What's the penalty for backing out of a real estate contract? If the house failed inspection you might have cause to withdraw, but if you've simply changed your mind, you might lose the money in escrow. Look at your real estate contract for the terms.
A homeowner bought a home that has a serious mold problem. He is wondering if he can sue the seller even though he purchased the home four years ago. He has to prove that the sellers knew, or should have known about this problem. That's the standard for most seller disclosure laws around the country. However, depending on the state, the time to sue may have run out, since it's four years later.
A new home has major problems that seem to have escaped the attention of the home inspector, the seller and the real estate agent. A basement wall collapsed weeks after the new owner moved in. What kind of recourse does the new owner have? The owner should should call the inspector, the agent and a real estate attorney to help figure out what the problem is, if it is a new problem or an existing problem that was missed, whether the seller knew about it, and what needs to happen to resolve the situation.
Sirius and XM are planning to allow customers to pick their own radio stations. How great is that? For $6.99, you can pick either 50 XM or 50 Sirius ...
Today, on the Clark Howard Show, Ilyce Glink filled in. She recapped what happened with the stock market dive last week and suggested that you might want to watch the housing market closely in the next few months for clues as to where the stock market might be going. She also talked about how you can help the environment (as well as fatten your pocketbook) by weaning yourself off of bottled water and instead make do with tap. That's what Pepsico is doing with its bottled water -- the company announced over the weekend that it actually fills its bottles with local tap water and will start marking bottles that way. All this and your questions on today's Clark Howard show.
How does a deed in lieu of foreclosure affect someone's credit history and credit score? A foreclosure or a deed in lieu of a foreclosure are both considered highly negative for a credit score. Having a deed in lieu of foreclosure on a credit report will cause a credit score to fall and it may take up to seven years to drop off a credit report.
On this week's show, Ilyce talks with Ralph Roberts, an agent who has helped more than 10,000 buyers and sellers sell their home and has purchased, flipped or rented another 2,000 homes for his own portfolio. Ralph joins Ilyce to talk how to find a good foreclosure investment property and what mistakes not to make. Later, in the program, Ilyce spends a few minutes with Joe Hurley, founder of the SavingForCollege.com website and her favorite 529 college savings plan guru. All this and answers to your questions on this week's Ilyce Glink show.
While prepayment penalties are prohibited by many states, they're permitted by federally-chartered lenders. Who is a federally chartered lender? Any lender that has established its charter not in any one state but as a federal savings bank or under federal laws. Think of your major mortgage lenders, most online lenders, and local banks that have chosen to organize under a federal charter. If you're considering getting a home loan that has a prepayment penalty attached or considering refinancing an existing loan with a prepayment penalty, here's what you need to know.
Selling your house on a "rent to own" basis may seem like an easy way to get out of your house, but there are risks involved in selling a home on contract. You might not want to take those risks. You might be able to sell it to someone else and get your cash up front.
