House Calls by Edith Lank

Dear Edith: I would like to purchase a home very soon. I am approved for a certain amount. I want a home and it is listed more than I want to pay. Is there a normal amount that the sellers up the price to negotiate, or is that what they actually want for the home? — K. O'M.

Answer: Some sellers up the price while some don't.

We can't tell what your particular owners were thinking when they set their listing price. To find out, make an offer and see what happens. If you've been looking in that neighborhood, you probably have a pretty good idea of what the place is really worth. You can't spend more than you can afford anyhow.

Some buyers think you should start low, the sellers will counter by coming down a bit, and you'll come up a bit, and so on back and forth. But agents know that too many counteroffers usually kill the deal. Emotions start running high. Then someone says, "It's not the thousand dollars, it's the principle of the thing," and there goes the ball game.

Make your first offer pretty close to what you'd really pay if you had to, high enough to tempt the sellers to accept it there and then.

DEED VERSUS MORTGAGE

Dear Edith: My husband and I are moving south. We plan to live there in the winter months and come back north in the summer. We wanted our son to have our home, so we filed a quick claim deed.

I'm confused about this because we were told that this would give the home to our son. We want him to be responsible for the mortgage. Does a quick claim deed take care of this? I don't want to find out a couple of years later that this was not the right thing to do. Can you please help set my mind at ease? — E.

Answer: First about ownership: You understood correctly. When you signed the deed, you turned ownership over to your son. That was a "quit"-claim deed, by the way, not "quick." You were quitting, giving up, all claims of ownership in favor of your son.

But about the mortgage: You once signed a promise to be responsible for that loan.

Only the lender could release you from that liability. Making your son the owner didn't change a thing as far as the lender is concerned. You're still obligated exactly as you have been. What's more, with many types of mortgages, the lender has the right to call in the whole loan immediately when there's a change in ownership. They often leave it alone, though, when it's a transfer within a family.

TAX-DEFERRED EXCHANGE

Dear Edith: We own a vacation home on a lake and are considering selling it to purchase another vacation home on a different lake. We have used the property exclusively for our own enjoyment, and it has never been rented out. Our son suggested that we look into a Like-Kind Exchange. Are vacation homes eligible for this kind of treatment? If so, what IRS publication would be helpful? — e-mail

Answer: You can look up Section 1031 tax-deferred exchanges on the Internet, but I'm afraid you'll find they're only for investment property.

WHY OFFER MORE

Dear Edith: I enclosed a clipping about a house that sold for less than the asking price. Other times asking and selling prices are the same. My question concerns some cases where the selling price was greater than the asking price. I had never heard of this before.

Please tell me some possible reasons for this unusual situation. — S.S.

Answer: Perhaps the sellers underestimated the value of their property, and buyers hurried in with offers so that an auction developed. Or maybe the sellers promised to help the buyers out by paying part of the buyers' closing costs ("seller concessions"), and everyone agreed to add a few thousand dollars to the sale price in return.

FINANCING PROBLEM

Dear Ms. Lank: I wish to sell my vacation condo. Some units are time shares, but mine is not. Mortgage companies will not lend to anyone wishing to purchase in the complex because of the time shares. What can I do? I cannot afford the unit any longer. — F.

Answer: You can offer to hold a mortgage yourself. Or you can put the place up for sale at a bargain price in return for all cash.

Edith Lank will respond personally to any questions sent to her at 240 Hemingway Drive, Rochester, NY 14620 (please include a stamped return envelope), or readers may e-mail her at ehlank@aol.com.

COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM