Can You Afford to OWN that Home?
Posted: under Buyers, Financing.
Tags: Flooding
Well, hopefully as we enter year 3 of the real estate malaise no one is signing up for 1-3 year ARMS or some of the interest-only products that devastated many home-buyers. But I’m still seeing plenty of folks buying homes who shouldn’t be.
Here’s a sad example that I’ve been dealing with lately…
Clients purchase a modest home earlier this year…just barely. Meaning, they barely have adequate funds to bring to closing. Well, several months post-closing I get a call about some flooding that they’re experiencing in the home’s basement (they did do an inspection). Sadly upon review it seems like the property Sellers were fraudulent and that a claim under the Residential Real Property Disclosure Act seems likely. Yet enforcement of legal rights usually requires a little upfront investment….RETAINER!
Perhaps more importantly, if you don’t have $5,000-$10,000 in an emergency fund to deal with something like flooding/plumbing, etc. you likely can’t afford to own that home.
Comments (3)
Jan 14 2010
