Every year, Ilyce and Sam offer their Home Buyer, Home Seller, and Personal Finance Resolutions for the new year. This year, they’re adding 2025 Housing Trends. What will 2025 bring for housing trends? As we move into the beginning of the second quarter of the 21st century, it’s interesting to see how real estate (and [...]
Unpaid Home Loans Reader wants her fair share after siblings failed to repay home loans to mother's estate Q: My mother told me directly that the home loans my sisters and brother received from her would be taken out of their inheritance. My mother passed away 10 years ago. I just found out that my [...]
Estate Planning: Holding Title as Tenants in Common Causes Problems Q: My husband died a couple of months ago. He had a living trust. I did not realize that our condo was titled as tenants in common rather than joint tenants. When he died, I asked a friend for the name of a lawyer to [...]
Selling Investment Property With a Delaware Statutory Trusts (DST) Reader wants to know whether a 1031 exchange or Delaware Statutory Trust is preferred when selling investment property Q: I read your recent response to a person who inquired about selling rental properties they own. While your response was factual you made no mention of the [...]
Retiree Co-Signing Mortgage Reader offers suggestions to retiree that won't put him on the hook for his daughter's debt Q: I am a faithful reader of your Real Estate Matters column every Sunday. I am moved to comment on your advice to the retiree who was trying to be a co-signer on his daughter's mortgage. [...]
Buying a Condo Building A reader wants to know how they could buy a condo building big enough to live with friends and family Q: I would love to buy one entire condo building, but not a multi-building complex. Then, I could have all my friends and family live “together” with me. How would I [...]
Is this Homeowners Association (HOA) Good or Bad? Q: I am writing to you in response to the article that I read "Homeowner Association (HOA) Resident Offers Potential Solutions to Board Member Shortage." I have to agree with the article. Being on the board is dangerous these days. However, I have to admit that I [...]
Is This Homeowner Association (HOA) Compliant with State Law Q: We live in a high-rise downtown Chicago. Although the building is well maintained, there are issues with transparency and perceived conflicts with state law and our homeowners association (HOA) condo declaration and bylaws. We are wondering if our interpretation is incorrect. Every time we ask, [...]
Beneficial Ownership Information Report: Do I have to file it? Q: I am the secretary of the board of directors of a homeowners association. Our management company is telling us that we have to file the Beneficial Ownership Information report required by the U.S. Treasury Department. We are a not-for-profit entity, and the board are [...]
Is homeowners insurance required for all homes? Can the homeowners association require the owners to buy a separate insurance policy? Q: I read your column in our local Florida newspaper. In my development, all of the homes are attached townhomes. I recently got an email from our community’s management company that said homeowners' insurance was [...]
