Steffan Blaser's Lake Oroville Real Estate Blog

Hi, This is a pretty simple question really–Should You Get a Home Inspection??? The answer is probably always Yes. Look at it this way.—Almost Every Home has things that can use repair–things age and break like you and me—I shouldn’t remind myself of that tho—anyway before I get off on that tangent, lets get back to the home inspection discussion.— My concern as a Realtor, maybe even representing you, is to have a qualified home inspector give the house a pretty thorough look. Things like operating range/oven/stove-top or what have you. The furnace, air conditioner, fireplace, electrical plugs and breaker boxes–plumbing leaks, water heater all the things that can cost Big $$$ if  and when they break, and everything does, eventually.— It’s  just a matter of when.— This inspection gives you a heads up advantage of trying to determine the overall condition of the home you want to buy.—So you write a check for $400 or so to Help Protect Your Hiney, especially when you are about to spend  Tens or Hundreds of Thosands of Dollars.— Better Safe than Sorry I say.— The Inspector I have been using is also a General Contractor who is familiar with Building Codes and the like and I and my clients feel more comfortable using someone who knows building rather than someone who may or may not. Remember to discuss this with your Realtor when you decide to purchase a House which You will make into Your Home.— See You Next Time—Buy Buy Now. 

Happy Monday to You— Just a Tad More for you to remember to discuss with your Realtor during the purchase contract writing— The standard response time built in the CAR contract is 3 days after you have signed it (it depends on the details of the seller). Some of which are—Is it a Distress Sale? Is it a Short Sale or REO?—Or is it just—For Sale?    Your Realtor should know what is best and will be happy to discuss that item with you.  If their is a question about how much time the seller will need to respond (which is not uncommon) to your offer to purchase, probably your Realtor will want to call the listing agent to ask the question—How much time do we need to expect for the seller to respond?— Remember if You need questions answered ask your Realtor.   I hope this information has been helpful to you in understanding a few of the basics you need to make sure you discuss with your Realtor.—Happy Real Estate Hunting. — Bye Bye Now.

Hello again—So when you are with your Realtor while he/she is drafting your Purchase Contract. Here’s a  few more basics for you to remember. —It may seem like a trivial thing to talk about, but not all agents fill out the purchase contract correctly.— It is important that it is filled out properly and correctly not only for your protection as the buyer, but for the Lender as well who will ultimately give it to the Underwriter.—  The attorneys at C.A.R. and the forms people put protection things in the contract for you the buyer. —Make sure that your loan amount is in the contract.— I generally talk to the buyers loan officer (whoever that may be) prior to or during the contract writing process, to ask the important necessary protection questions for the buyer. (The Max interest rate that should be put in the contract, or if you are doing an FHA Loan how much must the seller pay, the buyer cannot and other questions too)— So ask your Realtor to show you where in the contract is the loan amount if you don’t see this in the contract, or if it is not brought up in discussion (haha—that is if you are getting a loan to do the purchase it needs to be in the contract—oh duh)—Next, there is a place to put in a MAXIMUM interest rate you are willing to pay (Typically that amount is given to the Realtor by the loan officer who knows the history of credit of the buyer and other details which will dictate the interest rate). It is a protection clause for you, the buyer because— If the interest rates rise and it goes above that percentage number in the contract, it is your right to back out and retain your deposit (ask your Realtor about this). — However if it is Not in the contract and you cancel the purchase (depending on certain  terms) You may have just given the seller your deposit when you didn’t necessarily have to.— That’s what I mean by a buyers protection clause.— Next, the interest rate will be written in the contract(hopefully) under the FIXED loan part. — Probably a 30 year Fixed Rate. You probably DO NOT WANT TO DO AN ARM (ADJUSTABLE RATE LOAN) EVER.—the loan term (30 years) should be marked as well as the 30 year Amortized (equal monthly payments over 30 years) is what that means (unless you are doing a Fixed 15 or 20 year loan and then it is set up thata way IN the contract.—That’s it for today—when in doubt ask your Realtor—That’s what this Realtor does—I Help People.—Buy Buy for Now.

