Estate and mortgage
A new survey reveals home buyers will pay a premium as high as 25 percent for newly built "green" homes, but the extra cost is often not necessary if the builder is savvy.
Ubiquitous mold, a particular problem in bathrooms, kitchens, and basements, can trigger asthma attacks, the eighth most common chronic condition suffered by Americans, affecting nearly 25 million people, a third of whom are children under 18 years of age, according to the American Lung Association.
Critics are lining up to dismiss President Bush"s energy program as too cozy with big energy without considering the growing energy costs for consumers at home.
There"s nearly a 35 percent chance home prices in major metros will be lower in two years than they are now. Some areas, however, especially those in the West, Southwest and South face a far greater risk for tumbling home prices.
Simmering in the cultures of the American Southwest, Native America and Mexico, Yuma, AZ is often considered Arizona"s best kept secret as a nice place to call home.
Dennis Hopper is right.
One day, barring downsizing from a wrecking crew, every home has the potential for historic value, provided your home improvements don"t erase history.
New record-high home prices went on the books in Silicon Valley, but home sales are down and under pressure from a mortgage supply squeeze that"s leaving entry-level buyers twisting in the wind.
San Francisco Bay Area home sales plummeted so far in September, sales were at a level not seen since at least 1988 and the high-tech, high-priced Silicon Valley region saw sales slip the lowest level since 1984.
The median price of a single-family home in Silicon Valley -- $760,000.
Home buyers in New Hampshire, the nation"s most livable state, are getting a boost from growing inventories of homes for sale and home price appreciation a fraction of what it was in recent years.
The national condo market has a problem -- too much inventory. That from the National Association of Home Builder’s top economist, David Seiders. A report released last week, shows that builder confidence eroded in third quarter of 2007 in the Multifamily Condo Market Index. Current conditions in the condo market have hit its lowest level since the index was created five years ago, according to NAHB.
You"ve probably heard critics on Capitol Hill complain that too many financially-stressed home owners aren"t getting help from lenders to modify their loans, lower their rates or freeze them -- and keep them out of foreclosure.
Homeowner association members who pay their assessments late or not at all sometimes come up with some interesting excuses. Here are five common ones:
It was mortgage lender against mortgage lender last week in an unusual Washington brouhaha -- with new FHA Commissioner David Stevens as the referee.
IKEA is doing for Scandinavia and Northern England, what Home Depot is doing for America"s Gulf Coast region -- offering affordable "kit homes" off the shelf.
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The Commerce Department reported that new home sales in December dropped to the lowest level in nearly 13 years.
Think about it.
"Knock, knock."
Question: We are about to buy our first home from a particular builder. All homes in the community (92 to be built) vary in price from $960,000 to $1.3 million. So far about 35 have been sold and the builder is offering options at half price.
For parents who are just beginning to relax into their "empty nest," Halloween may not be the scariest day of the year. A call or email from an adult child saying, "I"m coming home to stay" can send "they"re back" chills down the spine of any mother or father who believed their parenting days were safely behind them.
Does it take seasoned sales experts to sell new homes in a challenging market like this?
Despite recent favorable drops in mortgage rates and improvement in housing afford ability, buyer activity remains slow for Minneapolis, Minnesota. This report comes to us from Realtor Stepahane Cattelin.
Two similar properties, two different listing strategies and two very different outcomes.
In December, homes sold in Danville, California, for an average price of $920,000. The homes sold for 91% of asking price with an average time of 68 days on the market.
If you refinanced your home recently, you"re not alone. According to Plunkett Research, approximately $1.1 trillion dollars in mortgage loans was refinanced in the United States in 2006. But did you remember to take an increased mortgage interest deduction on your tax return if you were entitled to one?
The same new federal law that offers relief from mortgage debt forgiveness taxes, also extends tax benefits for many more homeowners who pay mortgage insurance.
