For Buyers

7 Reasons Buyers Need Title Insurance

Title insurance can help ensure the buyer and the lender that title defects will not make a property unsaleable in the future because of:

1. Forged documents

2. Undisclosed heirs to the property

3. Mistaken legal interpretations of wills or trusts

4. Misfiled documents—deeds, liens, mortgage satisfaction documents

5. Confusion caused by similarities in names

6. Incorrect marital status

7. Mental incompetence

For Sale By Owners

17 Service Providers You’ll Need When You Sell:

1. Real Estate Attorney

2. Appraiser

3. Home Inspector

4. Mortgage Loan Officer

5. Environmental Specialist

6. Lead Paint Inspector

7. Radon Inspector

8. Tax Advisor

9. Sanitary Systems Expert

10. Occupancy Permit Inspector

11. Zoning Inspector

12. Survey Company

13. Flood Plain Inspector

14. Termite Inspector

15. Title Company

16. Insurance Consultant

17. Moving Company

For Buyers

6 Creative Ways to Afford a Home

If your income and savings are making homebuying a challenge, consider these options.

1. Investigate local, state, and national downpayment assistance programs. These programs give loans or grants to cover all or part of your required downpayment. National programs include the Nehemiah program,http://www.getdownpayment.com/ and the American Dream downpayment fund from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr02-014.cfm

2. Get the seller to provide financing. In some cases, sellers may be willing to finance all or part of the purchase price of the home and let you repay them gradually, just as you do with a mortgage.

3. Consider a shared-appreciation, or shared equity, arrangement. Under this arrangement, your family, friends, or even an third-party may buy a portion of the home and thus share in any appreciation when the home is sold. The owner/occupant usually pays the mortgage, property taxes, and maintenance costs, but all the investors' names are usually on the mortgage. There are companies that can help you find such an investor if your family can’t participate.

4. Get help from your family. Perhaps a family member will loan you money for the downpayment and/or act as a cosigner for the mortgage. Lenders often like to have a cosigner if you have little credit history.

5. Lease with the option to buy. Renting the home for a year or more will give you the chance to save more toward your downpayment. And in many cases, owners will apply some of the rental amount toward the purchase price. You usually have to pay a small, nonrefundable option fee to the owner.

6. See if you can qualify for a short-term second mortgage to give you the money to make a higher downpayment. This may be possible if you have a good income and little other debt.

CENTURY 21 JRS Realty Seminar

CENTURY 21 JRS Realty Hosts Seminar for Clark Seniors

April 19, 2007

This after CENTURY 21 JRS Realty gave part one of a three part seminar on selling your home in today's Real Estate Market. The seminar for the Clark senior citizens was presented by JR Sangiuliano and CENTURY 21 JRS Realty and covered the beginning stages of selling your home. The topics covered in part one of the seminar series included the Highest Price Market Evaluation, showing your home to potential buyers, receiving an offer and much much more. Part one of this three part seminar series was very well attended with more than 50 local senior citizens enjoying lunch, desert, and the seminar all compliments of CENTURY 21 JRS Realty. We at CENTURY 21 JRS Realty would like to invite any home owner interested in information about the sale of their home to contact our office by phone or E-mail to schedule a private one on one consultation. Fell free to E-mail our office at c21jrs72@aol.com or call 800-831-0681.

Understanding Capital Gains in Real Estate

Understanding Capital Gains in Real Estate

When you sell a stock, you owe taxes on your gain—the difference between what you paid for the stock and what you sold it for. The same is true with selling a home (or a second home), but there are some special considerations.

How to Calculate Gain

In real estate, capital gains are based not on what you paid for the home, but on its adjusted cost basis. To calculate this:

1. Take the purchase price of the home: This is the sale price, not the amount of money you actually contributed at closing.

2. Add Adjustments:
Cost of the purchase—including transfer fees, attorney fees, inspections, but not points you paid on your mortgage.
Cost of sale—including inspections, attorney’s fee, real estate commission, and money you spent to fix up your home just prior to sale.
Cost of improvements—including room additions, deck, etc. Note here that improvements do not include repairing or replacing something already there, such as putting on a new roof or buying a new furnace.

3. The total of this is the adjusted cost basis of your home.

4. Subtract this adjusted cost basis from the amount you sell your home for. This is your capital gain.

A Special Real Estate Exemption for Capital Gains

Since 1997, up to $250,000 in capital gains ($500,000 for a married couple) on the sale of a home is exempt from taxation if you meet the following criteriaYou have lived in the home as your principal residence for two out of the last five years. You have not sold or exchanged another home during the two years preceding the sale. Also note that as of 2003, you may also qualify for this exemption if you meet what the IRS calls “unforeseen circumstances” such as job loss, divorce, or family medical emergency.

