Looking for a home? In this sellers’ market, it’s critical to avoid common homebuyer mistakes. There are a lot of challenges to finding your dream home if you’re house hunting this summer. For one, there are fewer homes on the market. Current homeowners who took advantage of record low mortgage rates during the recession don’t [...]
How do you respond when you discover an issue with your home that the seller misrepresented? In the case of this homeowner, the seller may have misrepresented the condition the roof was in when they sold the home. Q: I read your recent article about the buyers who bought a home and subsequently found out [...]
When it comes to finding a real estate agent, you want to make sure you hire the right person who will best represent your interests as a homebuyer. Q: I bought your book 100 Questions Every First-Time Homebuyer Should Ask, and read it from cover to cover. Your book helped me tremendously, and I want [...]
For many people, like this commenter, the "American Dream" has been to own a home. But even with interest rates at near historic lows, affordability is still a serious problem. Q: I’ve been reading your column with all the letters from homeowners who have all kinds of problems. They sound as though they’d rather be renting [...]
It’s been a decade since the housing market collapsed, and home prices have finally regained their previous peak. According to the State of the Nation’s Housing 2017 report, released today by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, U.S. home prices rose 5.6 percent in 2016, beating out their pre-recession highs. Across the [...]
What is your “forever” home? And, how old will you be when you buy it? Turns out, the magic age to buy forever homes, the home in which you will ostensibly spend the rest of your life, is anytime after you turn 52, according to the 2017 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends Report, published [...]
What is a lot line adjustment? Is this an easy way to transfer property between neighbors? What goes into a lot line adjustment? Q: My neighbor owns his property with no liens and no disputes. We have reached an agreement for me to purchase part of it with cash. I have heard that a lot [...]
If I pay back taxes on a property do I own it? This reader wants to know how the system works and if he becomes the property owner when he pays back taxes. Q: If I pay the back taxes on a property do I own it? My parents are about to lose our family [...]
What are the terms under which your professional home inspector is inspecting the house you want to buy? Liability caps on home inspections aren't wrong, but good home inspectors should disclose this information before they're paid. Q: I was buying a house and hired a home inspector. We went through the whole inspection and I [...]
How easy is it to finance vacant land? And, is it easier to finance vacant land if you're going to build a hour or a commercial-use property on the land within the first six months of owning it? Unfortunately, it's tough to finance vacant land and if you plan to live and work on the [...]