If fence-sitting new home buyers way out West wait much longer for the bottom of the market, it could very well slip out from under them.
Whether you"re a buyer or a seller you want to succeed in the realty marketplace. That"s natural and reasonable, but what are the steps you need to triumph?
Alan Curtis of Draper, Utah, reports that the area"s growth has exploded!
Where is the real estate marketplace headed in 2008?
Many people probably don"t think too much about how important it is to name a beneficiary for their IRAs. However, as my family recently found out, ignoring this important detail when setting up your IRA can be costly from a tax perspective.
It"s no news that it"s become a buyer"s market in many markets across the country. In my area (Kansas City) there are over 16,500 homes on the market and foreclosures are up 55 percent from this time last year.
Your state-of-the-art appliances with all the bells and whistles can easily blow circuit boards during storms that feature power outages and surges when power grids attempt to come online.
Investors prospecting for "short sales" and other pre-foreclosure opportunities-along with the realty professionals who connect them with lenders and distressed home sellers-got a big helping hand last week from Congress and the White House.
It"s buying time.
Beautiful Kihei, Hawaii -- located on the island of Maui, has seen a total of 40 condo units sell so far this month. The low price was $170,000.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 5.65 percent with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 5.73 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.84 percent. The 15-year FRM has not been lower since the week ending October 13, 2005, when it averaged 5.62 percent.
A Champion realizes it"s not what happens but how they react to it that counts. It"s not the absence of challenges, struggles, and slumps that makes top level Agents more successful. It"s how they approach them mentally and move through them that separates these Agents from the crowd.
Your past clients can be an absolute gold mine of future business if worked properly. You don"t need to reward them with elaborate gifts for their support of you and what you do. A few simple well thought-out systems will enable you to hit the mother load of referrals.
Here"s an interesting profit niche for rental property owners that doesn"t get a lot of media attention: Corporate housing.
A major new streamlining of property condition and repair rules by the Federal Housing Administration could be excellent news for thousands of moderate-income home sellers and buyers -- and their realty agents -- across the country.
Nine out of 10 real estate appraisers say they"ve been pressured to raise property valuations by mortgage brokers, realty agents, lenders and individual home sellers.
Borrowers -- whether for mortgage loans, credit card debt or auto loans -- who have been called up for military duty have just been given greater financial and legal protections. On December 19, 2003, President Bush signed into law the "Servicemembers Civil Relief Act" (SCRA).
Multiple factors have contributed to the current slump in the housing market -- a slump that has been proclaimed the worst in the past 16 years. One of the major causes of the current slump, however, can be attributed to the fact that more and more people have been using their homes as ATM machines. Whenever they want or need something that they cannot afford, instead of saving for it or denying themselves the luxury, they"ve simply borrowed against the equity in their homes -- either by refinancing or taking out a home equity loan or line of credit.
Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code allows a taxpayer to roll the gain from the sale of their Old Property over to their New, provided they do certain things which are detailed in the code. What most people don"t understand is that Section 1031 is a "form driven" code section. This means that you must do exactly what the code section requires; if you don"t your exchange will be disallowed if audited; you must dot the i"s and cross the t"s.
We"ve got a bumper crop of positives this week for housing, starting with pending home sales, which jumped by 6.4 percent in August.
Capitol Hill housing and mortgage lobbyists were buzzing last week about an aggressive new legislative proposal that could put tens of thousands of financially-stressed home owners into loan modifications, even if their lenders and loan servicers had to be dragged kicking and yelling to the negotiating table.
For all the talk of a subprime meltdown, there ought to be a dawning realization that what we have today is a vastly broader problem than loans to people with weak credit.
The IRS has just issued a new ruling that sets forth the guidelines for those taxpayers that wish to do a 1031 exchange involving a vacation home. By way of background, you can only exchange property held for investment or used in a trade or business. Up until last year there was no guidance from the IRS that said whether vacation homes were investment or personal use property, but that changed when the U.S. Tax Court disallowed a taxpayer"s exchange from one vacation home into another. The court case immediately gave rise to the question of what has to be done to qualify a vacation home for a 1031 exchange -- this ruling is the IRS attempt to answer that question.
