Category Archives: Top Questions

Choosing a Listing Agent

I am not surprised to see different agents come up with different estimates of value, but there really shouldn’t be more than a 3-7% variable. A 20% differential you have described is definite cause for concern. Review each of the presentations. Are two of the presentations closer in value than the third one? Are the …

October 16, 2011 – 10:01 am | By SueT | Posted in Selling, Top Questions | Comments (0)

What About Tax On Short Sale Debt Relief?

The mortgage debt relief act is set to expire at the end of 2012.Prior to 2007 the IRS considered forgiven debt on ones primary residence as taxable income. For example, If you owed $100,000.00 on your residence and sold it short of the full amount owed; say for $80,000.00, the difference, $20,000.00 was considered taxable …

October 6, 2011 – 11:43 am | By SueT | Posted in Selling, Short Sale, Top Questions | Comments (0)

When Can an Agent Sign a Counter Offer?

If the agent has a power of attorney to sign for the buyer the signature would have “attorney in fact” added to it. If that is not the case she/he probably doesn’t have power of attorney to sign on behalf of the buyer. If that, is in fact, the case, it is not a valid …

September 22, 2011 – 9:24 am | By SueT | Posted in Buying, Top Questions | Comments (0)

Selling to a Relative via Short Sale

Unfortunately, what you see as a helping hand the lenders see as fraud. Lenders prohibit any one who is related to a borrower of a home that’s being sold in a short sale from buying it. That includes relatives and business associates. Realtors won’t get paid for a successful short sale if they are related …

August 25, 2011 – 12:04 pm | By SueT | Posted in Buying, Rental Income, Selling, Short Sale, Top Questions | Comments (1)

Purchase with Unpermitted Improvements

Unpermitted rooms and structures are not uncommon. Homeowners don’t like having their property taxes go up. They know that every time they pull a permit the Tax Assessor’s office is notified and their property tax is increased. Some homeowners think that permits aren’t necessary as long as they are not adding to the footprint of …

August 11, 2011 – 8:00 am | By SueT | Posted in Buying, Top Questions | Comments (0)

Doesn’t the Highest Offer Have Right to Meet a Later Offer?

Your situation is not uncommon in today’s real estate market. Multiple offers on well priced bank owned properties aka REO’s. has become the norm and there can only be one “winning” offer. It looks like a cash offer beat out your “contingent” offer. The cash offer didn’t have to be as high as your offer …

July 28, 2011 – 7:52 am | By SueT | Posted in Buying, Myths, Top Questions | Comments (0)

Unrecorded Boundary Line Adjustment

If you are paying cash for the property you can go ahead and close the escrow and record the boundary line adjustment after the county has approved it. No problem. Just make sure that you have a written agreement with your new neighbor and a written  legal description drawn up by a civil engineer. I  …

July 21, 2011 – 1:00 pm | By SueT | Posted in Top Questions | Comments (0)

Is There Money To Be Made By The Little Guy?

There’s a reason that investors have dominated the market for the last 2-3 years. Its because they are making money. A “seasoned” investor doesn’t have to wait for the bottom of the market before jumping in because he knows how to make money in any market. Its all about the profit margin. An investor has …

July 3, 2011 – 5:35 pm | By SueT | Posted in Top Questions | Comments (0)

Why Might a Bank Prefer Foreclosure to an All Cash Short Sale?

My understanding is that some of the loans are insured. If the lender receives 30 cents on the dollar from insurance and sells the property at auction, it’s possible that between the insurance received less the cost to foreclose plus the proceeds from a foreclosure sale, the lender could quite possibly end up ahead of …

June 20, 2011 – 5:59 pm | By SueT | Posted in Auction, Buying, Short Sale, Top Questions | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Why Can’t I Finance Another Residence and Rent My ‘Under-Water’ Home?

Mostly it’s probably because of a strategy called ‘buy and bail’. Some borrowers with good credit have qualified for a second loan by proposing to rent out their existing residence. They close the loan on the new purchase and then walk away from their current residence often not even renting it out. Some borrowers stop …

June 15, 2011 – 6:14 pm | By SueT | Posted in Buying, Investment Strategy, Lending, Top Questions | Comments (0)