Ready, Set, Close! Part 2

Many emotions surround closing day.  To ensure some of the anxious and stressful feelings are kept to a minimum, here are some things a seller will have on their list to ensure the last few weeks before the big day go over smoothly. 

Packing and cleaning the home are obvious items on a sellers checklist.  They will also need to close out the utilities with each of the city and area service providers as well as telephone, cable and internet.  A change of address form will need to be submitted to the post office.  It's best to turn it in about a week before closing so there's no delay in receiving your mail at your new address. 

The title company hired to complete the transaction will set up the payoff of a seller's mortgage(s).  The title company will also close out the escrow account where the insurance and property taxes may have been set aside each month.  Recording the paperwork signed is one of the most important jobs the title closer has.  If you sell your home as a short sale, make sure to read over the approval letter(s) ahead of time with your lawyer to ensure accuracy.  Checking in with these processes is a good way for a seller to help ease their mind on the progress of closing.    

Closing day will include a moment to hand keys over to the buyer and a good time to inform them of any special features of the property.  Bring your license and any questions you might have before the closing is finalized.  Leave any/all paperwork and pamphlets for the appliances, mechanicals, etc. at the property so the buyer can read through at their leisure.  This will shrink the list of things needed to bring to closing significantly.  Keep copies of your closing documents in a safe, dry place in the event they're needed for future reference. 

If you have any questions on closing or other real estate topics, please give me a call or send me an email.

Ready, set, Close!

Closing day can be an exciting, yet anxious day for both buyers and sellers.  Besides all the packing and moving, there are many things that need to be handled in order for the process to go smoothly at the closing table.  

Let's start by taking a look at what a buyer needs to do in order to be prepared to close the transaction properly. 

How you as a buyer will pay for the home at closing plays a big role in what is needed for completing this transaction.  For example, if you pay for the home by securing a mortgage lien on the property you will have some lender paperwork to sign at closing as well as provide financial paperwork ahead of time to a loan officer representing the lender.  This pre-paperwork includes, but is not limited to, pay stubs, bank statements, previous years taxes and even letters explaining certain situations of your financial history.  The lender more than likely requires that little to none of your financial history can change in between the time that they approve the financing and when you sign the closing documents.  This would mean waiting to order new furniture, buying a new car, etc. until after the closing has occurred.  If you are paying for the home with cash, then you will need to bring the cash in the form of certified funds to the title closer.  

Say you are moving from an apartment to the house, then you will need to finalize all utilities that are being serviced to that apartment for the day that you plan to move out.  You will have to give your landlord notice of vacating per the terms of your lease.  A buyer will also need to start utility service in your name as of the date of closing.  If you've sold or are selling your previous home you will also need to finalize the utilities servicing that property according to the city and utility company requirements (i.e. final water, gas or electric meter readings).

For the closing, a buyer will need to bring a valid form of government identification (driver's license, passport, etc.), a cashier's check for the amount of money that will be out of your pocket as part of the loan requirements, 10 years of address history, an insurance binder for the required hazard insurance determined by your lender, proof of sale on your previous residence (if selling that home and moving to the new home) and of course any other paperwork your lender would require to see at closing.  

Walking through a list will help you remember to do all that is necessary to close out one residence and open up another.  Most buyers tend to give themselves some time in between moving from one living situation to the new home so that they can paint, clean or replace carpet or other flooring, do repairs or clean the home.  The amount of time you should allow yourself to complete the things you want to do before moving in will depend on the amount of work you want to put  into the property ahead of time.  In my experience, buyers tend to be less stressed if they don't plan closing one day and moving that day or even the next day.  You will feel less anxious and stressed when you all for transition time.  If you have any questions about what is needed to close from a buyer's perspective, do not hesitate to contact me. 

Properties with Mold - To buy or not to buy?

I recently showed a property that had water damage in the basement with evidence of mold beginnings. I've noticed that most buyers tend to shy away from these properties; however the clients that I accompanied were open to the idea of purchasing this home despite this typically negative feature. These particular clients were not as leery as a 'typical buyer' out shopping for homes when it comes to mold. This visit with said clients has compelled me to write a little 'tid bit' on mold in an effort to help people understand how much work could or could not be needed to remediate.

The State of Minnesota's Seller's Disclosure form dedicates an entire page to discussing evidence of mold spores and water presence throughout the home. While the visible mold is certainly cause for concern, most of the time it can be treated and with minimal disruption to the area infected. Remediation to the infected areas can usually mean cutting out the affected sheetrock in order to get into the walls and correcting what could be the cause of this moisture intrusion at such a rapid pace. Mold is inevitable in every home, most of the time you may not be able to see it!  Finding the cause of the moisture issue is what ends up taking the most time and effort to assess. It's entirely possible that you may not even correct the issue the first time you 'repair' the affected area.  Mold very often originates in basements and most of the time it is caused by the landscaping (or lack thereof) surrounding the exterior of the home. Other causes can be poor construction of the homes walls, leaking windows or a lack of airflow through a bathroom that does not have a fan to keep the moisture from condensing on the walls.


There are indeed homes that are so greatly affected by mold where it is best to redo the entire walls, rooms and even demolishing the home completely. When mold is left untreated for any length of time, it continues to grow and fester throughout the level that it originated in and once there's no more room to grow it quickly moves up/down the different levels of a home. This is why it's always best to get to the bottom of the mold origination sooner rather than later. Mold is one repair that a homeowner cannot procrastinate on fixing.


