Protect your investment with a owner's title insurance policy.

For most of us, buying a home is the largest investment we will ever make in our lives. We will spend hundreds, even thousands, of dollars each year to protect our home from fire and other disasters, but many people are reluctant to pay a small one-time fee to protect the most valuable part of homeownership – the ownership itself.
An owner’s title insurance policy is a relatively inexpensive one-time cost that will do just that.
Owner’s title insurance protects the homeowner’s title, or legal ownership, of the property free from any unknown encumbrances. An encumbrance is anything that burdens the property, such as a lien or easement.  While most encumbrances will be discovered during a thorough search of the public records at the local Registry of Deeds, many encumbrances cannot be determined by a title search.
Some of the most common defects are:

• Fraud

• Forged Deeds

• Missing heirs

• Mistakes in legal documents.

In the case of any such defect in title, the owner’s title insurance will pay for an attorney to defend against any lawsuit attacking the owner’s title, and will either pay to clear up the title problems or pay the insured owner’s losses.

Find out what's wrong with your new home before you sign on the dotted line.

This is another one that seems obvious, but I can’t tell you how many people still don’t hire a home inspector before buying a new home.
A thorough home inspection will tell you if there are any hidden problems with the home’s electrical, plumbing, heating, etc. before you buy the home.
If the inspection discovers any problems, you can either require that the seller repair the problems, renegotiate the purchase price, or cancel the deal and get your deposit back.
But not all home inspectors are created equal. Do a little research before you hire a home inspector. Find out how long they have been a home inspector. What is their training and prior experience in the construction industry?
Ask for recommendations from your real estate agent and other real estate professionals. Who do they trust to do the most thorough and professional job?

Lastly, be present during the home inspection and ask lots of questions.

A good Buyer’s Agent is invaluable to a Buyer, and can be the difference between a wonderful transaction, and a nightmare.

You should always, always use an experienced buyer’s real estate agent when purchasing a new home.
Many people believe that they can simply rely on the listing agent and not hire their own buyer’s agent. Big mistake! Remember, the listing agent works for the Seller, not you. Even if the listing agent is completely honest and professional, they don’t represent you and do not have your best interests at heart.
A buyer’s agent will represent your interests alone in any negotiations.
Plus, a good buyer’s agent will be able to show you many different homes that meet your requirements and provide you with tons of local information about your new community.
And here’s the best part—it doesn’t cost the Buyer a dime. The buyer’s agent receives a portion of the listing agent’s commission, so they are actually paid by the Seller, not the Buyer.

Your first home is just a stepping stone to bigger and better homes later.

This one sounds counter-intuitive, but searching for your dream home as a first-time buyer could hurt you in two ways.
First, you could find yourself paying more for that dream home than you can afford. See Mistake #1.
Second, if you’re waiting for that perfect dream home, but still trying to stay within your budget, then you may never find a home to buy at all. You will pass up many great homes for your family, just because they are not that “perfect” home of your dreams.
Your first home is just that—your first home. It is just a stepping stone to bigger and better homes later. Forget about “perfect” or “dream home.”
Before you start home shopping, make a list of features that you must have, would like to have but are not required, and definitely don’t want.
Be realistic. Granite countertops are not a must have. But a third bedroom probably is if you have two children.
Sort your potential homes by those that have all of the “must haves” and none of the “must not haves.” Then from these, choose the one that has the most “would like to haves” and you are one step closer to your dream.

Property taxes in New Hampshire are based on the assessed value of your real estate as of April 1st of each year. If your assessment is incorrect, then you may in fact be paying more than your share of property taxes.

An assessment may be incorrect due to a number of reasons, such as the information used by the assessor may have been incorrect (i.e. you actually have 3 bedrooms instead of 4), or the assessment is substantially higher than the equalized market value of the property. The market value of real estate may be determined by having the property appraised by a licensed appraiser or by comparing it with local comparable properties which have sold recently.

To change the assessment of your property, you must file a request for an abatement with your city or town by March 1st (in most locations). If the municipality denies the abatement request or fails to respond by July 1st, which is the same as a denial, then you have until September 1st to file an appeal with the Superior Court or the Board of Land and Tax Appeals. To win the appeal, you must prove through appraisals or other evidence that your taxes are unfair, illegal or disproportionately high.

Unfortunately, you must continue paying your property taxes during the abatement process, but if the abatement is granted then you will receive a tax refund plus 6% interest. In addition, the new lower assessment amount will then continue for future tax years until there is a good faith reason to reassess the property (such as changes to the property or a town-wide reassessment).

For more information on how a tax abatement might save you money on property taxes, please contact Attorney Chris Ratté at Beacon Title & Escrow Services, LLC.

Don't Pay Too Much For Your First Home

This one would seem like a no-brainer, but it is by far the most common mistake made by first-time homebuyers.
Have you ever heard the expression “house rich and cash poor”? Well, that’s what you will be if you pay too much for your home.

Many first-time homebuyers assume that if their bank approves them for a certain amount, then that is what they can afford to pay. That is not necessarily true. The bank’s pre-approval amount is simply the maximum amount that the bank will lend to you based upon certain criteria, such as debt to income ratios.

