Todays question is regarding foreclosure deeds: "How can a bank sell a home when they did not record the foreclosure deed saying the bank is the owner?"It is common occurance accross the whole country, The situation arises when the bank takes back or buys back the property at the foeeclosure auction. the problem occurs when the foreclosure deed does not get recorded after the bank takes ownership.What happens after the foreclosure auction?After the foreclosure auction the bank takes possession of the property if vacant. if occupied they will evict the occupant or offer them a cash for keys agreement to get them out. Once vacant, they take possession and secure the property.Once they have possession, they usually give it to an asset management company to sell. The property is put up for ... 08/08/2010

There is a continued rental scam going on accross the USA, and it could affect you as an agent and all potential tenantsThe problem is that people both in this country and other countries are trying to rent out houses that do not belong to them. The find vacant homes, list them online in such places as Craiglist and offer them for less than market rent to attract more potential victimsWHAT TO LOOK OUT FORFirst thing is if anyone asks you to wire money, it is a red flagIf you are being asked to rent a house without being able to see itIf anyone says they are renting it for soemone and they are not licensed by the Real Estate commission in that state. If anyone asks you to leave money in the mailbox and pick up the keys the next day.If there is a "for sale" sign, contact the listing agent... 08/07/2010

Todays question is "After i make an offer and the purchase and sales agreement gets signed by the seller, what happens if damage occurs such as a leak in the roof or skylights?"The first thing you have to do is try and find any old or current problems during your showing. Whether it is your first showing or a second or third.... Look with your eyes starting at the roof and work your way down to the basement. Most problems you can see with your naked eye such as a worn roof, water stains on the ceilings, windows that dont close, cracks in teh basement floor, leaking basements or leaking pipes.If you see the problem during your initial showings, you should address the problem in your initial offer, you can ask for it to be repaired, you can ask for a credit so you can repair or you can lo... 08/06/2010

One of the most common questions is "How can i avoid foreclosure?" "Is there help?" and "Where do i find it?"There is help and there are opportunities to avoid foreclosure. It starts with you "The home Owner" though. There is no quick fix and no magic formula however, you will need some faith and persistance.Avoid being Scammed...First thing is do not be scammed, do not sign your deed over to anyone, do not pay anyone with a boatload of promises of quick results and big promises, chances are they are not realistic or true. Real and genuine companies do not charge anything upfront.What got you behind?If you find yourself behind becuae of a high interest rate, you lost your job, illness or divorce. You need to take the first step for assistance. What is available to you will depend on whe... 08/05/2010

On August 2, 2010 Forbes came out with it's list of "The Best Sports Fans in the Country" when looking at the big 4 sports of professional sports in America. Baseball (MLB), Football (NFL), Basketball (NBA) and Hockey (NHL).Forbes states they gathered three different criterias for their poll.1. They measured their home and away game attendance, which indicates a team's drawing power in its home market and nationwide. 2. They counted their merchandise sales 3. they then ranked each team's in-market popularity, based on surveys of American sports teams by Turnkey Sports and Entertainment. They ranked all of the teams, then took the top four from each of the four leagues.For the full article please log onto Forbes.com___________________________________The top 15 Best sports fans were : 1. ... 08/05/2010

Todays question is: "Can i make an offer on a new house when i still have to sell my old house to purchase the new house?"The common catch 22 is you do not want to sell your house until you find a new house and cant buy a new house until sell your house....If you need to sell your old house to get the money to purchase the new house, what you need is a seller who is willing to accept an offer with a home sale contingincy.THE HOME SALE CONTINGINCY:A home sale contingincy is a paragraph in the purchase and sales agreement that allows you to have an offer pending on a house, while the sale is contingent on you selling your house. HOW DOES THIS WORK?You make an offer on the new house, you include teh contingincy that this sale is contingent upon you closing on your home prior to purchasing ... 08/05/2010

One of the most asked questions is "How much of a discount should i ask for off the selling price when i make an offer?Simply put....You can not go by what the asking price is. You need to assess what the house is worth in todays market. You should then base your offer on what the house is worth in todays market. Without obtaining the value in todays market, you do not know if that asking price is already at market value, priced much above or much below. It is usually followed up with "The home has been on the market for 120 days, shuldn't i be able to make a lower offer?"As a buyer you should not use any kind of a scale to determine offering a certain percentage off based on time on the market. It is better to find out why the house has not sold, is it poriced too high? Does the seller... 08/04/2010

