Motivational Monday - What's your Limit?

It is Motivational Monday time!  Are you ready?  Are you limiting yourself?  Can you honestly say that you are 100% in every day?  

This video helped me get my adrenaline for the week to come and I hope it does the same for you.

Happy Monday and Have a Limitless Week!

Sources: YouTube, Heart Required.

The meaning of Escrow

In recent years, there have been a number of title and escrow companies that have lost their licenses, settlement attorneys that have been disbarred, as well as many escrow agents that are now serving jail time, for completing various real estate scams and for ways in which they dabbled, dipped into, or otherwise used funds illegally from their escrow accounts. 

The definition of Escrow, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is "a deed, a bond, money, or a piece of property held in trust by a third party to be turned over to the grantee only upon fulfillment of a condition." That means that when you hand over your money to a title and escrow company, they are supposed to hold that in escrow, not only until certain events occur (signing of the deed, for example), but they are to hold those funds for you and no one else. Most often, a title company has only one escrow account where all funds for closings are deposited, but you can almost think of your "escrow" as your own account within that, since legally they are to hold those funds in trust, for your benefit only. We are not allowed to use funds from one closing towards another closing, even if one closing would occur days or weeks before the other. Unfortunately, many times this occurs without anyone being the wiser (other than the escrow agent of course, who is illegally and improperly handling funds), until checks or debits "bounce" and are flagged at the bank and reported to the state. 

I have lost many realtors and loan contacts because of my unwillingness to do the things I've talked about above. But my title company has survived through the years, and our license (and my bar admittance) are still intact because we refuse to give in to the pressure to "do what the other title companies will do". 

Make sure the title company you choose for your closing has a solid track record for doing things right. We definitely do, and will commit to safekeeping your property in escrow exactly as the law requires us to do. 

As always, feel free to message me with any questions or concerns, not only about my title company, but any title, real estate, or legal question you might have. Have a great weekend!

Motivational Monday - Inspiration from the Tank.

I am not a TV person but I do tune in to Shark Tank every Friday.  I love it!

Here is a little piece from one of the sharks, Daymond John - founder of FUBU, that I would like to share with you today.  

THINK BIG!

If you do it for the money, you will always FAIL.  

You must do it because You LOVE IT!

Wishing everyone an amazing week!

As always, if you know anyone who is even thinking about real estate, please refer them to your Favorite Agent - Oxana@RitzHomesRealty.com :)

Sources: You Tube, BigSpeak Speakers Bureau

Motivational Monday - How do we see ourselves...

My amazing and radiant Managing Director, Amanda Light, shared this video with us at a sales meeting a couple of weeks ago.  It was so powerful and eye-opening.  I hope it opens up your eyes on how you view yourself and to realize how beautiful You Truly Are

Happy Monday Beautiful!

How to choose a lender

Let's face it - when it all boils down, loan professionals are very much like sales professionals. They are "selling" their mortgage products to the consumer for the company that they are working for. In other words, the person you are talking to most likely does not own the lending institution that they are working to get you into a loan with - they work for that company, and the loan you would ultimately sign your name to would be for the company, not the loan officer.

I've had the privilege of working with many different loan officers. And while I'm no "insider" when it comes to originating a loan, I have closed enough of them to see some of the things that can go on. So here are some of my tips on how to select a loan officer/lender, but by far the most important, in my opinion, is the first one below:

Honesty - Does the loan officer tell you honestly what is possible and what is not? A good loan officer will tell you upfront whether he can do what you are hoping for, instead of stringing you along and wasting your time. In the end, time spent in a failed loan process can sometimes cost you money. Whether it's from any upfront application fee they collect, or a missed window for a low interest rate. Or in the worst-case scenario, it can cost you the home of your dreams (if you are in the midst of a purchase). 

Reputation - Not only of the lender, but of the loan officer as well. Do you know anyone else that has signed a loan with them? Referrals are really the biggest compliment.

Trust - You should have at least some comfortable level of trust with your loan officer. A mortgage can very well be the largest debt you will owe, you should trust that this person has found the best mortgage package for you. 

Competition - Shop around! Get quotes from different lenders. Try a broker, see what they can offer. Brokers often get a bad rap, but sometimes they can be the ones that save you the most. Or go straight to the bank and skip the middle man. It doesn't hurt to spend an extra day or two seeing what someone else can offer.

And lastly - Honesty (see above). 

When in doubt, ask another person's opinion. Your realtor (Oxana Ritz!) is a great resource, as are so many others in the real estate industry. Or please feel free to send me a message, and I would be happy to give you an unbiased opinion. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Remembering 9/11/01

To commemorate 12th anniversary of tragic events of 9/11, we ask that we all take a moment of silence today at 8:46 a.m.

