Houston Inside Out

James Jay talks about option periods as it relates to a purchase agreement that is you purchasing a resale home. He goes in to explain the importance of having an option period. He also discusses the importance of hiring an inspector to go out to the property to do a full inspection of the property from top to bottom.

Quotes:

"Option periods are something that is negotiated between a buyer and a seller, but it is a very, very important clause in a residential contract."

Show notes:  

[00:01] Introduction to Houston Home Talk.

[00:35] James Jay introduces the topic of the show which is option periods. He discusses the importance of having option periods before buying a home. He discusses the importance of having a home inspected before buying a home or a property.

[01:46] James Jay talks about hiring an inspector to inspect the property before purchasing. He also discusses the duration of an option period.  

[02:52] James Jay dives in deeper to talk about what an options money is and the amount and what its used for.  

[04:21] James Jay emphasizes that during that option period, you have the right to walk away for whatever reason you choose.

[05:17] James Jay explains that we have to keep in mind that if you decide to walk away during the option period that we lose the option money. He also adds that it is okay to lose option money rather than getting into a complicated situation with the home. 

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James Jay Discusses how the credit score is calculated and the three credit bureaus that maintain credit records. There are TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. Any nonpayment is immediately reported to these bureaus and reflected in your credit report. He also explains that the longer the credit history, the better this reflects on your score. 

Quotes:

"The credit score is based on a credit report which is a detailed account of our credit history of borrowing, repayment and credit inquiries. The bottom line is to keep your balance low and make your payment on time."

Show notes:

[00:00] James Jay introduces the topic which is how credit scores are calculated.

[00:11] Introduction to Houston Home Talk.

[00:48] James Jay talks about credit scores and how they are calculated. He continues to say that credit score is based off a credit report which is calculated through a detailed account of our credit history, of borrowing, repayment and credit inquiries

[02:31] James Jay also mentions the three prominent credit bureaus which are TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian

[03:04] James Jay explains that a credit score is calculated by a special type of software from Fair Isaac Corporation Company. He also explains the components of a credit score.

[04:48] James Jay emphasizes the need for a credit score in buying a home and he explains how to look for alternative lines of credit.

[06:15] James Jay discusses the types of credit and he discusses the range of the credit score and the credit scoring range.

[07:16] James Jay emphasizes the importance of improving credit scores. He also emphasizes to make balances low and make the payments on time. He also invites the people listening to visit his website at myhoustoninsideout.com (new website).

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James Jay talks about the difference between fixed rate mortgage and adjustable rate mortgage.  The fixed rate mortgage and adjustable rate mortgage are both important depending upon the market and your financial expectations, each option will actually provide different benefits and drawbacks.

Quotes

"Choosing between fixed rate mortgage and adjustable rate mortgage of loans just depends on your individual situation and the interest rate that's going on at that time."

Show Notes

[00:03] Introduction of fixed rate mortgage and adjustable rate mortgage.

[00:15] Show Introduction.

[00:49] James Jay explains the benefits of using adjustable mortgage rates up until 2008 when fixed rate mortgage have  higher rates. He advices that if you know you're only going to be somewhere short term. You are typically rewarded with a smaller interest rate and that is really the major benefit of having an adjustable rate mortgage.

[02:30] James Jay now explains the benefits of using fixed rate mortgage.   He further discusses that fixed rate mortgages are controlled mortgages and easy to maintain and administer because of a lot of these factors.  These are definitely the most popular loan types for first time home purchases as well as second or third or fourth time purchases for that matter.

[03:53] James Jay compares and contrasts fixed rate mortgage and adjustable rate mortgage.  He goes on to say that adjustable mortgages are generally cheaper and result in savings when rates do fall.  He also adds that fixed mortgages come with higher rates.

[05:13] James Jay goes in deeper to discuss fixed rate mortgage.  He emphasizes to the importance of being prepared when it comes time to refinance.  James Jay also advises to pay attention to where you are with your mortgage, whether it be three years, five years or longer, and know what your plan is to either refinance it and pay that one off or sell the home or be okay with what the rate adjusts to

[06:07] James Jay concludes by emphasizing the importance of choosing between fixed rate mortgage and adjustable rate mortgage.  He also emphasizes that it just depends on your individual situation and the interest rate that's going on at that time. And that it is important to reach out to a lender or to contact James Jay to make a sound and informed decision.  So if you have any questions you can visit his website at myhoustoninsideout.com

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James Jay talks about the importance of a home inspector and the benefits of hiring a home inspector. James explains what a home inspector does and the advantages of hiring a home inspector like a detailed examination of all the major systems of a property. This includes plumbing, electrical, heating, cooling systems, as well as the structural integrity of a property, radon gas, mold, termite detection.

Quotes:

"A home inspector is trained specifically to go through a home and detect all kinds of issues that you and your realtor are not qualified to do."

Show notes

[00:36] James Jay introduces the topic, the importance of hiring a home inspector.