Todays question is "Should i move out if i am selling my home through a short sale?"Absolutely not.... It would be a mistake to move out, you are still the owner of this home until it is sold or god forbid, is foreclosed. Why you should not move out...Once you move out, you lose all negotiating power with the bank. The biggest power you have, is that you have control over that home. You are living there, you are taking care of it and if the bank foecloses, they will incur a cost to foreclose, a cost to get you out and the cost to maintain that property. They would rather work with you than spending this money and resources foreclosing when they can work with you.What happens if you do move out...If you move out, they look at it as you have abandoned the property, a vacant property is a ... 08/04/2010

I was talking to an asset manager this morning, a special Sunday morning call to ask me what the "heck" this buyer was thinking when they wrote this offer i submitted to them.I simply had to reply with "I am required to submit all offers to you as a representative of the seller no matter what the price or terms".His reply "What the heck were you thinking letting them include this contingincy?"My reply "I did not write teh offer, they have a buyer broker who wrote the offer and sent it over to me." before he could ask the next question i told him " .....and yes, i read the offer, yes i asked them why they would include such a contingincy and yes i told them there is no way any seller would consider such a thing..."So what was the contingincy?Well... I have seen alot of contingincies in m... 08/01/2010

Todays question is : Should i get a discount if i am paying with cash?The first thing you need to keep in mind, is that terms are just as important as how you are paying for the property at closing. What is terms?The name "Terms' refers to what makes up the purchase and sales agreement. It is the length of time until you are going to close.It is what contingincies you have included such as this sale is contingent upon a home inspection or contingent upon obtaing a mortgage.It is that there are no contingincies, you are taking the property "as is"Why does the seller care about terms?The seller cares about what could stop the sale. An offer with contingincies offers the buyer a way to withdraw from the purchase. When will the seller offer a great dicount to cash buyers?. As with any listi... 08/01/2010

PRE FORECLOSURES ARE SIMPLY THAT, A HOUSE ENTERING INTO THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS...are they a deal?Well If you are looking to buy one, you need to know some things...One of the biggest myths in foreclosures is "getting a deal on a preforeclosure". Let me tell you why, most houses are not even for sale, most home owners owe more than the house is worth in todays market and unfortanately if in a preforeclsoure situation, there is not enough time for them to complete a short sale. One of the most important things when buying a home is to have a willing seller, with most preforeclsoures, the homeowners are being forced from their homes, they have tried everything to save their home to no avail or have all but given up. Knocking on the door of one of these homes with a home owner in this situ... 07/29/2010

New Hampshire has the second-fastest rate of job growth in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Labor as was reported July 26, 2010.Kentucky eaked out NH to take the top spot in terms of job growth per capita over the past 12 months. As reported in the Union Leader New Hampshire's unemployment rate for June was 5.9 percent, well below the national average of 9.5 percent.With this report it strengthens the fact, that New Hampshire is a wonderful place to live. For more information on what it is like to live in NH, please send me a note._________________________Updated July 28, 2010Blog written by;Scott GodzykGodzyk Realty GroupManchester NH 07/28/2010

Hello everyone, I get frequent emails from agents who want to break into the REO listing business as they see my multiple answers and posts here on Trulia. The last couple of emails had me pondering how to respond... i get some great questions, some heart felt emails and a few quite rude ones to be short. Todays email actually topped yesterdays.... which really had me scratching my head which has led to this blog post. First i have been working on REO's since 1989. At the mere age of 22 and already 4 years of real estate experience under my belt, i was thrust into selling the local banks inventory. Then the feds came and started taking over bank after bank which allowed me to sell for the FDIC, RTC, FNMA and VA. With contacts i made there were several downturns as they are now called in... 07/27/2010

