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Common areas pose repair quandary

By Bernice Ross, Thursday, July 30, 2009.

Are you considering buying a condominium? This week's column looks at three additional pitfalls that can trap an unsuspecting buyer as well as how to avoid them.

The first two parts of this series provided three important questions you must ask before purchasing a condominium or planned unit development (PUD). Those three questions are:  more...

How to treat real estate worrywarts Premium Content

By Teresa Boardman, Thursday, July 30, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/crucially/412142792/">crucially</a>.

A few years ago I was telling sellers I could sell their home quickly and for a good price. That is what they wanted to hear then and that is what they still want to hear.

Sellers expect my listing presentation to consist of all kinds of information about how fast I can sell a home, and seem disappointed when I don't tell them that I can do anything.

These days I end up having a conversation with sellers outlining how it all works and what to expect and, of course, going over my services and fees. I also find myself spending a bit of time going over the things that can go wrong -- maybe too much time.  more...

VA buyers face tough competition

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Thursday, July 30, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/barretthall/2108015107/">popofatticus</a>.

Q: I'm a first-time homebuyer using a Veterans Affairs (VA) loan with 100 percent financing. I'm having problems getting an offer accepted, as I'm competing with cash investors as well as other first-time buyers. Every property we find gets three to four offers on it by the day after it's listed.

A: With prices so low, and the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit deadline looming later this year, buyer competition has increased to the point where many homebuyers (first-time and otherwise) are running into multiple offers, over-asking sale prices and getting outbid on their target homes.  more...

Is my landlord 'rent skimming'?

By Janet Portman, Thursday, July 30, 2009.

Q: The property I'm renting was lost in foreclosure in April 2009. The landlord told me he just wasn't able to keep up with the payments, but it sure seems to me that he's been living pretty well recently -- he's got a new car, and just got back from a weeklong vacation in Hawaii. I've got a year's lease, with nine months left, and this owner bought the place six months ago. I'm afraid I'm going to be told to leave by the bank or the new owner. Do I have any recourse against my landlord? --Fred S.

A: If your state has a law against "rent skimming," you may have grounds to go after this landlord, though it won't stop a new owner from terminating your lease. Foreclosures occurring after May 20, 2009, are subject to different rules, and your lease likely would have survived if the foreclosure had happened just a month later. As you're not in this fortunate situation, however, we won't dwell on what could have been.  more...

Timing the real estate transaction Premium Content

By Inman News, Thursday, July 30, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwarby/3296379139/">wwarby</a>.

George Ayling, founder and real estate broker of Select A Fee Real Estate System in Chicago, said he was skeptical when he first considered a fee-for-service business model. "I just felt it wasn't going to work," he said.

That was in 1995, before he and his real estate agents spent about 1 1/2 years examining the workload involved in everything from the initial client contact to closing.

At the time, "I came up with 12 to 13 hours" (of work) per transaction, Ayling said. The next question he considered: "How much should I charge per hour?"  more...

Foreclosures: not the same old story Premium Content

By Inman News, Thursday, July 30, 2009.

Some housing markets in areas like Michigan, Ohio and Indiana that have become synonymous with foreclosures saw some relief in first six months of the year, but there was an uptick in filings in other markets not previously considered foreclosure hot spots, data aggregator RealtyTrac said today.

Trends in RealtyTrac's Midyear 2009 Metropolitan Foreclosure Report suggest that unemployment is driving new foreclosure activity more than the continuing effects of subprime and adjustable rate mortgage loans made during the boom, RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said in a press release.  more...

Renting out the family getaway

By Tom Kelly, Thursday, July 30, 2009.

Howard Craft is one of four adult children who inherited a lakeside cabin from their parents. Every year, the kids gather for a dinner meeting to decide the dates that the individual families will use the popular getaway, assign cleanup chores and discuss possible improvements to the aging structure.

For the first time since the parents stopped their summer residency at the lake place, none of the four children could schedule vacation time to take advantage of the family cabin. Two of the siblings had moved out of the area to take different jobs and could not justify the costs to return to the North Cascades for vacation.

Another, Howard, had accepted a teaching job in New Zealand for a semester, and the fourth felt pinched by the economy and had decided to postpone any vacation time away from work.  more...