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Jim Bond

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  • Sep 28, 2010 @ 09:05am

    Transfer fees

    Don’t believe everything you read in the New York Times. Transfer fees that are “totally hidden from buyers,” is more than an exaggeration. In most states, if not all, there is the Department of Real Estate, which requires full disclosures to buyers and sellers regarding transfer fees. This is a separate document that they are required to execute to purchase the home. The details of the fees appear on the deed or mortgage papers. A title company has a fiduciary duty to disclose this fee to all parties in a real estate transaction.
    A 1% fee could get the real estate industry going again and create millions of jobs. If the 1% is a “deal breaker” to the seller - pay a 5% real estate commission rather than 6%.

  • Aug 25, 2010 @ 01:23pm

    Transfer fees - treating houses like copyrights

    Before making a judgement about transfer fees consider this:
    The economy is almost as bad as that of the Great Depression.
    Double digit unemployment is everywhere.
    New home sales are the lowest since 1963 - 47 years.
    Most builders/developers are out of business.
    Most homes are worth half of what they were valued at three years ago.

    Transfer fees make it possible for an investor - like a bank, Wall Street or the U.S. government to invest in building programs and get repaid their loans over the course of 99 years.
    Is it worth paying 1%, five or ten years from now, when you sell your home? Paying the investor 1%, to get us out of the mess we are in now? If 1% is a critical number, why not pay your real estate agent 5% instead of 6%. The agent is not saving the economy, but these investors could.