An unfortanate market trend of late when dealing with short sales, is being able to get an honest answer if any other offers have been accepted, been signed or been sent to the sellers bank for approval.With short sales becoming a larger part of the market, short sale listings are becoming more common. Your average buyer is wanting to get in on this new trend for their share of the great savings going on.The first problem...The first problem is most buyers do not know what a short sale is,  what it takes to get it approved and the approximate time from start to finish. It leads to frustration and withdrawal of offers by the buyer. The second problem...The second problem is that unfortanately there are buyer agents who are not experienced with short sales, and can not advise the buyers b... 07/27/2010

One of the most asked questions and most common call soliciting my business is from people who want to get into the foreclosure business., Either cleaning them, maintainging them, lawn care, snow removal, emergency services and changing the locks and yes other agents looking how to get the bank owned listings i get.....As far as contractors...there is nothing worst than an unprepared person coming into my office looking for work. I wanted to write this to give not only people in NH but throughout the USA tips of what banks and what agents look for when looking for people to complete work.________________________ The first step is to make sure your business is registered and you have obtained liability insurance. (most brokers will not hire individuals, only real businesses) You should t... 07/27/2010

THE QUESTION OF THE AFTERNOON IS :   HOW MANY HOUSES ARE TOO MANY TO SHOW TO ANY 1 BUYER IN A DAY?All buyers are not the same, some can see more houses than another set of buyers while other buyers dont want to see more than 2 houses. On average I dont like to show more than 3-4 houses to any one buyer in a day. Any more than that the houses get all mixed together.  When i first meet a buyer it is better to show less houses to get a better idea of what they are looking for so if they dont like the first 2 i can readjust my search and better located what they ARE looking for. I think it is important to have a good level of communication to what a buyer is looking for, i ask alot of questions up front or what they like or dont like and what they need, what they want and what they dont wan... 07/26/2010

The single best way to increase your homes value with the lowest possible cost is to buy a box of trash bags...What.... Well the biggest thing you can do to increase value and desire is to clean up your home, both the inside and outside. While this sounds like common sense to some, to others they may not realize their home could use some sprucing up.THE EXTERIORFirst thing you can do is make sure your yard is free of debris, trash and weeds. Make your your bushes and shrubs are not overgrown, blocking the entryway, your windows or your sidewalk. Avooid parking cars, boats and motorhomes in yoru front yard or viewable from the street.It is the first thing a buyer will see when they pull up. You want it to be appealing rather than an eye sore.THE INTERIOROnce you get to the inside remove ... 07/26/2010

Todays question comes out of Voices,  it incorporates the question: "Is a condo  a townhouse " as well as a couple of other similar questions regarding condominiums and condo ownership.   First thing is that a condominium (often refered to as a condo) is a type of ownership, a towhouse is the style of condominium it is. Condominum should be considered a way of life. In a condominium you are buying an individual unit and the land is owned in common with the other unit owners. in most condominiums exterior maintenance is completed for you such as lawn care, snow removal and some have amenities like a pool, clubhouse or tennis courts.Styles of condominiumsThere are several style of condominiums that are called different names in different parts of the country. I will go over the common ter... 07/26/2010

One of the most common calls i get is when the seller tells me "I owe more than my house is worth, what choice do i have other than to let the bank foreclose on me."First thing is do not give up. If you owe more than your house is worth, if you are behind in your payments or not, there is help for you. I am sure you have heard the term although most people do not know what a 'Short Sale" is or how it works,What is a short sale?Simply put a short sale is where the bank reduces what you owe to allow you to sell your house. A shiort sale can save your credit and will allow you to recover financially must faster than letting your house be foreclosed on face the much worse credit rating of a foreclsoure.The process of a short sale goes as well as the person you have handling it is experience... 07/25/2010

A common question is : What happens if the a date on my purchase and sales agreement has passed? Should i not worry about it?The purchase and sales agreement outlines the duties of the buyer and the seller, it contains, price, terms and dates. No part of the contract should be taken for granted or ignored.Home inspection Contingincy:In most purchase agreements the home insoection contingincy states the buyer shall have __ days to conduct and report any unsatisfactory results to the seller, If this date passes, the buyer than loses the ability to back out or ask the seller to make repoairs on anything found.Mortgage Committment Contingincy:Basically a contingincy to obtain a mortgage protects the buyer, if as a buyer you do not get a loan committment, you need to let them know by this da... 07/24/2010