So, before you make any harsh judgments on a home that has mold, bring a mold remediation contractor out to look at the affected areas and give you a professional bid on what it would take to remove and correct the cause for the moisture leakage.


Please contact me for a referral of a mold contractor if you're having trouble with your current home or are interested in purchasing a home that has evidence of moisture issues.

Realtors - Which ones know what they're talking about?

I was recently at a networking event where a veteran realtor gave a short, ten minute talk on the market to come and included some tips on selling a property in our current market. This particular realtor stated she had 25+ years of experience before jumping into her speech. I will gladly admit the realtor had some great tips for sellers and was surprisingly blunt when talking about seller’s expectations and the difficulties they are having with adjusting their frame of mind on the value of their home.

On the flip side, I was rather disappointed that this realtor was so eager to report that 2011 would be the start of the market's turning point for the better. It is very difficult for economists to predict the economy ahead and am surprised this agent was so quick to claim 2011 would be the year the housing market will begin turning for the better. I find myself curious as to what sources this realtor researched to come to this conclusion and most importantly, which of the top 5 REO Realtors did she interview? (An REO Realtor is one who markets and sells bank owned properties.) Citing your sources or quoting specific professionals for a 10 minute speech is not truly necessary for such an event. However, I found myself asking many questions while she was speaking. I instantly wondered if the majority of buyers or sellers have the background knowledge to tell that this agent’s statements were in fact accurate or if she was just misinformed? Was she merely projecting her personal optimism that most of us keep secret in our minds? How would the ‘average Joe’ know if her interpretation of the market was skewed due to her lack of research?

 As an agent that works side by side with an REO Realtor, I've learned so much more than I would have had I started real estate solo in the 'traditional' real estate office. Not only have I learned firsthand how to approach a bank with an offer, but I’ve also seen what happens ‘behind the scenes’ in order to get a home ready for marketing. During my time spent working with this REO agent, I've seen the rise and fall of property assignments over the years sync up with the federally required foreclosure moratoriums and initiatives set up to try and keep homeowners in their homes.

Working closely with an REO Realtor has also given me insight on what is to come to our particular market, as well as around the US, and the potential issues that could and most likely will harm the real estate upswing. I've personally seen their inventories begin to rise in the last few months and find myself questioning this 'veteran' realtor's statement that 2011 is the year the market will begin it's slow, yet steady upswing.

I bring this to your attention for one reason and one reason only. In this day and age where information is readily available at your fingertips at any time of the day, it's imperative that you cross reference the information you've learned with multiple sources before making speeches or significant statements like this to any sized group of people. We all must do our own due diligent research on the information we read, see or hear before repeating it others at the time that we’re claiming our expertise in a particular subject area.

If you have any questions about this particular topic or any others I've not discussed, feel free to give me a call or send me a note!

HAMP Trial Program Disappoints

A recent article in DS News reports that the government’s HAMP foreclosure prevention initiative stated that 616,839 HAMP trials were cancelled out of the 1,307,489 trials that were started when the program began.

This is definitely disappointing news considering the big push over the last year to keep homeowners in their homes in lieu of the foreclosure process. The article goes on to discuss some of the reasons for the cancellation of the trial programs and the different numbers in each group of reasons. The article can take you to the report that goes into great depth on the details of the program and what it has accomplished thus far. Some of the main reasons for falling out of a HAMP trial modification program can include insufficient documentation, trial plan payment default and borrowers who are ineligible as their income to debt ratio is well above the 31% guideline.


While there is no doubt that this is disappointing news, however the flip side of this is that short sales are becoming easier to process with the lenders. They are taking less time to review the offers, less time to obtain investor approval of the offers and in turn less time to approve the short sale offers.

Do not forget about my Foreclosure Prevention Seminar being held on August 31, 2010 at the Maplewood Community Center at 7:00pm. This is a great opportunity for one to come and learn about the different options available to homeowners that are currently struggling with their payments and want to plan ahead.

Homeowner Foreclosure Prevention Seminar

Click below for details on my upcoming seminar.

August 31, 2010

Maplewood Community Center

2100 White Bear Ave

7:00 - 8:00 pm

Please RSVP Liz Novotny @ 651-203-1769 or liznovotny.com

Can't wait to see you there!

Online Help for Homeowners - Fannie Mae's New Website

Have you ever started on a web search, trying to find information on a particular subject, only to find that you have to read through multiple sites just to get one answer?  Ask.com has certainly helped in this arena, but it doesn't quite solve the problem that Fannie Mae's website has figured out for homeowners that are struggling with their mortgage. 
This new website goes into great detail about the different options available to a mortgagor based on your current financial situation.  There is a woman that comes on to the page and immediately starts talking about the site, how to move through the different tabs, and some simple tips on what to do first.  The site also has links to general forms a mortgage servicer may require when submitting information for a loan modification, pursuing a short sale, etc.  After spending some time walking through all the different scenarios and I found the site easy to understand and navigate through along with a list of numbers to call if you want to speak to a live person about your situation and even a glossary explaining all the key terms used while working with your mortgage company on a solution.
I am very pleased to see a website that is clear and concise with its information and lists ALL options available to homeowners who are struggling with their payments. If you would like to speak with someone about your situation in particular, please give me a call or send me an email and I'd be happy to visit with you to find the best solution or help navigating the website.