For Home Owners

Avoiding Foreclosure

A pending foreclosure is stressful and confusing। If you can help owners through this difficult time, you could earn their gratitude and loyalty for years to come। Encourage owners to contact their lender to see whether a loan workout option is available। If the problem is temporary, options include Forbearance. A lender may allow a borrower to reduce or suspend payments for a short period of time, after which another option must be agreed on to bring the loan current within a specified time period. A forbearance option is often combined with a reinstatement, especially if the borrowers know they’ll have enough money to bring the account current. The money might come from a hiring bonus, an investment, an insurance settlement, or a tax refund.
Reinstatement. Lenders may be willing to discuss accepting the total amount owed to them in a lump sum by a specific day.
Repayment plan A borrower might be able to forge an agreement with the lender to resume making regular monthly payments, in addition to a portion of the past due payments each month, until the loan is current.
If the problem is long-term, options include Mortgage modification. If the borrower can make at least some of the payment on the loan but doesn’t have enough money to bring the account current, the lender might be willing to permanently change one or more terms of the original loan to make the payments more affordable. Examples include:

• Adding the missed payments to the existing loan balance


• Changing the interest rate, including making an adjustable rate loan into a fixed-rate loan


• Extending the number of years to repay the loan.

Claim advance. If your mortgage is insured, you may qualify for an interest-free loan from your mortgage guarantor to bring your account current. The repayment of the loan may not start for several years.

If keeping the home isn’t an option, alternatives include Sale. The lender will usually agree to a specific amount of time to find a purchaser and pay off the total amount owed. The borrower will be expected to obtain the services of a real estate professional to market the property aggressively.

Pre-foreclosure sale or short payoff. If the property’s sales value isn’t enough to pay the loan in full, the lender might accept less than the full amount owed to cut its losses. This option can also include a period of time to allow the borrower’s real estate professional to find a qualified buyer. A pre-foreclosure sale could provide additional funds to pay other lien holders and a few moving costs.

Assumption. The lender might agree to permit a qualified buyer to assume the mortgage payments, even if the original loan documents state that it’s nonassumable.

Deed in lieu. The lender might agree to allow the borrower to voluntarily “give back” the property and forgive the debt. Although this option sounds like the easiest way out, the borrower must generally attempt to sell the home for its fair market value for at least 90 days before the lender will consider this option. Also, this option may not be available if the borrower has other liens, such as judgments by other creditors, a second mortgage, or IRS or state tax liens.

Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (www.hud.gov)

New Power Site

View our New Marketing Tool
CENTURY 21 JRS Realty now offers a web site dedicated specifically to each home by itself. No more searching to find your home through thousands of pages on some search engine. Now with CENTURY 21 JRS Realty every home will have one web site dedicated only to that home. Our clients will enjoy their own web address and web site with slides shows, school information, room measurements, census reports, maps, and much more.

For Sellers

What Is Appraised Value?

It’s an objective opinion of value, but it’s not an exact science so appraisals may differ.For buying and selling purposes, appraisals are usually based on market value—what the property could probably be sold for. Other types of value include insurance value, replacement value, and assessed value for property tax purposes.Appraised value is not a constant number. Changes in market conditions can dramatically alter appraised value.Appraised value doesn’t consider special considerations, like the need to sell rapidly.Lenders usually use either the appraised value or the sale price, whichever is less, to determine the amount of the mortgage they will offer.Used with permission from Kim Daugherty, Real Estate Checklists and Systems, http://www.realestatechecklists.com/

Understanding Capital Gains in Real Estate

When you sell a stock, you owe taxes on your gain—the difference between what you paid for the stock and what you sold it for. The same is true with selling a home (or a second home), but there are some special considerations.How to Calculate Gain In real estate, capital gains are based not on what you paid for the home, but on its adjusted cost basis. To calculate this:

1. Take the purchase price of the home: This is the sale price, not the amount of money you actually contributed at closing.

2. Add Adjustments:
Cost of the purchase—including transfer fees, attorney fees, inspections, but not points you paid on your mortgage.
Cost of sale—including inspections, attorney’s fee, real estate commission, and money you spent to fix up your home just prior to sale.
Cost of improvements—including room additions, deck, etc. Note here that improvements do not include repairing or replacing something already there, such as putting on a new roof or buying a new furnace.

3. The total of this is the adjusted cost basis of your home.

4. Subtract this adjusted cost basis from the amount you sell your home for. This is your capital gain.

A Special Real Estate Exemption for Capital Gains

Since 1997, up to $250,000 in capital gains ($500,000 for a married couple) on the sale of a home is exempt from taxation if you meet the following criteria. You have lived in the home as your principal residence for two out of the last five years. You have not sold or exchanged another home during the two years preceding the sale. Also note that as of 2003, you may also qualify for this exemption if you meet what the IRS calls “unforeseen circumstances” such as job loss, divorce, or family medical emergency.

