Home Inspections: Mold A home buyer found mold in a foreclosed condo. Later, the ceiling fell in. Q: I was given your article on home inspections. The most important thing was not mentioned in your article! If you think something may be wrong, it probably is! In 2011, an agent who works with the Veteran’s [...]
Home Inspection Uncovers Serious Issue Q: We signed a contract to purchase a home. It seemed to have an issue with moisture in the crawl space. So, we had a home inspection. The inspector couldn’t gain access to the crawl space as the access was too small and he was too big. He noted in [...]
Zoning: Selling Separate Lots Q: We bought our home in 1984. The deed read that the home was built on one of two separate lots. We are now thinking about moving. In considering our options, we realized the property values in our neighborhood have increased dramatically. In fact, they’re so high that we’re thinking of [...]
Homeowner Association (HOA) and Owners Bad Behavior Our recent articles about homeowner associations (HOAs) have stirred many readers to write to us about why people don’t want to volunteer for HOA boards and the difficult situations sitting HOA members face every day. If you're wondering what that might look like, here’s one email we recently [...]
Real Estate Commission: How Much Should Buyers Agree to Pay Q: First time home buyer here. I'm thinking about commissions. I just finished reading your 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask book, and I sure took lots of notes! It’s super fun when real estate commission rules change as you are learning them. [...]
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 [...]
Home Inspection Misses Mad that your professional home inspector missed a bunch of items? You're not alone. Q: When we bought our house six years ago, we got an inspection with a 55-page illustrated report pointing out lots of typical problems (rusty rail, reversed wiring, cracked cement, etc.). We didn't find many serious problems that [...]
Condo Reserves: Buyer Beware Read the first part of this story, Condo Reserves: A Growing Issue. A few weeks ago, we wrote about condo and co-op reserves and the new Florida State law. This new law, passed in the wake of the Surfside collapse in 2021, mandates condo and co-op buildings that are at least [...]
