Bad Home Inspection Q: I just read your column on the bad home inspection. First, who paid for the inspector? If the mortgage company paid, the lender didn’t get their money's worth. Second, on the question of the open sewerage, that seems like a no brainer to me as it was clearly a housing code [...]
HOA: Changing Homeowner Association Rules Q: I just read your response to the question about the 20-unit homeowners association (HOA) that can't get people to run for the board. I used to manage HOAs and have a few thoughts for your readers. 1. Before they do anything, they need to carefully read their HOA documents [...]
New Construction Problems Builder forgot to frame basement windows when pouring foundation in new construction home Q: We enjoy reading your real estate column each week. Our daughter is having her dream house built in Maryland for around $800,000. They picked a “flat” lot to build the house. They paid a premium for that lot. [...]
Selling Rental Properties? Real estate investor wants to know if he should sell his rental properties and invest the proceeds elsewhere Q: I am 60 years old with a pension. I've invested in rental properties in the past and currently own six rental properties. I have no mortgages on these properties and paid around $100,000 [...]
RepayRepaying Loan Early? Should this homeowner cash out investments to repay their mortgage? Q: We only owe about $60,000 on our house (thanks to your sound financial advice when we got the mortgage, and suggestions about making extra payments along the way). We have two dividend reinvestment plans (DRIP) worth about $110,000 (again, due to [...]
HOA Board: No One Wants To Serve Who will run the homeowners association if no one wants to serve on the HOA board? Q: I belong to a 55+ community of 20 single family homes. We are self-governed by a homeowners association board (HOA) of five members. This past spring, the terms of two of [...]
Fixing Water Issues His neighbor's water freezes on the driveway but he won't fix the downspout and the HOA won't get involved. Q: I live in a townhouse cluster governed by a homeowners association (HOA) and a master community association. I have been having an issue with a neighbor’s downspout. I’ve noticed a large amount [...]
Multi-Generational Living: Is This a Good Idea? Q: I read your article on multi-generational living and found it incredibly interesting. My family and I are planning a similar multigenerational living arrangement by adding onto my parents’ house. We are located in Colorado and hoping to find both a financial advisor and a real estate attorney [...]
Paid Off House: Will It Affect My Trust? If your house is in a trust, will paying off the mortgage affect the successor trustee? Q: Well, I just paid off my house and don't know what the next steps might be. I did receive a letter from my mortgage lender congratulating me on paying off [...]
Finding the will saved the day Sibling never wanted mother's will found so she'd get a bigger inheritance Q: My mother's original will was kept in her attorney's office. At some time after she signed it, her estate attorney died. My sister hoped our mother died without a will so that she would get half [...]
