Tips for Home Builders

 The next best thing to buying your dream home is building a home it yourself.  Building a home provides many advantages over purchasing one that has already been built.  When you build your own home, your only limitations are space and money.  You have complete control over the design of the home and the finished product.  Building a home can be a rewarding process culminating in the home that you’ve dreamt of.

 One of the primary reasons that people build their own homes is so they can customize the home to their own specifications.  As you think about the kind of home you want to build, keep in mind that there is a strong possibility that the home will need to be sold at some point or another.  You might reason that once your home has been built you will live in it forever.  That’s impossible considering that you, yourself, will not live forever.  The way you build your home will have an affect on the ability to resell it.  Some of the features you would love to include in your home may keep it on the market for a longer period of time than expected.

 You should build your home along the lines of those that are already in your neighborhood.  It’s not uncommon for people to want to build in the area that they already live.  These people tend to build homes that are bigger than what is already there.  This makes selling the home a tricky process.  You’ll find that buyers for that neighborhood aren’t looking to pay the price of your home.

 Choose your contractor wisely.  This is the person who is responsible for executing the building a home.  The keys to your new home are in the contractor’s hand.  You should interview several contractors.  The best way to find a contractor is through a referral from a family member or friend that a positive experience.  When you find a contractor you like ask for references.  Be sure to actually interview the references to make an educated decision about the contractor you choose.

 Prepare for delays in the process.  It’s not a good idea to lock in a specific move-in date because it will likely change several times as process of building a home progresses.  When it comes to building a home one delay can cause another which causes another.  Before you know it, the plan is a few weeks off schedule.  Make sure you have a contingency plan in the event that construction goes longer than expected.  Avoid rushing the process of building a home as it will surely have an effect on the final product.

Educate yourself as much as you can on the entire process of building a home from start to finish.  Talk to people who’ve built houses.  Use the internet.  Visit the library.  Information is your best tool in an unfamiliar process such as building a home.  You will have many decisions to make as your home is being built.  Equipping yourself with information about building a home helps you make the best decisions about your home.

 

Contact Lisa Jones and get a better understanding.

 

The Secret of “After Settlement Escrow” to Solve Problems

Most FSBOs (people who are selling their own homes) are aware of the conventional use of escrow. In this article, we look at ways to use escrow to solve problems. 

Escrow

Escrow means different things in different parts of the country.  In California it’s part and parcel of the settlement process. In Virginia, while there’s no formal escrow before settlement, the settlement agent gathers title information, draws or has a deed drawn, coordinates with the lender, receives various inspection reports and in general conducts an informal escrow in the days before settlement. The difference is that, in Virginia, usually documents aren’t signed by the parties until they meet at the settlement table.  It’s the use of escrow after this period that we’re concerned with here.

A Problem Rears Its Head

What’s possible varies from state to state, but creating an escrow account (usually held by the settlement agent) after a home is sold can solve problems. What sorts of problems? Let’s look at a few.

First of all, let’s assume the buyer or seller needs, or wants, to settle by a certain date. Lots of things can cause this including the date school starts, the date a breadwinner starts a new job or the date of settlement on the seller’s new home.

Now, let’s suppose a problem crops up which would prevent that settlement deadline from being met.  Such problems might be caused by the discovery of termites and termite damage, the discovery of encroachment on a utility right of way by a garden shed on the property being sold or the discovery of high levels of radon gas within the home.  

Let’s further suppose that the buyer and seller have agreed on the basic solution of the problem. In the above examples, typical solutions might be that the seller will have the home treated for termites and have a licensed contractor repair the damage. Or the seller will have a contractor move the shed out of the right of way. Or the seller will install a radon mitigation system.  Of course, everything is negotiable, and a buyer who wants a property badly enough could agree to fix the defects himself.

What if the pest control company, contractor or the radon mitigation company can’t finish their work until after the planned settlement date?  What happens then?  Most frequently, settlement is delayed until these sorts of things are taken care of, but sometimes that isn’t desirable.  Sometimes delay of settlement can be a deal killer.

Problem Solving 101

Enter the “after settlement escrow.” The parties agree that an amount of money (usually a bit larger than the estimate) is set aside in escrow pending completion of the work. The escrow agent has clear (usually written) instructions about what must be done before the money is released to the person who put it up (or before the work is paid for and any excess returned to the person who put it up).

The funding of an after settlement escrow usually comes from the proceeds of the sale, so it can be used where there are no funds to take corrective action any other way. Even if the person responsible could get a loan for the purpose, the process could take too long to meet the settlement deadline. In that way, it can be a “cash flow” solution, too. 

No matter what problem you encounter, it’s usually possible for a willing seller and a willing buyer to work things out. Remember that all sorts of needs can be accommodated without anyone’s being a loser.  Situations in which both buyer and seller are winners happen frequently. With any luck, that’s what will happen in your case. It just takes creativity and persistence.

Contact Lisa Jones and get a better understanding of how your property can benefit from above.