Replace old appliances with Energy Star rated appliances, turn in all your incandescent lamps and fixtures for fluorescent lamps and fixtures, perform several energy efficient home improvements and you can boost the value of your home by almost $18,000, according to a return on investment study of 10 energy efficient home improvements.
Before investing the couple of hours a month building your own marketplace analysis, check to see if your local board of Realtors or MLS compiles market trend reports. I have found that most do something on this order but are not as comprehensive in price ranges. They do mainly geography-based reports for all price points. You need price segmentation.
Step right up folks and just let little old me pay off your pesky mortgage.
It"s a good time for a home inspection.
Speaking in Bloomfield Hills, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) said that he is preparing to introduce a bill that if passed would end mortgage-interest write-offs for homes with more than 3,000 sq. ft. of living space.
Investors who"ve been sniffing around the Miami area looking to pick up condos at rock bottom prices - either in multiple-unit bulk deals or retail - better move fast.
Question: We have just moved to the Washington area from California, and are looking to buy a house. The process here appears quite different from that of the West Coast, and we are very confused. Is there any language that should be included in the real estate contract that we may sign with the seller. Are there any important consumer protections which are applicable to real estate transactions.
The Commerce Department finally has those much-talked-about Christmas spending numbers. Consumers spend 0.4 percent less than a year ago, the worst consumer showing since June 2007, and that"s accelerating fears of recession. We"re not there yet, but many pundits believe we"re about to be.
Hot water heaters don"t last forever. Ten years is about when you have to consider replacing them. In 15 years, a replacement is generally past due.
Question: Our homeowner association has 30 single family detached homes. Our governing documents were basically written for townhomes. One of the bothersome issues is that the governing documents state that the HOA is responsible for replacing roofs, painting, gutters and other things that are commonly done with condominiums. Many owners object to building up a reserve fund to pay for repairs that may be as much as 20 years or more down the road.
Perhaps you are ahead of the curve and already own a second home as an investment property, but do you know how to keep the door open on long term returns?
Color speaks to us, all we have to do is listen.
The Bush administration announced a plan that freezes interest rates for some credit-challenged homeowners who purchased their homes with subprime loans. President Bush called for Federal Housing Administration reforms to lower borrowing requirements for FHA conforming loans, and a five-year freeze on some subprime mortgage loans. Eligible borrowers are those holding adjustable rate mortgages that are about to reset to higher rates and who are current in their payments.
From the start of this country there has never been any question regarding the right of the government to take property -- the "takings" clause of the Fifth Amendment plainly says that government can acquire private property for public use, but not "without just compensation."
If you take responsible steps to save your mortgage and work to avoid digging yourself in deeper your efforts could also help others facing the same dilemma.
In the brave new money-tight world of housing, the growing inventory of homes is prompting more and more sellers to stage the deal so it stands out from the pack.
Question: I have a piece of land that I bought two years ago, and the developer recently dumped his remaining lots at about 40 percent of the price I paid. Can he do this? If I want to refinance to get better terms for my loan, will a lender use my purchase price or will the current comps? I won"t be able to refinance on the basis of the property"s current value.
Currently my local real estate market is officially a buyers market with more than a 9 months supply of homes. What this means is that out of the 7,814 single family homes, townhouses and condominiums on the market right now, it will take 9 months to sell them all at the rate they have sold in the last 30 days (which was 840 units sold in the last 30 days).
Concerns about mold and its potential effects on indoor air quality and property values appear to have taken a back seat to other real estate issues, but that doesn"t mean that someone isn"t thinking about.
Investors in foreclosures and REOs: Get ready to rev up your business volume.
