Home Inspection Content Index - Page 1

If you're planning on selling your home, or purchasing a new one, the first thing you need to do is hire a home inspector to perform a home inspection. Sellers should get a home inspection to be prepared. Look here for articles, videos and blog posts with more information about what you should expect out of a home inspection.

**Fannie Mae Deed For Lease Program Rules.** Fannie Mae announced an innovative program designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. Called Deed for Lease, the program allows struggling homeowners who are unable to qualify for a loan modification under the current Obama Loan Modification Plan to hand their keys over to Fannie Mae, but then rent back their house at current market rental rates. Here are the Deed for Lease program rules.

**Home Buying Risks, Pitfalls and Tips For New Construction Homes Part 2** Home buying has risks associated with it, particularly the purchase of a new construction home in a new development. There are pitfall all along the way. What should you do to protect yourself? How do you handle the uncertainty of buying a new construction home in a new development? One reader suggests that the buyer should share any risks in that new construction purchase with the lender that give the buyer the loan. Would you agree? What about municipal inspections and certificates of occupancy? The builder's or developer's reputation? What about using a real estate attorney? Leave your comment below.

**Home Buying Risks, Pitfalls and Tips For New Construction Homes** Home buying has risks associated with it, particularly the purchase of a new construction home in a new development. There are pitfall all along the way. What should you do to protect yourself? How do you handle the uncertainty of buying a new construction home in a new development? One reader suggests that the buyer should share any risks in that new construction purchase with the lender that give the buyer the loan. Would you agree? Leave your comment below.

Seller disclosure is required in most states, meaning a seller has to reveal any defects or problems with the house to a buyer. However, the seller disclosure laws and requirements vary greatly from state to state. If a buyer discovers problems with the home that they think were not revealed through seller disclosure, they should evaluate the money, time and effort it will take to fix the problem. Often it's a simple fix to the house, but the seller disclosure lawsuit can leave you with a lot of legal fees.

If you put down earnest money or a down payment on a home and you have a seller disclosure issue, you better make sure you have a way to get out of the contract. If the seller disclosure form failed to disclose mold in a home, and you signed a contract to buy the home, you should have the right to also inspect the home to make sure you want to move forward in the deal. If as a buyer, you don't understand issues like contracts, earnest money, seller disclosure and home inspections, you might want to reconsider buying a house or hiring a real estate attorney and a home inspector before signing a contract to buy a home.

Seller disclosure laws have developed to assist buyers in their home buying quest and to keep seller's honest. Seller disclosure laws require a seller to disclose to the buyers all know material defects in the home. A seller is not required to disclose everything about a home, just material problems known to the seller. If you are buying a home in foreclosure, your seller -- the bank -- may not give you any disclosure and it will be up to you to make sure you perform a good home inspection to protect yourself. Seller disclosure laws do not replace a home inspection and a good home inspector. The best real estate advice you can get is to read the seller disclosure form carefully and perform a thorough home inspection of the home.

Today on the Clark Howard show, we discussed the new unemployment numbers. Ilyce talked about her upcoming How to Profit From Foreclosures event, on October 24th, and mentioned that Clark Howard listeners would get a special 2 for 1 offer on the Early Bird Special. Details of the offer are below. We also have FREE BOOKS and EBOOKS we're giving away. Thanks for listening to Newstalk 750 WSB.

Is the home you plan to buy a former meth house? It's hard to spot homes that have been used as a methamphetamine lab (meth lab or meth house as they are they are called). But there are some tangible signs of a former meth house that you can watch out for as you tour a prospective home. This story lists some of the items you should look for before you end up buying a former meth house, especially a home inspection.

The housing market is still slow, but some homeowners are selling their houses. You may ask "why my house won't sell?" If you're a buyer who is having trouble selling your house, there may be a reason why you can't sell, but your neighbor down the street just sold their house. Make sure your house looks good in pictures, is well staged, and is priced competitively for the neighborhood. If your house is in top condition, make sure that your broker is receiving a good commission as incentive, and that they will split that commission with a buyer's agent.

In its 2008 survey of mortgage fraud, the FBI concluded there is a strong correlation between mortgage fraud and distressed real estate markets. Indeed, some of the states with the highest levels of mortgage fraud also had the highest levels of foreclosures. But new mortgage fraud scams emerged in 2008 that tested the abilities of the FBI to contain them. Here is a look at the newest mortgage fraud scams.