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On Trust Property In a Time of Low Mortgage Rates
A living trust is a revocable trust. And a revocable trust is a trust you can change — which means you can refinance.
That said, your lender must be on board. Let’s take a brief look at how this plays out.
Continue reading “Can a Home in a Living Trust Be Refinanced?”
In real estate lingo, an all-cash offer means the buyer isn’t borrowing money to finance a house purchase. The buyer is using money straight from a bank, credit union, or investment account to cover the price of the home. These funds could be saved up and ready, or they be freed up through a sale of other real estate.
If you have the money, buying with cash might seem simple and effective. Here are some important arguments for and against a cash purchase, so you can decide which one resonates with you.
Continue reading “You’re Prepared to Make an All-Cash Offer on a House. Should You?”
4 Tips to Win at Home Buying This Spring
Early 2022 will be a great season for home purchases. Sellers are blessed with the perfect blend of brisk demand and a low interest rate environment. And we can see opportunity here for buyers too.
Granted, the bidding wars are still happening, especially for condos and accessibly priced houses. Analysts generally project high housing demand to last through the rest of the decade. But in 2022, there should be fewer bidders to compete with than last year!
No matter how active your market may be, adopting a confident outlook is key. But is confidence really warranted now? Let’s see.
Continue reading “Waiting for a Market Cooldown? Read This First.”Know Before You Buy
Buying a condo is a great way to shift from renting to homeownership. Condos are popular, low-maintenance investments. But when community associations fail to function as they should, they set the stage for conflicts.
If you’re at odds with your homeowners’ association (HOA), you can sue. Once a court gets involved, the HOA can be compelled to follow state law — or the rules established by the association, which is a creature of state law.
Courts can decide who has the prevailing right: the unit owner, or the association. In rare cases, a court will strike down an HOA rule as unconstitutional or otherwise contrary to law.
Read on to learn about why people might sue, why they might not, and how most people who live in condos feel about their HOAs. Keep in mind that this overview is not legal advice, and not intended as a substitute for case-specific legal guidance. Everyone’s situation comes with its own set of facts. Outcomes depend on the interplay between the facts, the relevant HOA documents, and state law.
Continue reading “Can I Sue the Homeowners’ Association?”
Today’s real estate industry professionals are strained. They face massive workloads. Much of the work involves copying information, reviewing documents, billing clients, and performing other repetitive tasks. How can real estate companies attract, motivate, or retain great employees if the work isn’t stimulating?
Today’s software technology may help firms hire and keep talented people, by automating routine tasks. While it frees employees to do what they do best, it also help companies comply with laws, and avoid falling prey to fraud.
It’s called Robotic Process Automation, or RPA.
Continue reading “Are Software Robots the Future of Real Estate?”
The median down payment on a house now tops $27K, the National Association of REALTORS® has announced. The bar has been raised. In late 2020, it stood at $20K.
In fact, six-figure down payments aren’t unusual, if you’re looking in and around popular coastal cities. Outside the San José tech hub, the median down payment on a home or condo is an absolute monster at $336,700. In the Bay Area, it’s $253,000. In the L.A. and Long Beach markets it’s a comparably modest $166,500. Down payments in greater Ventura, Santa Rosa and San Diego are all above $100K. Other key areas where 100K+ is the norm are Boulder, Colorado; Stamford and Norwalk, Connecticut; Greater Seattle; and Boston.
Continue reading “5 Ways to Clear the Down Payment Hurdle”
Is There Any Escape From Them?
If you bought a home before the recent surge in real estate prices, you likely saw your home equity go up quite a bit. And you’ve likely been the recipient of “Sell your house to us” solicitations, and maybe even tempted to sell at these fabulous property values.
Meanwhile, many people are wondering why they have been left out. With the cost of homes so high, many working people feel that homeownership may just never happen.
And those who do own, and want to put their homes on the market, might well have second thoughts. Without remarkable wealth, who could buy back into this market? The idea of just renting somewhere “until the market cools” is looking like a fantasy.
Continue reading “OMG These Unbearable Housing Costs”
Anticipate and Outsmart Hackers
During Thanksgiving week 2021, a buyer wired the requested $78,430 to close on a home in Millinocket, Maine. It was a case of real estate wire transfer fraud. Bank of America told its customer, the hopeful home buyer, that it would return $9,000 of the diverted funds. The rest of the money could not be recovered.
Another hopeful home buyer — this one in in Sioux Falls, South Dakota — responded to a fake title company’s email and wound up losing a $47,000 down payment. In January 2022, the Sioux Falls Police sent out a warning alert about the scam.
And in Colorado, a hopeful buyer wired $80,000 — also on the instructions of a fake title company. In this case, the funds were recovered.
These are just three recent cases among many. Buyers can avert these catastrophes. Read on to know the precautions to take.
Continue reading “Buying A Home? Read This Well Before Closing.”
A Miami mansion will become a first-of-a-kind this year. It will be sold as a real house, featuring seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms — together with its mirror property in the metaverse. The physical house will be sold by ONE Sotheby’s International Realty.
Sotheby’s International Realty has 1,000 offices in 40 countries, and is keen on innovation in the luxury real estate sphere. It’s part of Realogy Holdings Corp., which has had a franchise alliance with Sotheby’s since 2004. Sotheby’s, founded in Britain and headquartered in New York City, is the famous auction house for art and collectibles.
In 2021, blockchain-based tokens took the contemporary art world by storm. Sotheby’s was immediately drawn into the innovation, and became part of it. And now, with the Sotheby’s name giving its blessing to the metaverse market, investors in real estate and art are on notice. The rise of blockchain-based assets is not just a flash in the pan.
Continue reading “Sotheby’s International Realty Gives Its Blessing to the Metaverse”
Some big banks and major corporations are asking their employees to come back to their offices. But many of these employees will only work in office buildings for part of the week.
Remote work is changing how people get things done. We now know this is a long-term dynamic, transforming even the most traditional workforces. And this raises questions about how cities and towns can move from the past to the future.
This year and beyond, some downtown office spaces will be repurposed to meet other needs. Housing is one of those needs.
Continue reading “Remote Work Is Freeing Up Office Space. Can Old Office Buildings Become Housing?”