Buy, Close, Move In!

by Glink, Ilyce R.

• ISBN13: 9780061944871
• ISBN10: 0061944874
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

The rules of buying, financing, and owning real estate are now dramatically different than they were just a year ago. Glink explains everything buyers need to know to navigate this new world of real estate.

Author Biography

Ilyce Glink is the author of ten books, including the bestselling 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask. Her nationally syndicated column, "Real Estate Matters," appears in more than 125 newspapers and Web sites, and her online "Ask llyce" columns are read by hundreds of thousands of people every month. She is a top-rated radio, host in Atlanta, the Home Equity blogger at CBC MoneyWatch.com, host of the Internet program "Expert Real Estate Tips," and publisher of ThinkGlink.com.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
The First New World of Real Estate	p. 2
The Credit Crisis, the Housing Crisis, and Mortgage Fraud	p. 5
Today's Brave New World of Real Estate	p. 11
Ten Things That Have Changed in Real Estate, Ten Things That Haven't	p. 13
Ten Things That Have Changed in the Real Estate Industry	p. 15
Ten Things That Haven't Changed in the Real Estate Industry	p. 30
What Buyers Need to Know Now	p. 41
The Old Rules of Residential Real Estate	p. 43
The New Rules for Buying	p. 45
The New World of Mortgage Finance	p. 59
Financing (or Refinancing) Your Home in an Era of Declining Home Values	p. 61
The Changing Roles of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac	p. 63
The New Rules of Mortgage Finance	p. 65
Document Checklist for Your Mortgage Loan Application	p. 76
Today's Loan Options: Fixed-Rate Versus Adjustable-Rate Mortgages	p. 81
What You Need to Know About FHA Loans	p. 83
What to Do When You Don't Have a Down Payment: Options for 100 Percent Loans	p. 86
Getting a Jumbo Mortgage	p. 92
Home Buyer Closing Costs and Fees	p. 95
Changes in the Appraisal Industry	p. 103
Fixing Your Credit History and Credit Score Forever	p. 111
How Credit Scores Are Calculated	p. 115
What Is the Difference Between Great and Fair Credit?	p. 116
What You Need to Know About Credit Score Calculations	p. 118
How to Repair Your Credit History and Raise Your Credit Score Forever	p. 122
Credit Repair Scams to Avoid	p. 129
What to Do When Someone Else Damages Your Credit	p. 132
How to Contact the Three Major Credit Reporting Bureaus	p. 133
Credit or Security Freezes	p. 134
How to Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft	p. 136
Credit-Monitoring Services and Other Tools	p. 138
What Can You Afford to Buy?	p. 140
Calculating Your Income, Assets, Expenses, and Liabilities	p. 143
Expenses: How Much Do You Spend in a Year?	p. 144
Adding Up the Costs to Own, Operate, and Insure Your Home	p. 149
The Costs of Buying and Owning Investment Property	p. 152
Making Trade-Offs and Compromises	p. 157
Down Payment and Reserve Money: Where to Find it and Where to Stash it	p. 160
How Much Cash Do You Need?	p. 161
Sources of Cash for Your Down Payment and Closing Costs	p. 162
Down Payment and Mortgage Assistance Programs	p. 164
How to Find a Down Payment or Mortgage Assistance Program	p. 170
Smart Places to Stash Your Cash Until You're Ready to Use It	p. 171
Identifying Amazing Opportunities: Short Sales, Foreclosures, Fix-And-Flips, and Buy-And-Holds	p. 177
What Is a Short Sale? What Is a Foreclosure?	p. 179
The Skinny on Auctions	p. 183
Why Buy This House Over That House? Learning Selectivity	p. 190
Investors: Buying a Fix-and-Flip or a Buy-Hold Property	p. 196
Creating an Amazing Opportunity Checklist	p. 200
Building the Perfect Home-Buying Team	p. 203
Seven Winning Contract Negotiation Strategies	p. 210
Negotiating with a Lender for a Short Sale	p. 212
Negotiating with a Lender for a Foreclosure	p. 215
The Art of Savvy Real Estate Investing	p. 217
Profiting from Trends and Opportunities	p. 218
Finding Money for Real Estate Investments	p. 222
Pricing Investment Property: Learning How to Calculate the Cap Rate	p. 230
Understanding 1031 Exchanges	p. 232
Starting a Real Estate Investing Business: When LLCs Make Sense	p. 235
Onward and Upward	p. 241
Appendix
Top Ten Mistakes We're Now Making in the New World of Real Estate	p. 243
Do You Qualify for a Home Buyer Tax Credit?	p. 250
Six Tax Mistakes Real Estate Investors Often Make	p. 253
Glossary of Real Estate Terms Every Home Buyer or Real Estate Investor Should Know	p. 257
Acknowledgments	p. 277
Index	p. 281
About The Author	p. 292
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