Articles filed under Resnick, Tom

• Sign away your property ownership at great risk Jun 2, 2013 12:00 AM
  Q. I have been trying to sell my condominium for more than two years. I have been contacted by a guy who will pay me what I want. He has proposed giving me $1,000 and signing a note and mortgage for the balance.
  

   

• Buyers have time to get inspection May 19, 2013 12:00 AM
  Q. My wife and I are attempting to purchase a short sale property. The contract states that we must do our home inspection within five days of the seller's acceptance. Our problem is the bank will probably either reject our offer or counter our offer. We don't want to pay $350 for a home inspection until we know we will get the house.
  

   

• New home’s high real estate taxes seem too high May 3, 2013 12:00 AM
  Q. My husband and I recently closed on our first home. We are very excited but are concerned about our real estate taxes. They seem very high. How can we check to see if we are where we should be and what can we do to reduce our taxes if they are too high?
  

   

• Battling with your association will likely get very expensive Apr 7, 2013 12:00 AM
  Q. After years of battling with my homeowners association, I am selling my condominium. I just received the "assessment letter" and it says I owe them more than $1,500, even though I am current with my dues.
  

   

• Foreclosure complicates unpaid work on house Mar 24, 2013 12:00 AM
  Q. I was hired to remodel a friend of a friend's basement about a year ago. He got into some financial trouble and couldn't pay the last $10,000 or so of the work. I recorded a mechanics lien on the property and my attorney told me to wait and see what happens.
  

   

• Buyers, sellers often continue negotiates after the deal Mar 10, 2013 12:00 AM
  Q. We are attempting to sell our home. We signed a contract and thought everything was fine. Since then, their attorney has raised many issues with the contract and their home inspector raised some issues with the condition of our home.
  

   

• Townhouse owner takes insurance money, fails to make repairs Feb 10, 2013 12:00 AM
  Q. Our association has a situation that the board is having trouble resolving. Two years ago one of our owners had major inside damage done to his townhome, the result of a broken water pipe that was left running for an entire weekend.
  

   

• How to transfer property from parent to child Jan 27, 2013 12:00 AM
  Q. My mother is in a nursing home and doesn't have long to live, although mentally she is fine. Her only asset is her house. To avoid probate, someone told her to create a living trust and to put the property in the trust. That way, when she passes, the property will transfer to whoever she specifies in the trust.
  

   

• Lenders sometimes seek deficiencies after a short sale Jan 13, 2013 12:00 AM
  Q. I am selling my house on a short sale. My bank is telling me they will agree to the short sale but I will still be responsible for any money still owed the bank after the sale, unless we can make a deal.
  

   

• Pros and cons of buying a foreclosed homeDec 16, 2012 12:00 AM
  Q. I have been looking for my first house and have been told to look at bank-owned properties or HUD properties. I am wondering what advantages or disadvantages there are to these types of deals.
  

   

• Sellers refuse to release $900 to pay for taxes due Dec 2, 2012 12:00 AM
  Q. My husband and I closed on our first home last December. The attorneys could not agree how to prorate real estate taxes so about $1,500 was held out of the money seller received from the sale until the actual 2011 real estate tax bill came out.
  

   

• Incorrect lien on home should be easy to remove Nov 18, 2012 12:00 AM
  Q. My wife and I are attempting to refinance our mortgage. Our loan guy called us yesterday and told us there is a judgment recorded against our property and that it would have to be removed. He gave us a copy of what was recorded and although it is my name, I'm positive this judgment isn't against me.
  

   

• Short sales usually close without lender making repairs Nov 4, 2012 12:00 AM
  Q. We made an offer on a short sale. The furnace needs repair, and we asked the bank for a credit. The bank said it would not offer any money toward repairs; We had to take the property as it was or walk away from the deal.
  

   

• Owner cannot turn off tenant’s utilities during eviction process Oct 7, 2012 12:00 AM
  Q. We have a tenant in our house who has broken the lease by having a pet, not paying rent and not moving out despite an expired lease. Though she is not paying rent, we are paying her utility bills as per the lease. Can we shut off her utilities?
  

   

• Price short sales according to comparable area homes Sep 9, 2012 12:00 AM
  Q. I am underwater on my house and I would like to try a short sale. I'm not sure how to price the house. Will my mortgage company tell me what to list it for or at least tell me the least amount they will accept?
  

   

• Mortgage complicated by husband and wife’s breakup Aug 26, 2012 12:00 AM
  Q. I got divorced about 10 years ago and moved out of town. My husband stayed in our home and was suppose to refinance and remove my name from the mortgage. He did not do that.
  

   

• Disguising sales price is akin to mortgage fraud Aug 12, 2012 12:00 AM
  Q. We have been attempting to sell our house by owner for more than a year.Last weekend, a buyer approached us and told us he needed to write the contract for $30,000 less than the price we agreed on. He promised to pay us the additional $30,000 in a separate check at the closing.
  

   

• Request lower assessment after a decline in home’s value Jul 29, 2012 12:00 AM
  Q. We bought our house, which is in Lake County, for $205,000. The 2011 real estate tax bill is $8,200. This seems very high to us. Is there somewhere we can check and see if there is a mistake somewhere?
  

   

• Backing out of contract to buy a risky decision Jul 15, 2012 12:00 AM
  Q. My husband and I signed a contract to buy a house and we are supposed to close in the middle of August. This was a cash deal. The seller agreed to fix a couple of things our inspector found at the inspection. We now have been presented an opportunity in another state which we are seriously considering.
  

   

• New owners charged for each day closing was delayed Jun 17, 2012 12:00 AM
  Q. My husband and I signed a contract to buy a house being sold by a bank. We had some trouble getting our loan due to some credit issues we had a few years ago. At the closing, we found out we were being charged $50 per day for the extra 20 days it took for us to close.