As a California Realtor I use C.A.R. (that’s California Association of Realtor)  Contracts, by the way. In the Residential Purchase Contract and the Land Contract are cute little boxes that I usually put an X in, to ask the seller (which is normal in our area) to pay for a well inspection & water quality test,  A septic inspection & pumpout (because you can’t inspect or see the integrity of the tank if it’s all full of good meals gone by) and a box to check,  to ask for a pest control inspection (termites, fungus, dryrot & beetles–not usually rodents).

So when you are with your Realtor and or agent make sure you dicuss these items if the home or land has them.— If a septic system needs replacing–it could be $6500 or more. —If a well has problems or needs repair it could cost thousands as well–haha—well—get it? —Anyway, if the house/manufacturted/mobilehome or whatever has termites etc it could cost thousands too.—Now why would you not ask the seller to pay for that inspection when you are purchasing that property?  The reason I am putting this here for you to read is because they do not teach that in real estate 101 classes to get your  license. Granted it is more work for the Realtor/agent but a little protection goes a long way.—The attorneys at CAR put those cute little boxes in the contract, so your Realtor or agent can X (Mark) them  (add them if you will)  to help protect you, the buyer by asking for these tests. —Just a little protection tip for you if you are city kids like I was and don’t know about well, septic or termite inspections. — Have fun property shopping.

Dear Steffan,
You did it. You’ve succeeded in achieving a huge victory for real estate. Congress heard you on the need to both extend and expand the homebuyer tax credit to continue stimulating the housing sector of the economy. The Senate voted 98-0 on Wednesday and yesterday the House voted 403-12 on legislation that includes the extension and expansion of the credit. The President is expected to sign the legislation, perhaps as early as today.

Thank you for making this victory happen. Your letters in response to our Call for Action made a very big difference, as did the thousands of REALTOR® phone calls, visits by Federal Political Coordinators—all members of NAR—in getting this legislation passed. This is a great victory for the economy, for homebuyers, and for all of you in real estate.  You made your case to Congress. We deeply appreciate your commitment and involvement on this issue and trust your continued support will follow in the weeks ahead on all our future Calls for Action.

I  heard from a fellow Realtor friend that the buyers just lost out on a home they were trying to buy. They offered more than asking price and asked for a 5% credit back towards closing costs. Well the bank’s short sale negotiator in their infinite wisdom decided that they Will only credit back 3% towards closings costs not 5%.  So even tho the buyers offered more than asking price to cover the credit back, the banks uneducated rule (in my opinion) stopped the sale dead.  The funny/sad part is when the new buyer gets a loan, it’s cash to the bank in the end anyway.     It Does Not Matter what the credit back is to the new buyer as the bottom line is what it’s all about anyway.    At least I would think a negotiator should have been taught in Negotiations 101.

And our TARP $’s go to the bank who hires these people???  Oh that makes me feel oh so much better.

The whole point of the short sale is to save some of the sellers already tarnished credit and the seller gets $ZERO equity anyway.

Actually it is in the banks best interest to successfully negotiate a short sale. Otherwise the lender/bank must go thru the foreclosure process—then faces a property that is vacant and vandalized and is now worth even less money or the seller could file for bankruptcy and tie the property up so the bank cannot sell it for a while. I would think It usually makes good financial sense to sell it for as much as you can, as quickly as you can and minimize the loss.

 If I were the CEO of that bank and if I actually knew, that this short sale was canceled because of some imbasillic rule, I would change that rule and  hire a Realtor who knows how to sell a home and negotiate, instead of a short sale negotiator who apparently does not, wouldn’t you?

545 vs. 300,000,000 (Republicans & Democrats Alike – No One Is Blameless)

EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HASWRITTEN IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.

Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.
545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The President does.

You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does..

One hundred Senators, 435 Congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices – 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. 

Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red ..

If the Army & Marines are in  IRAQ  , it’s because they want them in  IRAQ  .

If they do not receive Social Security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.. 

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it is up to you, though you have several choices:

1. You can send this to everyone in your address book and hope “they” do something about it.
2. You can agree to “vote against” everyone that is currently in office, knowing that the process will take several years.
3.. You can decide to “run for office” yourself and agree to do the job properly.
4. Lastly, you can sit back and do nothing or re-elect the current bunch