Massachusetts Property Blog

Is your property on the brink of a foreclosure? Well, you’re not alone. In fact, the number of properties due to be foreclosed on in the state of Massachusetts is increasing at an extremely high rate. However, this doesn’t mean that Massachusetts homeowners are in a hopeless situation. Though in financial hardship, homeowners still have a chance to stop foreclosure. There are options available to avoid foreclosure of your property and all the consequences that the foreclosure process brings.

One option is a ‘deed in lieu of foreclosure.’ Simply, a deed in lieu of foreclosure is giving back the property to the lender if the borrower is no longer capable of paying for the remaining balance of the loan. Both the lender and the borrower then enter into an agreement that the remaining balance of the defaulted loan is forgiven. The borrower is now free of any obligation to pay the entire loan.

Pretty simple isn’t it? Or is it that simple?

First, a deed in lieu of foreclosure could only be possible upon the lender’s consent. Convincing a lender to sign a deed in lieu of foreclosure may be extremely difficult. What lenders want is cash. Not another property to be sold. This is especially true if they already have in their possession a number of foreclosed properties or properties with a lien.

This difficult situation becomes impossible if you owe more than the value of the property. A lender doesn’t want to possess a losing piece of real estate. Instead, they’ll advise default homeowners to put the property on the market for a few months just in case it can be disposed of through a short sale. While this is another option of foreclosure prevention, a short sale has its own pitfalls. Either way, you will lose your home. It’s just choosing the lesser evil.

To avoid this dilemma, homeowners resort to a much wiser alternative. This alternative is called loan modification. The greatest advantage to executing a loan modification is that you are given a choice to keep your home. This is done through a negotiation with your lender to adjust the terms of your existing mortgage. Through loan modification, the payment for the current month and the succeeding few months there-after could be suspended. The paying period can then be extended thereby reducing the monthly amortization. Depending on the newly agreed terms, the interest rate or even the principal amount could be reduced to a level you may not even expect.

The best way to do this is by seeking expert loan modification assistance. One company that has been assisting Massachusetts homeowners in stopping the foreclosure process is LIG Loan Modification Services.  These experts can help you prepare and negotiate with the lender on your behalf. They can use different tactics, such as appealing for a humanitarian consideration due to your current financial situation. They may also challenge the lender’s pricing and interest rates and computations charged against your property. Third party representation is the best option since they cannot be targeted by collecting officers.

Remember that it is always better to keep you from leaving your home. It is always wise to have an option that would dispel any financial worries while enjoying your life in your dream home. With loan modification, you keep your house and your credit record is not affected from the modification.

©2008 Tom Brady
Reprint rights available for free

Tom Brady

For many of us in the real estate industry, this past year has been a difficult one, with stagnating housing markets and economic ups and downs. You’ve likely had to overcome many challenges this year, and are feeling grateful for having either survived or thrived in an otherwise gloomy climate. If you’re like me, you’re not only thankful for your success, but you’re now wondering how you can help those in need in your community.

As a realtor, there are many things you can do to have a positive impact on your community. You can participate in organized events such as charity golf tournaments, marathons, or fundraiser dinners. You can even start your own event like Linda Covino did in Medford, Massachusetts. She started an annual Dancing with the Realtors competition, based on the popular TV show, “Dancing with the Stars.” Dancing with the Realtors has turned out to be an entertaining and successful event that in 2007, raised over $20,000 for Habitat for Humanity.

Other charitable programs include “Bowl for Kids Sake,” which is a national fundraiser that has supported Big Brothers Big Sisters for over 40 years. There’s also Habitat for Humanity, which is always looking for volunteers to help build affordable housing. Rally your co-workers and volunteer a few hours each month to help build homes for those less fortunate than you.

One philanthropic real estate agent named Gerald Leonard has decided to donate approximately 50% of all his commissions to charity, while passing on the tax breaks to his clients. You can follow Leonard’s lead by donating a certain percentage of your commissions to local or international charities of your choice.

If you’re not ready to hand over half your commission just yet, and don’t have time to start your own nonprofit organization, there are acts of kindness that are smaller in scale, but still valuable in their own right. For example, consider placing a bin in the office to collect nonperishable food items to donate to the local food bank, or collect toys, spare blankets, and outerwear for emergency shelters.

