Although the federal tax credit has expired, some home buyers still have the opportunity to cash in on another kind of rebate, which can amount to several thousand dollars.

A growing number of home buyers are using online tools to find and view homes listed for sale, which can be an efficient, time saving process for home buyers and real estate agents.

Taking advantage of a good opportunity to convert their time and effort into cash, some home buyers are using an unusual source of funds to help pay for their closing costs. Online access to home listings, which used to be available only to real estate agents, now lets home buyers negotiate cash rebates from real estate agent commissions.

Many agents who specialize in representing buyers are willing to sharing their sales commission in order to gain more clients, while reducing their time expenditure. Before a buyer makes an offer to purchase a home, an agreement can be made with a real estate agent to represent them in exchange for a share of the agent’s commission, which is paid by the home seller.

The amount of money a home buyer can get from a cash rebate depends on 2 things: share of the commission, which is negotiable with the agent; and the sales price of the home.

For Example:

A sales commission offered to a buyer’s agent by the seller may be 3% of the home price. If a home sells for $390,000, and the agent agrees to give a 50% share of the commission, the amount of rebate to the buyer would be $5,850.

Rebate money can be applied to the buyer’s closing costs at the close of the transaction, providing there are no restrictions from the buyer’s lender, or state laws that regulate real estate transactions. A few states do not allow rebates.

Cash rebates can be negotiated to buy an existing home, and in many cases, a new home. Some builders offer broker co-op commission to real estate agents who bring in clients to buy a new home. The buyer’s agent may be required to accompany them when initially visiting the home models, and when signing the paperwork.

Considering the high cost of buying a home and the chance to save thousand dollars on costs, less hand holding from a real estate agent seems like a fair trade.

Written by R. Smith: Home Loans, FHA Mortgage Rates, New Homes San Diego

Seeing flood warnings and people recovering from floods on the news is becoming a regularoccurrence. Cumbria has been the latest place to be hit by flash floods this year. With climate change having quite a large effect at the moment, the amount of homes at risk from flooding is expected to rise.

The Environment Agency is currently predicting that 1 out of every 6 homes is at risk of flooding. With this number expected to rise next year, no doubt we will be seeing even more flood reports on the news.

One of the biggest problems people in areas at risk of flooding are facing is having to buy home insurance, especially if it’s insurance for holiday homes. Because it can cost anywhere up to £40,000 to insurers after a flood claim, you need to factor in expensive insurance when buying any property. Fortunately, there are resources online where you can find out whether your home is at risk.

If you are currently living, or are looking to buy a property in England or Wales, you can visit the Environment Agency’s website where they list flood maps of the UK. If you are a Scottish resident, you can visit the Scottish Environment Protection Agency website for more flood informaton.

If you do own a home or are going to buy a home in a flood risk area, getting your insurance won’t be a simple task. You’ll generally find that as soon as your home has been flooded, your premiums or excesses will rise. You may even find that you are refused a policy renew due to your house being in an area at risk of flooding.

With each flood claim costing insurers around £20,000 to £40,000, you should be prepared to see excesses of aup to £30,000. This is the reason why you should add any expensive insurance costs onto house prices when you are looking to buy a home. Getting second homes insurance can result in even more problems. Due to you leaving the property empty for most of the year, you have to watch for exclusions and high excesses.

I guess this wouldn’t be a problem if you were looking for Spanish house insurance.

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Ever dream of owning an Island or a gorgeous Caribbean home? Then the country of Belize is your answer. Nestled on the Caribbean coast of Central America, this little country has a rich culture, tropical climate and offers stunningly beautiful Belize real estate.

Belize is the only Central American country that has English as the official language, making it ideal for USA citizens to visit, buy a permanent or retirement retreat. Belize originally was a colony of the British Empire, until 1981, when at that time the country declared its independence and became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Check out estate agents cardiff.

Buying Belize real estate is quite easy for foreigners. Especially since their laws are quite similar to the United States, and real estate laws are based on English law. Once you find a piece of Belize real estate you have an interest in purchasing, hire a real estate agent and a lawyer to execute the necessary paperwork, the same as in the United States.

If you have a desire to purchase a private island as well, there are more than a few within the Belize real estate territory. If coconut groves, gorgeous sandy beaches and 19 acres of solitude is your idea of island life, you can find it here. A price tag of just about two and one half million US dollars, and you own it. If that is outside of your budget, another smaller island is also on the Belize real estate market at a mere 0,000 US dollars. Go to estate agents in cardiff.

After you have found your dream island or home you can cruise over to one of Belize’s major national attractions, the Great Blue Hole, an underwater sinkhole located just off the coast. Thousands of explorers, swimmers, and divers visit this national landmark every year. Brought to national fame in 1971 by Jacques Coustea, it has become a Mecca for scuba divers and spelunkers the world over. The gorgeous area surrounding the Great Blue Hole is known as the Belize Barrier Reef, approximately half of all tourists to Belize come to the Great Blue hole as their primary reason for visiting the country. Because it is part of the National Park, there are no Belize real estate parcels in close proximity.

A variety of cultures have settled in Belize including the Mayans, from as early as 1000 AD, the 1800s saw many Mexican and Spanish settlers arrive, US citizens (who began settling after the Civil War in the 1860’s), Asians (from the 1900’s) Central American immigrants (from the mid 1900s) and presently, peoples from all over the world come looking for a piece of Belize real estate. The country has become, ‘the Melting Pot’ of central America, as practically every ethnicity is represented there. Click for wales estate agents.