Answers by Eric Cavanagh

Hi, Adele; As Rhonda has mentioned, it depends on the price point you're looking at. Thinking that you need 20% down just isn't true - here's a quick way to think about it: there are 3 basic types of loans - Conventional, FHA and VA. VA loans are for Veterans only and you need to have eligibility. You can get into a house using a VA loan with $0 down and a good interest rate because you've served your country and you deserve it. A conventional loan is a typical loan and you can get into one of these for as little as a 5% down payment and finance at 95% of the purchase price. The last type is an FHA loan that is guaranteed by the FHA (Federal Housing Authority) and the standard minimum amount down is 3.5%. The credit requirements to qualify for an FHA loan aren't as tight as they are for a Conventional loan and these loans are designed to assist people into Home Ownership. There are also DPA (Down Payment Assistance) programs in almost every State and County that can help you with the down payment and/or closing costs. What many don't factor into the equation is the closing costs of the loan/transaction. Things like deed stamps, court costs for filing paperwork, title search and title insurance, Real Estate taxes, buyer agent professional fees and so on can add as much as an additional 5% to the money you might need upfront. In addition, you'll need to consider the cost of an appraisal and home inspection in addition to the 'binder deposit', which is an amount you attached to the offer that is held in escrow and applied at closing. A good Realtor can negotiate some of these fees into the offer so that the seller will pay for all or most of it, depending on the market conditions at the time of the offer. So, to sum it all up: $10k in savings is a great place to start and gives you some leverage and your Realtor can negotiate some of the other costs and recommend a good lender that can see which DPA programs you might qualify for, I'm proud of you for being diligent and saving up for getting your own place. That's the start of wealth building for you and creating generational wealth for you family for a legacy that you can pass on to your children!

Hi, Tim: I understand that you might think that what a buyer doesn't know won't hurt him and as long as you get paid that's what's important. However, you must ABSOLUTELY disclose any defects, whether observable or not, to any potential buyer. In fact, in most States you might be required to fill out a "Sellers Disclosure" where you have to answer a series of questions about the roof, the appliances, the plumbing, any insurance claims you filed or received payment from, and so on. Your duty to disclose is a legal requirement and if your Realtor is aware of it, he/she is duty bound to disclose as well. In fact, if your Realtor observes a defect that you did NOT disclose, he may not take your listing or, if he does, insist that you make the defect know via the Seller Disclosure. Put the shoe on the other foot - how would you feel if you bought a home and found out that the seller lied and withheld pertinent information from you? That's exactly what did happen and the buyer sued the seller and won and now there is a Nationwide law that governs this. Besides, the buyer is going to get the home inspected and an old roof is pretty obvious, whether it's leaking or not and the buyer won't be able to get the home insured if the roof is over 12-15 years old anyway. If he can't get it insured, the bank won't lend him the money to buy. It's easy to check - when your roof was last replaced the roofer had to pull a permit and it's on file with the county where you live and is public information - meaning that anyone can check at anytime for any reason. Take my advice: disclose everything you know and get a good nights sleep.

Hi, Billy; Actually, you don't need an agent or a Realtor to sell your home. You can absolutely do it yourself. There is nothing that says you can't legally sell your own Real Estate. However, over 91% of Real Estate sales last year in the US were handled by a Realtor. The statistics say that you'll net 16% more for your house and sell it in 36% less time using a Realtor rather than going FSBO (For Sale By Owner). Never mind the 80% less stress, or whatever that statistic is. Does it mean anything to you that the owner of fsbo.com hired a Realtor to sell his own home? Here's another statistic: 68% of all Real Estate law suits involve FSBO properties. Most FSBO properties are sold to someone personally known to the seller and the remainder of the 9% of sales last year that were FSBO were either handled by an attorney or involved multiple property purchases through bank sales to investors without Realtor involvement. It's up to you. Serious and experienced Realtors are well worth the fee they charge to handle all the legal paperwork, access their network of providers, market your listing locally, regionally, nationally and internationally to get you the exposure needed to get you top dollar for your home. Most of them sell more homes in a month than you will in your entire life. This is what they do and they specialize in it. Sure, you could pull your own tooth, but wouldn't you rather pay a dentist to do it? Try it yourself for 60 days and see if you can get it done. If so - good for you! If not, consider hiring a Realtor to get the job done. The amount they may charge is far less than the higher net you'll receive, meaning you'll take home more money from the sale with a lot less aggravation and stress so you can focus on what you're an expert at.

Hey Billy, Happy wife, happy life. Don't fight the feeling. Follow you're wife's advice and live longer. If you did sell it, you'd have bragging rights but you know she'd remember it forever. And if you didn't - well, you'll have to live with that too. Just saying!