It's Motivational Monday at Ritz Homes Realty!

I love sports movies! Frankly, I do not know anyone who doesn't.

Here is a great video that will get you moving on even the dreariest of Mondays.

Happy Monday Everyone!!!   

Why do I need title insurance?

In the twelve years that i've been a settlement attorney, the single most asked question I get is: "If owner's title insurance is optional, then why should I buy it?" In fact, when I purchased my first condo, I asked the very same question - and I almost opted out of buying owner's title insurance. Lucky for me, I never ended up needing it. But if I had, I probably would have never made it out of law school. Why? Because I would have gone broke trying to defend the title to my condo on my own. 

Owner's title insurance will protect you against any defects in title. Many question why you would need that protection if you have a good title attorney reviewing your chain of title. The answer is, because not every title defect can be readily found, even with the most trained abstractor or title attorney reviewing the title search. For example, a previous deed could have been forged or fraudulently conveyed without the consent of one of the previous title owners. Or someone may have signed a deed under a power of attorney, after that power of attorney had lapsed or expired. These often "quiet" events can come haunt you years later, and they can have the painful impact of taking your home away from you. But with title insurance, you will be defended against these events. 

Purchasing a home can be one of the most significant investments you will ever make. The average cost of owner's title insurance is only about 0.3% of the purchase price - or about $3.50 per $1,000.00 of the title insurance. And the great thing about title insurance, is that you pay the insurance premium once and then you are done. There are no annual premiums to maintain, nor are there any renewal fees to pay. Ever. WIth such a large and precious investment, why wouldn't you purchase this insurance when it only costs a small fraction of what you are spending on your new home? Hopefully you will never be faced with such a devastating event that would strip you of your home. But with owner's title insurance, you can rest easy. You will be protected. 

Why hire a Realtor or a Real Estate Agent?

With such an abundance of online information, tools, and other resources to buy and/or sell a home, more people make a decision to do a real estate transaction on their own.  You might get inspired by the average days on market statistics or the bidding war that your neighbor told you about, but before you make that decision, I would like for you to consider a few factors.

Full Access and Convenience - It is a real estate agent's profession to find or sell your home, so the resources (MLS, other resources, and listings that are not advertised publicly, vendors, professional networks) and data that we have at our fingertips are greater and more accurate than what you would find on the Internet.  A real estate agent will filter through listings, play "phone tag", set up appointments, act as a "buffer" for all inquiries that lead nowhere, which will give you back your time and sanity.

Knowledge and Experience - Why spend all your free time researching real estate, when you can hire a professional that has the education and expertise, has to keep up with new rules and regulations by law in order to keep his/her license active, and has specific knowledge on real estate buzz or where to find data on crimes, schools, demographics.  It is our job to stay on top of market conditions, neighborhood knowledge, and comparable data (average price per sq. ft, median and average sale price, list-to-sold ratios), which will drive your decision making and price.

Negotiating and Pricing - A very important part of our job is to negotiate the best possible deal for our clients.  We are not messengers for your offers, we are professionally trained negotiators that are bound by license law (under an agency agreement), to act in your best interest.  Real estate agents do not set the price for you, a good real estate agent will guide and advise you to make the right choice.  We will provide market supply and demand conditions, and develop negotiating and pricing strategy.

Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork - With all the disclosures and addendums your typical packet can be over 60 pages or 1 to 3 inches of paper!  And not to scare you too much but one little mistake or omission can result in legal troubles and thousands of dollars in fees.  And don't forget about the closing itself, there are lots of things that can be overlooked during the excitement of finding your "It" home.

How much $$$ are you actually saving -  A Seller's main objective is to get the most money, and a buyer's is to spend the least.  So in a "For-Sale-By-Owner" transaction, a house is sold at the same price as other comparables in the area, and a seller is saving his/her commission.... However, buyers know that and will drive the price down accordingly.  It is very rare that both sides, buyers and sellers, win.  Also, consider time that you will have to spent for calls, appointments, showings or searches.  Unnecessary money that you might spend on improvements that might not even be needed.  And of course the lack of data, market, and other tools that are so necessary to conduct a successful negotiation.

Ultimately, we all want the best for ourselves and while some of you can certainly handle a "For-Sale-By-Owner" transaction, most of us are smarter with our time :)
If you find yourself in a difficult situation or feeling even a bit overwhelmed, please reach out to a real estate professional, ME :)

I welcome your thoughts, suggestions, comments and stay tuned for more.
www.ritzhomesrealty.com

(Sources: Business Insider, MSN, Trulia)