As with any resale product, the person trying to sell said product will usually try to make the product look as new as possible to ensure the highest profit available. In reviewing many of the homes on the market today, however, some sellers don"t get that notion.
When it comes to pricing your house when you’re ready to sell it, keep in mind you must sell in the market you’re in today. It doesn’t matter what your former neighbor got six months ago, or what properties are listed for now. All that matters is this -- whatever the last sale price in your neighborhood of your model -- that’s probably your sale price now.
It seems during a slowing market, the last person to get the message that the house needs a lower price is the seller. After all, the seller has the most to lose by "improving" the price and it"s a tough decision to let go of a dream of cashing out.
Friends of mine decided to sell their townhouse a while back and immediately knew what they had to do to demand top dollar, if not, multiple contracts: get the house in shape. A couple of weeks, two contractors and $10,000-plus later, they had new carpet; new kitchen appliances with white flooring; new paint throughout (including the demolition of a mirrored wall); power-washed/stained deck; and a few plumbing issues taken care of.
In a slower market, buyers aren"t willing to throw caution to the wind, and are less willing to buy houses with problems.
There"s little doubt that the real estate marketplace is now in transition. Sale volume has begun to weaken and in many markets the days of quick sales and multiple offers are going or gone.
Still confused about capital gains tax relief?
A story in This Old House magazine this month details the stealing of a whole house by thieves who deal in used building parts. The crime, in Lindale, Texas, took place, obviously, over several days, in broad daylight and while the hardworking thieves waved to neighbors walking by, assuming the men were just a couple of workmen doing some tasks for the owner.
Whew!
My plumber called me a few weeks ago with a problem that I found easy to answer.
A title search is one of the most important activities of the real estate transaction. Without the ability to convey title, a property owner cannot sell his or her home and a buyer would not want to take possession without this most basic exercise.
A new national research study confirms what many Realtors know only too well: "Preapproval" and "prequalification" letters presented by would-be buyers of homes often are faulty and cause problems later in the transaction.
Question: Just about one year ago, we purchased a two-story Virginia townhouse with a basement. A couple of weeks later, Hurricane Charley brought heavy rain and our basement flooded and our patio pooled. We called the previous owners to inquire about the sump pump, and they came over and were very helpful. They also told us that in the many years they owned the property, there was never any flooding.
The housing price appreciation bandwagon rolls on, according to a new federal quarterly study released last Wednesday. But the 12.5 percent average jump in the value of an existing home in the U.S. between first quarter 2004 and first quarter 2005 "raises the potential for declines in some areas later on," according to the chief economist of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), which conducts the government"s definitive housing price study quarterly.
Once you purchase your dream home, the contract used to exchange the property between you and the seller will most likely wind up in a cabinet drawer, long forgotten until you want to review it for the next sale or purchase in which you"re involved. The multi-page file (usually about an inch or so thick) has a long-term effect, but not a daily influence on your life.
Most states require real estate agents to disclose up-front who he or she is representing in a transaction. If they don"t, the consumer needs to ask.
Question: When our mother died, my father subsequently remarried. He added his new wife as an owner of the family home, and they now own our house as "Tenants by the Entirety." My father has told my sister and I, on several occasions, that upon his death the home will go to both of us. To assure that this will happen, he showed us his Will, which appears consistent with his desires. Are we protected? Is the Will sufficient. Is there anything more we should be doing?
Question: I plan to move out West sometime next year. I am 63 years old and semi-retired. My home is valued at about $300,000. I have a 15-year mortgage and the principal balance is about $46,000. I believe I can purchase a small house for under $200,000 in the area where I plan to live. Does it make sense to buy the new home with no mortgage? What if I find the new house before I sell here?
Question: I have signed a contract to sell my house, but it appears that the buyer is having a case of "buyer"s remorse." I believe she wants to back out from under the contract. My real estate broker has asked me to determine if she is in default on the terms of the contract. How do I do this and what exactly constitutes a "default?"
