Total Number of News: 5337
- 9/2/2008 - Real Estate News
Three ways to reduce capital gains tax
DEAR BENNY: I was told by a prominent accountant that there is a loophole in the law that states that you can be exempt from paying capital gains (if you are in a home less than the two-year period) if there are "unforeseen circumstances" in... - 9/2/2008 - Real Estate News
Credit pinch forces buyers to save
Over the last 18 months, the mortgage market has changed more rapidly than in any comparable period since the Great Depression of the 1930s. From the standpoint of borrowers, two changes are of paramount importance. The first is an increase in day-to-d... - 8/29/2008 - Real Estate News
Don't let home inspector out of your sight
Q: In as much as there are a great number of current issues regarding disclosure to the purchaser of real property, when, if ever, is it going to be the responsibility of the purchaser to investigate particular items of relevance to them? --George D. A... - 8/29/2008 - Real Estate News
Urban planning's future: people, not cars
What's an architect doing writing about cars, anyway? I always get indignant e-mails asking me this whenever I criticize some aspect of our autocentric society -- whether it's our parking-obsessed city planning, our mania for fruitless road widening and... - 8/29/2008 - Real Estate News
Can condo board restrict rentals?
Q: If a condominium declaration does not expressly disallow restrictions on the rental of units, can an association pass rules and regulations restricting the right to rent units? The declaration is silent on the matter. We live in Chicago. A: If a con... - 8/28/2008 - Real Estate News
Tenant suffers damages in plumbing remodel
Q: Recently, my apartment building management decided to replace the pipes with new copper piping. Upon completion of the job, my apartment was a mess. There was plaster everywhere and some personal items in my apartment were damaged. What is the responsi... - 8/28/2008 - Real Estate News
Homeowners, is your estate planning in order?
Consumer and bankruptcy attorney John Ventura begins his newest book talking about how we spend most of our waking hours either working to earn money or thinking about what we'll do with it: spend it, save it or invest it. And then there are those folks... - 8/28/2008 - Real Estate News
Employer willing to buy out tenant's lease
Q: I have a tenant who recently signed a two-year lease for my rental home. She just contacted me indicating that she has been approached by her employer about transferring to another city for a promotion with the company. She wanted me to voluntarily ... - 8/27/2008 - Real Estate News
Refi canceled after surprise changes
Q: I was going to refinance the loan on my house. The day I was going to go to the office to sign the closing papers, I asked again what the loan amount and monthly payment would be. Well, it had changed and was higher than what I was told originally. ... - 8/27/2008 - Real Estate News
Don't rely on agent's choice for loan, title services
Real estate agents are clearly the most influential persons in every real estate transaction and their power is not reserved for buyers and sellers -- it extends to all professionals involved. That position of influence becomes magnified in a slower h...