FAQ

Question: Why do I need a Real Estate Agent? - May-27-2010

Answer:

Five reasons why you still need a Real Estate Agent:

• A real estate agent acts as a liaison between buyers and sellers and has easy access to listings from other agents. They know what needs to be done to get the deal together.
• A real estate agent can convey your concerns to the seller's agent and, acting as a messenger, the agent might be in a better position to negotiate on behalf of the buyer.
• The real estate agent deals with the same contracts and conditions on a regular basis and is familiar with the forms and disclosures required.
• If you are working with a licensed real estate agent under an agreement, your agent will be bound by common law to a fiduciary relationship.
• Many people eschew using a real estate agent to save money, but keep in mind that it is unlikely that both the buyer and seller will reap the benefits of not having to pay commissions.

Read the full article here.

Question: What is a Virtual Assistant? - Aug-25-2009

Answer:

A Virtual Assistant is a highly-trained independent entrepreneur who provides a myriad of business support services virtually via phone, fax and internet based technology to support and meet the growing needs of businesses worldwide.

Partnering with a Virtual Assistant reduces stress, protects cash flow, eliminates administrative hassles, and enables business people to find the success they originally set out to achieve.

A Virtual Assistant is your right hand person helping you to succeed in your business. The irony is you may never meet your Virtual Assistant as odds are they live far away from you!

Question: How does the Foreclosure process work? - Apr-18-2009

Answer:

The foreclosure process as applied to residential mortgage loans is a bank or other secured creditor selling or repossessing a parcel of real property (immovable property) after the owner has failed to comply with an agreement between the lender and borrower called a "mortgage" or "deed of trust". Commonly, the violation of the mortgage is a default in payment of a promissory note, secured by a lien on the property. When the process is complete, the lender can sell the property and keep the proceeds to pay off its mortgage and any legal costs. If no buyer can be found the properties goes through an Auction.

Bank owned foreclosures, also known as REO (real estate owned) properties, are homes that have gone through foreclosure and have been bought back by the bank to cover at least a part of the loss from the mortgage. As the banks don’t want to keep these properties they try to sell them again quickly.

Question: Why should I hire you as property manager or house-sitter? - Apr-18-2009

Answer:

We are a trustworthy, professional and educated Swiss couple with language skills in English, German, and French. We offer home watch services, property management & maintenance, including handyman jobs and errand runs as well as professional support during the acquisition of a new property.

We qualified for the American green card based on our extra ordinary abilities. During the process of getting the green cards all our records, including our criminal records, were thoroughly checked.

We take our job seriously and understand that your home is your sanctuary and/or represents your savings, we respect that greatly and handle your joy and pride with utmost care.

We provide top-quality-service in everything we do!

Question: What Return on Investment (ROI) is realistic? - Mar-20-2009

Answer:

If we purchase a $50,000 3 bedroom / 2 bath home, add the closing cost plus minor repairs, we end up with a $60,000 total investment. Taxes and insurance will be about $2,000 for the year. The home can be rented for $900 per month, or $10,800 per year minus $2,000 for taxes and insurance and 10% or $1,080 for management that will give us a net profit of $7,720 per year or 12.8% return on investment per year. Also keeping in consideration we are buying at the bottom of the market and you can be sure that the $60,000 house will be worth at least $120,000 in 5 years or less. They were selling for $240,000 a couple of years ago - we cannot assume that the market value will go that high again soon, but $120,000 is absolutely realistic and would be a level still affordable for people with middle class income.

Question: Where are the best places to buy right now? - Mar-20-2009

Answer:

The real estate market in the US has been under pressure over the recent months and the prices have come down considerably in most areas. According to Zillow Realestate Market Reports, as per Q4 2008 U.S. home values continued to slide for the eighth consecutive quarter, declining 11.6 percent from a year ago, and falling 17.5 percent since the market peak in 2006. Additionally, one in five homes sold in the past 12 months was a foreclosure, and one in six of all homeowners have negative equity. This chart shows where the home values dropped and how much:

Source: Zillow.com

Question: Why is now a good time to invest in real estate in the US? - Mar-20-2009

Answer:

The Californian Association of Realtors recently announced that the downward trend is continuing also in January and February 2009 (the medium house price in Feb 2008 was $450K in Feb 2009 it came down to $320k). Washington (AP) reports that the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 major cities tumbled by a record 19 percent from January 2008. It was the largest decline since the index started in 2000. The 10-city index dropped 19.4 percent, also a new record. 

Jay Brinkmann, chief economist for the Mortgage Banker Association (MBA) says "The delinquency rates continue to climb across the board for prime fixed-rate and sub-prime fixed-rate loans - loans whose performance is driven by the loss of jobs or income rather than changes in payments. Five states - California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida and Michigan - once again dominated delinquency statistics during the 4th quarter 2008, but the number of loans 90 days late or more also increased significantly in New York, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia and Mississippi.

According to Brinkmann, the nation is in for many more months of problem delinquencies. Historically late payments follow a pattern that begins with the economy slowing, which leads to job losses and then to increased delinquencies. He does not project a pick up in the economy until the end of the year, followed by an increase in employment late in 2010 and improvement in delinquency rates some time after that.

Source: CNN Money.com