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| CHARLOTTE TRUELOVE FAYETTEVILLE, NC REALTOR® |
HELPING FAMILIES ACHIEVE THE AMERICAN DREAM ONE HOME AT A TIME |
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TO SEARCH THE LOCAL FAYETTEVILLE AREA MARKET FOR HOMES BY SELECTING YOUR OWN PARAMETERS. CLICK-HERE |
TYPICAL CLOSING COST FOR BUYERS
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Common Closing Costs for Buyers
The lender must disclose a good faith estimate of all settlement costs. A check to cover your closing costs will probably have to be a cashier’s check. The title company or other entity conducting the closing will tell you the required amount for:
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Downpayment
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Loan origination fees
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Points, or loan discount fees, you pay to receive a lower interest rate
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Appraisal fee
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Credit report
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Private mortgage insurance premium
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Insurance escrow for homeowners insurance, if being paid as part of the mortgage
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Property tax escrow, if being paid as part of the mortgage. Lenders keep funds for taxes and insurance in escrow accounts as they are paid with the mortgage, then pay the insurance or taxes for you.
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Deed recording fees
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Title insurance policy premiums
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Survey
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Inspection fees—building inspection, termites, etc.
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Notary fees
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Prorations for your share of costs, such as utility bills and property taxes
A Note About Prorations: Because such costs are usually paid on either a monthly or yearly basis, you might have to pay a bill for services used by the sellers before they moved. Proration is a way for the sellers to pay you back or for you to pay them for bills they may have paid in advance. For example, the gas company usually sends a bill each month for the gas used during the previous month. But assume you buy the home on the 6th of the month. You would owe the gas company for only the days from the 6th to the end for the month. The seller would owe for the first five days. The bill would be prorated for the number of days in the month, and then each person would be responsible for the days of his or her ownership.
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5 Things to Understand About Title Insurance
1.
It protects your ownership right to your home both from fraudulent claims against your ownership and from mistakes made in earlier sales, such as mistake in the spelling of a person’s name or an inaccurate description of the property.
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It’s a one-time cost usually based on the price of the property.
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It’s usually paid for by the sellers.
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There are both lender title policies, which protect the lender, and owner title policies, which protect you. The lender will probably require a lender policy.
Discounts on premiums are sometimes available if the home has been bought within only a few years since not as much work is required to check the title. Ask the title company if this discount is available.
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Understanding Agency
It’s important to understand what legal responsibilities your real estate salesperson has to you and to other parties in the transactions. Ask your salesperson to explain what type of agency relationship you have with him or her and with the brokerage company.
1. Seller's representative (also known as a listing agent or seller's agent). A seller's agent is hired by and represents the seller. All fiduciary duties are owed to the seller. The agency relationship usually is created by a listing contract.
2. Subagent. A subagent owes the same fiduciary duties to the agent's principal as the agent does. Subagency usually arises when a cooperating sales associate from another brokerage, who is not representing the buyer as a buyer’s representative or operating in a nonagency relationship, shows property to a buyer. In such a case, the subagent works with the buyer as a customer but owes fiduciary duties to the listing broker and the seller. Although a subagent cannot assist the buyer in any way that would be detrimental to the seller, a buyer-customer can expect to be treated honestly by the subagent. It is important that subagents fully explain their duties to buyers.
3. Buyer's representative(also known as a buyer’s agent).A real estate licensee who is hired by prospective buyers to represent them in a real estate transaction. The buyer's rep works in the buyer's best interest throughout the transaction and owes fiduciary duties to the buyer. The buyer can pay the licensee directly through a negotiated fee, or the buyer's rep may be paid by the seller or by a commission split with the listing broker.
4. Disclosed dual agent. Dual agency is a relationship in which the brokerage firm represents both the buyer and the seller in the same real estate transaction. Dual agency relationships do not carry with them all of the traditional fiduciary duties to the clients. Instead, dual agents owe limited fiduciary duties. Because of the potential for conflicts of interest in a dual-agency relationship, it's vital that all parties give their informed consent. In many states, this consent must be in writing. Disclosed dual agency, in which both the buyer and the seller are told that the agent is representing both of them, is legal in most states.
5. Designated agent (also called, among other things, appointed agency). This is a brokerage practice that allows the managing broker to designate which licensees in the brokerage will act as an agent of the seller and which will act as an agent of the buyer. Designated agency avoids the problem of creating a dual-agency relationship for licensees at the brokerage. The designated agents give their clients full representation, with all of the attendant fiduciary duties. The broker still has the responsibility of supervising both groups of licensees.
6. Nonagency relationship (called, among other things, a transaction broker or facilitator). Some states permit a real estate licensee to have a type of nonagency relationship with a consumer. These relationships vary considerably from state to state, both as to the duties owed to the consumer and the name used to describe them. Very generally, the duties owed to the consumer in a nonagency relationship are less than the complete, traditional fiduciary duties of an agency relationship.
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WHY USE AN ACCREDITED BUYER'S REPRESENTATIVE?
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Why you should use an Accredited Buyer's Representative
(ABR
)
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Why should you look for the ABR designation before looking for a home? These three letters after a REALTOR's name tell you that you will be working with buyer representative
who is
committed to your best interests. The ABR
Designation is awarded by REBAC to those REALTORS
who
have met the specific educational and
experiential criteria needed
to provide the high level quality service required by REBAC (Real Estate BUYER'S AGENT Council).
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