Month: September 2015

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Changing Disclosure Rules

Linda Rossi – September 1, 2015

Tips & Tidbits

  • Documentation and timelines will be changing soon around your Lending and Closing Disclosures.  Make sure to discuss with your Realtor and your Lender as these changes can affect your ability to meet your contractual Closing date if not monitored properly. Specifically, there are a certain number of days mandated for your review of them prior to being able to Close, so find out your Lender’s plan for timing in getting them to you. Also, Escrow’s documents for your review will depend on when they receive information from your Lender. Expected current timeline for implementation has now been moved to Oct 1st.
  • Speaking of meeting the Closing date and plotting timelines carefully, also remember to factor in the potential need for sign-off by an Appraiser if there were repairs that require that (either because of FHA or other loan requirements), or because an Appraiser calls something out that will necessitate it…such as the common issue of a Carbon Monoxide Detector not being in the home at the time of the Appraisal (…really  a Good idea to make sure there is one in the home before the Appraisal : )
  • Buyers- Make sure to discuss your Offer pricing with your Realtor in the context of current market value research before making your Offer.  In this competitive market, reports are varying widely that Appraisals are coming in just fine in some instances, and/but low in others. Per the Oregon Residential Real Estate Sale Agreement generally used, you are not obligated to pay over Appraised Value, and a bank will not lend over that value either. So… this becomes an uncomfortable negotiating point toward the end of a transaction should you really Love the house and the Seller won’t budge on price. Sometimes people are able to meet somewhere in the middle on price, but if you decide you want to proceed with some kind of arrangement in this realm of options, any monies over the Appraised Value will need to come out of your pocket. Take a close look at the best info available on values in that neighborhood in the recent past at the outset so that you don’t go too far afield in your eagerness to compete.
  • The same is true for Sellers. Make sure you take into account, when you price your home for sale with your Realtor, that your property will need to appraise “at value” in order to close at the agreed-upon price… without headaches, drama and potential “sale fail”.