The Internal Revenue Service issued final rules recently that could reduce capital gains taxes for some homeowners. Current rules allow taxpayers to exclude $250,000 in gains for single sellers and $500,000 for married sellers if they have met certain criteria.
Various scenarios can force sellers into a rent-back situation. This is when the homeowner sells the property but does not move right away and strikes a rental agreement with the new owner to stay in the property for a designated period of time.
If you sell your home, and have lived there for two out of the past five years before it is sold, our tax laws provide you with a fabulous tax break: you can exclude up to $250,000 of any gain you have made ($500,000 if you are married and file a joint return).
Sometimes there"s no avoiding it. A new job offer or promotion demands you be in a new city in two weeks. Or maybe your new house is ready and you want your kids to be able to start the school year in their new school. Whatever the case, sometimes you have to move before your house is sold.
Q. I am a 83 years old and a widower. I lost my wonderful wife two years ago, and no longer need the large home which we occupied for more than 30 years. We raised our children there, but they all have their own homes now.
Every seller knows that there home should have "curb appeal." But what exactly does that mean.
The word on Wall Street -- at least according to assorted seers, soothsayers and analysts -- is that now is a very good time to have cash, lots of cash,
As we enter the sweltering days of late spring and early summer, homebuyers"
If people stop dead in their tracks to admire your residence, your house has curb appeal.
Your yard is in perfect order, the front door is freshly painted, the interior is sparkling, and soft music plays lightly in the background. Your house is ready for potential buyers. Or is it?
Surprising as it may seem, the holidays are the best time to sell a house, some real estate agents say.
In times of change it follows that people will spend more cautiously, a trend reflected nationally as builders reduce production and demand for existing homes cools.
Dear George: "I have a homeowner in our subdivision who is always trying to start trouble. The latest event involved a copy of the minutes of the homeowner association posted on the bulletin board. Included in the minutes is the date and time of the next meeting. The meetings are every other month. I had a conflict on the date of the next meeting. I polled the board members. We agreed to change the date to 2 days earlier than the date on the bulletin. I then posted a notice of the meeting the day before the meeting on the bulletin board. This homeowner was furious! He stated that according to Texas Law I have to post a change of notice more than 72 hours before the meeting. Is he correct?" -- HOA Prez
A buyer"s market is spreading nationwide during a season when buyers are already in short supply. That makes it a crucial time for sellers to dust off those concessions and hone their negotiating skills.
There"s no doubt that the construction industry has faced a major slowdown in the wake of the economic recession. As banks have put the brakes on much of their lending for new construction and remodels, they"ve reduced funding availability for construction industry professionals, dealing what"s felt like a double-blow to contractors and builders nationwide. When one of the largest banking institutions exited the financial market in early 2008, many construction businesses felt the pain. Ever since, secondary-market funding options have been greatly limited, according to James Penny, founder and president of Compound Profit, a Texas-based franchise that provides funding solutions for businesses throughout the country, specifically those in the construction field.
Here"s today"s economic question: If you make a $1,000 profit in real estate will it impact the economy differently than $1,000 in profits from the sale of stock?
Dear George: "We rented an off-base house from a rental agency. They sent us a notice that our rent was going to be raised. Our lease agreement is not yet up. We"ve signed no new lease agreement. My husband thinks I should report this to JAG. Do you have any advice? -- Concerned Tenant
You"re one of the lucky ones. You not already own your own home, but you"ve also built up considerable equity over the years...enough to make a sizable down payment on an even bigger home. And you"re even luckier....your dream house finally came on the market! Wee-hooo!
Contrary to the advice of some real estate agents, it"s OK for sellers to greet potential buyers, provided they do so under the guidance of their real estate agent.
Question: I had a contract to sell my Maryland home and the buyers provided a $500 earnest deposit, which was held by my broker. Less than a week before the scheduled settlement date, the buyers backed out of the contract. They claim they could not obtain financing. However, I have documentation from the buyer"s loan officer that their loan application was closed for imcompleteness because the buyers did not supply all the necessary documentation needed for loan approval.
