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REOs, short sales aren't always bargains

By Bernice Ross, Monday, November 30, 2009.

Today's buyers seem to have one thing in common: Everyone wants a great deal. So the real issue is whether the foreclosure, REO or short-sale property you're eyeing is a bargain or a money pit.

The buying public seems to think that "great deal" equals foreclosure, short sale or bank-owned property. The truth is that these properties may appear to be bargains, but in many cases you could be buying someone else's problems. If you're looking for a bargain property, here are some key issues to consider.  more...

Real estate extremes, from Jekyll to Hyde

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Monday, November 30, 2009.
Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maria_lc/3505950400/">maria_lc</a>.

In this recession, many of us have cut household expenses by getting rid of unnecessary "help" and re-upping on the self-reliance. We've gone from eating out to cooking at home, ditched our dry cleaners for Dryel, and started substituting every other visit to the manicurist for a quick home file-and-polish job.

This trend, plus the fact that so many of the shady segment of subprime loans were a result of an implicit conspiracy of intentional underinformation between house-hungry homebuyers and their mortgage professionals has, as I've discussed before, given birth to a new generation of awake, reading-before-signing real estate consumers.  more...

Death knocking at disclosure's door

By Benny Kass, Monday, November 30, 2009.

DEAR BENNY: A relative with a terminal disease was recently found unresponsive while visiting my home. We called an ambulance but he never recovered. We now have our home for sale and am wondering if we are required by state or federal law to disclose this information to our buyer. The neighbors were certainly aware of the fire department and the ambulance being here. Most people die in the hospital but many die at home, and I don't know whether there is a law regarding this that I should be aware of. --Delores

DEAR DELORES: You will have to ask an attorney in your state, because there are different disclosure laws throughout the country. But what's the harm in disclosing this -- especially if anyone asks you if there is anything unusual about the house? To die of natural causes in a house is quite different from being murdered.  more...

Don't mess with Texas easement law

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Monday, November 30, 2009.

In 1969, Houston Light & Power obtained a prescriptive easement to place an electricity transmission tower on a lot in Texas. In 1998, the electric company leased space on the electric tower to a cellular company, which then placed a cellular antenna on the tower. Later in 1998, John Gates purchased the lot, not noticing the cellular antenna until after he took possession of the property.

Gates filed suit in Gates v. Sprint Spectrum LLC alleging a trespass and looking to recover the value of cellular company's lease of the space. The district court ruled against Gates, finding that the cellular company's use of the land was a permanent trespass, which Texas law recognizes as a cause of action only on behalf of the owner at the time the trespass was originally committed. Accordingly, the lower court held, Gates had no standing to sue. Gates appealed the district court's ruling.  more...

When real estate comes in second

By Teresa Boardman, Friday, November 27, 2009.

In the last moments of my life I doubt if I will regret not having shown another house. I think of things like that over the Thanksgiving holiday because it is the one of three holidays when I don't work -- not ever.

Maybe I shouldn't say that I don't work -- as these holidays usually involve a lot of cooking and a house full of people who I don't get to see often enough.  more...

Tentative thanks in a turkey economy

By Lou Barnes, Friday, November 27, 2009.

Long-term rates fell again last week as concern for the economy deepened: the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.27 percent, taking mortgages a hair under 5 percent.

However, much of the new data in the holiday-shortened week was quite favorable: new claims for unemployment insurance nosedived to 466,000 last week, a huge drop from the prior 505,000 threshold and 200,000 below the worst of last winter.

Another happy surprise: October sales of existing homes surged 10.1 percent, sales of new ones by 6.2 percent, and even purchase loan applications showed a little life.  more...

Trust thy agent?

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Friday, November 27, 2009.

Q: I am a first-time homebuyer in my fifties, and I have a problem with real estate agents. I am very private about my finances, and everyone I run into asks me questions that I'm not comfortable answering.

My mother grew up during the Depression and instilled in me a sense that I should be very skeptical, take my time making decisions and not just trust anyone who claims to be an expert. These values have stood me in good stead throughout my whole life, but they seem to cause me to clash with real estate agents, who want me to take their advice and make offers immediately, even though that's not my style.

I'll find one, work with them for awhile and then things fall apart. The last one actually told me that she wouldn't work with me anymore. What am I doing wrong here? I thought they would be much more grateful for my business than they seem to be.  more...

Power lines vs. property values

By Steve Bergsman, Friday, November 27, 2009.
Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lexrex/83309237/">radiant guy</a>.

About a mile from my house sits the local elementary school, and across the street on the south side of the campus is a long straight block of homes with more than the usual number of for-sale signs.

The only thing that distinguishes this block from all other blocks around the school where there are few homes up for sale is that the backyards of these homes run up against a power-line corridor, and, oddly, in one place where the power line shifts direction, there is an empty lot next to the home where a tower sits.  more...

Oscillating tools: many choices, uses

By Paul Bianchina, Wednesday, November 25, 2009.

One of the most interesting tools currently on the market is what's known generically as an "oscillating tool." The first, and for a long time the only, one on the market was the Fein MultiMaster. As its patent expired, other companies have introduced competing tools with different pros, cons and prices.

A tool for all reasons

So what exactly is an oscillating tool, and how does it differ from other cutting and sanding tools on the market? As the name implies, these tools utilize cutting attachments that oscillate rapidly from side to side, as opposed to rotating like a circular saw, or moving out and back like a jig saw or reciprocating saw. It's this oscillation that sets the tool apart. And while it won't replace your circular saw or your favorite pad sander, it's a unique tool that's extremely handy for a number of do-it-yourself projects all around the house.  more...

Agent ratings, from 'A' to 'Why?' Premium Content

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, November 25, 2009.
Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/schestok/414196453/sizes/l/">mathface</a>.

Based on any reasonable accounting method, I am what you would call a good driver. In fact, according to public records, I am not just good -- I am awesome!

Check the Carfax of my last five chariots, and you will find nary a blemish on my record. In 34 years of navigating my way from here to there and back, I have been in just one moving collision, involving a time-pressed commuter who, believing the hype about the shortest distance between two points, decided to pass me by driving over me.  more...

Saddled with a foundation problem

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Wednesday, November 25, 2009.

Q: My question regards the best way to stabilize the perimeter foundation on my 1872 farmhouse. The "concrete" surface is turning to dust in places where the harder finish coat has been chipped or broken away. I know the core of the continuous perimeter foundation is good and hard, because I've drilled into it when I bolted the house down and shear-paneled the cripples.

Small gaps are appearing between the mudsill and the concrete and my thought is to stuff in some oakum strands before applying the concrete finish.  more...

Seniors: it's OK to think in reverse

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, November 25, 2009.

"You won't really know unless you ask."

The popular phrase has been used often in many households -- especially when kids seek an answer for being left off a team, when wage earners wonder about a possible salary increase, or if carpool drivers can shift to a different day.  more...

Flexing live/work spaces

By Mary Umberger, Wednesday, November 25, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chainsawpanda/32900503/">faster panda kill kill</a>.

Christopher Eley says he routinely puts in 15-hour days at the gourmet meat market he has owned for two years. At the end of a day like that, the last thing the Indianapolis businessman wants to do is face a long drive home. And so he doesn't.

Instead, Eley secures the doors to his shop, called Goose, the Market, and treads upstairs to the 2,000-square-foot flat he owns.  more...

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