[01:20] James Jay discusses what a home inspector does and what a home inspector look for at a home they inspect.

[02:29] James Jay explains that the home inspector looks at the property in greater detail and effectively educates you on the condition of your home which is important in buying a home. And emphasize that the purchase contract has conditions in which certain properties and situations where you can back out of an agreement. He also explains that in some cases you don't have an option period where you can just back off for whatever reason you choose.

[03:58] James Jay talks about significant issues after the option period and that the buyer is still obligated to purchase the property. He also emphasizes that home inspection is very, very important.

[05:10] James Jay advised that seller may be unaware or unwilling to share details regarding the condition of the home, so if an inspection uncovers a significant issue within the option period the buyer can renegotiate or you can walk away.

[06:05] James Jay concludes by emphasizing the importance of a home inspector and that it gives the buyer peace of mind in buying home. He also invites people to visit his website at myhoustoninsideout.com

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James Jay talks about getting into credit and how to maintain credit after we are approved of a loan. He tells us not to make unnecessary purchases while a loan is still in the pre-approved stage, for example, buying furniture because this might jeopardize our credit score which would also jeopardize the loan approval process.

QUOTES:

" Be very, very careful once you are initially approved for a loan. Do not make any new purchases."

Show notes:

[00:39] How to maintain credibility when a loan is approved and not to make unnecessary or new purchases.

[02:19] Always maintain a low debt to income ratio for a loan to be approved immediately and not buying furniture for a home which is not yet loan approved.

[03:51] It is important to maintain a high credit score and to wait for the approval of the loan before buying or making unnecessary purchases to avoid any problems.

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James talks about projections for the city of Houston for 2019 relocating to Houston and relocating from Houston. He also talks about the population and unemployment rates and the rent and income in Houston as well as fortune 26 to fortune 500 companies. He also talks about the medical care and hospitals and the top of the line cancer care center in Houston. Lastly he talks about oil and gas which could improve in 2019.

QUOTES

"Our economy is still very, very strong and something that we should be proud of and moving into 2019 definitely going to be something that's going to continue to thrive and we will continue to improve in every area."

SHOW NOTES

[00:39] City of Houston, relocating to Houston and relocating from Houston.

[01:48] Home prices in Houston, household income and population in Houston.

[03:04] Monthly rent of Houston compared to monthly rent in other states such as New York, Washington, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, and Miami. And the Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Houston namely Conoco, Phillips, marathon oil, Cisco, Apache, Halliburton.

[04:34] The Medical Center in Houston gets heart surgeries and top of the line cancer care center in Houston. Oil and gas business is rather low in Houston right now. 

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In this episode, James is going to share with us the top five reason why houses do not sell in a strong market.  

So don't miss this episode and let's find out his deep insights about it.

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The winter time is a time of year where a lot of people are confused as to whether they should take their home off the market way to the spring. 

In this episode, James is going to share four reasons to keep selling this winter. 

So don't miss this episode and let's find out his deep insights about it.

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In this episode of the Houston Inside Out, Ursula Krause talks about her journey from a fitness trainer to a business coach. 

She graduated high school at an early age and have no idea what she wanted to do in life. She started going to the gym with her dad and fell in love with working out. She became a fitness trainer and ended up working at a bigger fitness company and started her journey to become a business coach.

Quotes:

"You really making stories up in your head and it's most of the time it's just because if we think that people are going to judge us in a negative way, and if you really think about that, it's like you're literally allowing people that aren't really in your life affect your decisions and your future. "

Mentions:

Ursula Krause Facebook

Ursula Krause instagram

SHOW NOTES:

[00:02:19] - Ursula Krause high school life

[00:03:48] - Ursula Krause started fitness training

[00:05:37] - Ursula started reading books about sales.

[00:11:14] - Inspirational message about confidence

[00:14:40] - Ursula talks about her coaching business

[00:28:57] -Make your life better

[00:33:37] - Get in touch with Ursula Krause!

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In this episode of the Houston Home Talk, James explains what you need to know and what the differences between a home warranty and home insurance. 

Shownotes:

[00:55] What Is Home Insurance?

[04:09] What Does Home Warranty Cover?

[08:16] If you have questions, reach out to us.

Full Transcript:

[00:02] INTRO: Welcome to Houston Home Talk featuring all things real state in the Houston area. We'll interview real estate professionals, local business owners and special guests from right here in the Houston community. This is where you get the inside scoop about what's new in real estate, new community openings and business openings and much more. The Houston home talk show starts right now.

[00:37] JAMES: Welcome guys. Welcome. What's up? It's James Jay. Welcome to another episode of Houston home talk and today, we're going to talk a little bit about home warranties. Now, this oftentimes gets confused for some people for home insurance, so these are completely, completely different coverages. They do different things and quite honestly, you need both. You need home insurance and you need home warranties for your home or your investment property. I'm going to go a little bit into discussing hallmark warranties. What you need to know. Again, what the difference is between a home warranty and home insurance.

