Marina One Residences is a 99 years leasehold property developed by M+S Pte Ltd (Joint Venture between Khazanah & Temasek). This new condominium offers more than one thousand residential units for sale of multiple types including one bedroom, two, three and four bedrooms and penthouses. It is estimated that the project will be finished by 2017, however those who are interested can already register to receive discounts and choice units at the VIP preview. Marina One Residences is a special…
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The First Week Install new locks. Make extra sets of keys. Buy a fire extinguisher for the kitchen and garage. Install or check the batteries in the smoke detectors. Who’s Taking Pictures? The first 6 months you will notice people taking pictures of your house. They are real estate appraisers. When you had an appraisal for your purchase, the appraiser had to take photos of similar home sales. Lenders require photos of comparable sales used in an appraisal. Now your…
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Things to Consider Planning to move out of the area in a couple of years? If so you may be better off not buying a home now. The cost of selling a house generally falls in a range of 7% 8% of the sale price which may be more than the appreciation of the house. Check out this Rent vs. Buying web site to compare the advantages of each. Thinking about changing jobs? It might be best to wait until…
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Don’t Jeopardize Your Loan Taking out a another loan, buying a car, or making large credit card charges before you close can jeopardize your loan commitment. Lenders run a second credit check prior to closing to check for new charges. Time to Close Closing at the beginning of a month, the lender will require you to “prepay” the interest on your loan from the day of closing to the end of the month. Therefore the cash you need to close…
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Dress For Success Before you put your house on the market, its best to put a shine to it. The way you present your property to prospective buyers can make all the difference. Without investing in expensive and time-consuming renovation and redecoration, it’s still possible to show your home to its very best advantage. Curb Appeal That first impression when prospective buyers drive up is very important. If they don’t find the outside appealing, they won’t be interested in seeing…
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Buying Land & Building a Home Before you spend much time looking for land to buy, first do a little research to find out what costs and steps have to be take before the actual construction. You may decide it is worth more to buy an existing home and make personal modifications. Many first time home builders think you just buy a lot and get some building permits and start building. Not so, there are a number of steps and…
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How Much House Can You Afford? There are several ways to gauge how much you can afford to spend on a house. But, before you go house-hunting, get pre-qualified for a mortgage so you’ll know in what price range you can shop. It is not unusual for first-time buyers to be somewhat baffled about how to estimate what mortgage payment they will be able to handle each month, plus how much money they’ll need for a down payment and closing…
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Tax Changes and Effects The new capital gains law allows homeowners to avoid paying taxes on the first $500,000 of profit if they are married or on the first $250,000 if they are single. You must have lived in the home as your primary residence for two of the last five years. You are allowed to use the provision as often as you like, as long as it fits in that two year period. Any gains above the limit will…
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Before Looking Before you actively look at homes to buy, it’s necessary to know how much you can qualify for. Use mortgage calculators to determine how much you can buy with your down payment and closing cost money and what your monthly payments will be. Know Your Credit Worthiness Look at your credit report before you go to a lender. It is not uncommon to find problems with reports, especially if you have a common last name. To get copies…
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Down Payment Most lenders require at least 10% of the purchase price, though new programs are available for 3%-5% down. 100% financing can be found, but you credit must be excellent and PMI insurance will be required. Loan Origination Fee A lender’s fee for establishing a new loan. Government regulations allow only 1% origination fee on FHA or VA loans. Conventional loan fees can vary from -1 to 3+ points, plus other costs. A point is 1% of the loan….
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