What you need to know about buying a Santa Clarita home August 21, 2024
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What you need to know about buying a Santa Clarita home August 21, 2024
Connor with Honor at SantaClaritaOpenHouses(com) - August 21, 2024** Tags: [santa clarita real estate](/-/Blog/tag/santa clarita real estate), [day of year](/-/Blog/tag/day of year), news, local ** 0 Comments | Add Comment
Not a self-serving post! - You know the kind, many are being written by AI, but mine are never perfect enough to match up. But, I must admit that typing a few words into ChatGPT after assigning a role, gives me 3000 words of the most perfect Google Centric text that I can post on my blog.
Not a fan. I know that at some point in the world, it’s going to come down to validity and the origin of the content being read, translated, or shared across numerous platforms.
Plus a fella told me back in 2010 when I was blogging about real estate incessantly, that my blogs made his eyes bleed. I sure hope he’s still reading.
What is real and what is fake? That should be the question that arises and if you are anything like me, you know how important that is when it comes to buying or selling real estate.
Besides the phone calls, or in person meetings, or zoom training in home buying, the other sources of content which are not “in person” or at least somewhat close to that, can be a mystery and get a home buyer into trouble.
You have the right to have your own real estate agent when buying a home, in Santa Clarita Valley or elsewhere. You have that right. Now, you may have to pay for it.
You may be charged to buy a home as part of your costs of homeownership. Before the lawsuit and the mandatory changes to the commission structure where now the concessions are a part, but apply to the three “usual” buyer’s fees.
**Closing costs **- that is what the above list is know as. What if you were going to go it without consideration of these fees? Then you will be in for a surprise at the “closing table”. That is an “old term” for the times when all the monies are going to be gathered for the home purchase and applied to the balance sheet so it, balances. Closing costs to buy a home are usually about 3% of the purchase price. A home sale price of $500,000.00 can equate to $15,000.00 of closing costs money that a buyer needs to bring in to buy the home.
$500,000.00
X 3%
$15,000.00
Add some, subtract some, depending on the local market, etc. But in the Santa Clarita Valley, that is the norm. Now - your selected real estate agent’s fee will be part of this figure if the home seller does not agree to cover it.
**Type of loan matters as to how much your closing costs will be: **Now, that’s if you are using a home loan type that is not impounded. Impounded - the bank collects a years worth of insurance and 6 months of property taxes upfront, when you are buying the home. This protects their investment in the home you are borrowing the money to purchase. Just in case you default, they have a few months before they property is uninsured and become the subject of a tax sale for nonpayment of property taxes. (realistically, it takes longer than 6 months if you don’t pay your property taxes for the county to take the home and there is a whole mechanism in place for that - watch “The House of Sand and Fog”. Not that the movie is realistic, but it’s a good and stressful one showing how ignoring tax bills can equate to a bad turn of events.
If you are using a loan type that does not require these monies up front, then that 3% figure will be pretty close. This is rule of thumb stuff. You should also be getting a document from the lender that shows your costs. These are called different things by different lenders and lender entities. Ask for a breakdown of what you are going to be paying to buy the home, and also ask your real estate agent for another and then escrow for another.
It seems that you should be getting this as a matter of doing business and buying a home. Some don’t or it’s buried in the many hundreds of pieces of paper you are going to be signing in the cloud with some online form signing service.
Something else I’ll bring your attention to Online signing services. Maybe you have seen this before now in some other area of your life. You were asked to sign something from your doctor, attorney or other service provide. I have a home inspector that sends a document to the home buyers before he performs the inspections at properties. It’s his disclaimer and gives the scope of his work. Don’t be so fast to sign, it’s so easy. All you have to do if click accepting the use of the platform to sign with and choose a signature and initials, it’s too easy. Be careful to read everything before signing and make sure you understand it. If you see any language terms or other items that you can consider “release language”, that means as a home buyer you are giving up something. Make sure you know that those things are and that you are good with that.
After signing anything online, or even before, get a hard copy. I know we are all green and we are going to save the planet. But I think it is more important to read something that is your demise, while the planet will still go on!
After you get your lender and the fees locked down. Be prepared to sign something to view homes.
That’s a change that the Board of Realtors has implemented for all agents across the board. Now, from what I understand a broker may come up with their own custom agreement. Be careful what you sign and if need be make sure you bounce it off of an attorney. It was drafted by one in the first place.
This document can be known as a buyer-broker agreement. It says a lot, but it will now include language about how your agent will be paid. On which homes they will be paid a commission when you buy it through them? There will also be a time frame in which the buyer-broker agreement is good. Maybe it’s for one specific home. Maybe it’s for all homes viewed for a certain period. Etc. There will also be how much you are going to pay your agent. Now, the seller is not required to pay your agent to represent you. This has never been a requirement, but now it’s been removed from the seller’s side, where it was not “again” a requirement. I’m just glad someone figured out how to get the lens back on real estate agents. We grow out of conflict, struggle and change, so here we go.
Thank God real estate is not becoming more confusing :)
Then you have all of the other typical stuff. What are the mello roos taxes? Where are they located - can they be increased and will they ever end? How much is the HOA fee, if the property has one, where can I find homes that don’t have any, are there benefits and can they go up over time - and how much can they increase?
Just watch out for the small print. Actually, watch out for all the print and make sure your questions, all of your questions, are being answered. And if. you are getting an impatient look from your realtor because you are one of those they think ask too many questions, it may suit you to find another agent, one who better understands you and want to ensure they retain you as their client.
Listen, most know a real estate agent. Most love the agent they select. But some agent no longer pack the gear to serve in real estate. Be prepared to talk to another, when you are ready and thank you for reading. I’m Connor with Honor, over and out!
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