(Please note that I am not a tax professional and you should seek the advice of a tax professional to answer tax questions.)

Here’s what I do know, and I learned this when I was a teenager working for tips at the local Pizza Hut.

When you make money, you’re responsible to report it to [...]

Continue Reading

Good Money After Bad

On November 2, 2011 By

Come on!  Seriously.  You work WAY too hard every day for your money to be throwing it away.

If you are upside down in your house, you owe it to yourself to calculate the long term ramifications.  The point of home ownership is a) to have a place to live that’s paid for, b) to [...]

Continue Reading

Inspections vs. Appraisals

On October 31, 2011 By

In response to an article posted on DSNews.com entitled “Zillow: Prospective Home Buyers Overestimate Home Value Appreciation“ where the author writes about buyers being confused about the difference between inspections and appraisals, I thought I’d post a simple explanation should you be one of [...]

Continue Reading

You may want to read this article before continuing so you have some context for the information here.

Since the buyer and seller are in the drivers seat concerning the terms of a real estate purchase contract, and the bank is simply a 3rd [...]

Continue Reading

When a short sale is approved by a lender, it is approved in writing with the names of the parties to the purchase contract included.  This means that if there is a change in any way, shape, or form, to the contract that affects anything on the HUD-1 the approval letter that the lender has drafted [...]

Continue Reading

This one topic drives me bananas because I run into it just about every day of the week.

A short sale is the sale of a home for less than is owed the bank.  In order for this to take place, the lender has to approve the contract which is between the buyer and the [...]

Continue Reading

There’s no helping the banking community out of their pit of ignorance.  (Sorry, was that too much editorialization?)  Let’s rewind.  Banks structure their organizations such that each department is completely oblivious to each other, and moreover, the way business is done in the real world.

E-mail.  Digital Signatures.  E-mail.  Did I mention E-mail?

Digital signatures [...]

Continue Reading

Short Sales Require Experienced Agents

Every week I hear stories in the office of agents who have taken short sale listings who have never worked on a short sale.  They don’t know what they’re doing, and you are putting your financial future at risk by hiring them to sell your home.

Here are two critical questions [...]

Continue Reading