Real Estate Buying in the USA
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Residential Land in St Louis Illinois RARE OPPORTUNITY! |
- | $999.00 | 19d 12h 59m | ||
Commercial Property in Plainfield Naperville illinois |
- | $1,450,000.00 | 20d 8h 14m | ||
Residential Land in St Louis Illinois RARE OPPORTUNITY! |
- | $99.00 | 28d 18h 15m |
If the property is for you to live in, then you need to address things like is it going to be a full time residence or vacation villa? If it is full time, is there a good job market, if for vacation are there things that you enjoy doing near the potential property.
You should also make sure that you get a firm look at the current annual real estate taxes and factor them in. In the state of Georgia a 2,000 square foot house on an acre of land with the view of a lake may only run $450 a year in real estate taxes. On Long Island in New York a comparable property may cost you upwards of $4,000 a month or $48,000 per year. That is certainly something that you need to take into account.
When considering taxes, see what kind of tax breaks you might qualify for in the state you are looking at. Some state, like Georgia offers a homestead exemption, which knocks a lot off your annual tax rate if it is your first home.
Now that you have decided what type of property you are after and roughly where you want to purchase the property, you need to look into the legality side of things again, and we will use Georgia and New York one more time.
A real estate closing in the state of Georgia in a small town may involve the buyer, the seller and one attorney just to handle the paperwork. Things here are very laid back and there is often soda or other beverages and snacks served and things are nice and friendly and if there is a dispute, perhaps over lot lines or some other small issue, it is usually added as an addendum to the sale where the builder or seller agrees to have the issue fixed within a certain amount of time and the closing continues,
In the state of New York, the seller has and attorney, the buyers have an attorney and the bank has an attorney. They all sit in a congested room and argue about the most minute of details and things are very stuck up and everything goes according to the measure of the law. If a lot line is off by even an inch on the survey, the closing does not happen, people yell and stomp out of the closing.
That is why closings in the State of New York can run in the high thousands to low tens of thousands of dollars for a modest property and in Georgia they are around a thousand dollars. The lesson here is to make sure that every legal requirement is met long before going to the closing table and know up front what the closing costs are because the last thing you want is to go to closing to find out that you need write one of the attorney’s a huge check to cover this or that which you were not aware of. Knowledge is power and you should use it wisely here.
Another legality to be aware of is mineral rights. If you sign away the mineral rights and oil or diamonds or what ever is discovered on your property, the previous owner gets the profits and you will get holes in your year and a bad taste in you mouth.
You should research the county and town that you have narrowed your search down to. Crime rates will affect the cost of your insurance. Ethnic demographics will affect your resale value. You should consider the age of the home and city because of sewer issues.
The right of way laws will vary from area to area. Some places where you buy you might be surprised to learn that there is an easement of up to 20 feet from the road that actually will belong to the city for road expansion. There will also be local laws and covenants that will tell you what you can and cannot do on your land and that will vary by area,
So once you have narrowed your search to a type of property and then to what state and further to what town and found all the legalities and demographics and hired your attorney you are all set and ready to go, right? Well in a word, no.
If you hired a good real estate professional they will take care of most of the important things and you will have a pretty seamless transaction. But it doesn’t hurt for you to know everything about buying where you will be so you cover your own back. After you’ve checked it all, check again.