“It’s so free this kind of feeling;
It’s like life, it’s so appealing;
When you’ve got so much to say;
It’s called Gratitude and that’s right.”
-Beastie Boys
We have so much to be thankful for this year: our families, clients, vendors, and colleagues. We very much appreciate your business, referrals, and friendship. Happy Thanksgiving!
Warmly,
Faye & John
Doesn’t it seem like everyone moves during the spring and summer? Yes, more homes tend to sell during those seasons; however, there is no wrong time to buy and, in fact, fall and winter are excellent times to consider falling into a new home!
* You can celebrate the winter holidays in your new home;
* There is still more than enough selection of homes available;
* Sellers are more motivated to sell, especially if their house has been on the market for a while (which isn’t usually because there is something “wrong” with the house);
* You can take advantage of homeowner tax breaks for property tax and mortgage interest;
* There won’t be as much competition, so you aren’t as likely to get into a bidding war or to overpay for your new home;
* Moving companies tend to charge less in fall and winter, because they aren’t as busy;
* Your realtor will likely be less busy and can dedicate even more time to personalized service; and
* You will see your property at its worst, which is a hidden gem of information. It’s easy to make the house look pretty in the spring as flowers bloom, but wouldn’t you rather know that the heating systems, roof, and gutters are performing as they should?
As always, please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or concerns by email at faye@wjslegal.com or (508)319-1529.
Yea….you found a new home! You have so much to do. You need to pack. You may also be busy shopping for necessities, such as furniture, towels and dishes. You may also need to hurry up and WAIT??
Closing attorneys, lenders, and real estate agents do their best to make closings happen on the date stated on your Purchase and Sales Agreement (“P&S”). We work as a team, along with many other professionals. During this time, lenders coordinate with appraisers and insurance companies. Agents insure that certificates are obtained and utilities paid. The closing attorney teams with engineers, title researchers, local tax officials, and sellers (or their attorneys). A good team of agents, lenders, and attorneys will be in constant communication with one another and will be focused on the same goal of closing on time.
Once everything is ready, your lender will send a Closing Disclosure for your approval. The Closing Disclosure contains all costs and credits involved in the transaction. Buyers must wait three days after the document is released to “close” or purchase the home.
What happens next? Make sure that you have your photo identification ready, your funds available, and stretch those fingers!
Typical closings involve 150(ish) pages of paper, some from the lender and others from the attorney. Some of the documents will be familiar to you, like your Closing Disclosure, tax forms and loan application; other documents may be less familiar to you, like an Owner’s Title Policy or Declaration of Homestead. The closing attorney will highlight the content, show you where to sign or initial, and (sometimes) date. The entire process usually moves very quickly and is done under one hour.
Once the documents are signed, some need to be recorded at your local Registry of Deeds. As soon as that happens, you are officially a homeowner. Congratulations!!
** In most cases, a Closing Disclosure is used; however, there are exceptions, such as a property being paid for in cash and reverse mortgages.
“No one really knows how the
Parties get to yessssss
The pieces that are sacrificed in
Ev’ry game of chessssss
We just assume that it happens
But no one else is in
The room where it happens.”
-Lin Manuel Miranda
I have a friend who lives in a charming town located a couple of hours outside of London, England. She lived in the United States for some time and still has an acute interest in what happens here. I recently asked her about how her local friends, family and colleagues perceived our President- Elect, Donald Trump. Part of her response included this inquiry, “Giving some states more votes doesn’t seem fair. Surely one person, one vote works best?”
Electoral and popular votes usually point in the same direction, but not always. Regardless of whether you favor it, the process was established by the Founding Fathers many, many years ago. We have journals and drafts which documented their process, but nobody knows for sure what fully happened in the negotiating sessions. There are two primary theories to why the Electoral College was created:
The most known theory is that it was developed to balance the influence of the small states with the larger ones. Current sub-beliefs are that that the process was developed to account for the slave population in the South. Although slaves were unable to vote, inclusion of them greatly increased a state’s population (even though they were only counted as 3/5 of a person), the state’s representation in Congress and their number of electoral votes.
An alternative theory, and the one recognized by the National Achieves and Records Administration, is that the Founding Fathers created the Electoral College as part of the Constitution as a compromise. Many historians believe that there were heated arguments about how a President should be selected. The exclusive group, which included Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, argued whether Congress should appoint a President or qualified citizens should be allowed to vote.
More likely than not, the reasoning of the Founding Fathers was a combination of both reasons. We will probably never know the full story, because none of us were in the room where it happened.
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We were hoping that you would ask who we are voting for in 2016. We thought that you might. Since you didn’t ask, we will just tell you.
For the last few months, the news has been dominated by scandals. Instead of focusing on imperfect people, our focus should be on who is more likely to conduct the country’s business successfully, especially the nomination of United States Supreme Court Justices.
Only a few month ago, everyone was talking the importance of nominating the next Supreme Court Justice. As you may remember, we blogged about it soon after Scalia’s death at https://wjslegal.com/blog/page/3/
Very little time has been spent since Scalia’s death discussing the Supreme Court. Given this election cycle, it’s not a total surprise despite the number of seats on the Court which may become empty within the next four or eight years. Depending who makes and confirms the nomination, the Court may look very different in the next decade.
During the 2016-2017 term, the Court will hear a variety of cases related to gun ownership, freedom of religion, voting rights, the death penalty, and equal protection. One of the cases likely to draw the most interest is one involving the bathroom use of transgender high school student.
Do you have an opinion about any of these matters? If so, then it matters to you who becomes President and which of the down ballot candidates will be confirming the President’s nominations. Each vote has the potential to change our country.
So, for the first time ever, the Law Office of Weiner Jackson & Simmons is making an endorsement: we are voting for the Supreme Court. You heard it here first.
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