Rent or Lease to Own if You Can't Sell Your House
If you’re having trouble selling your home but need money to cover the property’s expenses, you can consider opting for a home lease purchase instead. Real estate attorney Samuel J. Tamkin answers a reader’s question about the difference between leasing a home and selling it. Leasing a home makes…
Avoiding Taxes On An Inherited Property
It is hard enough dealing with the loss of a family member, but in addition to the grief surviving family members are often left to deal with property they've inherited. There is a lot to consider when dealing with inherited property. The value of the property, capital gains tax, selling the…
Divorce Causes Problems During Home's Sale
A divorce can just complicate the sale of a home. If both spouses have different plans or ideas for the selling of their real estate, it may take a lawyer to smooth things out. Options like deciding whether to put a for sale sign or whether to reduce the price to make the home sell more quickly may…
Real Estate Title: What to Do with House after Occupant's Death
If you have a property settlement, how can you ensure that your wishes are carried out after you die? The answer- it depends on the conditions of the settlement. If you are in any agreement, it is always a good idea to know the conditions of it very well to avoid any confusion that may occur in the…
Title Trouble with Ex-Spouse over Real Estate
Title trouble can arise when making an agreement regarding real estate, so it is always prudent to have the title deeds in order. In this case, an agreement is made for one spouse to pay the real estate taxes for the other spouse in exchange for the title and possession of the property in the event…
Who Has Legal Rights To House After Divorce
How can you determine who has the legal rights to a home after divorce? The first thing you should know is that when parents own a home, the children do not have an automatic ownership right to the home. When a father and mother buy a home, they get to decide when to sell the home, whether to obtain…
Offering Home Buyer Incentives Can Help Sell Your House
Offering a home buyer incentive can help sell your home faster. To sell your home faster you can offer incentives like cash back or offer to pay some of the closing costs. Some sellers have even offered cars or electronics as a home buyer incentive. Make sure you include any home buyer incentives in…
Can You Walk Away From a Mortgage After Your Spouse Dies?
Can you walk away from a mortgage? Is it ever OK to walk away from a mortgage? If your spouse or partner dies and leaves you with too large of a mortgage to pay for, you might be considering walking away from the mortgage. If you're thinking about walking away from a mortgage, make sure all the debt…
Excellent Credit Score Does Not Guarantee A Problem Free Refinance Of A Loan
You may have an excellent credit score, but you may still be unable to refinance your home loan. In some cases the value of your home may have decreased and now you may be unable to refinance your loan. But in unique cases, problems with residential appraisals may cause a homeowner difficulty in…
REO (Bank Owned) vs. Foreclosure Properties
REO vs. Foreclosure Properties
You might think that buying a foreclosure will always yield a better deal for the buyer, but think again. REO or real estate owned properties in some cases can be a better deal. You need to understand the foreclosure process and the risks before buying a foreclosure…
Strategic Default On Your Mortgage And Other Options When You Need To Move From The Home
If you are underwater on your mortgage and have to move from the home, what are your options? You can try to sell the home. You can rent the home. You can let the home go into foreclosure in a strategic default. You can continue to make the payments. If you can't sell or rent the home, should you…
Attorney Not Required For Loan Modification Under The Obama Plan
While you may receive solicitations from attorneys and lawyers to assist you in a loan modification, you don't need to hire one to apply. The Obama Making Home Affordable Plan that includes the Home Affordable Modification does not have any requirement for you to hire anybody to help you out in…
Switching Real Estate Agents When Realtor Changes Company
What do you need to do when your agent switches real estate companies? Can you cancel the listing agreement? What if you have just signed the listing agreement and the real estate agent or broker you are working with jumps ship? What should you know before you sign a listing agreement?
Dangers of Co-Signing A Loan And Refinancing A Loan After Divorce
Beware the dangers of co-signing a loan for your boyfriend, significant other, or friend. Once you co-sign a loan for someone, you are tied to them and the loan for the lifetime of the loan. If he fails to make payments on the mortgage, your credit will be hurt. If you and he break up, you won’t be…
Dividing Estate Property Causes Sibling Rivalry
Dividing estate property after a loved one dies can cause many problems between family members. If the will was not kept up to date and family circumstances changed over the years, dividing estate property can become even more difficult. Extended and blended families can have claim to estate…
Joint Ownership Of Inherited Property Can Cause Trouble
When a parent decides to pass down a property to his or her children. He or she should make sure that any joint ownership issues are taken care of in advance. There's nothing worse that passing down a home held by a family only to have the children squabble over how to keep the home and whether to…
Some people are lucky and win a house in a raffle. But if they do, they need to know that they will have to pay taxes on the value of the house they have won. The IRS will consider the winnings from the raffle as income, and you'll have to pay income taxes on the value of the house. Most house…
Is Defaulting On Your Mortgage - A Strategic Default - Right For You
The new term in real estate is strategic default. A strategic default is when you decide to default on your mortgage rather than continue making payments. There are many reasons for a strategic default but some of them are the inability to pay, loss of a job, health issues, decline of income or that…
Short Sale In Real Estate Can Lead To A Mess
Although the federal government will soon begin paying homeowners to complete a short sale, short sale payments are already available to first and second lenders. The problem for most homeowners today is that even if they want to sell their home in a short sale, and even if they've listed the home…
FHA Loans May Have Repair Requirements
If you buy a home, you should hire a professional home inspector help you to make sure there are no problems with the home. If you apply for a loan with a bank, the bank will send out a bank appraiser to appraise the home -- that is make sure that the home is standing and that the home has a high…
Handling A Homeowner Association Dispute And A Fence Issue
If you are faced with going up against your homeowners association, should you hire an attorney? What if there is no litigation involved but the issue is being handled in mediation? If your issue is a fence issue or dispute with the association, you should research the issues involved; determine the…
Whether To Refinance Mortgage Or Pay Down Existing Loan
Given today's low interest rates, you may decide to refinance a mortgage loan today but may not get all of the benefits. You have to watch out for high costs in refinancing your mortgage loan and have to make sure the costs don't outweigh the benefits of the lower interest rate. In some cases, the…
Refinancing An Interest Only Loan or Paying Down The Mortgage
Sometimes your current loan will be a better deal than refinancing an interest only loan. If the closing costs are too high to refinance and your interest rate is reasonable, you might be better off keeping your existing mortgage loan. However, if you have cash sitting around, you might consider…
You May Be A Winner In The Loan Modification Game And Not Even Know It
Some borrowers complain that they get nowhere with their lenders in obtaining a loan modification. Other borrowers never even hear from their lenders, but if you are lucky enough to get a loan modification from your lender, you are one of the few. Some borrowers have received documentation from…
Taylor Bean And Whitaker and 1098 Mortgage Interest Tax Forms
The problems continue for former TBW borrowers. Now these borrowers can't seem to get their 1098 mortgage interest tax forms. They should get the tax forms from TBW, but if they don't maybe their new loan servicing company will send it to them.
