Real Estate

Archive for August, 2009

Buying A Home – The Phantom Offer

After a long and exhaustive search you have finally found the house for you so you instruct your real estate agent you put in a offer for you. You are told that there are no other offers on the property so you think your chances of getting it are pretty good. But when it comes time to present your offer your are told that there is another offer and it just happens to be better than yours. But is it real?

Are you familiar with the term phantom offer? By the time you finish reading this article on phantom buyers and sellers you will know a few tips and tricks to protect yourself against this false offer.

A phantom offer is an offer that really does not exist. It exists only in the mind of the person making it. While phantom offers are not common practice you will find it more prevalent in a hot real estate market where it is easier to fall susceptible to it.

Here is a scenario of a phantom offer created by the seller themselves. You come in and make an offer on a home and suddenly there is another offer better than yours.

In this scenario the seller will try and drive the value of the property up to get you to increase your offer. They may go so far as to actually create a phantom buyer.

With a phantom buyer the seller will actually create an imaginary person with good credit. They will create a fake contract that includes a higher price than what you have been offering. However since you are not allowed to actually see and read the competing offers you cannot really tell if the offer is legitimate.

If they have an accomplice it might include a mortgage broker used to create an identity and credit of a real person who was not able to close on the property. All of this is all designed to drive your bid price up.

Another problem a phantom offer can present to you is more than just money. You may have to go in and eliminate some of the conditions of the contract that you were hoping to get.

For example you may not get the closing date that you wanted. You might not get the seller to making improvements prior to closing or have a condition on a home inspection and so on.

The thing about phantom offers is they are illegal. They are used strictly to drive the price and conditions of your offer up.

There is another scenario that a phantom buyer could be created. In this scenario a third party can create a phantom buyer.

The sole purpose of this is to defraud the lender themselves. What happens is the seller offers a property for sale and a buyer offers to pay more than the asking price.

The settlement includes payments for unperformed services for unrecorded mortgages. The buyer takes title in the name of an individual with good credit and the seller doesn’t realize he’s been involved in a scheme to defraud the lender.

Most phantom offers involve the seller and really are trying to take advantage of you when it comes to buying their home. Always get the opinion of your real estate professional as to what to do in these cases. Their expertise will help you to not fall victim to these types of scams.

About the writer:  Larry Lloyd is an Ajax Realtor who specializes on the Durham Real Estate market. Feel free to contact Larry and his team when you are in the market for residential homes Durham or for any questions regarding the current real estate market.

Build Your Own House And Save A Fortune

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 movein 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.

About the writer:  Frank Rizzo has years of experience in the Panama real estate industries as well as a significant amount of Panama travel.

Builders Adjusting To Buyer Demands

Phoenix Arizona is an attractive city to make a home investment. The real estate market here is diverse offering buyers plenty of options in terms of type of property available for sale and the pricing. Making a home investment here is a good option because value of property is sure to rise in the years to come yielding a good builtup equity value.

Nowaday lots of home buyers want to build a home according to their exact specifications. Home shoppers typically want a home with features and facilities that they have chosen. They want to be involved in every step of the building process. Consequently even tract home builders are now offering custom home building services. Several Arizona home builders are offering their own form of semicustom options. This allows home buyers to choose almost every aspect of the home building process.

If you are looking towards building a custom home in Phoenix check out the services offered by the top Phoenix custom home builders. These custom new home builders are well aware of the options that buyers would seek when building their custom home and are prepared to cater to them using their skills resources and expertise. Building a custom home requires a lot of thought and careful planning because every aspect of the home has to be decided by you.

Custom homes offer lots of flexibility for what buyers want in their home which is the biggest advantage of buying a custom home. Buyers get to select the home layout number of rooms type of flooring fixtures fittings home appliances paint color and practically everything that goes into building their dream home.

Since building a custom home is a detailed process buyers should be ready to accept the time efforts and financial obligations that go with it. It may take a couple of months for the home to be ready or some of the options that a buyer has selected can cost a bit to be implemented. However it is well worth the time and money spent because the buyer ultimately gets a home built with the kind of building materials that they want and which has the kind of features and facilities they would like to have in their home.

About the writer:  Paul is a principal of NewHomesSection.com. Search Arizona home builders Arizona master planned communities and Arizona real estate today!