First Time Home Buyers |
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Getting ready to buy your first home? Congratulations! Buying your first home is exciting, but can be a little scary too. Selecting the right real estate agent and the right home inspector to work with can make all the difference. Click here to check out REALTOR®.com's information on how to choose a REALTOR® Common Terms:Following are some common real estate terms that you will want to be familiar with when you are buying your first home: closing costs: all of the miscellaneous expenses paid by the buyer and the seller when the real estate deal closes. These costs include the broker commission, mortgage-related fees, escrow or attorney's settlement charges, transfer taxes, recording fees, title insurance and so on. Closing costs are generally paid through escrow. contingency -- a provision of an agreement that keeps the agreement from being fully legally binding until a certain condition is met. One example is a buyer's contractual right to obtain a professional home inspection before purchasing the home. escrow -- an arrangement made under contractual provisions between transacting parties, whereby an independent trusted third party receives and disburses money and/or documents for the transacting parties, with the timing of such disbursement by the third party dependent on the fulfillment of contractually-agreed conditions by the transacting parties. fixture -- anything of value that is permanently attached to or a part of real property. (Real estate is legally called "real property," while movables are called "personal property.") Examples of fixtures include installed wall-to-wall carpeting, light fixtures, window coverings, landscaping and so on. Fixtures are a frequent subject of buyer and seller disputes. When in doubt, get it in writing. MLS -- Multiple Listing Service. An MLS is an organization that collects, compiles and distributes information about homes listed for sale by its members, who are real estate brokers. Membership isn't open to the general public, although selected MLS data may be sold to real estate listings Web sites. MLSs are local or regional. There is no MLS covering the whole country title insurance -- an insurance policy that protects a lender's or owner's interest in real property from assorted types of unexpected or fraudulent claims of ownership. It's customary for the buyer to pay for the lender's title insurance policy. 10 Steps to Home OwnershipSource:HUD.gov on Buying a Home
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