Making An Earnest Money Deposit On Real Estate
When an offer is made on a house, it usually accompanied with a check.
This check is what is known as an earnest money deposit, made to let the seller know that the buyer is earnest in his or her attempt to purchase the home.
This article will show you how you can use this to your advantage.
An earnest money deposit distinguishes serious buyers from those who aren’t so sure about the purchase.
The deposit amount is different from one purchase to the next. Many factors can sway the amount of the deposit. In seller’s markets, earnest money deposits are often larger than in buyer’s markets.
This is because properties tend to have more inquiries in seller’s markets. Thus, it takes a little more to convince the seller to accept a certain offer.
In a steady or buyer’s market, you shouldn’t make an earnest money deposit in an amount that is greater than 2 percent of the offer price.
Once you have reached an agreement with the seller, the earnest money deposit is placed into an escrow account where it will stay until closing. At this point, both you and the seller jointly control the money.
Usually when the deal closes, the deposit is applied to your down payment and closing accounts.
What happens if the deal falls through for reason? This is where sellers and buyers often disagree. Sellers sometimes feel that buyers should forfeit the earnest money deposit and they should receive the money. On the other hand, buyers contend that it was their money in the first place and the earnest money deposit should be returned to them.
Before anything can be done with the funds, any cancellation fees that apply are taken directly from the earnest deposit. After that point, the buyer and the seller must come to an agreement on what should happen with the deposit. It really doesn’t matter who’s at fault for the deal going wrong, since the money is held in a third party escrow some sort of compromise must be reached before the funds will be released.
The escrow can only release the funds when one of two conditions have been met either both parties provide a written authorization or an order is issued from a court of law. Obviously it is less costly and time consuming for the two parties to reach an agreement.
In some states there is a statute of limitations on which the escrow can hold the money without receiving a release authorization from the buyers. After this time period has expired, the law requires, in most cases, that the deposit be returned to the buyer.
As the buyer, it is important that you include stipulations in the sales contract that dictate when the money should be returned to you. For example, if there are problems with the inspections, title search, or some other function that causes the deal to collapse.
Until the offer has been signed, you shouldn’t give the earnest money deposit to the seller. Otherwise, if something goes wrong with the deal, you could find yourself in a situation where your earnest money deposit is held by the escrow and you cannot reach an agreement with the seller.
Gerald Mason
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/making-an-earnest-money-deposit-on-real-estate-104442.html
Estate Planning: Before You Begin
A person’s legacy cannot be measured by one solitary event in his or her life. Rather, legacies, like lives themselves, must be measured as a whole. If you’ve ever taken a step back and examined your own life and legacy, what have you found?
Do you feel comfortable with what you’ll leave behind? How do you want people to remember you when you’re gone? More importantly, how can you make sure people remember you in death, as you were in life? Estate planning has become an important tool in deciding how your life’s work will be viewed. Without it, the courts will decide who gets what. With the proper planning, you decide what individuals or charities receive your assets.
There are a few basic tips to estate planning that will help you formulate a proper legacy. The first, and most basic choice, (but one of the most important), is to choose a financial professional who can help guide you through the process. Estate planning is tricky and by enlisting the help of a professional you help ensure your planning is done properly and efficiently.
The second is a small amount of education. By knowing the basics of estate planning, you have a better idea of what you need to do. Here are a few basic tips on what you’ll need to begin estate planning.
Think Ahead: Before preparing the most crucial documents needed for estate planning, it’s important to sit down and decide who you’ll put in charge to make medical and financial decisions for you. You’ll also want to decide who gets what. Picking out beneficiaries and an executor of your estate are two of the most critical decisions you can make. If you have younger children, it’s also important to decide what would happen to them in case of an emergency.
Know which documents you’ll need: In general, it’s recommended that you have a will, a financial power of attorney, a medical power of attorney, and a living will. All of these documents will designate who will make decisions when you’re gone, or if you’re alive but unable to make important choices regarding medical care or finances. Your power of attorney will make your financial decisions. Your medical power of attorney will be the person you put in charge of medical decisions, while the living will describes the type of medical decisions you want your proxy to make.
Survey your finances: Make sure you know what you’ll owe when you die, including the costs of probate. Subtract that from your assets and make sure you have a general idea of how much money you’ll have left over. By keeping tabs on your remaining assets, you’ll be more prepared to know what you’ll pay in taxes.
Be ready for anything: When planning your estate, you must be prepared in all areas of your life. From medical to financial decisions and everything in between, it can be an uncomfortable subject, especially when you involve your family in the planning. But by working with a financial professional, you make sure your estate is covered from all angles.
In the end, you want your legacy to be protected. By carefully planning your estate, you can rest assured that all of the proper measures have been taken to protect your family’s future.
Robert Valentine
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/estate-planning-before-you-begin-58686.html
What is the statute of limitations for this situation?
I am writing a story where a woman is raped in Washington State. I live in Missouri and do not know what the current statute of limitations is on rape in the state of Washington. Can anybody help me out please.
It depends on the age of your victim and a few other things.
Washington State’s laws are codified under our RCWs which can be found here: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/
Criminal offenses are found under title 9A.
Generally, a person can be prosecuted for FIRST degree rape ten years after it was committed if the rape is reported to a law enforcement agency within one year of its commission.
CAVEAT — If it is not reported within one year, the rape may not be prosecuted: (A) three years after its commission if the violation was committed against a victim fourteen years of age or older; or (B) more than three years after the victim’s eighteenth birthday if the violation was committed against a victim under fourteen years of age.
HIPAA violation if hospital employee get medical records for other reasons if she has a power of attorney?
My wife, with whom I am going through a divorce with, and who works in a hospital used a general power of attorney to get my medical records to use against me in court. If she works in the hospital that I was admitted to, does that violate HIPAA? And can she use a power of attorney to get medical records if I am capabable to get them myself? Thanks!
What are the limitations on the POA? If the power of attorney authorized her to access your medical records, then it was quite legal for her to access your medical records. The one I have for my dad states that I can do anything, including ‘personal and family maintenance’, that is a broad description.
If she accessed them with a legal POA then HIPAA does not come into play regardless of her employment with the hospital.
Start by revoking the POA, send her a letter stating that it has been revoked.
A POA is a POWERFUL document, and not one to be doled out lightly, they give the person the right to act on your behalf REGARDLESS of your current mental state, unless you have specified something different in the POA itself. In other words, even if you are capable of making decisions, with a General POA without restrictions, someone else can be making decisions for you without you knowing.