Blog
The Casual Landlord: Dealing with the Non Paying Tenant
The non-paying tenant can be devastating to your financial plans for the property. In addition to the obvious issues of cash flow, a non-paying tenant in possession continues to have access rights, and can interfere with a landlord’s plans to market and sell a property. And eviction is also expensive and time-consuming. And typically the …
READ MORERefinancing Options for Underwater Homeowners
There is new relief in sight for homeowners “underwater” on their mortgage, where the market value of the property is less than the outstanding payoff of their mortgage. Previously, only those whose mortgage was no more than 125% of the market value of their home were eligible, and then only in certain circumstances. That permitted …
READ MOREThe Casual Landlord: Some Advice for First Timers
Being a landlord is not an easy line of work. And in this market where some homeowners opt to become landlords “temporarily” and rent their empty home until market conditions improve, it’s easy to end up in a far worse financial situation than you were in before taking on the landlord role. Here are a …
READ MOREBuying Real Estate and the Internet: A User’s Guide
Buyers in today’s market have no lack of information when it comes to real estate. And much of that information flows in through the internet, with new real estate blogs and Q&A from “experts” popping up as quickly as the google engines can find them. The trick for customers in today’s market then is separating …
READ MORETo Inspect or Not to Inspect: That Is the Question
Among the most frequently asked questions of buyers of cooperative and condominium apartments is whether they should engage a professional engineer to inspect the apartment before buying. Like many issues in New York real estate, the answer is not always straight-forward. When evaluating whether to hire an engineer, or professional home inspector, let’s first re-examine …
READ MORESelling Short: Debunking Some Myths about the Process
Homeowners thinking about selling short – asking mortgage lien holders to release their lien against the property for less than what is owed, in order to facilitate a sale to a bona fide buyer – are faced with some difficult decisions. A short sale can impact credit for years, so the decision should not be …
READ MORESelling Short: A Beginner’s Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure and Bankruptcy
Struggling homeowners who cannot keep up with mortgage payments have few choices when faced with the realities of job loss or other financial hardships which make it difficult or even impossible to pay their mortgage. Generally, there are three options: (1) Bankruptcy, (2) Foreclosure or (3) Short Selling. All three options have negative effects on a …
READ MORELegal Update: Flip Taxes and Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac
Sometimes government’s attempt to resolve problems unintentionally overreaches, and has an unintended impact. That is the case with a recent round of proposed rule-making from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (the regulators of Fannie, Freddie, and 12 other Federal Home Loan Banks). FHFA was trying to redress abuses by unscrupulous developers (imagine that) who were building and …
READ MORENew York State Tax Department and the Second Home
So unless you have been on a desert island for the last week with no internet access, you have likely heard about the case involving the Connecticut couple that just lost a tax appeal to the tune of about $1 million in back taxes, interest and penalties. The case hinged around a second home they …
READ MOREWelcome to the Building! Please Get Rid of Your Dog!
I had a client call me in tears a few years ago relating the following story. She and her husband decided to adopt a dog from a shelter. Her building had a policy that permitted dogs, but restricted them to a 30 lb. weight limit. Not entirely uncommon in our region to have such a …
READ MORE