For Sellers

Moving Tips for Sellers
1. Give your forwarding address to the post office, usually 2-4 weeks ahead of the move.
2. Notify our charge cards, magazine subscriptions, and bank of the change of address.
3. Develop a list of friends, relatives, and business colleagues who need to be notified of the move.
4. Arrange to have utilities disconnected at your old home and connected at your new one.
5. Cancel the newspaper.
6. Check insurance coverage for moved items. Usually movers only cover what they pack.
7. Clean out appliances and prepare them for moving, if applicable.
8. Note the weight of the goods you’ll have moved, since long-distance moves are usually billed according to weight. Watch for movers that use excessive padding to add weight.
9. Check with your condo or co-op about restrictions on using the elevator or particular exits.
10. Have a “first open” box with the things you’ll need most—toilet paper, soap, trash bags, scissors, hammer, screwdriver, pencils and paper, cups and plates, water, snacks, and toothpaste.

Plus, if you’re moving out of town:
1. Get copies of medical and dental records and prescriptions for your family and your pets.
2. Get copies of children’s school records for transfer.
3. Ask friends for introductions to anyone they know in your new neighborhood.
4. Consider special car needs for pets when traveling.
5. Let a friend or relative know your route.
6. Carry traveler’s checks or an ATM card for ready cash until you can open a bank account.
7. Empty your safety deposit box.
8. Put plants in boxes with holes for air circulation if you’re moving in cold weather.

For Sellers

Moving Tips for Sellers
1. Give your forwarding address to the post office, usually 2-4 weeks ahead of the move.
2. Notify our charge cards, magazine subscriptions, and bank of the change of address.
3. Develop a list of friends, relatives, and business colleagues who need to be notified of the move.
4. Arrange to have utilities disconnected at your old home and connected at your new one.
5. Cancel the newspaper.
6. Check insurance coverage for moved items. Usually movers only cover what they pack.
7. Clean out appliances and prepare them for moving, if applicable.
8. Note the weight of the goods you’ll have moved, since long-distance moves are usually billed according to weight. Watch for movers that use excessive padding to add weight.
9. Check with your condo or co-op about restrictions on using the elevator or particular exits.
10. Have a “first open” box with the things you’ll need most—toilet paper, soap, trash bags, scissors, hammer, screwdriver, pencils and paper, cups and plates, water, snacks, and toothpaste.

Plus, if you’re moving out of town:
1. Get copies of medical and dental records and prescriptions for your family and your pets.
2. Get copies of children’s school records for transfer.
3. Ask friends for introductions to anyone they know in your new neighborhood.
4. Consider special car needs for pets when traveling.
5. Let a friend or relative know your route.
6. Carry traveler’s checks or an ATM card for ready cash until you can open a bank account.
7. Empty your safety deposit box.
8. Put plants in boxes with holes for air circulation if you’re moving in cold weather.

Seminar Success

CENTURY 21 JRS Realty Rocks the Crown Plaza

On Saturday March 31st CENTURY 21 JRS Realty with the help of Kwik Mortgage and Ebert Home Inspections held a successful Home Buyers Seminar at the Crown Plaza in Clark New Jersey. "We had a great turn out and everyone left with important information about the home buying process". said Company Leader JR Sangiuliano "Our family of agents wanted to give back to the community, and we figured what could be better than an informative free seminar on today's changing market and the process to follow in order to own a home". Sangiuliano continued.

CENTURY 21 JRS Realty supplied a free lunch and 3 hours of information on the Real Estate market। CENTURY 21 JRS Realty had mortgage representatives on site for quick and easy free pre-approvals. All attendees received a packet of information from CENTURY 21 JRS Realty, Kwik Mortgage, and Ebert Home Inspections. Everyone in attendance was give one on one access to Realtors, mortgage brokers, and home inspectors to help answer every question about the home ownership process.

For a one on one consultation with a realtor from CENTURY 21 JRS Realty about the home ownership process please visit our web site at http://www.century21jrsrealty.com/ and drop us an e-mail any time.

CENTURY 21 JRS Realty Enjoys Awards Diner

Congratulations to CENTURY 21 JRS Realty

CENTURY 21 Honors Top Agents

Congratulations to Team Excel

On Thursday March 29th CENTURY 21 held its annual awards banquet at the Double Tree Hotel in New Jersey. This event is focused on honoring top sales associates for their accomplishments in the past year. Team Excel from CENTURY 21JRS Realty proudly accepted their CENTURION award for excellence in team production. This is the highest award a CENTURY 21 system member receives for sales performance. Team members Audra Loccisano, Jessica Kinsella, Joe Piizzi, Vinny Spingola, and team Leader JR Sangiuliano accept the award from CENTURY 21 representatives with pride.