Real estate transfer tax is a tax that may be imposed by states, counties, or municipalities on the privilege of transferring real property within the jurisdiction. Total transfer taxes range from very small (for example, .01% in Colorado) to relatively large (2.2% in the District of Columbia).

Some states have a variety of transfer tax laws which may include specific exemptions for certain types of buyers based on buying status or income level (e.g. Maryland exempts certain “first time buyers” from a percentage of the total or excludes a portion of the property’s sales price from taxation altogether).

Another variation which exists is either the legal requirement to split the taxes between the parties or the local custom to do so. Thus, in Washington, DC, the 2.2% is generally split between the seller and the buyer. Prior to buying or selling, it is advisable to check with the Recorder of Deeds, a Realtor, or title company to confirm a specific jurisdiction’s practices.

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If you’re a first-time home-buyer, don’t listen to all those rumors that say you must have a squeaky-clean credit record and need to make an exorbitant down payment before you can buy your own home. Today’s lenders are more financially-friendly to first time home buyers. These days, it’s now normal to make a 10% down payment and a credit score of at least 700. Of course lenders want to make sure that buyers don’t overextend themselves, so they will still be strict when examining your proof of income. And while it still helps to have a decent credit record, there are now agencies like the Federal Housing Administration that gives spotty credit holders a second chance.

If you’d like to understand how real estate agents earn a seller or buyer’s commission, you need to look at how agents get paid and how they share commissions.  First of all, real estate agents work under a real estate broker.  All fees that the real estate agent gets has to go through the broker.  Only a broker can give a real estate commission and sign the listing agreement with the seller.  New real estate agents usually receive only 30% or 40% of the total commission the broker gets.  Other fees might be deducted like sign rentals, office expense, or advertising. Top agents might get 100% commission and only pay a desk fee to the broker.

The exclusive right to represent is similar to the non-exclusive agreement except the buyer agrees to work exclusively with the agent or the broker.  This means that the buyer cannot hire more than one broker or agent to represent him or her, that the commission is negotiable, that the buyer is not obligated to pay the commission if a third party like the seller pays for it, that the agent or broker can get a higher commission than the fee in the agreement if the seller wants to pay more and the amount is disclosed. The terms of an exclusive agreement can last from three months up to a year. If the buyer chooses to buy a property introduced by the agent, the buyer owes a commission to the agency.  This agreement also allows the agent to negotiate with unrepresented sellers on the buyer’s behalf.

Foreclosure occurs when a buyer cannot afford to make payments on his loan.  When this happens, the property gets repossessed by the bank or the lender for the amount that could not be repaid.  The lender becomes the owner of the bank but instead of keeping repossessed property, they put it on sale in the open market.

Even though real estate prices are starting to come down, homes in foreclosure are still 25% cheaper.  Another thing you can do with foreclosed homes is to buy it, fix it up, and re-sell it.  This is called home-flipping and there is a lot of money to be made in it.  However, lots of research on the home and the area need to be made before undertaking in any investment.  You’ll need to figure out not only how much the home will cost, but how much renovation needs to be done.