Gift Letter: Why You Write it Q: When I gave my son some money to buy a house, I had to submit a letter to his lender stating that the money I gave him was a gift and not a loan. Why did the lender require that? A: As housing has become more expensive and [...]
Paying Mortgage But Not on Deed Children who purchased a home for their parents and are paying the mortgage, realized they are not on the deed. What should they do? Q: I purchased a home for my parents and was named on the mortgage along with them. But, I’m making the payments. My husband and [...]
Putting Assets In a Trust A reader wants to understand how to put her mortgaged home and other assets into the trust she created. Q: I created a trust so that my three kids won’t have to deal with probate when I die as I did with my parents’ home. How do I get my [...]
Estate Issues: Transferring Co-owned Assets How estates transfer assets like brokerage accounts or houses that are co-owned Q: I just read your article in the newspaper about the parents weighing the pros and cons of sharing assets with their daughter. What do you think about brokerage accounts that are held in joint tenancy with one [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
Refinance Adds Years To Mortgage Payoff Q: My husband and I refinanced our home in 2010. Years later, our mortgage was sold to another lender. I was slow on this but I noticed that the maturity date of the new account is showing 8 years beyond when our original mortgage was to end. I've tried [...]
Paying Off Mortgage: House in Trust Q: I watched one of your videos about paying off your mortgage and I have a question. I have a living revocable trust and my home has been titled in the name of the trust. My mortgage will be paid off soon. Let’s say I die. and at that [...]
Square Footage: Sizing Up a House Correctly Comment: I read your article on how people buy homes and use the square footage of the home to compare one home with the other. I wanted to let you know there is an ANSI standard for measuring square footage of a residential unit though few in our [...]
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 [...]
