ArcaMax

Q: We own a house that has been converted into two apartments. My brother has been living in one of them for 13 years. He has never paid any rent. He used to take care of the place, collect rent from the other apartment, do minor repairs, etc. But we can no longer rely on him to do anything. We have actually been fined by the local housing ...Read more

Q: I just sold my house and moved into a 55-plus community. I paid an entrance fee to the community and now pay rent on my apartment every month.

I want to be prepared for filing my 2024 taxes. My understanding is I need a 1099-S form for my house sale. I’ve asked my real estate agent where I get this document, and he didn’t know. I did an ...Read more

Q: I watched one of your videos about paying off your mortgage and I have a question. I have a living revocable trust and my home has been titled in the name of the trust. My mortgage will be paid off soon.

Let’s say I die. and at that time I own the house free and clear. Does the beneficiary of the trust then go to an attorney to transfer ...Read more

Q: We are selling a vacation home property and were told that we should put some of the money from the sale of the property into a 1031 to avoid paying a 28% tax on the sale. We were wondering what would happen to the amount of capital gains gift tax if we gifted some of the sale money at closing to our two sons as part of their inheritance.

A:...Read more

Q: Could you explain the pros and cons of having joint financial accounts with a daughter and owning my home with her as well? My husband has passed away. I have a will and other needed documents.

A: We’re sorry for your loss. We understand how having joint financial accounts and assets feels like everything will be easier after you die. ...Read more

This week, the National Association of Realtors announced that 2024 would likely be an even worse year for home sales than 2023. It could wind up as the worst since the late 1990s.

Existing home sales fell 1% in September to a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.84 million. That number is 3.5% lower than a year ago. Median existing home prices ...Read more

Q: My daughter is buying a home. The mortgage company wants me to submit a ton of information in order to be her co-signer. They want all pages of my bank statements for the last three months and my tax returns for the last two years. They also want my social security statement and a letter regarding how much I receive in social security ...Read more

Q: My husband died without a will. We have one son and when my husband passed, my son and I signed an agreement that said if I sold any of the properties, we’d both need to agree to the sale.

When I sold one of the properties that was in my husband’s name, the settlement agent made two checks in equal amounts to me and my son. My son ended ...Read more

Q: My daughter and son-in-law bought a cabin as their second/vacation home near Seattle a couple of years ago. The property is actually two lots (with two separate tax parcels). And, the cabin is on one of the lots.

There is one deed and one mortgage. They are thinking of building another cabin (for investment) on the second lot and would like ...Read more

Q: I am giving Ilyce’s “100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask” book to each of my young adult kids — and even though we’ve bought three homes over the years, I’m getting a copy for us, too, because it is such a helpful resource! Thank you for writing it.

Is there a place I can direct everyone to read your updates ...Read more

Q: My lawyer can’t seem to get the title cleared on my Florida condominium. My mom and stepdad received title to my grandmother’s condominium as tenants-in-common from my grandmother back in 1995. My stepdad died without a will about 20 years ago. His estate was never probated, as my mom thought everything would automatically go to her.

My ...Read more

Comment: I read your article on how people buy homes and use the square footage of the home to compare one home with the other. I wanted to let you know there is an ANSI standard for measuring square footage of a residential unit, though few in our industry use it. Comparing homes by price per square foot is a fool’s errand. Your article ...Read more

We get many questions from readers on timeshares and, by far, the most common issue is how to get rid of the timeshare. There are many reasons why an owner would want to sell a timeshare.

For some, ownership can be measured in decades. But now, no one in the family uses it. They don’t want it and can’t imagine paying for it. Some of our ...Read more

Q: I read your column regularly and now I have a question for you.

We own two houses. One is in Chicago, which we purchased in 2010. The other is in Arizona, which we purchased in 2012. We spend the winters in Arizona and the rest of the time in Illinois.

We are getting older and it’s getting harder to maintain two homes. We’re thinking of...Read more

Q: I was given your article on building inspectors. The most important thing was not mentioned in your article! If you think something may be wrong, it probably is!

In 2011, an agent who works with the Veteran’s Administration (VA) found a foreclosed condo for me in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. The VA inspected the home. We found small ...Read more

Q: I read your article on living trusts recently. You detail the workings of property in a revocable trust and what one should do with the funds upon the sale of the property. Would the same things apply to an irrevocable trust?

I am the creator of a trust, as well as the trustee and beneficiary. There are successor trustees and beneficiaries ...Read more

Q: We signed a contract to purchase a home. It seemed to have an issue with moisture in the crawl space. So, we had a home inspection. The inspector couldn’t gain access to the crawl space, as the access was too small and he was too big. He noted in his report that there was extensive dampness and evidence of standing water in the crawl space....Read more

Our recent articles about homeowner’s associations (HOAs) have stirred many readers to write to us about why people don’t want to volunteer for HOA boards and the difficult situations sitting HOA members face every day.

Here’s one email we recently received:

Comment: I have read and appreciated your articles. You bring useful information...Read more

Q: First-time homebuyer here. I just finished reading your “100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask” book, and I sure took lots of notes! It’s super fun when real estate rules change as you are learning them. So I have a question.

What’s the deal with the new National Association of Realtors ruling on how buyers now sign ...Read more

Reader comment: Like one of your readers, I also live in an homeowners association (HOA) community (44 units) where no one wants to step up to be on the board. We have three people there now and two are past their two-year commitment, nor do we have a management firm. Frankly, I think we do a fantastic job of addressing residents’ needs and ...Read more