Other ideas include participating in a walkathon to raise money for cancer research, donating blood on your way home for work, and registering to become an organ donor. If you’d like to be part of the planning committee, become a board member for an organization whose cause you’re really passionate about. Another idea is to visit places like retirement homes or hospitals to provide companionship to those that feel alone.

By volunteering your time and money to help those in need, you’re doing your community a favor, and enriching your own life. If you believe in karma, you’ll definitely improve yours by acting selflessly, and you’ll also find the experience to be invaluable in terms of personal satisfaction. Volunteering also gives you the opportunity to learn new skills in a supportive environment, as well as the chance to network with like-minded people. You’ll be expanding your circle of influence, which could lead to new clients down the road.

As a real estate agent, you’re in an excellent position to get out there and make a difference. Even if you haven’t had the best year, you can still give someone a hand that really needs it, and improve the lives of both of you in the process.

Andy Asbury

Property and real estate continue to be big business and this is recognized by the MLM real estate program which offers four different ways for people to train in this type of business. Don’t be afraid that you might fail in the real estate program as a high success rate is the norm. The size of the real estate market is huge and opportunities are estimated to be in the trillions - this means that it is a rapidly increasing market and almost guaranteed to provide you with more than enough money to live on.

The MLM real estate program is a downline builder, club and investment club all rolled into one. The company offers three paid programs which come with a free website. The aim is to draw traffic to your site and get them to sign up. Once they have signed up they will receive follow up from the program’s founder James Carvin. As with most programs of this type the MLM real estate program’s documentation is quite upfront about the fact that those who rise to the top will stand a far greater chance of business and financial success than other members of a team. Your personal income level could rise into the billions and with such a huge market your business is almost guaranteed longevity.

The MLM real estate program appears to have very good results for those people who decide to take up the challenge - and within a year to eighteen months some clients testify that their income has risen to thousands of dollars and growing every month. You don’t have to have experience in the real estate field in order to sign up for the mlm real estate program, although this would likely help in your success. When you sign up you will receive orientation and training along with the friendship of others who are on the program.

One of the things couples often discuss is buying their first home. Now, I don’t have to tell you that buying a home is a topic best dealt with on its own, but when the love bug bites, it can often make its way into the wedding preparations. This is a huge mistake. In fact, this type of mass newlywed hysteria can cause some couples to make five very costly mistakes when they decide to purchase their home.

While there are three paid programs you don’t have to invest any money in order to sign up. Once you have joined however you will be encouraged to enroll on all four of the programs. The MLM real estate program states that with good training and some hard work and solid promotion members could be earning more than $20,000 for each transaction that they make.

On the MLM real estate program you will learn how to build a downline to survive when times are bad - this is done to provide a foundation for when the market picks up again and you will be ready for it. Those who sign up will also receive training in creative real estate investment which works whether the market is rising or falling - this creative investment does not incur cost which is a great plus for those starting out in the MLM industry.

Brian Garvin

The current MA state surveys peg the price of home heating oil at $3.53/gallon and diesel at $3.51/gallon, and it doesn’t make any sense because they’re 100% the same #2 fuel but diesel fuel for highway use carries almost 70cents/gallon in taxes and is

Here in Massachusetts the total of federal and state road use and sales taxes on diesel fuels totals $0.6855 ($0.479/gallon plus an additional 6.25% sales tax which is roughly $0.2065 at the current average survey price of $3.51/gallon)

Home heating oil is exempt from road use tax and sales tax in Massachusetts, and should be at least 69 cents a gallon less, BUT IT COSTS MORE!!!

It makes no sense…. the road use fuel has a staffed retail outlet (cost per gallon unknown) and is usually paid using a credit card that charges the vendor around 3% (another 11 cents/gallon). Home heating oil is sold from a truck, several hundred gallons per delivery and no credit cards accepted. (The CC fees at the gas station are probably somewhat greater than the cost of delivering home heating oil).

In the 1980’s and 90’s the price of these two commodities routinely differed by the total of the road use tax and the sales tax. now they’re the same….

