Selling Home & Garden

10 Steps to Take Before You Sell Your House - Home Selling  You are here: About > Home & Garden > Home Buying / Selling > How To Sell a House > 10 Steps to Take Before You Sell Your House - Home Selling Home & Garden Home Buying / Selling Essentials 10 Things Home Buyers Shouldn't Do Best Tips for First Time Home Buyers "Must-Do" Tasks Before You Sell How to Buy a Home, Step by Step For Sale by Owner Advice Articles & Resources How To Buy a Home How To Sell a House Celebrity & Historic Credit Reports & Scores Design & Remodel Home Maintenance Inspections & Appraisals Investing & Foreclosures Modular & Manufactured Mold, Radon, Lead, etc. Mortgage Advice Moving & Relocation Real Estate Careers Real Estate For Sale Vacation Homes Buyer's Guide Before You Buy Top Picks Home Buying Books Foreclosure Books Mortgage Books Product Reviews Forums Help FREE Newsletter Sign Up Now for the Home Buying / Selling newsletter! See Online Courses   Search Home Buying / Selling Stay up to date! Email to a friend Print this page More Home Selling Articles Understanding Material Facts and Property Disclosures Get Ready for Your Home Inspection Should You Buy a Home Warranty? More Home Selling Resources How to Read the HUD-1 Settlement Statement Getting the House Ready to Sell How To Measure Your Square Footage Recent Discussions Excellent credit, no savings- help!! Buying an out of state home ? Re-financing... Related Blogs Mortgage Fraud Blog The Real Estate Blog The Money Pit Most Popular Modular and Manufactured Homes Finding Your Best Place to ... Home Buying Don'ts First Time Home Buyer Tips Before You Sell Your Home What's Hot Coping with Unethical People How To Buy Land Real Estate Appraisal Before You Buy a Log Home Package Home Buying / Selling - GuideReviews Related Topics Home Repair Architecture Credit / Debt Management Housekeeping Landscaping 10 Important Steps to Take Before You Sell Your House From Janet Wickell , Your Guide to Home Buying / Selling . FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now! Essential Home Selling Preparations The home selling process differs from state to state, but there are some important steps that most home sellers should take before listing a house with an agent or selling it for sale by owner. Every bit of prep work you do helps you get the most return from your investment. 1. Get Pre-Approved for a Home Loan I've known sellers who signed a contract to sell their house before they knew if they were qualified to buy another. Either their financial circumstances had changed since their last purchase, and they could no longer qualify for a loan, or they weren't able to sell at a price that allowed them to buy the type of replacement house they wanted. They ended up renting or buying something that was far from ideal. Before you decide to sell the house, get pre-approved by a lender you trust and research the housing market in the area where you wish to live so that you have a good idea how much it will take to buy a replacement. Start looking for two types of real estate: houses that seem to match the one you'd like to buy and houses that are similar to your current home. How do the two categories compare in price? Can you handle the difference if you're planning a step up? Mortgage Helpers: Are You Pre-Approved for a Mortgage? And to compare for-sale homes to your own, learn how to Measure Residential Square Footage . 2. Check Your Mortgage Payoff Call your lender to check the payoff for your current home mortgage. You'll need the figure to complete Step 6. 3. Determine How Much Your House Is Worth Determine your home's fair market value. Real estate agents will usually help you determine value as a courtesy, but you might take it a step further and order an appraisal . 