What escrow is

       The principals to the escrow : buyer, seller, lender, borrower : cause escrow instructions, most usually in writing, to be created, signed and delivered to the escrow officer. If a broker is involved, he will normally provide the escrow officer with the information necessary for the preparation of your escrow instructions and documents. The escrow officer will process the escrow, in accordance with the escrow instructions, and when all conditions required in the escrow can be met or achieved, the escrow will be "closed." Each escrow, although following a similar pattern, will be different in some respects, as it deals with your property and the transaction at hand. The duties of an escrow holder include; following the instructions given by the principals and parties to the transaction in a timely manner; handling the funds and/or documents in accordance with the instruction; paying all bills as authorized; responding to authorized requests from the principals; closing the escrow only when all terms funds in accordance with instructions and provide an accounting for same, the Closing or Settlement Statement.

Escrow: What it is and why you need it

Very simply defined, an escrow is a deposit of funds, a deed or other instrument by one party for the delivery to another party upon completion of a particular event. Whether you are the buyer, seller, lender or borrower, you want the assurance that no funds or property will change hands until all of the instructions in the transaction have been followed. The escrow holder has the obligation to safeguard the funds and/or documents while they are in the possession of the escrow holder, and to disburse funds and/or convey title only when all provisions of the escrow have been complied with.

6/23 – Part 2

After looking things over me and my broker made the conclusion that the house is profitable. My broker then went down to the bank and got a cashier’s check made with his and my name on it. When you get to the auction you have to show proof of payment by having a license match up with the name on the cashier’s check. My broker then sent me to the auction which was a 45 minute drive to the Fresno County Courthouse. I have been to many auctions before with my broker so I knew the routine and what I had to do. Once I got there I first registered to bid. All what this is, is basically showing the county your Cashier’s check proving you have enough money to buy the house. After I registered to bid on the house I was there to bid on the house was the first one of the auction which was cool for me because the auction could last a few hours because of the many foreclosures on the market. Other people registered to bid but didn’t bid once the auction started. I had the highest and only bid for my broker’s house. I bid a penny over the opening bid and my broker was happy we got it at the lowest possible price. It was some very good experience for me by going to the auction

6/22 – Part 1

            Today my broker surprised me by letting me know that I was going to go by myself to the county foreclosure auction later today. On the way into the office my broker and I both looked at a house to see if we were interested in it. Many things come into play to determine if the house is profitable or not. You always have to first of all check the overall condition of the house. You do this by making sure that if you were to buy the house your not going to have to put too much money in it to re-sell it for a profit. Things like replacing the roof, air conditioning, having termite damage or any other high expense will tell you whether you should buy the foreclosure or not. Second if you were to purchase the house you need to make sure all the taxes are current and up to date and make sure the sale is a first trustee sale. If the taxes aren’t current or the sale is a second trustee sale you will have to pay extra money for the house and cover those debts for the previous owner. I’ll let you know what happens at the auction later im pretty excited to go and represent the company.

Last night I enjoyed watching the final game of the college world series. Being a pitcher from high school has always made me such a big fan of baseball and all sports! I really enjoyed watching the game with some friends and getting a chance to get work out of my mind for the time being. Im extremely glad that South Carolina ended up winning the series! Because they won the game they ended up breaking a big record and makes them back to back NCAA baseball champs! They ended up breaking they're own record last night and are the only team to have an 11 - 0 record in a College world series! Plus its always cool to see what happens on the final out and how each champion each year runs out on to the field and celebrates in their own way!

6/24

 Today I came into the office a little tired than useual. I was up late the night before because I was finishing assignments that were due for an online summer school class im also involved with this summer. I came in and got right to work not being too concerned with my sleep. After only about thirty minutes passing from when I started all of a sudden the lights turned off and the computer I was working on shut right off. My broker gave me a few quick things to do while he was on his cell phone trying to figure out what was wrong with the power. I guess just by my luck there ended up being a problem with the whole areas power and it wasn't getting fixed for hours maybe even till the next day. After that my broker then told me that I can take the rest of the day off which I needed for sleep!

Today I was thinking about how my internship is coming to an end very soon and it made me realize how much I learned this summer and how much im going to miss working around in the office. Having some what of a "job" already in the same field im studying for a little period of time makes me not want to go back to school and then continue with the job! I can honestly say its going to be different but I have learned so much during my time here. My favorite things to do while here is to go around and look for / at property and doing alot of the offices accounting. Keeping the books is somnething that I really enjoy doing.

6/21

       My broker and I went to list a 20 acre parcel of peaches and a nice house on the same property.  My broker said that the value of the property is worth more when the house is sold separately from the land. In Tulare County (California) if you have owned a property for more than 10 years you can legally divide the house and up to 1.5 acres in to two parcels. This is what brokers refer to as a parcel split. The process takes up to four to six months with the help of an engineer. The process may take a little time but however the seller may profit more by splitting the house and agriculture and selling them separately. For example the property my broker was dealing with today together the house and crops are worth $275,000 without the parcel spread. But with the parcel spread being applied to the property the house is worth $160,000 and the crop being worth $180,000. See what a different a parcel spread can make when it comes to total profit!

