SOLD! $119,900 – 1105 E Courage, Siloam Springs

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72761-Siloam Springs (Patriot Park)

FOR SALE $119,900

	Crye-Leike Bentonville Crossroads
	Gary Gay, GRI Email Gary Work: 479-845-4040 Cell: 479-903-3916 Fax: 888-903-6161
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	Address: 1105 E Courage Type: Residential Style: Single Story Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2 Suite: No Living Area: 1,562 square feet Year Built: 2006 More Details

	Description
	Fannie Mae Repo – Cute 3/2/2 on a corner lot, fenced yard, stainless appliances. Cozy layout. Fireplace in living room. All offers must be accompanied by a preapproval letter or proof of funds. More Description

Brokered and Advertised by Crye-Leike Bentonville Crossroads LID 9628142

Information is deemed to be correct but not guaranteed. Customer is strongly urged to verify information independently.

Earnest Money

Someone reached my blog the other day by googling “do I get my earnest money back at closing?”

I realized, I hear that question pretty often.

What is earnest money anyway?  Earnest money is something like an insurance policy to the seller.  It means “this buyer is truly interested and willing to put some money up front to prove it.” 

What if you had a car for sale–and someone walked up to you and said “I want to buy your car, but I won’t be able to close the deal for about a month–will you hold it?”  You’d probably want a deposit to hold it. 

The only thing about earnest money is that it’s held in a trust account either at the seller’s agent’s office or the title company.  (This is in Arkansas – other “Attorney” states might have an attorney hold the money.)  Once a deal is negotiated, the earnest money gets deposited in the trust account and is held there until there is either a closing, where the money is applied to the buyer’s purchase, or the deal dies, where there may be a negotiation over where the earnest money goes.  Typically, if the buyer has fulfilled all their obligations in a timely manner, but something gets in the way (bad inspection, sudden loan rejection, etc.) the earnest money is returned to the buyer (NOTE:  I said “typically”–it’s never a sure thing.) 

If the buyer goofs off, decides not to get timely inspection, decides they just can’t live with the wall color or something minor, that’s no real excuse to kill the deal.  They knew the wall colors when they made the offer.  They knew they had X amount of days to get an inspection and negotiate with the seller over the findings.  In some of these cases, where it’s basically just a buyer remorse kind of situation, the earnest money is turned over to the seller from the trust account as sort of “penalty” for the buyer not performing.

Whenever there is a difference of opinion on whether the earnest money should be returned, it can turn to “interpleading” or even litigation.  Interpleading is where everyone agrees to get an impartial third party (typically a court) to simply look at the facts and make a determination where it goes.  If the earnest money amount isn’t much, the cost of interpleading can often outweigh the earnest money amount to begin with. 

Litigation – well, is just that – attorneys get involved, there’s usually a court case — “somebody’s gettin’ sued.”

But, assuming everything rocks along and the property goes to closing, the earnest money gets applied to the buyer’s purchase.  Most often, buyers have costs associated with a purchase, so the earnest money goes towards those costs.  If, between the loan, the earnest money, and any buyers closing costs have been paid by the seller, there is a surplus of money on the buyers side, then (depending on the loan type) the balance can be returned to the buyer….

Note, there are a lot of “if’s” and “then’s”  and “depends” here – there is never a guarantee of anything and each situation is different and may have different outcomes.

Memories from home

Some things just take you back to being 8 years old.  Like Mom’s Chocolate Gravy for breakfast.  Before you turn your nose up, it’s like warm chocolate pudding you pour over biscuits and melt butter on top. 

Usually, people’s first reaction is “EWWWWW” when they hear of it.  But you just haven’t lived until you’ve had chocolate gravy for breakfast on a cold winter morning.

Merry Christmas!

It’s a white christmas in NW Arkansas!

Hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Random thoughts….nothing inspiring or astounding…..

• The “Law of Unintended Consequences” is a real pain.
• This is hilarious: 
   
• Only in Arkansas can you have 55 degree weather on 12/23 and the forecast calls for 4-8 inches of snow on 12/24 – and you have 200+ miles to travel that day
• I’d rather sell seven $100,000 houses than one $700,000 house.
• Information can take the place of action–temporarily
• It’s just over 3 weeks until VACATION!
• Christmas has gotten out of hand.  It’s too complicated for what should be a great holiday!  What food to have, where to be and when, and the presents!  The volume of gift-giving that is expected is ridiculous!  I heard a great quote this week that may sum up my gift giving next year:  “Everybody’s broke, so here’s the rule for Christmas this year; if you still crap your pants, you get a present. Otherwise, tough!”
• Dirty Santa at Mom’s house is going to be a hoot!
• I’m adopting my dog’s point of view about things to reduce my stress level: “If you can’t eat it or play with it, pee on it and walk away.”
• Speaking of my dog….he’s “over” Christmas too!
  

