Seller Content Index - Page 1

Selling a home can be a complicated process without the right help. You need to make sure your house is in the best condition and you receive a fair price for it. Whether you're selling yourself or using an agent or broker, look here for more information about how to sell your house effectively.

When a home seller sells a property the seller must disclose hidden facts. Seller disclosure can include previous damage, homeowners association fees, or any number of other things. Look here for more information about what is required in seller disclosure.

**Selling A Home And The Due On Sale Clause** If you are selling your home and are not planning to pay off your loan, you should know that your loan probably has a due on sale clause. The due on sale clause allows the lender to call the loan due. The lender can accelerate the payments owed and force you to pay off what is owed on the loan. If you are the lender on a loan and your borrower sells the property without getting your permission, you should make sure your loan documents have a due on sale clause.

**Loan Modification Help: Get Some Answers From The Bank CEO** Are you in loan modification hell? Like thousands of other people, this reader has filed for a loan modification, but can't get any answers about the future of his loan modification from his lender. The banks are swamped with loan modifications and foreclosures right now, but you deserve answers about the future of your loan, too. If you're not getting anywhere by calling customer services lines and other options, try using the format below to document your loan modification situation and get some answers from the bank CEO.

**Short Sale vs Foreclosure: Which One Can You Get To Close Faster** When you are out shopping for a home are you better off looking for a seller doing a short sale or buying a home that has been foreclosed on by the bank. In a short sale you will deal with the owner of the home but will be at the mercy of the bank but in a foreclosure, you will be dealing directly with the bank trying to sell the home in the open market.

HUD Secretary Donovan and FHA Commissioner Stevens briefed leaders on the FHA's financial outlook today, in coordination with the release of its annual independent actuarial study. The study found the capital reserve ratio to be 0.53 percent of total insurance in force this year, well below the congressionally mandated threshold of two percent. The FHA holds $31 billion in total reserves today. Robert Ryan was introduced as the FHA's first-ever Chief Risk Officer. Ryan will focus on understanding risk to the FHA's insurance fund and develop policy responses that address that risk.

FHA cash reserves fall to the lowest level in history, below the congressionally mandated level. The Federal Housing Administration's mortgage insurance cash reserves fell to the lowest levels in recorded history, 0.53 percent. The FHA announced today FHA cash reserve levels have fallen below the congressionally mandated threshold. The annual independent accounting survey of the FHA came with the assessment that additional action needed to be taken to manage risk to prevent further losses.

**Unpaid Property Taxes Found One Year After Land Contract Signed** Land contract -- also known as installment contracts for deed -- are complicated documents. If you are not careful, you could end up in a mess. Some issues that can lead to problems in a land contract are title issues, including unpaid real estate and property taxes. But unpaid taxes could be the lesser of some of the title problems you can encounter using a land contract. This reader found unpaid property taxes from years earlier about a year after entering into the land contract.

**Short Sale Process Problems Arise When Contractor Liens Home** Short sales, foreclosures and other purchases of real estate can always lead to problems. One risk in buying a home in foreclosure or from a seller in a short sale is that the seller or the bank owner had work done on the property and the contractor never gets paid. The contractor, in this case a painter, then files a contractor lien on the home and the subsequent buyer may get stuck with the bill.

**Title Insurance May Solve Encroachment Issue** If you are buying a home and find out you may have a title problem, you should talk to the title insurance company to determine if the title problem can be insured over by the title insurance company. Many real estate properties have minor title insurance problems that are small enough that the title insurance company may be willing to give you peace of mind with coverage under the title insurance policy.

**$8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit To Be Extended and Expanded** First time home buyers and others can celebrate soon. There's movement to extend and expand the first time home buyer tax credit. But wait, there's more. The new and improved home buyer's tax credit will be expanded to include higher income earners and existing home owners. The fragile real estate may have hit a jackpot as the expanded and improved tax credit was surely supported by the real estate industry and residential mortgage brokers. It's the new and improved home buyer tax credit.

Winterize Your Home And Get a Tax Credit. The IRS has advised taxpayers that the Expanded Recovery Act Tax Credit will help homeowners winterize their homes so they can save energy and save money at the same time. But the IRS cautions homeowners to check the tax credit certification before they buy winterizing tools.