Transparent Real Estate

By including title insurance when purchasing property, your title insurer takes on accountability for legal expenses to defend your property title, should it ever be challenged. Many different occurrences can come into play to warrant the need for title insurance. The title company responsible will then take on the legal expenses to defend the property […]

Why is there such a difference between what my appraised value is and the price similar homes are selling for on my street? It’s a great question, and you don’t have to be a mortgage professional or a real estate agent to understand the answer. The distinction lies in the purpose of the two valuations […]

During periods of economic growth, when home values are typically just going up, most homeowners do not question appraisals much. And in times of turmoil when property values are declining, home sellers and even listing agents quite often question and pick apart appraisals. However, the actual appraisal process changed very little over the course of the […]

It’s obviously easier to picture the process of estimating value on an existing property in a neighborhood that has a history of home sales, but the task of determining the value on new construction projects does pose some challenges. Appraisals on homes that haven’t been built yet generally require the contractor and home buyer to […]

A Home Owner Association (HOA) can have a huge impact on your life when you buy a home in a PUD (Planned Unit Development) or Condominium Project. According to Wikipedia: A homeowners’ association (abbrev. HOA) is an organization created by a real estate developer for the purpose of developing, managing and selling a development of […]