 

SOLD! – Nice HUD in SE Rogers – only $81,900!

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72758-Rogers (Stoney Point)

FOR SALE $81,900 HUD HOME

	Crye-Leike Bentonville Crossroads
	Gary Gay, GRI Email Gary Work: 479-845-4040 Cell: 479-903-3916 Fax: 888-903-6161
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	Address: 1919 S P St Type: Residential Style: Single Story Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2 Suite: No Living Area: 1,466 square feet Year Built: 2004 More Details

	Description
	HUD Property case 031-322202. This home is being marketed ‘as-is’ by HUD. Please refer to http://www.citysidecorp.com for additional information.Make sure your agent is HUD Authorized! More Description

Brokered and Advertised by Crye-Leike Bentonville Crossroads LID 9326871

Information is deemed to be correct but not guaranteed. Customer is strongly urged to verify information independently.

Things I learned from my parents, Part 1

As you get older, you look back, and you realize the huge volume of things your parents taught you.

Sure, there’s the “sit-up straight” and “don’t chew with your mouth open” kind of stuff.  Cover your head in the cold.  Look before backing up. Don’t play with matches—a lot of the basics.

They also taught you social graces.  Smile, play nice with others, say “Please” and “Thank you”.

I don’t remember any specific circumstance where I learned to “Walk a mile in their shoes”, but I did learn that somewhere along the way.  I think about that pretty often when faced with a difficult person.  They could be having a bad day, there could be things going on in their lives pressuring them that I’m unaware.

It’s easy for them to snap at you when their own rear end is covered with alligators.  That doesn’t mean I have to snap back (even though the urge is there and the blood pressure may rise). 

On the occasions I have responded negatively, I can honestly say that I ever got any long-term satisfaction out of it.  It usually turns into something I look back and say “I wish I had handled that differently.”

Somewhere along the way I also learned to “never wrestle with a pig in the mud–they enjoy it.”  There’s some truth to that.  I’m not a wrestler, and I don’t particularly care to get muddy.  I do like bacon though.

Taking the high road isn’t always easy.  But in the long run, it’s usually the best road to take.

Yeah, I’ve turned into one of ‘those’ people….

Two years ago, right about this time of December, a mangy dog showed up on my doorstep.  It was cold outside.  It literally slept on the step by the front door.

I felt sorry for it, but since we live in a pretty populated area, I guessed it just wandered away from home and would soon go back.

A couple of days went by and the dog was still there.  I put some food out for it, but didn’t pet it.  I didn’t want it to be hungry, but I am not a dog person.  At the time, there were two cats that I was a full time servant to, so a dog wasn’t even a possibility.

A couple more days went by, and I kept feeding it.  It would go to the mailbox with me and really wanted me to pet him.  So I did.

Within a week, he had stolen my heart.  I took him to the vet and the groomer (about a $300 expense at a time I couldn’t afford it).  What a handsome guy once he was cleaned up.

I named him Beauregard.  Actually, his full name is Beauregard Allen Branch Gay.  ‘Bo’ for short.  ‘Bobo’ sometimes.

Bo has turned into a child.  He’s always with me.  He goes on trips with me (with a lot of medication packed in him or he gets sick in the truck).  It’s like having a child because I have to pack a bag for him when we go.  Food and water bowls, treats, his bed and pillow, his teddy bear, his bone, tennis ball and tug rope, a tie-out.

Now, it appears I might also have to pack his clothes.  Since Halloween, he’s started a wardrobe.  He LOVES to get dressed up.  It started innocently – At Target I just happened upon some doggie clothes and there was a mechanics shirt that looked cool.  Then within a couple of weeks, I saw a mailman outfit that looked funny.  I wanted to take him trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, so I bought it.

Well, now that it’s Christmas, he need something appropriate for the holidays.  What do you think?

Purchasing a foreclosure or short sale? You might want to do a split closing….

If you’re purchasing a foreclosed property (commonly known as an REO) or a short sale, you probably want to do what’s called a “split closing”.  This simply means you’re using a different title company than what the seller is.

It might cost you a couple hundred extra bucks, but having two sets of eyes on the chain of title is better than one.  Considering the volume many title companies and foreclosure attorneys are handling, it can be easy for them to miss a lein on a property or accidentally overlook a cloud on title.  If you engage your own title company to handle your purchase, they will do their own doublecheck on the title work and very well can save you a lot of headaches down the road…..

Where’s global warming when you need it?

Really now – is it absolutely necessary to get this cold?