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Information
| 1. |
What closing costs do I pay?
Closing costs will vary by transaction. Closing costs are usually expressed as a percentage of the sales price or loan amount. Normally, costs will range from 3% to 6% of the price of the home and can include transfer and recordation taxes, title insurance, the site survey fee, attorney fees, loan discount points, and document preparation fees.
Sometimes you can negotiate to have the seller pay some of your closing costs.
Escrow Charges: Buyer Pays
County/City Transfer Tax: Seller Pays
- Less than $500,000: $5.00 per $1000 of sale price
- $500,000 to $1,000,000: $6.80 per $1000 of sale price
- Greater than $1,000,000: $7.50 per $1000 of sale price
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| 2. |
What is a closing statement?
A statement that provides final arrangements for transfer of the title of property, as well as to allocate charges and credits.
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| 3. |
I don't understand some of the lingo, where do I find a glossary of terms?
Visit our glossary. If that doesn't answer your question, email it to me at jloeffler@joanloeffler.com.
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| 4. |
What is FIRPTA (California Foreign Investment In Real Property Tax Act)?
Beginning in January 2003, the California Foreign Investment In Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA) will require 3 1/3 percent of the sale price of investment property to be withheld, regardless of whether the seller is a resident of nonresident of the State of Caliofrnia. The new law does not impose a new tax or increase an existing tax — it merely accelerates the receipt of tax revenue by the State by requiring that a portion of the seller's taxable gain on investment property be withheld. In this regard, individual sellers may no longer apply for and receive a waiver from the State Franchise Tax Board, even if they can document that the tax owed is less than the 3 1/3 percent of the sales price withheld. This law does not apply to the sale of principal residences or to 1031 tax-deferred exchanges.
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| 5. |
What new legislation took effect in 2003?
Assembly Bill 2330: This bill relates to the return of rental security deposits. The bill requires owners to offer a departing tenant the opportunity to have his unit inspected by the owner two weeks prior to the tenant's move-out date to identify repairs or cleaning services that are proposed to be the basis for any legally permissible deduction from the security deposit. Further, the law grants the tenant the opportunity to remedy identified deficiencies in order to avoid deductions from the security deposit. While this legislation sounds like a simple matter, it imposes on the owner the burden of notifying the tenant of his right to have the inspection and requires that the statement of necessary repairs include the actual text of the specified sections of the security deposit law. Any 'bad faith' rentention of the security deposit may subject the owner to statutory damages of up to twice the amount of the security deposit in addition to actual damages.
Senate Bill 1403: This bill requires owners of residential dwellings to give at least 60 days notice to a tenant of a landlords intention to terminate a rental agreement. Tenants, however, are still required to give only 30 days notice of their intention to terminate. There are some exemptions from the 60 day rule for single family dwellings that are being sold, however, they are sufficiently esoteric as to be inapplicable in most San Francisco situations.
State bills may be viewed in their entirety by visiting www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.
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| 6. |
I filed a water claim against my homeowner's insurance and now a potential buyer is having issues getting insurance. Where can I find more information?
The California Department of Insurance Web site offers simple advice in shopping for a new policy: Shop around, and get your CLUE report. A CLUE report is a Claims Loss Underwriting Exchange, originally used as an antifraud tool to help insurance companies spot people who file identical claims with multiple companies. Now, however, it's commonly used to gauge potential risk. Owned by ChoicePoint, a publicly traded credit history reporting company, CLUE compiles information about the insurance history of buildings and their owners.
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