5 nasty surprises that can stop your home purchase cold

5 nasty surprises that can stop your home purchase cold


Think the keys to your new dream home are as good as yours, do you? Not so fast. In this tough financial climate, some unexpected issues might scuttle the deal.

By Marilyn Lewis of MSN Real Estate

When a seller wants to sell a home and finds a buyer who wants to buy it, you'd think they'd have a deal. What could go wrong?

These days, plenty. In this tough financial climate, there are both longstanding pitfalls and a crop of new ones. At best, these can cost you time or money. Or both. At worst, the home you want could slip from your grasp.

1. The appraisal kills the deal

Even after you and the seller have agreed on a price, the appraiser — the expert assigned by the bank to authenticate the home's value — can ruin everything. (Bing: What are the latest appraisal rules?)

A little background: Your lender needs to know that the home you're buying is worth what you're paying. Banks are touchy on this subject at the moment. They own nearly 1 million foreclosed homes and stand to inherit millions more from defaulting borrowers. Your lender wants to be sure your new home won't be added to this pile.

Appraisers arrive at a home's value in part by comparing recent sales of nearby homes. But falling prices, and foreclosures and short sales in the neighborhood, make these comparisons tough.

Your sale can suffer if the appraiser doesn't know the neighborhood. Walter Molony, spokesman for the National Association of Realtors, says federal rules meant to prevent lenders and appraisers from getting too cozy have unintentionally increased pressure on appraisers, which he says has led to sloppy, hasty and inaccurate appraisals.

Case in point: Bryan Robertson, a Silicon Valley, Calif., agent with Sereno Group, recently had a client with a home for sale in a higher-end San Jose neighborhood. A buyer liked it and offered $1.06 million, not astronomical in this pricey region.
But the out-of-town appraiser said the home was worth $980,000, so the buyer's bank refused to lend more money. The dismayed buyer faced coughing up the difference — $80,000 — in cash or losing the deal.

June 2: TODAY real estate expert Barbara Corcoran explains why first-time home buyers should perform a trial run on mortgages and taxes before signing the contract on a new home.

With home values falling and distressed sales making comparisons difficult, appraisal problems are common:

Three-quarters of Century 21 agents surveyed recently blame low appraisals for buyers' problems getting financing.

In any given month, 10% of the National Association of Realtors' members see a sale die because of a low appraisal.

Another 10% of NAR members report sales were delayed by appraisal issues.

Occasionally, though, the buyer enjoys a silver lining: 15% of sellers agree to drop the price after a low appraisal, the NAR says.

Pre-emptive action: Choose an agent with deep experience in the neighborhood. Robertson, for example, could show the appraiser that several nearby homes of the same size and floor plan had sold for more. The appraiser revised the home's value to the price the buyer and seller had agreed upon.

2. Your lender demands home repairs

In this fussier climate, lenders may hold up a sale if the appraiser points out even minor repairs that need to be done. Bryan Wiley, a senior loan officer with Guild Mortgage Co. in Bellevue, Wash., says that when he worked for another company, he once had to delay a home purchase until window screens could be installed.

BuildersPaintingPlumbingRoofingSheds/EnclosuresSidingTileWindowsThe screens, included in the purchase contract, were nowhere in evidence. The appraiser pointed out the omission, so the bank's rules compelled him to withhold the loan.

"We couldn't get the loan documents out until the builder put up the screens and the appraiser signed off," Wiley says.

There's nothing new in lenders insisting that homes they finance be shipshape. But a few years ago, a lender might let the buyer and seller agree to complete the sale and fix any minor problems later, paying for them out of the seller's proceeds held in escrow. Today's buyers and sellers rarely are given that kind of slack.

Pre-emptive action: To anticipate issues an appraiser might raise, scrutinize the home inspector's report for any potential problems with the property. Also, be certain all conditions listed in your purchase and sale agreement are met.
3. The home has baggage

Remember any boyfriends or girlfriends from your past whom you fell for before realizing that he or she had deep "issues"? Homes can be like that, too. Some come with baggage.

Any surprises usually crop up when a title search is done to clear the way for your purchase.

For example, there's a chance, given all the financial turmoil these days, that someone besides your seller has a claim on the house. For this reason, many deals today "are not clean and easy," says David Townsend, an attorney and CEO of Agents National Title Insurance Co. For example:

A bankruptcy — not uncommon these days — may have produced creditors who have filed claims against the home to get what's owed them.

