ArcaMax

This week’s “Real Estate Matters” column is number 1,699. We started with column No. 1. In other words, we’ve been writing the column every week for almost 1,700 weeks straight. That’s just over 32 years’ worth of insights into residential real estate and answers to your questions.

Looking back, we’ve realized that real estate, ...Read more

Q: We bought a new home from the developer several years ago. Part of the development was to become a park, by contract. However there was an influx of families to the region, and the developer was trying to convince the city/county that the tax base would be better served by making a few walking trails with wooden exercise stations, and turning...Read more

Q: My mother left her home to her five children. Three of the children live in the home and have been there for six years. None of the kids living there have paid anything toward the real estate taxes for years. The house is now in foreclosure. My question is whether I can pay the back the real estate taxes that are due on the home, continue to ...Read more

Q: I am a mortgage lender and heard you on WGN radio today speaking of mortgages. You were quoting ratios of 28/36% of your gross monthly income. Those were the ratios that you’d hit your head on the ceiling back in the ’80s and early ’90s.

Right now you can easily go to 40/45% of your gross monthly income with a good credit score with 5%...Read more

Financial stress is a huge factor when it comes to making decisions about where to spend money. It turns out that when you’re stressed, you’re far more likely to make a bad decision.

When the decisions are about homebuying, or selling, or even homeownership, the consequences of bad decision-making can be financially disastrous.

Over the ...Read more

Q: As a real estate attorney, I am concerned when unrelated persons, even engaged couples, purchase real estate together. In many cases, I find these clients have not considered the various options for ownership of the property they want to buy.

I tell my clients to choose a limited liability company, corporation, partnership, or joint tenancy,...Read more

It’s becoming clear that buyers aren’t as eager to buy a home as they were a few months ago. More sellers are putting their homes on the market, but there are fewer multiple offers, fewer homes selling at or above list price, and existing homes at all price points are taking longer to sell.

On top of that, there are fewer new-construction ...Read more

Q: My mom and I are on the title of a property that is almost paid off. She wants to take her name off the title using a quitclaim deed. Is the property going to get reassessed? And, is the property tax bill going to increase based on the current assessed value? Thank you.

A: You’ve raised an interesting question. The one thing you didn’t ...Read more

Q: We are going to sell our mom’s home in Pennsylvania. We still have to get it appraised. But we know it has issues: the basement has a wall that has caved in, the roof is leaking and the home needs a new water heater.

Our neighbor would like to buy the home but wants to get it for almost nothing. He runs a successful business next door. ...Read more

Q: We rent a unit in a development that used to charge us $100 per month for the amenities. They recently raised the fee to $300 — a huge increase.

Needless to say, homeowners like us, who rent strictly under association rental guidelines, are stunned by this impossible increase and all our requests to reconsider these draconian increases ...Read more

We’ve been receiving a fair number of questions about homeowner associations (HOAs), condo boards and the general operations of condo and townhome buildings. Here are some questions we’ve recently received.

Q: When are condo board minutes to be displayed? Do we publish a draft soon after the meeting? Or, after the next condo board meeting ...Read more

Q: Do you have any thoughts on home appliance service plans or existing home warranties that are offered or sold when I purchase a home?

A: We usually tell our readers that existing home warranties (as opposed to the new home warranties offered by builders) are a good idea for a certain segment of homebuyers, but they’re not for everyone.

So...Read more

Reader comment: Recently I came across an old column of yours regarding a sibling squabble. One sibling sought your advice regarding suing the other for reimbursement. I thought your advice was quite sound. I have been in a similar situation, ate my losses and moved on.

I have also been to small claims court twice. Once to recover back rent ...Read more

There has been a lot of news concerning the secondary mortgage market, specifically Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

While President Trump was hinting he might allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to go public, after 20 years of conservatorship, Freddie Mac announced a major update to how they approve mortgages.

The company plans to use artificial ...Read more

Q: I have tried to find out when and why the income level on the senior citizen’s tax freeze occurs. I have asked the Cook County tax assessor, as well as a couple of township tax assessors, as well as Realtors, and no one seems to know what triggers an increase in the income level.

It would make sense if it was tied to the inflation rate, or...Read more

Q: My father-in-law passed away recently, and his beneficiaries are his second wife and his three daughters from his first marriage. His second wife will receive a fixed amount, with the rest of his assets divided equally among the three daughters. His nice home will also be sold. His second wife wants his daughters to take ownership of the home...Read more

Q: We live in a small, self-managed townhome association in Illinois. The association hired an outside accounting firm to coordinate the financial matters of the property, including the issuing and collection of fines for rule violations. These violation and fine notices are sent out by email on association letterheads, with the accountant’s ...Read more

Realtor.com published a study recently that found the typical household needs to earn $114,000 in order to buy a median-priced home. That’s up 70.1% (a $47,000 increase) from 2019, according to the Realtor.com® April Housing Trends Report.

If those numbers weren’t jarring enough, consider that the median household income was only $80,610 ...Read more

Q: In 1963, we bought a home for $17,900. We sold it a few years later for $19,500. That’s when we bought our present home for $30,000. We are now selling it for around $300,000. Will we have to pay taxes on the sale?

A: The good news is that if you’re married, you and your spouse get to exclude $500,000 from federal income tax taxes when ...Read more