4. Estimate Your Costs to Sell Real estate commission if you use an agency to sell. Advertising costs, signs, other fees if you plan to sell by owner. Attorney, closing agent and other professional fees. Excise tax for the sale. Prorated costs for your share of annual expenses, such as property taxes, home owner association fees, and fuel tank rentals. Any other fees typically paid by the seller in your area (surveys, inspections, etc.). Real estate agents deal with transactions every day and can give you a very close estimate of seller closing costs. 5. Estimate Costs to Buy a New Home Calculate moving expenses, loan costs, downpayment, home inspections, title work and title policy, paying for a new hazard insurance policy--all expenses related to buying a home. Your lender should give you a disclosure of estimated costs when you apply for loan pre-approval. 6. Calculate Your Estimated Proceeds Deduct your mortgage payoff from your home's fair market value. Deduct your costs to sell from the remainder to get an estimate of the proceeds you will be paid at closing. Will your closing proceeds cover your costs to buy a new home? If not, do you have cash or other funding to make up the difference? 7. Make Necessary Repairs Make all needed repairs unless you want the house to be regarded as a fixer-upper. I'm not referring to cosmetic updates--just items in need of repair. Anything that's obviously broken gives potential buyers a reason to offer you a lower price, especially if it's one of several repair hot spots that worry buyers the most. 8. Get the House Ready to Show Most houses need at least a little spiffing up before they are shown to potential buyers. Great curb appeal , fresh paint indoors (and sometimes out), organized closets and cabinets, sparkling clean windows and appliances and a clutter-free look are essential if you want the house to appeal to buyers. Be sure to avoid the things buyers hate most about houses. 9. Get Psyched Up to Let People In If you're listing with a real estate agent, she'll ask you to leave when the house is shown. Why? Because lurking sellers make buyers nervous--they don't feel comfortable inspecting the house when they feel they are intruding in your personal space. Unless there's a valid reason for it, don't ask your agent to be present for all showings, because that requirement can be the kiss of death for showing activity. Other agents want privacy with their buyers and they don't usually have time to work around your agent's schedule. Make the house accessible. That means it should always be ready to show. Many agents won't bother showing a house that takes 24 hours to get into. 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Home Loan

Refinance your Home Mortgage Loan or Home Purchase Loan for Debt Consolidation Ameriquest offers home purchase and mortgage refinanceloans. Refinance today to consolidate debt, lower your monthly paymentsand get cash out. Call for a Loan Today: 1-888-436-7571 Search Loan Purpose Refinance Consolidate debt Cash out Improve my home Purchase a home Other State AK AL AR AZ CA CO CT DC DE FL GA HI IA ID IL IN KS KY LA MA MD ME MI MN MO MS MT NC ND NE NH NJ NM NV NY OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VA VT WA WI WV WY Ameriquest Racing Ameriquest announces its primary sponsorship of Roush Racing® in the 2006 NASCAR® Busch Series . >> Learn More RollingStones A Bigger Bang Get tour dates and other info about their 2005 North America tour . >> LearnMore Ameriquest In Your Community Making a Difference Where We Live! We support numerous community initiatives and encourage employees to participate in a range of worthy causes. >> Learn More Hurricane Katrina/Rita Assistance Ameriquest is committed to helping those affected by the hurricanes. Customers: If you have an Ameriquest loan and you have been impacted by the hurricanes, please call (800) 430-5262. >> Read More Associates: We are concerned about the well-being of our associates and we’re standing by to assist. If we haven’t been in contact with you since the disaster, please contact us at (800) 640-5262. Ameriquest has