Today, I filled out a disclosure form as part of the process of selling my home.
[Note: To follow is an excerpt of an interview with Elliot Eisenberg, National Association of Home Builders Senior Economist, and creator of their multifamily stock index; Ron Whitney, 2009 President of the Idaho Home Builders" Association and a Governor"s appointee to the State Building Code Board; and Richard Harp, President Elect of the Arkansas Home Builders" Association. To listen to the show archive or download an MP3, go to www.IncomePropertyInvestmentTalk.com/072909.]
If your home is your principal residence, you have a limited number of tax benefits which you can use when filing your 2000 income tax return. Perhaps the most important is the right to exclude up to $500,000 of profit when you sell your home.
For years after she purchased her newly-built home in 1992, Nancy Seats, a 66-year-old Liberty City, MO home owner grappled with builders and government officials to correct major structural flaws.
You’re gathering information to list your house so you contact your mortgage company’s service center for loan information. Their representative tells you how to obtain your loan payoff balance and then adds, “Don’t worry. The closing agent will collect the prorated principal and interest due on the loan as of the date of closing”.
The Federal Reserve is gearing up with more consumer protection on the home loan front, as it continues its overhaul Regulation Z.
Every year at about this time, I am often asked by home owners if it is prudent to put their house on the market during the holidays, or if they should wait until after the first of the year. It"s true that February and March produce the highest amount of home sales, but when you compare the percentage of sales to the total number of new properties that come onto the market, November and December have the best exposure ratio of any other months of the year.
Are you a seller who would consider taking a contingency-laden offer if you could keep the property on the market to attract other potential buyers? Your ace in the hole may just be the “right of first refusal” clause!
After years of flat rents and increasing costs for apartment landlords, rents are finally increasing.
Jolene rummaged in her pocketbook. She was looking for a pen. She had the Sunday newspaper on her dining room table as she was looking for a new apartment. Max had agreed to move in with her. Actually, Max had suggested it; he was hopelessly in love with Jolene. She had agreed with the caveat that they would both move into a bigger place.
If you are trying to book a skiing trip, Orlando isn"t the first location that comes to mind.
Many people forced from the Gulf Coast area by recent hurricanes have suddenly been thrust into a home hunting mode for temporary or permanent shelter and may not be familiar with what"s required to rent a home in an area outside their community.
Chris stroked his beard and shook his head, saying: "It"s not fun." He was talking about having to walk up to the door of one of his rental properties recently with an armed sheriff and serve eviction papers to one of his tenants.
For many buyers without cash or with credit problems, the solution to homeownership in the past has been a lease-to-own contract. The traditional wisdom behind this arrangement has been that the buyer is able to rent the property from an owner for a designated time period, usually paying a rent higher than market rate. The extra cash is then applied to an agreed upon down payment amount. In the end, once the down payment is acquired (and hopefully a better credit rating for the buyer with time), the transaction is consummated with a settlement and the property exchanges hands.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.58 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.56 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.93 percent.
California"s housing crisis has become an emergency of multi-alarm proportions that has spawned a growing class of renters for whom home ownership may always remain a dream.
If your housing plan includes rental housing for the next year or so, now"s the time to negotiate a long-term lease that locks in today"s concessions.
A unique public-service Web site for those seeking subsidized housing made its debut recently thanks to a collaboration of community, non-profit, and philanthropic agencies.
Do you feel that your new apartment isn"t home?
While renters looking for a home in some West Coast markets got a breather from escalating rents, some rental housing hunters in the East Coast and South were digging deeper into their wallets to cover the cost of housing.
Mom-and-pop and other small-time landlords sometimes turn to credit reports, tenant screening agencies and reference screening services to evaluate would-be occupants. But what many don"t realize is that when they try to emulate the major apartment owners who do this on a regular and recurring basis, they have to play by the same rules.
