That was the wording of a search engine hit I got. It’s not literally a death trap, of course, only much financial pain. But the hyperbole is forgivable in today’s modern society and the state of the current market. Other people may have other definitions of “housing bubble death trap,” but when I’m talking about …
Author Archives: admin
Homesteading and Declaration of Homestead
One topic I haven’t covered yet here is homesteading. This has nothing to do with the Homestead Act of 1862 that encouraged settling the western United States. A declaration of Homestead basically protects your equity. In many cases, you may not even have to file a declaration to receive the benefits, but whether this is …
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Failures of Imagination?
I recently discovered the film Secondhand Lions. Robert Duvall, Michael Caine, and Haley Joel Osmont. Beautiful tightly plotted movie, highly recommended, and if it hadn’t been up against Return Of The King it might have won Best Picture. Robert Duvall and Michael Caine are a pair of brothers, old coots who disappeared for forty years …
Buyer’s Basic Guide to The Foreclosure Market and REOs
I’ve written articles on when you can’t make your mortgage payment and how to react if you see foreclosure coming in time to do something about it, and even on Short Payoffs, but all of those are owner (seller) oriented. This is intended as a basic buyer’s guide to getting a bargain from people who …
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Shopping for Long Term Care Insurance – Who Should and Shouldn’t Buy, and Policy Characteristics
I’ve run two prior articles this week on the theme of Long Term Care, one on Long Term Care Issues, and one on Non-Tax-Qualified versus Tax-Qualified, and Partnership Insurance Policies. Now, I’m getting down to nuts and bolts of what you need to know while shopping for a policy. The two most important characteristics are …
Read The Full Note
Just got a search “how can I tell if my prepayment penalty applies to selling my home” Read The Full Note. You need to do this before you sign it. I know that many people are just thinking “Sign this and I get the house!” or “Sign this and I get the money!” but a …
Practical Applications: Credit Cards versus Home Equity Line Of Credit
You raise a lot of issues. Some I’m going to deal with very quickly, others I’m going to spend some effort on, but nothing as in depth as a full article would have. I’m going to keep referring to material found in Credit Reports: What They Are and How They Work I’m going to take …
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Long Term Care Insurance: Non-Tax-Qualified versus Tax-Qualified, and Partnership
(Part 2 of a three part Series on Long Term Care) I wrote in the previous column a lot about long term care issues. This column deals with the insurance policies available for long term care. There are two major types, with one subtype available for people who are lucky enough to live in one …
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Rejected Offers to Purchase Real Estate
“overpriced house offer rejected what next” (Before I get started, I want to make it clear that I am using the same definition of worth found in this article: A property is worth what a willing buyer and a willing seller agree on and consummate.) The seller obviously didn’t feel that it was overpriced. Given …
Recurring and Nonrecurring Closing Costs
Many people are uncertain as to what closing costs are. Basically, they relate to the costs of doing the transaction. There are people who work on getting your loan through the process of approval and funding, and those people have got to be paid. Anytime you’re talking about a fee for a service that needs …