partnered with HomeAid. Join us in contributing to the Gulf Coast Rebuilding Fund. Use Our Online Calculators To: CONSOLIDATE YOUR DEBT PAY OFF YOUR MORTGAGE BY RETIREMENT REFINANCE AND GET CASH BACK LEARN WHAT YOUR CREDIT CARDS ARE COSTING YOU Find a Local Branch We have more than 150 locations nationwide. Zip Code AsSeen in Money Magazine Mortgages 101: A Pocket Guide to Netting the Mortgage That's Right for You >> DownloadNow Best Practices Ameriquest is leadingthe industry with their Best Practices Policy. >> ReadMore Ameriquest Mortgage Company is an Equal Housing Lender. Licensing | Legal © 2005 Ameriquest Mortgage Company. Trade/servicemarks are the property of Ameriquest Mortgage Company and/or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Ameriquest Mortgage Company, 1100 Town & Country Rd. Suite 1100, Orange, California 92868. (714) 541-9960. Refinance with Ameriquest Mortgage Company Ameriquest Mortgage Company specializes in refinance loans, homemortgage loans, and new home purchases. Ameriquest Mortgage can help you consolidate your debt and lower your monthly payments , evenif you have less than perfect credit or bad credit . Ameriquest Mortgage gives you everything you need to get the loan that's right for you – including your own Personal Mortgage Specialist . Fill out our easy loan request form and a local Mortgage Specialist will contact you about your loan options .They'll help you fill out all your paperwork, even your loan application . Refinance Now Refinance now while mortgage rates are still low. Getthe cash you need to make home improvements and consolidatedebt . Your overall monthly payments will be reduced and mayeven be tax deductible . Compare our interest rates with other top mortgage lenders such as ING Direct , eLoan , Countrywide , New Century , Full Spectrum , Ditech.com , and IndyMac Bank . Ameriquest Mortgage is a sponsor of Major League Baseball(MLB) including these teams: Padres, Angels, Dodgers, A's, Mariners,Twins, Orioles, Nationals, Mets, Astons, Rangers, Marlins and the DevilRays. Ameriquest Mortgage is a sponsor of the New York Jets National Football League (NFL) team. Ameriquest Mortgage is the sponsor of the Miller Lite / Ameriquestdragster, driven by Larry Dixon and owned by Don "the Snake"Prudhomme for the NHRA . Ameriquest Mortgage is the title sponsor of the Ameriquest300 NASCAR Busch Series race (September 3, 2006 at California Speedway.) Ameriquest Mortgage Company is proud to present the RollingStones A Bigger Bang Tour. The tour will visit more than 25 citiesin North America and kicked off August 21 in Boston's Fenway Park. Enterour sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip for two to see RollingStones live in concert. The LuisMiguel Mexico En La Piel Tour is presented by Ameriquest MortgageCompany . As seen in Money Magazine . Download ourMortgages 101 booklet. This pocket guide will help you find the mortgagethat's right for you. At Ameriquest , we support numerous nonprofit initiatives includingHabitat for Humanity, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Fulfillment Fund.Ameriquest also has 2 airships (blimps), AmeriquestAirship 'Freedom' and AmeriquestSoaring Dreams Airship . You may have also seen our Do the Math Infomercial with Chuck Woolery where the benefits of Refinancing are easy as 1, 2, 3. Calculate how much you can lower your monthlypayments by refinancing – and hear from real people who'vedone it themselves. Ameriquest Mortgage offers other consumer tools including a MortgageDictionary , and various mortgage calculators . Find AmeriquestMortgage.com and Ameriquest.com on themajor search engines and sites such as Google , Yahoo , MSN , AOL , Ask Jeeves , and Ebay . Ameriquest has over 150 local branches nationwide andoffers local branch listings includingdirections served by MapQuest . To request a loan , you canvisit one of our local branches , call us toll free at 888-436-7571or click here .

