looking at the property itself. What type of income is it producing, what's the quality of the tenants, what type of leases do they have? How are the leases set up, are they staggered, what the net operating income is, and are the cap rates going up so that the property could justify and carry the mortgage rates?

Published: January 21, 2010

Dawn Marie White

Broker-Manager

Crossroads Realty Inc

732-581-9414 Cell-Text

732-657-1300 Office

dawnmariewhite@gmail.com

www.njwaterfront.com

www.crossroadsrealtynj.com

www.njvacantland.com

Crossroads Realty Sells More Real Etstae In Ocean County Than Any Other Realtor

KNOW THIS- Your mind is vast, your heart is wide. Your soul is deep. Don't let anyone make you feel small so they can feel big. Your power is within you. You are extraordinary!

Brick Closed sales 12-1-2009 through 12-31-2009

Dawn Marie White

Broker-Manager

Crossroads Realty Inc

732-581-9414 Cell-Text

732-657-1300 Office

dawnmariewhite@gmail.com

www.njwaterfront.com

www.crossroadsrealtynj.com

www.njvacantland.com

Crossroads Realty Sells More Real Etstae In Ocean County Than Any Other Realtor

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Churchill

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Dawn Marie White

Broker-Manager

Crossroads Realty Inc

dawnmariewhite@gmail.com

www.njwaterfront.com

www.crossroadsrealtynj.com

www.njvacantland.com