The bank’s calculations do not take into account many of the monthly bills you will have to pay as a homeowner. They only consider expenses such as property taxes, homeowners insurance, and long-term debt payments (car payments, student loans, etc.) They do not calculate in expenses such as cable TV, internet, telephone, and heat. Nor do they consider maintenance and repair costs, or unforeseen costs such as a broken water heater.
On top of all of these household expenses, of course, you have your personal expenses which are not considered at all by your bank. For example, do you ever want to go out to eat again? Or go to the movies or buy new clothes? The bank doesn’t consider these costs in their calculations because they don’t care if you never go to the movies again as long as you’re making your mortgage payment.
To make sure you don’t pay too much, prepare a budget before you go house shopping. Include all of your current living expenses then add in all of the expenses associated with homeownership. That will tell you how much you can comfortably afford to pay on a mortgage every month. Then have your bank use that monthly payment to determine how much you can borrow within that budget. Add your down payment onto that amount and you have your target purchase price.

Avoiding these common homebuyer mistakes can save you money.

So, you’re ready to take the plunge and buy your first home? Congratulations! Home ownership can be one of the best and most satisfying decisions you will ever make.
It could also be the worst and most costly decision if you make one of these common first-time homebuyer mistakes.
As real estate professionals, we often see first-time homebuyers get carried away with the excitement of buying a new home and completely forget about common sense. Learning to avoid these 5 biggest mistakes will make your home buying experience more pleasurable and will help save you lots of money in the future.

Mistake #1: Paying More than You Can Afford

Mistake #2: Searching for Your Dream Home

Mistake #3: Not Using a Buyer’s Agent

Mistake #4: Not Having a Home Inspection

Mistake #5: Not Buying Owner’s Title Insurance

Check back soon for future posts with more information about each of these common and costly mistakes.

View some photos of the Fair here: http://chickphotography.net/hbiq/Newmarket/newmarket.html

So, what is HomeBenefitIQ?

It is a value-added benefits program available to employees of select employers who have signed on for the program. Basically, once the employer signs on with HomeBenefitIQ, their employees have access to discounted services and products from a group of preferred local businesses, such as Beacon Title.

Other services include mortgages, real estate sales, financial planning, estate planning, insurance and many more.

This program offers great benefits and savings to employees, and, best of all, costs the employers absolutely nothing. Plus it promotes local small businesses. It’s a win-win-win.

If you would like to add your company to the HomeBenefitIQ group, please contact Kent Buschle at Poli Mortgage.

SAFE Act prohibits most private financing

The SAFE Act (also known as the the “Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008″) is a Federal law adopted by the states, which was intended to protect consumers from some of the unscrupulous behavior that helped cause the recent mortgage crisis.

At its core, the SAFE Act mandates background checks, education and licensing requirements for all residential mortgage loan originators. Most people in the real estate  industry would agree that those are all good things.

Here’s the problem, though: the SAFE Act is so broadly written and the exceptions are so narrow that it virtually prohibits all seller and private financing.

The term “mortgage loan originator” includes anyone who takes a residential mortgage loan application and anyone who offers or negotiates the terms of a residential mortgage loan application. By definition, that would include not only institutional banks and mortgage companies, but all seller and private financing loans as well.

As interpreted by HUD and the State of NH, the only exceptions are residential mortgage loans between immediate family members and a seller mortgage in the sale of the seller’s primary residence. That’s it.

So, here’s an example: I’m selling my primary residence and the buyer would like me to seller finance some or all of the purchase price. Because it is my primary residence, I am allowed to do that under the SAFE Act.

Let’s change the example a little: I’m not selling my primary residence, but a rental unit that I own. The tenant who is buying it would like me to finance some or all of the purchase price. The SAFE Act prohibits me from doing this without obtaining a mortgage originator license. Even if this is the one and only time that I ever extend a mortgage loan to anyone.

Similarly, I can extend a residential mortgage loan to my brother because he is within my immediate family, but not to my cousin … or best friend … or neighbor.

This begs the question: Who is the SAFE Act protecting? Sometimes, a buyer’s best or only option is seller financing or a private mortgage from a friend. That option is now gone.

The right to contract and to extend private loans between individuals has been part of our economy for centuries. In one swift move, the SAFE Act has killed this vital and useful tool.

What do you think? Send us a comment below…

HomeBenefitIQ Network

We are pleased to announce that Beacon Title has joined the Seacoast Network of HomeBenefitIQ.

So, what is HomeBenefitIQ?

It is a value-added benefits program available to employees of select employers who have signed on for the program. Basically, once the employer signs on with HomeBenefitIQ, their employees have access to discounted services and products from a group of preferred local businesses, such as Beacon Title.

Other services include mortgages, real estate sales, financial planning, estate planning, insurance and many more.

This program offers great benefits and savings to employees, and, best of all, costs the employers absolutely nothing. Plus it promotes local small businesses. It’s a win-win-win.

HomeBenefitIQ has been growing on the West Coast, with more than 3500 employers and 3.3 million employee members. The program is just beginning to expand to the East Coast, and we at Beacon Title are very excited to help launch this benefit in our Seacoast community.