Mass Real Estate Blog

I’m doing another home buyer workshop on Tuesday of next week, from 6-8 in Brookline. Please RSVP to either me (jcohen@massrealestateblog.com) or to Karen Nickel, the real estate broker hosting the event. I’ve done these before with both Karen and Donna, and they’re really a great way to get a good overview of the whole process.

From Karen Nickel:

There seems to be more demand for another homebuyer’s workshop 101. My last 19 workshops have received rave reviews from the attendees. Therefore, I have scheduled this next one for Tuesday May 12 from 6-8 PM at the Courtyard Marriott, 40 Webster Street in Brookline. The Marriott is right around the corner from my Brookline Coldwell Banker office.

If this is not for you, but you know of someone that may benefit from the topic, please feel free to pass the invite along. I have had people attend the session that were a year away from purchasing a home and those who were looking outside of Boston. That is OK!

The discussion will cover home buying 101 and should last about 2 hrs. We will go through the process from offer to closing and discuss what to look for along the way. The process involves many players, so I invited a real estate attorney and a mortgage broker. Here is a short summary of what each of us will cover:

Me (Karen Nickel, VP), Realtor & Architect
www.KarenNickel.com
Agency, viewing property, offers and inspection

Jason Cohen Esq, Attorney at Law
www.pressmankruskal.com
www.massrealestateblog.com
Purchase & Sale process, mortgage commitment, and closings

Donna McKeown, Mortgage Broker
donna.mckeown@prospectmtg.com
Pre-approval, FICO scores, mortgage commitment and types of mortgages

Parking is available either on Beacon St (meter) or at the Marriott Hotel’s underground garage ($.50/hr).

Do RSVP - so we will bring enough refreshments.

The workshop is free!

Thanks, Karen
Karen Nickel, M. Arch
Realtor, Architect
Top 1% of all Coldwell Banker Brokers
Vice President Coldwell Banker, Brookline, Massachusetts
VM / eFax 617-796-6195

Thanks for bearing with me through the technical difficulties, but I think everything’s now back and running.  The lack of posting over the past month was a product of my busy work schedule (refinancing, anyone?) as well as straightening out the comments problem with the blog.

Should be back up and running strong now.  Stay tuned for more posts!

One unintended benefit of a periodic refinance is a checkup on the title of your property.  Especially recently, with the latest refinance boom, people who have owned their real estate for several years discover that they actually have a mortgage still on record (i.e., not discharged) that was paid off from their last refinance.  This is usually because the lender didn’t issue the discharge to the attorney who did the last refinance, or they didn’t send it in to the Registry of Deeds after receiving payment in full, but it could also be that the original discharge was mailed directly to the borrowers and they either threw it away or filed it.

Regardless, it’s a problem that is usually discovered by the bank’s attorney at the next refinance.  Most of the time, the loan can still close with the undischarged mortgage or other title issue still outstanding.  However, the benefit is that it puts the owner on notice that this issue should be resolved before they try to sell.  Even if it’s an issue that’s covered by title insurance, it’s a good thing to fix to avoid any hassle or potential delay in the future when time is of the essence.

As an example, I recently had a refinance where the borrower had an undischarged home equity mortgage still outstanding from the 1980s.  I could tell by the title I ordered that the borrower had probably paid the loan off in full because other home  equity lines had been taken out after that one, and most of those had already been discharged.  I contacted the borrower and let him know of the issue.  I advised him to check his records, and sure enough, the original discharge had been mailed to him after he had refinanced in the mid 1990s.  He was a pack rat, so the problem was easily remedied, and he brought the original discharge with him to my office for the refinance, and I recorded it for him.  That completely solved that issue, and when (if?) he goes to sell in the future, he won’t have to scramble to find that discharge to close on time.

First of all, my apologies for not posting in a while (this whole month, in fact).  In case you’ve missed the news, many people are refinancing their mortgages, and I’ve been very busy doing refinances for my clients.

Since the spring market is (almost?) upon us, I wanted to make sure I get back in the posting game.  I’ll try to make sure to update more often.

You may have noticed that the comments to all of the posts disappeared.  I have no one to blame but myself — I mistakenly hit “delete all” to the comments and I can’t retrieve them.

Don’t let that stop you, though.  Keep the comments and e-mails (jcohen@massrealestateblog.com) coming!

Here is the official new home buyer workshop details from the real estate broker coordinating it, Karen Nickel.  If you do plan on attending, please RSVP, either to me at jcohen@massrealestateblog.com or to Karen Nickel.  These are VERY informative, and you can ask questions to your heart’s content.  Since it’s free, it’s a great resource.

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