When buying or selling a home, finding the best Realtor or real estate agent that knows the housing market, listens to you and fits your personality is a must. Q: We are selling our home possibly next year and would like to know how to find the right agent to represent us. We will obviously [...]
Home value protection insurance might not be worth the cost when property prices are the lowest they have been in decades. Several weeks ago, we were asked a question about whether someone should buy insurance on their property value that would pay off if the value of the property declined. We suggested that buying property [...]
If you are looking to buy a co-op but get rejected by the board, you recourse for getting back the money spent on fees and costs of purchase is low. Q: I was trying to buy a co-op. I found a property and paid fees for appraisal, lawyers’ fees to my attorney and to the [...]
Declaring bankruptcy is an option to help underwater homeowners. When in default you can consider a strategic bankruptcy. Q: About a month ago, you wrote an article about strategic default options for underwater homeowners. I was surprised that you didn't mention bankruptcy with surrender as an option for underwater homeowners. Going beyond strategic default, there's [...]
Think no one is buying a home? In fact, the numbers are astounding. Investors bought one of every four homes sold in America last year. Moreover, investment-home sales surged from 64.5 percent to 1.23 million last year, up from 749,000 in 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Investing in real estate is [...]
Most of us have an annoying list of money management tasks we never seem to get around to—from checking rates on car insurance to rolling over a 401(k) from a previous job. Instead of tackling these projects in dribs and drabs (or not at all!), why not take an entire day off and get a [...]
Tax tips for small business owners. Excerpt from Small Business Taxes Made Easy by TaxMama Eva Rosenberg. Get more advice for filing taxes from TaxMama’s posts on the Equifax Finance Blog. Keep all tax returns forever. Ignore what anyone else tells you. There have been too many times that the IRS or the state has [...]
Q: We own a home in Georgia, but due to a job change, my husband moved out of state and took a large pay cut. I stayed in the home for a year after he moved and we depleted our savings during that time. We were finally able to rent the home, but the rent [...]
What if you could give the economy a huge shot in the arm without costing the taxpayers anything extra? What if at the same time, you could make it easier for people now living at the margins to stay in their home? For the last two years, mortgage interest rates have been falling to the [...]
Q: We recently moved to Las Vegas and expected to have a very easy time finding a home at a great bargain. Our budget is up to $260,000, and we're looking for a three to four-bedroom home with a pool. In the last month, we have lost out on four homes which we have submitted [...]
