How Important is a Home Inspection?

How important is a Home Inspections to a new homeowner like me? Extremely Important! A house we purchased in the past had hidden health hazards that we didn't find until we tried to have carpet installed in our basement. Asbestos was hiding under the floor tiles so we were stuck having to deal with it because we didn't have a home inspection to find this hidden danger before we purchased the house. Using a reputable inspection company is important and it's easy to find comments and feedback about companies on the internet in addition to your realtor's suggestions.

 

We decided to get a home inspection when we purchased our home in Las Vegas not only to find any problems, but also because we weren't familiar with how houses are built here. For example, the hot water heater didn't have a drip pan underneath - one of the very first things we had fixed when we moved in. We were extremely thankful for that information when it decided to start its massive leaking at 3am. The pan caught the water and diverted it through a pipe leading outside. The home inspector also explained what a Heat Pump is; to look for dripping from overflow pipes; how roof tiles differ from a shingled roof; and many other informative tips.

The detailed report we received from our home inspector has been very valuable not only pointing out problems and repairs, but also maintanance tips and general construction information. It's like having an Owner's Manual on our home.

Short Sale Process Actually Becomes Shorter!

RealtyTraq, which measures real estate activity across the country, just released a very interesting article with the latest statistics on the time it takes banks to process a short sale, and which banks have the fastest response time. Not surprisingly, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and FHA had the shortest timelines from the beginning of the process to the final closing, posting an average of 193 days in January 2012, down from 248 days on average a year ago. View the complete article here

But the most interesting part of the article was the fact that Bank of America has announced that it's new policy is to provide a decision within 20 days of a short sale offer with a completed seller package. In Las Vegas, almost 60% of short sales are serviced by Bank of America, so this is GREAT news for Las Vegas homebuyers that can't wait five or six months to find out if they can actually buy the home of their dreams.

In fact, as a matter of course, many prospective owner occupants have been instructing their real estate agents to exclude short sales from their home search because they can't wait and/or don't want the typical hassles associated with a short sale even if they could get a better price on a short sale home. This means they are not even looking at half the market inventory they could possibly buy. And especially now, with Las Vegas real estate inventory levels so low and Las Vegas back to being a seller's market, this will give buyers more choices and potentially a better bang for their buck.

For sellers too, this means less hassle and stress waiting to see if their short sale will be approved and if they will be able to take advantage of the tax benefits on deficiencies currently in place until the end of 2012. Hopefully other banks will soon follow B of A's example and set a strict policy on response time.

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Buy Las Vegas Real Estate Before FHA Loan Limits Decrease!

Prospective owner occupants need to hurry up and buy Las Vegas real estate before FHA loan limits decrease! The Department of Housing and Urban Development has revised its FHA loan limits for counties across the United States based on the most recent average sales prices, and as of October 1, 2011, Clark County Nevada limits will be lowered substantially.

Currently, owner occupant Las Vegas home buyers are able to purchase a single family residence up to $400k using FHA financing in Clark County with a 3.5% down payment. Or they can buy an owner occupied four plex up to $769,250, again with a 3.5% down payment. But for loans closed after October 1, 2011 the new limits will be CONSIDERABLY lower, decreasing to $287,500 for a single family residence or $552,900 for an owner occupied four plex.

So if you have been considering the purchase of a primary residence and you want to buy something above $287,500 with only a 3.5% down payment, you will need to get cracking to beat the October 1st deadline! Otherwise you will have to pay any difference between the new loan limits and the sales price in cash, or get a conventional mortgage and come up with a 10% or 20% down payment.