Lexington closing costs & neighborhood/school district question (Ashland, Clay: new home, best schools)

[bluegrassgirl]

I apologize for just seeing this. You have a PM.

[WhoRidah]

seller paid a portion of my closing cost.

as far as school district, nothing is for sure unless you are paying for private school. so don't pick a neighborhood just because of the school district. they change too often and usually if you pick a good elem, the middle school sucks check out the grade fcps.net

[Micah Girl]

Originally Posted by WhoRidah

seller paid a portion of my closing cost.

as far as school district, nothing is for sure unless you are paying for private school. so don't pick a neighborhood just because of the school district. they change too often and usually if you pick a good elem, the middle school sucks check out the grade fcps.net

That doesn't sound very promising:-(

[LEXpert]

Home sales in general are down while listings are up. Still, the best ones sell fast and for very close to the asking price. I wouldn't worry to much about redistricting for the high schools. We only have 5 and they don't get changed around like the multitude of elementary schools do.

[j9ingr]

Hey just wondered if you ever moved to the area yet. I too am a michigander and have been here since Feb. I can give all the scoop. I have it all.. trust me... I have looked at houses and schools till I am blue in the face. lol

[Off Topic]

As a general rule, the seller pays for the deed, the transfer taxes, the realtor commissions and his pro-rata share of the taxes. The buyer usually pays the lender fees, the attorney closing fees, the title exam, the recording fees and their pro-rata share of the taxes. Those are negotiable and it's not uncommon for the seller to agree to pay some of the buyer's closing costs. Things like termite reports and home inspections are even more negotiable.

[Micah Girl]

Originally Posted by Off Topic

As a general rule, the seller pays for the deed, the transfer taxes, the realtor commissions and his pro-rata share of the taxes. The buyer usually pays the lender fees, the attorney closing fees, the title exam, the recording fees and their pro-rata share of the taxes. Those are negotiable and it's not uncommon for the seller to agree to pay some of the buyer's closing costs. Things like termite reports and home inspections are even more negotiable.

Thanks for the detailed breakdown. Very helpful.

[LEXpert]

I have had several sellers pay the buyer's closing costs in this area. But the reality of how it works is that if the seller will take, say, $175,000 for the house, and you also want $2500 towards your closing costs, the lowest the seller will take is now $177,500. Even if the seller agrees to pay for your closing costs, you will still be paying for them inside the offer. Unless you don't have the cash or need to hang on to it for something else, I would pay my own closing costs rather than roll them into the offer and finance them for 30 years.

If you do ask the seller to cover the closing costs, you or your agent will want to make sure that the house will appraise for that amount. Appraisers have become much more consevative in the past 6 months. This would be more of a concern if you ended up asking for more than 3% in closing costs and/or other concessions.

Also, a buyer will pay for their own home inspection and termite inspection. If you use a realtor up here, our contracts state that the buyer pays for both of these inspections. If there are termites, the seller agrees to fund the treatment and repair any damage up to 1% of the contract amount. Anything more than that is to be negotiated. Also, there are 3 ways to handle the inspection portion of the contract. 1)You can buy "As-Is" 2)You can have the place inspected but agree not to ask for any repairs. If the house has issues you don't want to deal with you can walk away from the deal. 3)You can buy the place, have it inspected and ask the seller to repair any undisclosed issues. These repairs are to be negotiated. If the buyer & seller can't reach an agreement, either party can walk away from the deal.

I think the person above me meant to say Home Warranty. It is pretty common to ask for the seller to fund a Home Warranty. These usually run $375-400. With these, you have to know what is covered and what is not.

[Micah Girl]

Great detailed info--love it! So very, very helpful.

Thanks.

[lawdog]

Buyers should be paying their own closing costs.

A good realtor will negotiate for their clients and "persuade" the Seller's agent to persuade the seller to cover the closing costs (usually around $5-10k or so) in order to get their (buyer) clients into a house with minimal out-of-pocket expenses.

These days the money spent on closing costs will go to the % down to secure the loan. Buyers are going to be more and more hard pressed to even get loans if the "correction" doesn't occur soon.