Let's just get right into it. Home warranty, typically this is something that you're going to get when you're purchasing a specialty, a resale home, okay? You definitely want to have it when you're purchasing a resale home. It's something that is completely negotiable. It is not something that a seller has to give you or offer you.

It is something that you and your agent asked for as part of the negotiations, but it's not something that's mandatory that a seller pay. When you're looking at purchasing a home where they'd be resale or even new construction, new construction's homes are typically you're going to come with a warranty typically a year. There might be a builder to that habit for two years. Most of the builders are going to offer you a one year warranty that's almost like a bumper to bumper warranty for your home. If anything happens in the home during the year or two years, whatever the case may be, the home builder will come out and fix the issues.

Now once that warranty is done with as far as the builder warranty goes, then you're going to want to have your own home warranty moving forward because you'd never know what's going to happen that is why you have a home warranty. It's just like car insurance, right? You have car insurance, you may drive two years, three years, four years, never have a car accident. Well, when you do, if hits you or someone rear ends you, you're going to be very happy that you had car insurance. Well, the home warranty operates in the same way. Home warranties are pretty much designed to protect your homes, appliances and systems from breakdowns caused by normal wear and tear. Whereas homeowner's insurance pays for damages and loss caused by perils like fire, weather damage but it won't help you if your washing machine simply breaks down. Or if it's July and August and your ac unit breaks down.

All right, home insurance is not going to do a thing for you, but a home warranty would definitely cover items like that. What does a home warranty actually cover? Other than your AC unit and some of the other major appliances, water heater is covered. That's one of those major items in your home you want to have covered. Then those options for you to add additional coverages so you could cover a dishwasher. You could cover refrigerators. You can cover garage door openers, septic systems. There're a lot of other optional coverages that you can have with the home warranty, but it's not something that comes typically with their basic coverage. These are basically like upgrades more or less for your home warranty.

Depending on what you're looking at purchasing, it may be something that you definitely want to consider. What happens on a home warranty? You have an issue, you have an item breakdown. Let's use the AC unit because for me, that is probably the biggest appliance. Excuse me, not appliance, but more a system in your home and the most expensive to have to replace.

Now I'm speaking from personal experience on this because I've had an AC unit go out on me in the middle of summer. I couldn't fix it. The home warranty carb company could not fix it and they replaced it. Now there are some additional fees that come along with replacing the AC unit and depending on your warranty company, they will run those by you. It is much, much less than you have it to go and replace an AC unit for your home.

Basically, what happens is this. You have an issue. You AC unit goes out. You call the home warranty company to come out and take a look at the issue. You pay what they call a trade fee. Depending on which plan you pick, depending on which home warranty company you're using, it may be a trey call, which might be $75. It might be $60. It could be $100. It just depends on the company. You pay them a fee to come out and assess what the issue is. If they can't fix it, they will replace it.

Now again, there may be some additional fees that come along with fixing certain items and AC unit in particular because there are some fees that come along with disposing of an AC unit that you actually have to pay. Again, much, much better than you having to go and replace an entire AC unit, which could cost you thousands of dollars. Home warranty, you requested, they typically come out within a few days and again, if they can't fix it, they will replace the item.

One thing to keep in mind, if you have an issue with an AC unit right now and you'd hear this and you say, 'You know what? I'm going to call a home warranty company right now.' Typically, these home warranty companies are going to have a period of usually 30 days, that's from 30 days from the time you initiate having that home warranty. They're going to have what they call basically a waiting period.

That means you can't claim anything within that 30 day window because they don't want you to call them knowing that you have an AC unit that's not working just to get them to come out and fix it. It's almost like a preexisting condition for life insurance. That's exactly how this works. Yu can't get life insurance with a preexisting condition in most cases. There's some, sure, there's some coverages out there that will allow you to have a policy with the preexisting condition, but they're going to charge you for it. With the home warranty, same thing. You cannot make claims typically during that first 30 days after you get the home warranty because they do not want people taking advantage of the whole warranty.

In a nutshell, definitely something you want to have guys. It is one of those things. You kind of get it, you forget about it. These range…the coverages are going to range anywhere from 350 to 450 for the most part. There are going to be some coverages where you can get where their 500 and up. Again, do your research. If you have questions about home warranties, reach out to us. We'd be glad to help you and make sure that when you get a home, whether it'd be a rental property that you're getting, or personal resonance that you're getting, or new construction, you want to get a home warranty.

You're going to have a little more leeway with new construction because typically, again, the builders going to have that warranty. As soon as that build a warranty ends, you want to get yourself a home warranty. If you don't, you'll regret it. I promise you will regret it.

Again, guys, you got questions, let me know. Would love to help you guys with any questions you may have about home warranties. I will talk with you guys on the next episode.

If you like this episode of the Houston Inside Out podcast, please don't forget to like, share, and comment! We appreciate your support and feedback!

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