Main Line Homes Blog

Well, I just got back from the UK after a quick trip to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday. Following my sister's death this year I wanted to be there for my mom. Trudy came with me and Jeremy our son who was in the Marines till June. It was a wonderful time visiting my neice who had twins just before my sister died and my nephew as well. We also got in one day to do some sightseeing as well.

We watched the news whilst we were over there, it was liking watching the news here, prices for real estate are expected to drop by 25% in the next 18 months, banks are collapsing with depositors money being lost. Many of the same loan products used here found their way into the UK market as well and 100% mortgages were common. Not anymore as owners are evicted and house prices fall renting becomes an option for many if they can find a tenant to ride out the storm.

The system for buying and selling in the UK is very different to the States with long chains of buyers and sellers being created, if there is a problem at the lower end of the chain it is felt throughout and deals can fall apart at the last moment as money stops flowing up the chain. Sellers and buyers love homes not involved in chains. I have not saeen these problems in Pennsylvania but maybe elsewhere this can be a problem.

There is no MLS and each real state company owns the listing, it usually is not shared between agencies, there is no buyers agency although some American companies are trying to introduce it. The agent represents the seller and can offer you the listings they have, not those that belong to other agencies meaning to find a home you have to visit several agencies to make sure you know about everything. Very different to the States.

 Photo courtesy of Earle D. Vandekar Antiques

When you have antiques in your home and want to sell your home what do you do with your antiques? Well it depends on the situation. Are you going to keep your antiques and move them? If so do they stay in the house or do you pack them up? Is this an estate, how many antiques are there, do you want to keep the antiques?

If you are keeping your antiques and this is simply a move to another house your next steps depend on the fragility of the pieces. If you have porcelains and other ceramics that are not in cabinets you may want to remove them from the home before allowing showings. Furniture and paintings are different as they are not so fragile. Other items that are small and portable you may decide to remove. In cases where collections are worth significantly more than the home, you may request the listing agent to be present at all showings as a precaution.

 If it is an estate there are several steps. Firstly you need an appraisal for estate taxes etc. Secondly you need to decide what you will do with the antiques at this stage. Are you able to donate them to a museum? If the collection is important enough a museum may be willing to accept them with certain conditions. Preferably if this was the case in an estate this should be worked out ahead of time as donations to museums can take a long time to arrange and agree upon terms.

If you decide to sell the antiques the decision of what to do with the antiques and the house may be decided on location. If the home lends itself to an on-site auction and the number of antiques is sufficient it may be suitable to auction not just the antiques but the home as well. Even if the home is not auctioned, the antique auction can bring a lot of good publicity to the house enabling it to sell more quickly.

If the home does not lend it self to an on-site auction you need advice on where and how to sell the antiques you wish to dispose of. Not all items should go to New York for sale, but also not all items need be sold locally either. There are also alternatives to selling at auction, private sales can be arranged with other collectors, dealers or even museums for single or multiple important pieces.

I have advised several clients on the way forward, soome pieces being sold at local auctions, some pieces being sent to one of the major auction rooms in New York and even connecting clients with dealers who are willing to help the collector sell their collection over time through exhibitions. There are many options and each client has different needs depending on their situation.

For more advice or if you have a question feel free to contact me direct at Nick@VandekarTeam.com

Buying a home is one of the largest financial purchases many of us will make in our lives. Even during this present situation there are things you can be doing to prepare yourself to buy a home.

Lenders at the moment, have tightened credit, and even if there is a rescue plan it is likely that some if not all of these lenders are going to working with much stricter guidelines. So you need to start doing several things to get ready.

America is a society that loves to spend money, but you need to use some restraint and start saving so you will have funds for a deposit and also for closing costs when you buy. Closing costs are transfer taxes, repayment of taxes the current owner has already paid, deposit of taxes that the mortgage company is going to pay on your behalf later, fees for recording the deed and a host of other fees related to your mortgage and your purchase. As one financial advisor said you need to pay yourself first and live on the rest.

On top of saving you also need to work at improving your credit score, pay all your bills on time, look at your expenses and cut back where you can so you are able to pay on time and also have funds to save. Do not over extend yourself with multiple credit cards switching funds around between cards. It is far better to use one card and only put on the card what you can pay off. As you pay your bills on time it will improve your credit score. As lenders are now using tighter credit controls, make sure you know your credit score and what is on your own credit report. Don't wait till you apply for a mortgage to discover there are problems. You can obtain a copy of your credit report form any one of the three main credit agencies for free once a year. You can obtain this online and it is well worth checking your report to make sure that all the information is correct, such as your address, accounts open under your name and what is due on each.

When you have prepared in advance it is time to make an appointment with a mortgage borker or banker and discuss what you can afford, and what you are comfortable paying. Often you can qualify for a larger mortgage, but you may not be comfortable with the monthly repayments. So make sure you discuss this with your proposed lender. They should also give you a good faith estimate that shows all the fees as well as the rate including all these fees. Often, unscrupulous mortgage brokers will hide fees, but they have to be disclosed on the good faith estimate. if you do not understand something ask, no question is stupid except the one not asked. And if you feel the broker or banker is going too fast ask him or her to slow down. Repeat back what you think they said to qualify you understand exactly what is being proposed. You should never have to pay for a pre-approval for a mortgage, if asked for funds in advance move on. Once you make a full application, you may have to pay a deposit, but this should be refundable at settlement and this may be used to lock a rate, pay for the appraisal for example. Some fees such as the appraisal you will have to pay and depending on the lender this may vary.

We had a client in the last year who had arranged a laon through a family member and when we looked it over we thought the fees were very high. We got another broker to look over the fee structure and he found $6000 of fees padded into the loan. Needless to say they obtained the loan from soneone else.

Only after all this when you know your price range are you ready to start looking at homes, and a good place to start is the internet, there are many good search sites such as www.realtor.com, and www.trulia.com for example just to name a couple. Our own brokerage has a search engine as do we on our own website that you can use to search for homes. This allows you to look without commiting and without being bothered by follow up. Sunday opens give you an opportunity to see some homes without pressure. It also allows you to see some agents in action and see if you clcik with any of them. Using a Realtor is the next step. A Realtor acting as a Buyers agent represents you and puts your interests above the sellers and even themselves because of the code of ethics they operate under. This is the difference between a Realtor and just a licensed agent. The code of ethics actually hold Realtors to a higher level than the law in many states.

For more information or if you have a question feel free to contact us.