For those of you that check back on this website and blog periodically to find out whether your forgiven debt from your short sale in 2015 will be taxable or not . . . . the year is 3/4th complete and we still don’t know. As you may recall from 2014 . . . it…
At the intersection of Inventory, Income and Interest rates, we find the biggest pool of eligible buyers of new homes. New road projects at that point on the map appear to be moving to a place that will reduce the pool of eligible buyers. Take a minute and listen to the Real Estate Industry Blog…
Southeastern Virginia is blessed to have a relatively high percentage of military homeowners and therefore a higher percentage of homes than in most parts of the country with VA loans and therefore, thanks to the low down payment requirements for VA loans, a higher lingering inventory of “upside down” or “underwater” homes. Military homeowners…
Over the past five years, our short sale practice has become ever more streamlined and efficient. We’ve seen time required for approvals drop as all the major lenders in the Virginia market recognize our firm name and even have first name relationships with some of our staff members who have been with us throughout the…
We try not to wander too far afield into the political end of things. But sometimes you just have to give credit where credit is due and point out some of the obvious consequences of laws affecting lenders, borrowers, default, and legal ramifications. Dodd-Frank and the ensuing Quality Management or QM regime enforced upon the…
Nationally, we have seen between 2% to 7% rise in home prices over the past year. Big California cities have seen the biggest increases. The latest news is based on the increase in prices and reduction in time on market between February 2013 and February 2014. “Black Knight Financial Services released its Home Price…
The House Bill and budget has been sent to the Senate as I write today. It does NOT include an extension of the exemption that expired 12-31-13 for treating forgiven debt as income. There are still advocates for the extension of the exemption and this is the latest information available as of today: Bill Seeks…
My investor and flipper clients still tell me about homes that they have bought at auction that are stripped of all copper wiring, HVAC equipment, appliances, and much of the plumbing by the time they are given access. Most bidders take these potential set backs into account when formulating a bid for a foreclosure auction…
Whether it was Perry Mason, LA LAW, or an actual relationship with an attorney, most of us have stereotypes of attorneys. Not only attorneys in general, but the way you think of an F. Lee Baily or Johnny Cochran type litigator is probably not the same way you feel about a Tax Attorney. When you…
Perhaps no other profession in North America is in more dire need of respect and appreciation than that of realtor/real estate agent. Setting aside the jokes about the world’s 2nd oldest profession, even early caveman needed an “MLS” and an efficient way to evaluate all the important aspects of a prospective cave’s suitability to the…