Question: I have been appointed by the Board of Directors of our Condominium Association to investigate whether our association can impose restrictions on renters in our building. Having reviewed some material -- and talked to a lot of people -- I am totally confused. The number of non-resident owners within our complex is currently over 40 percent. I have heard that this high ratio of investor-owned units will cause problems with our ability to obtain mortgage loans, whether we want to sell or refinance.
We all know that Penicillin comes from mold. But other than this connection, most people still do not consider mold one way other. However, experts in indoor air quality are starting to understand that there is a link between an increase in the amount of mold spores in a person"s house or workplace and the incidence in respiratory and other related ailments.
With all the attention given to the nation"s rising ownership rate, apartments tend to get lost in the shuffle. But the number of units in buildings with at least five apartments also has grown, even as the number of renters had remained practically flat.
(Editor"s Note: Rent control is illegal in 31 states, and yet rent control is also practiced in more than 100 jurisdictions, according to William Tucker with the Cato Institute. Rent control requirements vary by jurisdiction, and in recent years there has been a trend away from such regulations. How does rent control work? In the article below, attorney Benny Kass looks at rent control as now practiced in Washington, D.C.)
A Tenant"s Right to Privacy
Believe it or not, as a real estate investor litigation lurks just around the corner.
[Note: To follow is an excerpt of an interview with Alethea Cox, loan specialist, Kingston Management Services, an FDIC qualified bidder and Michael Anderson, Founder and Co-owner of RealSource, who’s company has a track record of placing thousands of investor/clients in the right properties in the right markets at the right time. To listen to the show archive or download an MP3, go to www.IncomePropertyInvestmentTalk.com/071509.]
If you want to know the value of a property, if you want to know whether it"s competitive in your marketplace, then one important index to consider is its vacancy factor.
Renting property is an arrangement where the needs of owners and tenants generally overlap: The tenant wants a clean and safe home and the landlord wants rent and someone who will care for the property. All in all, a good trade for everyone -- until it comes time to make repairs.
You"re renting an apartment - a great apartment, and then your company asks you to do a six-month assignment in another state. It"s a good opportunity
Over the past two years, households that earned $50,000 or more annually and had the means to join the ranks of home owners or continue owning the roofs over their heads represented the fastest growing segment of the rental market, according to the National Multi-Housing Council.
Need some property management relief? The National Tenant Network recently released a new product called e-screening. In five seconds, landlords can view and print out tenant performance reports (lease violations), eviction records, retail credit and criminal background checks.
Biting her keys in her mouth, Phyllis jiggled the condo door open with her free fingertip. Peeking over bags of groceries, she stumbled through the living room and into the kitchen. Step. Step. Step. Squish......? Setting the groceries down, her line of vision shifted to her feet... now immersed in a lukewarm puddle of water, and as she scanned the room, she saw that her couches... chairs, and coffee tables were also about to set sail.
It"s disappointing when the only thing holding someone back from that perfect apartment is a "no pets allowed" clause. Rather than going through the extra effort of finding a rental unit which fits their personal criteria and accepts their pet, some people think they have no other choice than to leave Fido or Fifi behind. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has created a web site dedicated to easing the difficulties of finding a great apartment that will welcome both you and your pet.
Your lease is up and you"re moving out of your apartment. You"ve packed your boxes and stuffed your bags, and now all you need is to retrieve your security deposit. By law, the landlord cannot refuse to return your deposit without reason. Unfortunately, sometimes there is a dispute over how much the tenant should be refunded or whether the tenant should be refunded at all.
In the event that a landlord decides to evict their tenant, he or she
While examining a potential apartment, it"s important to listen while you look. You don"t want to discover your noisy environment after you"ve already signed the lease. Follow this advice to make sure the apartment is the right one.
A new program from the U.S. Department of