Selling Your Home - What Can Go Wrong With Title and Lenders

If you're selling your home, there are going to be difficulties at some point in the transaction. Some problems can't be fixed. It's important to figure out whether yours are fixable or not. Then you can either fix them or move on and find another buyer. If it's priced appropriately, there's a buyer out there for virtually every property.

Title Problems

You get a call from the person searching the title to your property saying your first cousin once removed is shown as having a ten percent interest in the property. I hope you (and not just your lender) have title insurance.

If you don't, perhaps your cousin will sign a "quit claim deed" (or whatever similar term your jurisdiction uses) if her father was paid for his interest long ago, but nothing was recorded to that effect with the land records. If that doesn't work, perhaps your cousin will agree to join in the sale and receive ten percent of the proceeds.

Failing that, you're probably looking at a court proceeding. The sale will fall apart, and you'll have to start all over again once the problem of legal ownership has been resolved. Bummer. Before you put a property on the market, make sure your title is clear.

Lender Objections

Lenders can really punch holes in a home sale. Let's look at a few examples.

Example One

The lender calls and says your garden shed is encroaching on your neighbor's property, while their fence is on yours. The lender won't fund the buyer's loan until everything is moved to where it belongs. Typically, the lender isn't going to back down. What are your options?

If you get along with your neighbor and can do the work yourself (or can afford to have it done), the problem can be quickly cured. I once saw a very creative resolution to this problem. The shed was on a utility right-of-way. The seller got the county to write a letter to the lender saying that if a shed weren't on a poured foundation (it wasn't) and could be moved on notice, then it wasn't considered an encroachment until/unless such a notice was sent.

Example Two

The lender says your property will appraise for the amount needed for the loan so long as the following repairs are made. The list of repairs upsets you. Time to take a deep breath and think. How can you get them taken care of before settlement? Can you do them? Have them done? Would the buyer be willing to help out? Is this a deal to walk away from? Regardless of the answer, the key is to make a logical decision not an emotional one.

Example Three

The lender's appraiser comes in with an appraisal that is below your agreed sales price. The lender is willing to lend based on the appraisal, not the previously agreed price.

There are several options for fixing this problem.

1. You can reduce your price to the appraisal price.

2. If the buyer wants your property enough and has enough money, he can pay a larger down payment and leave the purchase price the same.

3. The two of you can split the difference; you come down some, and he increases his down payment some.

4. Or, sadly, the deal can fall apart over this issue.

The real key to successfully dealing with problems is to stay calm, open minded, flexible, bottom line oriented, and think win/win. Most of the problems that occur do have solutions. We just need to look for them persistently.

Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org - providing homes for sale by owner, "FSBO", properties. Are you thinking, "Should I sell my home?" Visit http://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to sell your home sale for free for one month.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion deal with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure practices. New York, Nevada and Delaware joined California in holding out for better terms.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion settlement with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure procedures, but California, New York and other key states were still not among them.

California has until Monday to share in a multi-state deal with banks to obtain mortgage relief and reforms. Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who walked away from talks last year, says the door remains open.

With a Monday deadline at hand, California officials have resumed direct talks with the Obama administration about joining a multibillion-dollar, multi-state mortgage settlement with the nation's largest banks, a source said Sunday.

The talk show host pays $12 million for the 4,088-square-foot house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with beach access.

In one of the more talked-about transactions in town, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to daytime host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore lists for $2,875,000.

A decorative cast stone entrance opens to this restored Spanish Colonial Revival-style house in Pasadena's South Orange Grove area. Built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore, the house retains such original details as coffered wood ceilings and arched doorways.

They don't believe they can sell their property for what it's worth, so they're spending money on making their homes more comfortable.

Do you fit any of these descriptions?

A biennial research report by the National Assn. of Realtors indicates that a handful of real estate agents and brokers and their clients either don't know the law or don't care to follow it.

When it comes to lawsuits, real estate agents and brokers tangle mostly among themselves.

The president aims to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages.

 

The White House hopes to help millions of homeowners lower their monthly mortgage bill with a $5 billion to $10 billion plan to set up a streamlined refinancing program for people who are current on their payments.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large U.S. cities fell 1.3% in November from October as foreclosures continue to drag down the housing market.

Three straight months of home-price declines in the biggest U.S. cities showed that foreclosures remain a significant drag on a housing market that is entering its fifth year of deterioration.

L.A. Clipper Chris Paul may be quick down the court, but he moves pretty fast when it comes to buying multimillion-dollar real estate too.