ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS
2011
16
Comments
The TV news shows are abuzz with how house values have gone down relative to same month prices from last year. “Economists are puzzled,” they say. Maybe they should ask a Realtor! Remember the $8,000 tax credit that propped up values last year? Realtors remember. Realtors run comparable market an...
05/31/2011
Are you having difficulty paying your mortgage payment? Do you need to get rid of this house but you owe more than it is worth? Do you feel that if you got rid of the high mortgage payment you could handle your other obligations? Are you falling behind on bills just so you can make the mortgage p...
05/30/2011
The public is welcome to participate in placing 25,000 flags in Louisville Waterfront Park. The flags are positioned to spell out a giant USA. These pictures show thousands of flags on the Great Lawn at the foot of the Louisville skyline. The organizers are Flags4Vets: The National Flags for Vete...
05/29/2011
4
Comments
Usually the lender prefers to lose $50,000 rather than pay an electric bill. Foreclosing lenders turn down short sale offers after stringing everyone along for months or years. They scare owners off and scare tenants away if it's rented. Owners don't have money to keep utilities on in a vacant ho...
05/28/2011
When a borrower “surrenders” a property in a bankruptcy, the ownership doesn’t automatically revert to the bank.“Surrender” means you are declaring that you do not intend to keep the property. The house and the liability of ownership remain with you, the owner, until you get rid of your ownership...
05/27/2011
8
Comments
Is it a big “O”? Or just a garden hose? I can’t walk by an interesting pattern without taking it home with me – as a picture in my camera. No exception here. Something about the symmetry, the lighting, the background. The care someone took to coil the hose. Another bold image for my trivia coll...
05/25/2011
It's a common misconception that if "I give her/him the house" you are done with the responsibility for the loan. If you are signed on the loan, the lender will hold you responsible for the payments whether you have an ownership interest or not. "Giving the house" is often referred to as a "quitc...
05/24/2011
Many sellers wonder why their house isn’t selling even though their neighbor’s houses sell for more money and faster. These houses often have inferior lots. Postage stamp size lots surrounded by larger lots. Unusable or dangerous sloping backyards. Houses that back up to massive buzzing electrica...
05/23/2011
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver from Kennedy fame may divorce. If they divide the marital homes they will not have a problem paying the mortgages, if they have any. Most Americans, however, are not in that position. Once the reality of divorce sets in, the question of selling or keeping t...
05/22/2011
2
Comments
Many times one of the divorcing spouses is NOT obligated or liable for the loan and therefore their credit may not be impacted. I'm referencing obligation to the lender, not obligation under the divorce agreement. Sometimes one of the spouses did not have had good enough credit while the other sp...
05/21/2011
Rainmaker
544,014
544,014
Dave Halpern
Louisville Short Sale Expert