Sandy Gadow

Sandy Gadow

Sandra Gadow is a title officer with more than 25 years experience in escrow, title, and real estate. She has helped thousands of people buy their homes. She is a mortgage broker, and a member of the American Land Title Association, the California Escrow Association, the National Association of Real Estate Editors, and the California Association of Realtors.

    Sandy Gadow's Articles

    • Who Controls The Closing Date For Escrow – The Buyer Or The Seller

      When you make an offer to purchase a property, you will sign a Purchase or Purchase and Sales Agreement with the Seller. This document will be the binding contract and agreement between you and the Seller and the provisions in that document will spell out certain events which must take place before your escrow can close. Within the Purchase Agreement will be a provision for the scheduled “Date of Closing.” A date is normally filled in when the offer to purchase is made by the buyer. Once your offer is presented to the seller, the seller may choose to change…

    • When Would I Use Direct Deeding?

      When you are exchanging property under a 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange, you may choose to “direct deed” your property to the buyer or have the seller direct deed his property to you. Direct deeding is achieved by deeding your property directly to the buyer rather than to an intermediary, which initially was the common practice in 1031 tax deferred exchanges. The seller of the property which you are buying then deeds his property directly to you, skipping the deed to an intermediary.An IRS ruling in 1990 provided that it was no longer necessary to use “sequential” deeding in a tax-deferred…

    • When Is Escrow Considered Open?

      When you give your deposit to the real estate agent and the signed sales agreement has been signed by both the buyer and the seller, the agent may then “open” escrow.If there is no real estate agent involved in your transaction, the escrow may be opened by either the buyer or the seller. When you first make your offer to purchase a property, you typically give a good faith deposit check.The real estate agent will deposit this money into their company “escrow account”, to be held until the seller has signed the agreement and all the terms of the purchase…

    • That Condominium Will be the Perfect Rental Property

      Condominiums may appear to be the ideal way to purchase rental property, as their price is often lower than the price for a single family home. You may find a condominium unit which is in an ideal location, located near schools, work, and public transportation. The unit may be in “move-in” condition with terrific views. There is one important safeguard you will need to watch for when buying a condominium for investment and rental purposes.Condominiums are governed by a set of Condominium Documents or CC & R’s, and a Homeowners Association sees that the rules set down in these documents…

    • Tax Prorations At Closing Time

      Among the various items which will be prorated, or shared between the buyer and seller at the closing will be real estate property taxes. Although prorations are normally pretty straightforward and easy to understand, property taxes can be a problem if provisions are not made for an increase in tax assessment which may occur after the close of escrow.Often the closing agent must use the taxes from the previous year to compute the prorations for the sale. Let’s say that your escrow closes in September and that the new taxes will not be available until November. If the taxes go…

    • Six Ways To Hold Title of Investment Property

      One of the most important decisions that needs to be made at closing is how you choose to hold title. It determines how you will be insured, but it can also have significant legal and tax consequences.For example, there is an option available to married couples that provides protection from creditors in the event of the death of one of the spouses. There is also an option that affords a “right of survivorship” between unrelated owners. If not set up correctly, how you hold title can create unanticipated complications when you decide to sell or transfer the title to someone…

    • How Do I Prepare for Closing?

      Prior to the actual closing day, there are several things you should do to be certain that your real estate transaction will close on time, and that everything will go smoothly. A day or two before closing, you should review your final closing statement or HUD-1 Statement, whichever is used in your area of the country. You should go over all the calculations and be certain that you are given credit for all your deposits and any other credits due to you from the seller or for other items agreed upon between buyer and seller. Go over all the lender…

    • For Tax Purposes, What Is The Best Time To Buy My House?

      Knowing when to close your real estate purchase can work to your advantage at tax time. You may want to consider postponing your December closing until January of next year, if it will benefit you on your tax return. You would make this determination in several ways.First, you need to review your tax liabilities for the current tax year with your tax accountant or tax preparer and see if taking additional deductions in the current or future year would be most beneficial to you. Next, you will need to understand which items in your closing will be tax-deductible and which…

    • Finding Hidden Costs on Your Closing Statement

      Throughout the closing process, you will have been given various documents, some being mandatory government disclosure documents. These disclosures are meant to keep you fully informed in regard to the costs you will or may incur in your closing. Among these documents may be a Good Faith Estimate of Closing Costs and a HUD-1 Statement. You could also receive an explanation of mortgage broker fees, if you engage a mortgage broker to help you find a loan. Many of the fees disclosed may overlap or be the same fees, such as an appraisal fee, origination fee, escrow fee or title…

    • Closing Escrow When You Are Out of Town

      It may happen that you or your spouse must be out of town at the time of your escrow closing. Perhaps you suddenly have to go out of the country and you may be worried how you are going to close your escrow on time when you can’t physically be present for the closing. There are several solutions to this problem.The first solution and the one that has most often been used in the past and is most widely accepted is the Power of Attorney form. This form allows you to give the power of your signature to someone else…

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