Your seller may have argued with a contractor who did work on the house years ago. Contractors or suppliers with beefs against the owner can file mechanic's liens against the property, preventing it from being sold until the claim is settled.

Maybe the seller lost a lawsuit and failed to pay — or perhaps didn't know about — a court judgment worth thousands of dollars. You can't buy the home until the debt is satisfied. Ditto for unpaid child support or alimony.
Missing permits are another deal-stopper, Townsend says. Sellers occasionally complete do-it-yourself remodeling and think, "What the heck, I don't need those expensive permits." But they do. Typically, the real-estate agent listing the home makes sure all permits are in order. But sometimes this escapes notice.

Occasionally, buyers are shocked to learn that the boundaries of the property they're buying aren't correct. Maybe the seller built a carport, addition, shed or fence that crossed onto a neighboring property. No one's the wiser until your title search uncovers the error. But you can't buy the place until the error is corrected. The seller may have to tear down the structure or negotiate with the neighbors to buy or sell a few feet of land. These problems can set back your purchase or end it altogether.
Pre-emptive action: Buy title insurance. "We've run into situations where errors have come out of the woodwork years later," Townsend says. With insurance, your claim to your home is protected. Warning: If an insurer declines to insure the title of a home you want to buy, walk away from the deal.

Mortgages tumble to 7-month low

By Polyana da Costa • Bankrate.com

Mortgage rates fell again this week as investors grew more concerned about slow economic growth.

The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 4 basis points this week, to 4.65 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. The mortgages in this week's survey had an average total of 0.39 discount and origination points. One year ago, the mortgage index was 4.88 percent; four weeks ago, it was 4.82 percent.

The benchmark 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 9 basis points, to 3.79 percent. The benchmark 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage fell 4 basis points, to 3.35 percent.

The 30-year fixed rate has declined for nine weeks in a row and has not been this low since November, according to Bankrate's survey.

Weekly national mortgage survey

Results of Bankrate.com's June 8, 2011, weekly national survey of large lenders and the effect on monthly payments for a $165,000 loan:

30-year fixed 15-year fixed 5-year ARM

This week's rate: 4.65% 3.79% 3.35%

Change from last week: -0.04 -0.09 -0.04

Monthly payment: $850.80 $1,203.19 $727.18

Change from last week: -$3.96 -$7.40 -$3.65

Some mortgage experts had not expected another dip in rates this week, but their expectations quickly changed after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered a gloomy assessment of the U.S. economy during a speech Tuesday.

Bernanke's speech

Bernanke acknowledged that U.S. economic growth is "frustratingly slow," adding the "jobs situation remains far from normal."

Most people already knew that based on recent economic reports. Still, Bernanke's speech immediately affected the mortgage market, causing stocks to fall as some investors pulled out of the stock market and sought safety by investing in U.S. bonds, says Michael Becker of Happy Mortgage in Lutherville, Md.

Early in the week, "it looked like rates were going to rise or stay the same," Becker says. "It's funny how much his words can move the market more than any type of report can."

Jobs report
The recent jobs report also helped keep rates low this week, says Deborah Holloway of Guaranty Mortgage in Melbourne, Fla.

Only 54,000 jobs were added to the economy in May, the fewest in eight months and a far cry from the more than 190,000 jobs that were created in each of the three previous months, according the U.S. Department of Labor. The unemployment rate reached 9.1 percent, up from 9 percent in April.

Even more concerning, according to Bernanke, is that nearly half of the unemployed people have been jobless for more than six months.

Prices, rates low but housing market still slow

The weak housing market hurts the economic recovery, Bernanke says.

"Low home prices and mortgage rates imply that housing is quite affordable by historical standards," he says. "Yet, with underwriting standards for home mortgages having tightened considerably, many potential homebuyers are unable to qualify for loans. Uncertainties about job prospects and the future course of house prices have also deterred potential buyers."

Volatile market

These gloomy economic outlooks, coupled with global economic uncertainty surrounding the debt issues in Europe, have caused mortgage rates to change more often than usual this week, says Dan Green of Waterstone Mortgage in Cincinnati.

"It's been a really bizarre week," he says. "On average, last month, rates changed every four hours and 19 minutes," Green says. "So far this month they are changing every three hours."

Unlike some mortgage experts who say rates will start rising again soon, Green expects rates will continue to decline "until there is explicit reason" to stop the fall. But he advises borrowers to take advantage of the low rates while they are available.

Holloway also says borrowers should lock.

"When they start shooting up they go up very quickly," Holloway says.