6/20

      Today my broker showed me how to prepare a real estate contract to purchase a residential property. The form is available through the computer via zip form program. Zip form has a number of different contracts containing different real estate forms used for sales ect. The form that I am using has ten pages contained in it. The purchase contract consists of much more information. The first page shows the date of the contract, the purchaser, length of escrow, deposit, down payment, financing, and the total purchase price. The next nine pages consist of pest control reports, roof inspection, title fees, and many legal issues. It takes a long time to complete the contract since there are many issues to be determined. Upon completion of contract the buyer signed the contract and gave the broker his deposit. The contract over all isn't too difficult to complete but very time consuming.

6/14/11

          Today my broker had me answering the phone. Before I did he instructed me that I cannot talk or give information out about any properties. This is because I do not have a California real estate license. Specifically the things that I cannot talk about include the price of the land, the location of it, or anything that has to do with property and real estate. I do learn a great deal by listening to my broker talk on the phone all the time. When a client asks to see a home he first asks them if they have been qualified. If they haven't he sends them to a mortgage broker to get them qualified. Once they are qualified the mortgage broker gives him a price the buyer can qualify for. Once the broker receives the price he will begin to show the buyer homes in their particular price range. So I learned that before you show property the buyer needs to be qualified otherwise a lot of time can be wasted.

6/13/11

My broker had a house listed for $ 119,500, which today he received an offer for $120,000. As he and I reviewed the contract it stated that $2,500 would go back to the buyer for closing costs. My broker explained to me on every transaction there is a closing cost. He explained to me that closing costs consist of escrow fees, preliminary title report, drawing documents, and recording fees. We went through the contract together and also explained a few other items. The escrow was subject to the buyer qualifying for financing. Also the seller was asked to a pest control report, 2 year roof certificate, and a city inspection. The escrow is for 45 days. He had me deliver the contract to the title company and go over the contract with the escrow officer.

6/7/2011 – Fixing it up

                Today I helped my broker find, buy, and replace parts in a house that he just recently bought. He told me that you have to always check certain parts and items before you put a house up for sale or on the market.  Things like check all the light bulbs make sure the A/C unit is in proper working order and to always change the locks. You always have to make sure there are no problems like mold, structural, or termite damage. Doing little things like this will go along way during the resale. If any of these items need replacing or if any of these problems occur they must be replaced or tended to before you resell the house. My broker tells me that following these steps will help to get the top dollar resale value. But sometimes I have also learned you must invest quite a lot of money into some of these houses that you buy and resell. Things like painting outside, painting inside, replacing a roof, replacing carpet/title, or replacing appliances can cost a lot but are necessary to do in some cases to attract more interest customers.

6/6/2011- Real Estate Accounting

                The broker writes many checks each day. He has me enter them into quick books so each withdrawal and deposit are organized. At the end of each month he has taught me to reconcile each account. My broker has many different accounts including apartments, farm property, partnerships, and real estate. There are approximately eight accounts total. He has made me in charge of taking all the checks, income, deposits, and withdrawals to the post office and the bank. I’ve learned that quick books can do payroll and provide full reports. I can look at a profit and loss statement in a matter of seconds. This shows me if the company is overall making or losing money.  It also helps to determine where most of the money is being spent. It also can have you budget your expenses to see if you’re overspending. I can see why my broker and other businesses use quick books because it pretty much provides instant information back to you, which businesses could use to help succeed.

6/2/11 – Foreclosure Sale

Today I attended a foreclosure sale at the Tulare County court office with my broker/boss. He bid on a three bed room, three bath home with two stories, a swimming pool, which all stands on a large lot. We estimated the house retail value of $165,000, the opening bid for the house started at $104,000. We checked with the title company to make sure that the bank was foreclosing on a first trustee, which it was. Next, we checked with the Tulare county tax collector to make sure that there was no tax due, which the taxes were current. Before we went to the sale the broker stopped at the bank to get a cashier’s check. He gave me a good tip by telling me in the future to set a maximum price before going to the auction. This is so you don’t end up overpaying for the house. The cashier’s check was put in the brokers name and from there went off to the sale. At the sale there were three gentlemen auctioning off the houses. That day there must have been twenty five houses sold, postponed, cancelled, or not bided on which those went back to the bank. When our turn came up there were three bidders who pre-qualified to bid, which one of them was my broker/boss. He ended up having the highest bid which was $108,000. It ended up being a good day for my boss he should be able to put a little money into it to fix it up and flip it for a good profit. Today was a good experience for me.

6/1/11 - Recording Rent

6/1/11

        Being the first day of the month I have been very busy in the JMN Office today dealing with rents coming in. As rent payments came in my first task was to collect, count, and record on a check off sheet which address and tenant each payment belonged to. I also had to as well fill out a recipt for each tenant as I received each payment. Next I had to keep turning to the computer and had to use Quickbooks to record, organize, and chart which account each payment belonged in. As payments kept coming in I also had to make a few trips to a couple different bank branches to deposite the rents. Once I asked a few quaetions at the begining I started getting the hang of it. The most confusing part about today was making sure that you record each payment in its certain account on the Quickbooks program. Today I collected rents for approximately 20 differnent homes, apartments, and condos.  Other than that I really enjoyed my tasks today and I enjoyed being busy and multitasking.