Should I get an appraisal before listing my house? Pros and cons to getting your home appraised before putting the property up for sale. Q: I think you’re doing a disservice to your readers concerning listing your home with real estate agents. The best thing a homeowner/seller can do is spend the $350 or $450 [...]
What happens when you sell a property in a trust? This reader wants to know about the $250,000 gain exclusion and other tax implications. Q: My wife passed away this past year and our home is titled in her trust with me as trustee and my children as beneficiaries upon my passing. Is my cost [...]
How do I avoid paying taxes when I sell my rental property? This reader wants to know if they can avoid capital gains taxes without doing a 1031 exchange. Q: My wife and I are about to sell a Chicago rental property we purchased together. The house was our first home and when we moved [...]
How do you protect yourself when selling a house? This home seller thinks a buyer might be taking advantage of them after a home inspection. Q: I would appreciate your advice on how a seller can protect themselves from being taken advantage of by a buyer. When I put my house up for sale, a [...]
I received a property tax bill after selling the house, now what? What happens when real estate taxes are still in the seller’s name years after closing? Q: I owned a house for six years and then sold it. It appears the new owners never put the home in their names. Three years later I [...]
Is a land swap a good way to clear up boundary line issues? This reader wants help figuring out how to resolve boundary line issues from an old land survey. Is a Land Swap a Good Way to Clear Up Boundary Line Issues from a Land Survey? Q: We own a large lot in Massachusetts [...]
What are my rights if my name is on a deed? My father put my name on the deed to his home but when he died his widow sold the house without me, now what? Q: Before my father died he added my name to the deed on his house which was mortgage free. He [...]
What does a home inspector do? This home seller thinks the requests a buyer made after the home inspection are unreasonable. Q: I enjoyed your column today in the Sunday Chicago Tribune. In your experience, have you come across buyers trying to use their home inspector to assert that there are many problems with a [...]
Is my real estate agent doing a good job? This reader feels like their agent didn't fully explain the process of selling their home and all their options. Q: I sold my dad’s house late last year and feel like I was taken advantage of by my agent and my real estate attorney, who was [...]
Is the real estate market slowing down? What's happening with the housing market and what happens when the real estate market turns from hot to cold. Recently, we came across a headline in a local Chicago news outlet about an expensive home that had been for sale for a while: “Spec House Sells For Two-Thirds [...]
