What to do when your homeowners association is making life difficult? What do HOA's do? Q: I read the article you wrote about first-time homebuyers and homeowners associations. The State of Florida has a lot of gated communities and along with that typically comes a powerful homeowners association (HOA). Unfortunately, I didn't know that when [...]
What to do with inherited property that is leased? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeQ0uX-Li4w Tenants, leases, and inherited property. What happens when you inherit property but it comes with a tenants? Are there options for handling with this lease? Q: My brother and I inherited several acres of commercial property from our parents. The land came with [...]
Am I required to pay tax on sale of foreign property? Q: I sold my house in my home country of Guatemala last year for around $90,000. The buyer paid me half of the sales price by wire transfer to my United States bank account. The other half was paid to me to an account [...]
Transferring property to your child? Here's what to do Q: My husband and I want to give or sell our house to our newly married daughter, who is our only child. She will inherit the house when we pass and receive the benefit of the stepped-up basis at that time, but we hope to be [...]
What are the common elements in a condo association? What happens when one homeowner makes changes to common elements? And what happens when they don't check with the condo association board before making those changes? Q: I live in a rather small condominium building of seven units. As you can imagine, our finances are fairly [...]
How do you execute a living trust after the death of the trustee? What is the trustee's job with the living trust? How do you manage expenses with a living trust? Q: Before my father died, he and his second wife established a living trust for their house. In the trust document, my stepbrother and [...]
How do you apply for senior real estate tax freeze? What documents would you need? Q: I am going to be applying for the senior real estate tax freeze on my house this year. I do own my house but I don’t have any paperwork of any kind that says I am the owner. How [...]
Can you put an offer on a house that is under contract? Also what is the difference between under contract and contingent. Q: I’m interested in a property that is under contract but is also under a contingency. I find it odd that this house has been contingent for over six months! I want to [...]
Should you own a home before getting married? Unmarried couple looking for advice on owning a home together Q: My daughter is looking to purchase a home soon with her boyfriend. They are not yet married and I would like to give her some advice on how to title the home before they get married [...]
Inheriting Property with Siblings? If you and your siblings are inheriting property from your parents or another family members, and everyone isn't on the same page about keeping or selling the property, you'll want to read this story. Distributing Assets Differently then Stated in the Will This week, we’re publishing comments and observations about two [...]
