It’s called white-boxing, ever heard of it? White-boxing is when sellers on the luxury market strip out furnishings, rip out well-appointed bathrooms and kitchens and get the home down to its bare-bones structure.  This creates a clean slate.  It also caters to luxury buyers’ desires to uber-customize the homes they buy.  White-boxing is also popular with older, outdated homes in upscale neighborhoods, where buyers will likely gut the house to build the home of their dreams. (518)

Luxury home buyers from colder northern climes are sharply driving up prices in Florida.  According to Realtor.com’s May 2018 Luxury Home Index Report, the nation’s top 5 fastest growing luxury markets included Florida’s Sarasota, Collier, and Broward counties.  Prices of entry-level luxury homes were up 19% in Sarasota, 14% in Collier, and 9% in Broward. (718)

Top of the list is having their own bedrooms, preferably with their own bathrooms.  Kids also strongly value being close to where their friends live.  Other kiddie considerations include having a large yard and proximity to parks and playgrounds for biking, recreation, and sports. (618)

The rise of technology has made information easily accessible.  That’s both for us and for thieves interested in stealing from us.  The housing market is no exception. This begs the question, can someone steal your home? Yes, says Terry.  Homeownership fraud involves entering fraudulent documents into public housing records.  Often, this means using the homeowner’s stolen identity. (618)

Home prices have now risen by about 50 percent above their post-recession lows in 2012.  Prices are now even higher than their pre-recession peak in July 2006.  This steady increase in home prices appears to have spooked the market.  Home buyers are now far more cautious than they were a year ago. (618)

Screening tenants is very important to your long-term success as a landlord.  Your tenants will either maintain your property nicely or trash it.  So verify their rental history, check their income and credit history, and do criminal background checks. (718)

With limited housing inventory, competition for homes often results in bidding wars and higher-than-asking purchase prices.  In such situations, mortgage companies often appraise homes at less than what the buyer is willing to pay, and the buyer could lose out on the home if the sale is contingent on mortgage appraisal. May 23rd, 2018

Switching topics, Steve wonders to what extent the gender pay gap reduces a woman’s ability to buy a house and whether she can take steps to still come out even in the housing market with men with higher pay.

For instance, in Seattle, men can afford 150% more house than women, and 122% more in Colorado Springs.  So women are at an inexcusable disadvantage when it comes to home purchases because financial advisors recommend spending no more than 28% of your monthly income on a mortgage. May 16th, 2018

Terry says it’s only the association’s responsibility for the damages if they were informed of the pipe leak.  However, the association can‘t be responsible for something they weren’t informed about.  In this case, the association wasn’t negligent, as the unit owner never informed them. 

May 9th, 2018

Steve asks Terry what he should have done when his golf ball hit the window of a home in the middle of the course.  While the window didn’t break, Steve wants to know who would have been responsible if it had? May 2nd, 2018