REAL ESTATE BROKER/SALESPERSON PAGE

Real Estate Broker/Salesperson Page Department of State Dos Homepage | Corporations | Licensing | Local Government | Fire Prevention & Control | Commissions REAL ESTATE BROKER/SALESPERSON PAGE CLICK HERE TO RENEW YOUR LICENSE ON-LINE Acrobat PDF File Download Information What's New? Effective July 1, 2005 , the Division of Licensing Services replaced the real estate salesperson and broker walk-in examination system with an online reservation examination scheduling system for our Albany, New York City, Franklin Square, Hauppauge and Newburgh exam centers. To schedule an examination or for more information, please click here . IMPORTANT ADVISORY: Section 442 of the Real Property Law previously prohibited a real estate broker from paying any part of a commission to an unlicensed person, firm, corporation or LLC if the payment was intended as compensation for a service that would require a real estate license. Accordingly, the amendment of August 10, 2004 , permits a real estate broker to pay the commission earned by a licensed associate broker or salesperson to an unlicensed corporation or unlicensed LLC , if each of the shareholders of the corporation or each member of the LLC, is an individual who is licensed and properly associated with the real estate broker as a licensed associate broker or salesperson. This amendment does not entitle the associate real estate broker or real estate salesperson to be licensed or to advertise in the name of the corporation or LLC, nor will the records maintained by Department of State, Division of Licensing, reflect the name of the corporation or LLC. A licensee may NOT use the name of the corporation or LLC on business cards. GENERAL INFORMATION POINTS OF INTEREST Real Estate Broker NYS Board of Real Estate Real Estate Sales Approved Real Estate Schools Approved Real Estate Qualifying Schools Approved Real Estate Continuing Education Schools Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO) Electronic Marketing - Internet Policy Real Estate Reciprocity A Guide to Professional Conduct New York State Real Estate Board Download PDF File (85KB PDF) (1 page) Cease and Desist Lists and Registrations Real Estate Agency Disclosure Form Download PDF File (183KB PDF) (2 pages) Property Condition Disclosure Statement Download PDF File (142KB PDF) (6 pages) Legal Memoranda Discipline of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons for Untrustworthy Conduct Licensing Complaint Resolution Process Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons and the Unauthorized Practice of Law Apartment Hunting Double Jeopardy in Administrative Disciplinary Proceedings Defining When a Real Estate Broker's Commission Is Due Be Wary of Dual Agency Frequently Asked Questions: Real Estate Broker and Salesperson Other Sites of Interest: New York State Association of Realtors National Association of Realtors Association of Real Estate License Law Officials Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) Original Licenses On Line ( Not For Renewals ) If you would like to apply for an original license on line, clicking the link below begins that process. Please be advised that before a license can be issued, follow-up documentation will be requested. For Renewals, use the link at the top of the page. Governor's Office of Regulatory Reform Online Permit Assistance and Licensing (OPAL) About the DOS Return to DOS Home Page DOS Accessibility Statement DOS Privacy Statement

Land Loan maximum now

Texas Veterans Land Board In Texas, call us Toll Free:1-800-252-VETS (8387) Outside Texas? Call 1-512-463-5060 (long distance charges apply) (PDF) -- • State Veterans Home Resident Awarded Bronze Star (PDF) • VLB is accepting nominations for naming the Texas State Veterans Home being built in Amarillo. Read the Press Release (PDF) and the Policy for Naming Texas State Veterans Homes ( Word2000 ) ( PDF ) and complete the Nomination Form ( Word2000 ) ( PDF ) • Corpus Christi awarded next Texas State Veterans Cemetery (PDF) • The Results of the October 25, 2005, FLS are now available on-line (PDF) • Watch the archived edition of the October 25, 2005, FLS Web cast • First Texas State Veterans Cemetery dedicated in Killeen (PDF) • Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery Dedication Information • James Baker III to help dedicate first Texas State Veterans Cemetery (PDF) • Rio Grande Valley State Veterans Cemetery Groundbreaking Information • Work begins on Valley's first Texas State Veterans Cemetery (PDF) The October Type I Forfeited Land Sale Handbooks are now available online (PDF) -- • Chairman Patterson visits veterans in Iraq • VLB Board Member, Mike Ussery, passes away after attending the dedication of the Texas State Veterans Home in McAllen, scheduled to open July 1, 2005. (PDF) • "Where Honor Lives" • "Voices of Veterans" Oral History Program • "Defending Freedom" A new TV Announcement honoring Texas Veterans from 1836 to today. Play Video 60 seconds High | Low Play Video 30 seconds High | Low Broadcaster Information (PDF) • Texas Veterans Voice Fall 2005 Veterans Voice Newsletter (PDF) Archived Editions of the Veterans Voice Newsletter • Media and Press Releases • Financial help available for activated Texas Reservists and National Guard members (PDF) ATTENTION-Loan