Archive for the ‘Lessons’ Category

8 Quick Fixes to Increase Your Home’s Value When Selling

Sunday, April 6th, 2008

In a buyer’s market, sellers must up the ante to convince a dwindling number of buyers that their property offers what all buyers want most - top value for their dollar. Homes that show the best, sell first and for top dollar. Here are eight quick fixes: 1. Buff up ...

Top 10 questions about short sales

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008

Number 1 I am underwater and I can't afford my house payment. How do I qualify for a short sale? In most cases, you don't need to “qualify”. However, there are criteria that lenders use to evaluate selling via a short sale. Usually, a poor financial outlook for ...

My next door neighbor is a felon?

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Many are aware of Megan’s Law and how it has made publicly available sex offender’s home address. In fact, most real estate contracts have some statement to this fact. Felonspy takes this to another level. Not only do they list sex offenders, but cross reference other ...

Nouveau Riche University – What You Need to Know

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

Maybe you've heard of them, maybe not. The name is gaining popularity as more people turn to real estate as an investment. If you've been looking for real estate education, or even been to a "meeting" to learn about Nouveau Riche, you should read this article closely. What Nouveau ...

How do I know if we’re in a buyer’s market?

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

A good rule of thumb is to use an indicator called the months of remaining inventory. It's a ratio of homes for sale divided by the number of homes sold. This number gives you an idea of what the current market conditions are like. So stated in another way, ...

1031 Exchange on Vacation Homes

Friday, February 29th, 2008

Thought this article may be helpful to people with vacation homes. Finally — IRS Guidance on Exchanging Vacation Homes Revenue Procedure 2008-16 Provides Safe Harbor   Until now, the issue of whether a vacation home qualifies for tax deferral treatment under IRC §1031 was the subject of much scrutiny and uncertainty. To the ...

FICO HOT TOPICS

Thursday, February 28th, 2008

Log in to myFICO FICO Forums Hot Topics FICO Forums is an educational and oftentimes entertaining platform for people to share their credit knowledge and personal financial experiences with other members of this online community. Hot topics for February 2008: Bankruptcy or Debt Settlement Program??? Please Help To make a long story ...

Just Walk Away

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

A growing trend in today’s market are homeowners that choose to walk away from their mortgage payment, not because they can’t afford the home, but more so because of loss of equity. This is even more of a reality for those that ended up borrowing 100% for the purchase. Some ...

Fee Simple vs Leasehold

Monday, February 18th, 2008

Most people only know of one type of real estate ownership; fee simple, also known as freehold. There are a handful of states that have another form of ownership known as leasehold. The difference in these two types of land tenure is very different and affects the value of the ...

Condo vs. Condotel

Sunday, February 17th, 2008

One of the fastest growing segments in real estate has been in vacation and resort type properties. There are many reasons given for the growing interest, but condotels are very different from a condominium and it’s important that buyers know what these differences are. Nothing New While it’s quite possible ...