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Baby boomers spark second-home surge abroad Premium Content

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, November 30, 2005.
Editor's note: The second-home or vacation-home market is a booming niche that's vastly different than the market for primary homes. Many foreign buyers are playing a larger role in second-home purchases in the U.S., while many domestic buyers are crossing the border for their second homes. In this three-part series, we examine the fast evolving second-home market, looking at the trends of foreign buyers coming to the U.S., U.S. buyers looking outside the borders, and how booming second-home markets impact affordability for everyone else.  more...

Federal law bars government from real estate land grab

By Robert Bruss, Wednesday, November 30, 2005.

In 2001, the federal government (Internal Revenue Service) filed this lawsuit to foreclose on a 60-acre property owned by J. Leonard Padilla and Rose Moreno-Padilla. The $239,284 IRS tax liabilities of the property owners arose out of unpaid income taxes for 1996 and 1997.

When the Padillas bought the property, they borrowed $25,000 secured by a deed of trust on the property.  more...

Stained bathtub gets shine of a lifetime

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Wednesday, November 30, 2005.

Q: Do you have any advice for whitening a bathtub that has rust stains and other stains from when I stored a blue suitcase in it two years ago?

The tub has also lost its gloss from all of the scouring I have tried over the years. Is there any way to restore the shine if I ever do get it white again?

How about the bathtub refinishing kits from the hardware store? Do they look OK if an ordinary mortal uses them? Do the results ever streak or peel? Also, you should know that it's not my tub. I'm a renter.  more...

Can unique loan affect calculation of real estate tax?

By Robert Bruss, Wednesday, November 30, 2005.

DEAR BOB: I have a negative amortization mortgage on my rental property. I pay only the minimum required monthly payment, which doesn't even cover the full interest payments, so my mortgage balance keeps growing. When I sell or do an Internal Revenue Code 1031 tax-deferred exchange, how will my capital gains be calculated? Will the interest I didn't pay affect the calculation of my capital gain? – Hazel O.

DEAR HAZEL: No. Your mortgage balance has absolutely nothing to do with your capital gain when selling real estate.  more...