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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...