Program Changes!!! VLB Land Loan maximum now $60,000. Land Loan now available for one-acre tracts. VHAP Changes Effective March 4, 2005: New-Construction housing loans must meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star ® rating as an energy efficient home. The Greenbuilding and Troops to Teachers Programs will no longer be available. The interest rate discounts previously associated with these programs will be re-directed to reducing the overall base rate for the Housing and Home Improvement Programs. The veterans with Disabilities Program discount will be available only to veterans with a VA compensable disability rated at 50% or higher. • Federal legislation filed to end discrimination in veteran loan eligibility • Convert your semiannual land loan payments to monthly payments (PDF) Message from Chairman Patterson Chairman Jerry Patterson Speaks to Veterans About the Veterans Land Board. (run time: 10:15) Play Video High | Low Land Loan Account Status Free Public Seminars and Educational Events • For Veterans • For Lenders • For Real Estate Professionals--view our upcoming events . Contact your nearest Outreach office for training opportunities. Registration for Veterans, Real Estate Professionals, and VLB Participating Lenders • Registration for Veterans to receive VLB program updates • Registration for Real Estate Professionals to receive VLB program updates • Web listing updates for VLB Participating Lenders Veterans' Resources • The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) now accepting requests for some military records via the Internet • The Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) for information on VA benefits Laws and Rules • Laws and Rules PDF Files require the free Adobe Acrobat reader. Video media require the free Real Player . Privacy Policy Links/Accessibility Policy For our customers who are hearing impaired: The VLB TDD number is (512) 463-6367 or contact any of our program areas through Relay Texas at 1-800-735-2988. For more information, contact us .

home equity options line

Countrywide - Home Equity home equity home owners guide home loan glossary equity credit line process home ownership tips home equity options line of credit options quick approval options rates & costs home equity calculator loan advisor apply now call us: 1-800-825-4549 1-800-825-4549 contact us | site map | log in CFC home | about us | investor relations | business partners Countrywide offers both home equity loans and lines of credit. To decide which is best for your needs: Have our interactive Loan Advisor suggest a loan for you See home equity line of credit vs. home equity loan. View our equity loans for those with less than perfect credit offered by Countrywide Home Loans' Full Spectrum Lending Division . Quick help for selecting the equity loan program for you: For a list of features on any of these loans, just click the name of the loan program. Loan Program Reason to Choose It Key Feature Home Equity Loan You want the entire loan balance at once and a fixed rate. Principal and interest payment remains the same over the life of the loan. Home Equity Line of Credit You want to be able to borrow money as you need it up to the credit limit. Low start rate, then variable monthly rate based on outstanding balance. Combining Home Equity Loans or Lines of Credit With First Mortgages You want to: Use it for a down payment Avoid paying mortgage insurance Avoid jumbo (non-conforming) home loan pricing Can provide additional tax advantages (ask your tax advisor) and is available on most loan programs. Super Streamline Home Equity Line of Credit You recently took out a home loan with Countrywide and may want to: Consolidate credit cards Decorate your new home Prepare for future needs Same Home Equity Line of Credit benefits. Skip most of the paperwork and have the cash you need in no time at all if your job and financial situation haven't changed significantly since we closed your recent loan. Some restrictions apply. 125% Equity Loan For borrowers with better credit who have a need for funds in excess of available home equity Loan amounts up to 125% of the value of the home See HELOC Terms Summary for important terms on our most popular home equity lines. service guarantees | why choose Countrywide? | loan status | find a branch | current customers | home loans | log in loans en espaol | Countrywide's Full Spectrum Lending Division | we house america | banking | insurance | investments your accounts | contact us | site map | careers | about us | investor relations | privacy & security | licenses & registrations Equal Housing Lender. © 2005 Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. Trade/service marks are the property of Countrywide Financial Corp., and/or its subsidiaries. *UpFront Approval is subject to satisfactory appraisal and title review and no change in financial condition. If the rate is not locked or rate protection expires, any rate increase may lower the loan amount for which the borrower has pre-qualified. Some products may not be available in all states. Refinancing or taking out a home equity loan or line of credit may increase the total number of monthly payments and the total amount paid when comparing to your current situation. State Licensing . Privacy & Security.