5 top blunders of Internet home buying
Here's some advice to help you avoid the common pitfalls of online real-estate searching.

While the painful real-estate swoon appears likely to extend well into 2009 — at least — the number of Americans using the Internet to find the home of their dreams is poised to keep on climbing.
According to the 2008 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 87% of homebuyers used the Internet to search for homes last year. That's up steadily from 84% in 2007 and 80% in 2006.
But despite its mounting popularity, the Internet home-buying process can present a host of pitfalls. To help make your online real-estate searching more effective, here's a look at the top five Internet home-buying blunders and what you can do to avoid them.

1. Assuming you can do it all yourselfThe Internet allows users to handle for themselves many of the tasks that could once only be performed by real-estate agents. The NAR profile, for example, found that the number of homebuyers who first learned of their homes on the Internet has been rising in recent years, to 32% in 2008, up from a tiny 2% in 1997. Accordingly, the number of homebuyers who first learned of their homes through agents has been declining, to 34% in 2008, down from 50% in 1997.
But although the Internet can provide heaps of helpful tips and research, it would be a mistake to assume that the Web is all you need to buy a house — unless you are an experienced real-estate investor. Purchasing real estate can be extremely complicated from a legal standpoint, and it's easy to make a mistake if you don't have an expert advising you. And when it comes to something as expensive as real estate, those mistakes could cost you thousands of dollars.
"Doing all the paperwork yourself is a huge mistake," says Joshua Dorkin, chief executive officer of BiggerPockets.com, a real-estate networking and information site. "There are so many things you can miss on a contract."

2. Looking too narrowlyThe sheer amount of information about the real-estate market online can be overwhelming. As a result, buyers can be tempted to stick to just one or two popular real-estate search engines, such as Realtor.com, for their research. The problem with doing that, however, is that you're missing out on the biggest advantages that the Internet offers. [Realtor.com is a partner of MSN Real Estate.]
First, you're closing yourself off to a smaller cross section of the homes that are out there. "A lot of the sites aren't comprehensive and don't have all of the new listings," says Pat Kitano, a co-founder of Domus Consulting Group, which works with real-estate brokerage firms on technology marketing strategies.
Don't assume that because a house is on one real-estate Web site, it is on all of them, says Greg Healy, vice president of operations at ForSaleByOwner.com. "It's still very fragmented," he says. Healy recommends using several Web sites to get a more complete picture.
Second, you miss all the breaking, up-to-the-minute information on the housing market that can make you a smarter consumer. Blogs have become a popular resource for real-estate agents and others to post information as it happens. "If consumers are interested in a local area, they should find local real-estate bloggers who know this breaking information," Kitano says.

3. Ignoring the independentsOne area that major real-estate search engines often overlook is the market for homes sold by the owners. "A lot of people forget to think how many homes are sold without agents," Healy says. The current estimate is that 20% to 25% of homes are listed by owner, he says.
Your dream house could easily fall into that 20% to 25%. So how do you bring homes sold independently into your online searches? "Craigslist is one of the best resources," Dorkin says.

4. Falling for fake listingsRemember, the Internet is a giant playground for scammers, and unfortunately they have penetrated the world of online home buying as well. Combine big dollars for online advertising and a lot of people searching for homes, and the result is a proliferation of fake home listings. There are a number of red flags to look out for.
"If there are no photos [of the house], that's a big warning sign. That's just people trying to collect page views," Healy says.
But even if the listing has photos, it's not guaranteed to be legitimate. Legitimate Web sites will put watermarks on their home photos to brand those photos as their own. If a home's photos have several different watermarks on it, then you can guess you are looking at the work of a scammer.

5. Putting too much stock in home-valuation Web sitesSites such as Zillow.com and Cyberhomes.com have changed the way people buy homes by putting pricing information at buyers' fingertips. But they're not infallible.
Don't assume to know what the value of a home should be based on what these sites tell you about the neighborhood. There are many elements of a home's value that home-valuation sites cannot incorporate.
"Take their values with a grain of salt," Dorkin says. He recommends using this information merely as a range. Conduct other research to narrow that range. For example, walkscore.com can tell you the number of amenities within walking distance of a location — those are some of the factors that can raise or lower the value of a home.

By Matthew Bandyk, U.S. News & World Report

Market Insights: 1 -20 -2009

Chronic uncertainty over the impact of massive government stimulus efforts is creating an uncomfortable level of risk for investors -- strong enough to limit the ability of mortgage interest rates to move notably lower. With more than $1 trillion of borrowing by Uncle Sam in the works for this year alone – investors are looking at two different scenarios:
1. If the government stimuli work, an economic recovery may get under way relatively soon. As the engines of growth rumble back to life the demand for capital will rise – pushing interest rates higher across the board, or
2. If the massive government borrowing fails to revive the sputtering economy – how much more additional borrowing will it take and what impact will all this debt have on the sovereign creditworthiness of the United States? If Uncle Sam were to loose his AAA credit status mortgage investors are keenly aware that the cost of all credit – including mortgage credit – would rise notably higher.

Against this backdrop of worry, investors will be listening intently to president-elect Obama’s inauguration speech. If as expected, he presents a plan that contains viable measures for turning the labor market around and kick-starting the economy (think major government infrastructure spending) stocks will likely rally while mortgage interest rates will do well to trade near last Friday’s levels.

On the other hand, if market participants conclude the new president has yet to develop concrete courses of action and/or that his plans will likely encounter strong political pushback and delay from Congress -- look for stocks to move lower while mortgage interest rates remain steady to fractionally lower.


PROGRAM- Purchase 30 DAY RATE

CONFORMING 30 YEAR FIXED
80% LTV and >275,000 <= 417,000 5.0% CONFORMING 15 YEAR FIXED 80% LTV and >275,000 <= 417,000 4.75% CONFORMING 40 YEAR FIXED 80% LTV and >275,000 <=417,000 N/A CONFORMING 3-1 ARM 80% LTV and >275,000 <=417,000 4.75% CONFORMING 5-1 ARM 80% LTV and >275,000 <=417,000 4.875% CONFORMING 7-1 ARM 80% LTV and >275,000 <=417,000 5.125% VA/FHA 30 YEAR > $200,000
5.00%

CONV. JUMBO 30 YEAR FIXED
80% LTV and > 417,000
7.5%

CONV. JUMBO 5/1 ARM
6.625%

RATES AND POINTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE

What a REALTOR® Can Do for You
The REALTOR® you work with could be one of your most valuable resources. Unlike many real estate agents who are simply licensed by their state to do business, REALTORS® have taken additional steps to become members of the local board of REALTORS® and have agreed to act under and adhere to a strict Code of Ethics. Plus...
A REALTOR® can help you determine how much home you can afford. Often a REALTOR® can suggest ways to accrue the down payment and explain alternative financing methods.
A REALTOR®, in addition to knowing the local money market, also can tell you what personal and financial data to bring with you when you apply for a loan.
A REALTOR® is already familiar with current real estate values, taxes, utility costs, municipal services and facilities, and may be aware of local zoning changes that could affect your decision to buy.
A REALTOR® can usually research your housing needs in advance through a Multiple Listing Service--even if you are relocating from another city.
A REALTOR® can show you only those homes best suited to your needs--size, style, features, location, accessibility to schools, transportation, shopping and other personal preferences.
A REALTOR® often can suggest simple, imaginative changes that make a home more suitable for you and improve its utility and value.
A REALTOR® is sensitive to the importance you place on this major commitment you are about to make. Look for a real estate professional to facilitate negotiation of a win-win agreement that will satisfy both you and the seller.