The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) drafted and enacted the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) more than 30 years ago as a consumer protection statute designed to help home buyers navigate their way through the sometimes complicated business of real estate. Specifically, RESPA addresses the issue of home buying closing costs and settlement procedures.

Under the terms of RESPA, home buyers are entitled to receive certain disclosures during the course of a real estate transaction. The law also prohibits kickbacks and referral fees that unnecessarily (more…)

Buying a home is a significant investment. A title insurance policy helps you protect that investment against potential losses that may occur after your house deal closes and you discover that someone else has an ownership claim to the property.

It may seem unlikely that such a scenario could play out, but it is a surprisingly common occurrence - frequent enough to make purchasing a title insurance policy a good idea to safeguard your investment.

When you buy a home, your lawyer or legal representative (more…)

If you have never bought or sold a home before, you may be surprised to know that there are many costs and charges in the process besides the down payment. Numerous buyers are stunned at the additional costs of purchasing their new home as a result of the various closing costs for things such as document preparation and other types of administration fees. Expectation of the potential closing fees associated with buying your home will aid you to budget your funds appropriately, and help you decide early on what you can realistically afford for your home.

Lenders fees vary from area to (more…)

A necessary step in the home buying process is the real estate appraisal. There is a great deal of confusion out there involving the facts concerning appraisals. Some are baffled concerning their intent and regularly conceive them as house inspections. Other people believe that a low estimate for their property is the kiss of death. You should take the time to gain knowledge (more…)

You as the buyer or seller will have to appear at a meeting in which all of the final legal details will be handled, this is known as the closing. Others in attendance are the realtor, lender and a closing agent. The meeting usually occurs either at an agent’s office, or at a lending institution such as a bank or mortgage company. The main emphasis is to review all of the paper work, and to sign the different forms for financing, and to transfer title to the new owner. For the buyer and seller knowing what to expect can ease concerns on the process of closing.

Typically the buyer will (more…)

mortgage escrow accounts were developed more than fifty years ago when many Americans started losing their homes to foreclosures, mostly due to late tax payments. Homeowners were burdened to come up with large, lump sums of money at tax time that was often too difficult to pay. To ease the burden, lenders agreed to collect the taxes in small monthly payments made along with the mortgage payment. In 1934, this became standard procedure when the government stepped in and made it mandatory that lenders manage escrow (more…)