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Duplex owner's TIC conversion a risky move

By Robert Bruss, Wednesday, May 31, 2006.

DEAR BOB: I own a very desirable duplex that my husband and I bought in the 1970s. One tenant has been there more than 30 years; the other has been there 20 years. Both keep their units in tip-top shape. The rents are a few hundred dollars below market value, but we have zero vacancy. I want to sell one of the units to the tenant and keep the other one for my old age (I am 75). What do you think of a tenant-in-common sale?  more...

What is probate and why should it be avoided?

By Robert Bruss, Wednesday, May 31, 2006.

Probate, or probating an estate, means distributing the assets of a deceased person after paying their debts. To express your desires about how you want your real estate, bank accounts, stocks, bonds and personal property distributed after you die, at a bare minimum you need a written will.

Incidentally, please keep your written will where it can be easily found after your death. Do not put it in your bank safe deposit box! The reason is your relatives and friends might not be able to gain access to your safe deposit box.  more...

Foreclosed homeowners fall victim to new scam

By Tom Kelly, Tuesday, May 30, 2006.

Defaulting on your mortgage is one thing, but ending up in foreclosure is an entirely different feeling of loss, hurt, frustration and embarrassment.

Most residential lenders will tell you that consumers will do everything in their power to keep from losing their homes (the only aberration would be calloused investors who walk away from mortgages when their would-be, short-term goldmines turn into a bust).  more...

Power-wash wreaks havoc on outdoor teak furniture

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, May 30, 2006.

Q: We have (whoops, had) beautiful high-end, outdoor teak furniture. Several years ago it had just reached that lovely patina-stage of aging and was very smooth to touch.

While we were away on vacation, a neighbor rented a power washer to clean his driveway. Looking over to our property he decided to do us a favor. You guessed it! He power-washed all our teak. When we came home we found pale furniture whose wood grain was striped and very rough.

Holding back my anger I asked what I should do next. He said to sand it and put on a finish of linseed oil and turpentine.  more...

Church faces uphill battle in mold lawsuit

By Robert Bruss, Tuesday, May 30, 2006.

The Church of the Palms discovered extensive mold damage in one of its buildings, which is insured under an all-risk policy with the Cincinnati Insurance Co.

According to the policy, "The Church is covered by an all-risk policy, which excludes losses caused by rust, corrosion, fungus, decay, deterioration, hidden or latent defect or any quality in property that causes itself to damage or destroy itself or for losses resulting from faulty, inadequate or defective design, specifications, workmanship, repair, and construction."

Purchase Bob Bruss  more...

Condo developer's lie hurts resale values

By Robert Bruss, Tuesday, May 30, 2006.

DEAR BOB: When I purchased a new condominium last year, I was told it would be an owner-occupied building and investor-speculators would not be allowed. But I later learned friends, family and acquaintances of the builder were allowed to invest and buy all the best units at the lowest prices. Now my building is mostly renters rather than owner-occupied units. This hurts the value of my condo, which I must now sell due to job relocation. Do I have any legal recourse against the builder for misrepresentation or fraud since he lied to me?  more...

New book reveals negatives of real estate sales

By Robert Bruss, Monday, May 29, 2006.

When I began reading "Buyers are Liars and Sellers are too!" by longtime real estate broker Richard Courtney, I thought that at last home sellers, buyers and realty agents would discover the full story about the home sales business. Lest you think Courtney doesn't have the credentials to write this book, he is the president-elect of his local association of Realtors.

Instead, I found a unique book filled with negative comments about home buyers, sellers and even real estate agents. I can't recall one positive example in the entire book about a home buyer or seller.  more...

Do asbestos air ducts require replacement?

By Barry Stone, Monday, May 29, 2006.

Dear Barry,

A man from the gas company just checked my furnace and said the air ducts are made of asbestos. The house was built in the 1960s, and I'm afraid that the old ducts may now be against the law or in violation of the building code. Am I required to have them replaced? If not, are they hazardous to the health of my family? --Jackie

Dear Jackie,

There are no laws or building codes that require homeowners to remove asbestos-containing materials from their homes.  more...

No-cost mortgage may be unwise in today's market

By Dian Hymer, Monday, May 29, 2006.

No-cost mortgages are popular with home buyers who are trying to scrape together enough cash to buy a home. Now that the cost of mortgage money is rising, it makes sense to re-evaluate this financing strategy.

To say that a mortgage has no costs is a bit of a misnomer. The borrower pays few if any upfront fees to originate a no-cost mortgage. But the upfront fees, like points, are added to the cost of the mortgage. The cost is reflected in a higher interest rate.

"Points" is a term lenders use for the mortgage origination fee.  more...

Online mortgage shopping can mislead borrowers

By Jack Guttentag, Monday, May 29, 2006.

Q: In shopping online, I have run into something puzzling. All of the mortgage shopping sites you recommend show different combinations of interest rate and points, and in every case, the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is lower on loans with lower rates. The APR makes low-rate/high-point mortgages look like bargains. Are they?

A: No, there are no bargains in this market. The APR is consistently lower on low-rate loans than on high-rate loans because it isn't calculated properly. That isn't the lenders' fault; they must calculate the APR using government rules.  more...

Homeowners unaware of probate court nightmare

By Robert Bruss, Monday, May 29, 2006.

DEAR BOB: My husband and I have a home mortgage with our names on it, but the house title is in my husband's name. We have no wills. What would I have to go through if he passed away? --Lana J.

DEAR LANA: Please consult a local attorney specializing in wills and living trusts. Without written wills, you are at the mercy of the local probate court.  more...

All roads lead to real estate cooldown

By Lou Barnes, Thursday, May 25, 2006.

Mortgage rates have held last week's improvement near 6.625 percent, taken and held by the 10-year T-note's retreat from 5.2 percent to 5.05 percent. The bond market is in a standoff, uncertain about everything except inflation at or over a dangerous edge, and waiting for next Friday's job data.

A long weekend is a good time to sort the things we know from the things we don't.  more...

Selling a bad neighborhood is never easy

By Alison Rogers, Thursday, May 25, 2006.

It is awfully tough to write about current clients given the possibility that they might read it, but I do have these current buyer clients I refer to in my head as "buyers 90210." The handle came about because of their relative youth (they're recent college graduates who want to be roommates) and because one of them works for a record company. I don't think these clients are naive Brandons by any means -- they grew up in the city -- but there is also a certain fresh-faced appeal about them that makes me want to mom them a little.  more...

Real estate survival gets back to basics Premium Content

By Bernice Ross, Thursday, May 25, 2006.

(This is Part 3 of a four-part series. See Part 1, Part 2 and Part 4.)

How can you best cope with market shifts?  more...

Building-permit corruption based on bribes

By Arrol Gellner, Thursday, May 25, 2006.

Last August, the FBI raided San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection and arrested an official for allegedly taking bribes from a contractor. It was yet another embarrassment for an organization that, rightly or wrongly, has long suffered from a reputation for favoritism and improprieties. At the time of the arrest, the department had been under FBI investigation for five years.

This event got me to thinking about the nature of corruption in building and planning departments, regardless of where it occurs.  more...

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