Premier Real Estate Brokerage in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

Empowering you with access to tools, information and expertise.

Archive for August 20th, 2007

What does “DOMM” and “DOMP” mean on the MLS listing?

Monday, August 20th, 2007

In a listing, you may sometimes see the acronyms "DOMM" and "DOMP".� Here's what they mean:DOMM means "Days on Market, Multiple-List" and it's the number of days on the market for that current listing.DOMP means "Days on Market, Property" and it refers to the entire time the property has been active.So, for example, let's say a property is listed on January 1, 2007.� On January 31st, the DOMM and DOMP will both say "30" because it's 30 days later.Now, let's say that the seller decides to use a different listing company on February 1st.� � Under this new listing agreement, the DOMM would reset to 1, but the DOMP would not.� The property has to be off the market for 180 days in order for the DOMP to reset to zero.� To sum it up:� the DOMM resets every time there's a new listing number, and DOMP resets when a property has been off the market for 180 days.

Share This

Posted in All the questions you were afraid to ask, All the questions you were afraid to ask, Buying A Home, The Buying Process, The Selling Process, drodio.com | No Comments »

Do I have to escrow property taxes with my lender? What does that even mean?

Monday, August 20th, 2007

A client of ours writes:

In your experience regarding mortgages, is it common for a lender (mine is Homecomings Financial/GMAC) to require you to maintain an escrow balance? Just curious, as I'd rather hang on to my money in a short-term CD or money market, versus sending it to them.

Thanks!

When you close on your property, you have the option to escrow or not escrow your property taxes. Most buyers decide to escrow (the pro's & con's of both approaches are below). If you change your mind after settlement, you can call the post-closing or servicing department at your lender and ask them to reconfigure your loan so they do not escrow your taxes. Depending on how your loan is configured, they may or may not be able to do this, and there may or may not be a fee for doing so. (The lender gets a sense of security by paying your taxes for you, so depending on your credit risk profile, they may or may not be willing to let you take over).

Here's how escrowing your taxes breaks down:

  1. Option 1: Let the lender do it: The biggest benefit here is "peace of mind". You pay the lender a few hundred dollars extra every month, and then once or twice a year, they disburse the property taxes to the county. You don't have to think about it, and you don't have to come up with a big chunk of cash when taxes are due. The downside is that you have to keep some extra money in your escrow account with the lender (that is the "escrow balance" in the question above). It might bug you that you don't have access to these funds; you're basically giving the lender an interest-free loan for the duration of your home ownership for the amount of the balance.
  2. Option 2: Escrow your own taxes: If you are handling your own taxes, you have to stay on top of when taxes are due and pay them on time. The biggest advantage is that you don't have to deal with the lender maintaining an escrow balance of your money in their account. Also, your initial closing costs will be slightly lower at settlement because you don't have to pay an initial amount into this escrow fund.

Share This

Posted in All About Home Financing & Loans, drodio.com | No Comments »