Paying property taxes on an abandoned home. This renter can’t locate the owner and wants to know if they can pay back taxes before it goes to auction. Q: I rented a house from a person who turned out not to be the owner of the home. I contacted the authorities and the scammer disappeared. [...]
Is a condo or townhouse a better investment? These readers want to buy property in San Francisco they plan to rent out when they move in a few years. Q: I just read the AMA Ilyce did on Reddit about a year ago on buying a home. Thank you for all the information that you [...]
What can I do if my landlord doesn’t return my security deposit? My landlord sold the unit after condo deconversion but never gave the deposit back to me. Q: I am a tenant in a building that was recently deconverted from condos to apartments. Prior to the deconversion, I had rented the condo from the [...]
Top 10 most expensive cities to live in 2019. Setup costs and living expenses rank the most in-demand cities around the world from most to least costly. What are the top 10 most expensive cities to live in 2019? Research by Movinga ranks each of the most in-demand cities from around the world from most [...]
Understanding HOA rules on home exchanges and rentals can be difficult. How can homeowners use sites like Airbnb without breaking their community agreement? Q: My HOA community has a "four-month minimum" rental restriction. I don't have a major problem with that. However, as a retiree, I belong to a home exchange group in order to [...]
Is tech to blame for the West Coast housing crisis? The cost of living near tech hubs is so high some workers live in a Winnebago right on the company lot. What happens when people can’t afford to live near where they work? Americans in 19 out of 20 cities consider their cost of living [...]
When rental property investors violate home-sharing regulations, depending on where you are, city violations on short-term rentals can get costly. The city of San Francisco recently reached a $2.25 million settlement with a couple who violated the city’s short-term rental regulations when home sharing on Airbnb. Darren and Valerie Lee were sued in 2014 after [...]
Is renting or home buying right for you in retirement? The answer depends on both your financial situation and your health. We recently received a couple of questions dealing with couples who are in their sixties, seventies and eighties that are planning to move and wonder whether they should buy or rent their next home. [...]
Placing a Lien On Property That Isn’t Owned By The Debtor isn't complicated. A landlord wants to place a lien on a property, but the property isn’t owned by the debtor yet. He will inherit it at some point in the future. What can the landlord do? Can I place a lien on property in [...]
What to do when your building won’t fix the heating problem. Thinking outside the box for solutions could help you avoid the need for legal action. Q: About 20 years ago, I purchased a condominium unit in an older high rise building in Chicago. From the start, it was freezing cold in the unit each [...]
