danielalexs: Improve Your Home Buying Knowledge With These Basic Real Estate

Did you know that there is an average of 9 different providers of services involved in every Myrtle Beach home purchase?? Each of the Myrtle Beach real estate professionals is knowledgeable in real estate lingo.? If you want to be fully informed, you need to familiarize yourself with basic Myrtle Beach real estate terms.? By understanding the relationship between the service providers and understanding their lingo, you will reduce the stress and help you make the right decisions about buying a Myrtle Beach home and increase your confidence.

You will want to refer to this list when you are discussing your purchase with your Myrtle Beach real estate buyer?s agent, when you meet with your mortgage company and when you hire service providers such as insurance agents, home inspectors or a handyman service.

Buyer?s Agent ? this is a Myrtle Beach real estate expert who is specifically trained to work with someone buying a Myrtle Beach home.? These Myrtle Beach agents have taken specific courses on how to represent, manage transactions and advise Myrtle Beach home buyers.

Mortgage ? this is a special type of loan that is secured by the purchase of the Myrtle Beach home.

Loan Officer ? a mortgage professional that works for the bank or lending institution who helps you acquiring a mortgage on your Myrtle Beach home.? Depending on who you contact, this may be an independent agent that represents more than one lending institution and can help you find the best interest rate or financing options.

Pre-approval ? This is a process that you the buyer will go through with the loan officer to help determine if you are eligible for a mortgage and to what amount.? It is wise to go through this process before you contact a Myrtle Beach Real Estate Buyer?s Agent.

FHA Loan ? A mortgage program that is backed by the federal government and will require a small down payment.? This down payment must come from the buyer?s funds and cannot be a loan from a family member or friend.? There are also other criteria that must be met for this type of mortgage.

Conventional Loan ? a mortgage program that is NOT backed by the federal government and usually requires are larger down payment than a FHA loan.? There are guidelines that apply and will vary from one lending institution to another.

Showing ? You Myrtle Beach Real Estate Buyers Agent will need to schedule a time to view the home and this is referred to as a showing.? This time must be approved by the Myrtle Beach home owner.

Multiple Listing Service (MLS) ? This is a huge database that Myrtle Beach real estate brokers use to ?list? all of the Myrtle Beach homes they have for sale.? The purpose of the database is to let other Myrtle Beach real estate agents and buyers like you know what Myrtle Beach homes are available at any given time.? This database is also used on internet websites that advertise Myrtle Beach homes for sale.? You can sign up here to have listings sent to you daily that meet your specific criteria for a Myrtle Beach home.

Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) ? A Myrtle Beach Real Estate Buyer?s Agent will run a report through the MLS to obtain the sales history of a specific area or a specific type of home that you as a buyer may be interested in making a purchase.? The Myrtle Beach Real Estate Agent can also run this report for a potential seller to determine the price point for listing the Myrtle Beach home.

Short Sale ? this is when a Myrtle Beach home owner will offer to sell their home for less than is owned on the property to avoid foreclosure.? This type of sale is contingent on the mortgage holder approving any offer placed on the Myrtle Beach home.

Foreclosure ? these are bank owned Myrtle Beach home?where the Myrtle Beach home owner has defaulted on the mortgage and in most cases walked away from the home.? You will want to read our articles on purchasing a Myrtle Beach foreclosure.

Offer ? This is the price that you and your Myrtle Beach Real Estate Buyer?s Agent make to purchase the home you have selected.? This offer is not a contract until it is signed by all parties.

Contract ? An offer for a Myrtle Beach home that is accepted by the Myrtle Beach home owner and thus becomes a legal contract.? A valid contract must be signed by all parties in the transaction.? This includes the mortgage holder in the case of a short sale.

Deposit ? An amount that is agreed upon by the seller and the buyer that the buyer will put down on the Myrtle Beach home to show good faith that they plan to follow through on the contract.? This amount will be held by a third part, usually a Myrtle Beach real estate broker, an attorney or a title company, until the contract either closes or is canceled.? If the contract is canceled by the buyer for a reason that is NOT state in the contract, the money may go to the seller of the Myrtle Beach home since it was a deposit in good faith and the contract was broken.

Closing Date ? the date the buyer and the Myrtle Beach home seller agree to sign all of the necessary documents to transfer the title to the Myrtle Beach home to the buyer, complete all of the financial documents and the HUD-1 Settlement Statement.

HUD-1 Settlement Statement ? This is a closing document that will disclose all of the money that went in and out ? all the debits and credits ? of both the buyer and seller.? This shows all of the financial transactions involved in the sale of the Myrtle Beach home.

Possession Date ? The date that all parties agree to allow the buyer to occupy the Myrtle Beach home. In the Myrtle Beach area this is usually the closing date unless there are extending circumstances.

Appraisal ? A mortgage company will require that a report be done by a professional that certifies the Myrtle Beach home being purchased is worth the amount that is being loaned on the property.? In most instances, the buyer will pay for the appraisal fee and the lending institution contracts with the appraisal company.

Inspection Period ? There are several inspections that are recommended prior to purchasing a Myrtle Beach home:

Whole house inspection
Pest inspection
Mold inspection
Other inspections as recommended by Myrtle Beach Real Estate Buyer?s Agent

The period that the Myrtle Beach home buyer is given for these inspections is referred to as the inspection period.? It is the responsibility of the buyer to pay for these inspections.

Unacceptable Conditions -? ANYTHING that an inspection of the Myrtle Beach home finds fault with during the inspection.? The inspector may find fault with several items in the Myrtle Beach home, but it is up to the buyer to request which items they want fixed prior to purchase.? This will usually change depending on the type of sale (ie Short Sale, Foreclosure or standard sale.)? In most instances, the buyer will only want to insist on corrections to items that relate to safety or health issues such as structural or mechanical problems.? In some instances a foreclosure will be sold ?as-is? and the buyer cannot request that problems be addresses.? A home inspection should still be ordered so the buyer knows how much they will need to renovate after the sale.

Closing ? At long last, when all the documents are signed and the transaction on the Myrtle Beach home is complete.

This is by no means a complete list, but it will give you?re the basic lingo when you are in the market to purchase a Myrtle Beach home. You will want to make sure you are familiar with all of the details of the Myrtle Beach real estate transaction.