Either there’s an outlandish cabal among heating oil delivery companies, or government has imposed a hidden tax. Since the former could hardly go unnoticed, there’s no conceivable reason why this price structure exists unless Massachusetts has devised a hidden tax on home heating oil. Does anyone know what the Winter Hill mobsters masquerading as a state legislature on Beacon Hill have done and how they’re hiding it?
To add some detail, this curious pricing doesn’t just occur during the winter heating season, its all year long. Also - local fuel oil dealers will cite distribution terminal prices and some do compete aggressively on price. The price structure seems to be hijacked in somewhere between the refineries in New Jersey and the wholesale distribution terminals. My personal guess is a hidden tax on dyed (not for road use) fuel intended to advantage natural gas suppliers and the LNG terminals.

All I can think of is that the road fuel has a very small profit margin (around here the last I knew it was about 10 cents per gallon). The road fuel is also sold where a good share of the stations income comes from inside sales like soda, beer and food. Heating fuel is not as easy to get so the delivery company adds plenty to the cost of the fuel to cover their costs and profits. Maybe someone who knows more will weigh in on this.

Is your property on the brink of a foreclosure? Well, you’re not alone. In fact, the number of properties due to be foreclosed on in the state of Massachusetts is increasing at an extremely high rate. However, this doesn’t mean that Massachusetts homeowners are in a hopeless situation. Though in financial hardship, homeowners still have a chance to stop foreclosure. There are options available to avoid foreclosure of your property and all the consequences that the foreclosure process brings.

One option is a ‘deed in lieu of foreclosure.’ Simply, a deed in lieu of foreclosure is giving back the property to the lender if the borrower is no longer capable of paying for the remaining balance of the loan. Both the lender and the borrower then enter into an agreement that the remaining balance of the defaulted loan is forgiven. The borrower is now free of any obligation to pay the entire loan.

Pretty simple isn’t it? Or is it that simple?

First, a deed in lieu of foreclosure could only be possible upon the lender’s consent. Convincing a lender to sign a deed in lieu of foreclosure may be extremely difficult. What lenders want is cash. Not another property to be sold. This is especially true if they already have in their possession a number of foreclosed properties or properties with a lien.

This difficult situation becomes impossible if you owe more than the value of the property. A lender doesn’t want to possess a losing piece of real estate. Instead, they’ll advise default homeowners to put the property on the market for a few months just in case it can be disposed of through a short sale. While this is another option of foreclosure prevention, a short sale has its own pitfalls. Either way, you will lose your home. It’s just choosing the lesser evil.

To avoid this dilemma, homeowners resort to a much wiser alternative. This alternative is called loan modification. The greatest advantage to executing a loan modification is that you are given a choice to keep your home. This is done through a negotiation with your lender to adjust the terms of your existing mortgage. Through loan modification, the payment for the current month and the succeeding few months there-after could be suspended. The paying period can then be extended thereby reducing the monthly amortization. Depending on the newly agreed terms, the interest rate or even the principal amount could be reduced to a level you may not even expect.

The best way to do this is by seeking expert loan modification assistance. One company that has been assisting Massachusetts homeowners in stopping the foreclosure process is LIG Loan Modification Services.  These experts can help you prepare and negotiate with the lender on your behalf. They can use different tactics, such as appealing for a humanitarian consideration due to your current financial situation. They may also challenge the lender’s pricing and interest rates and computations charged against your property. Third party representation is the best option since they cannot be targeted by collecting officers.

Remember that it is always better to keep you from leaving your home. It is always wise to have an option that would dispel any financial worries while enjoying your life in your dream home. With loan modification, you keep your house and your credit record is not affected from the modification.

©2008 Tom Brady
Reprint rights available for free

Tom Brady

To have a foreclosed property is a nightmare. In most cases, it is part of a series of devastating events. A sudden loss of job could spark a chain of these unfortunate events. To lose your home during these occasions would be very damaging, to say the least.  This nightmare has undoubtedly increased the number of sleepless nights for homeowners in the state of Massachusetts.

Despite all measures to prevent a foreclosure, some unexpected things may come along the way, draining you of all the resources necessary to pay for the house. Having lost a sense of control with the situation makes it even more depressing.
At the same time, paying more for a property than its actual worth is excruciating. What’s even worse is receiving a notice that you have to pay a higher amount in the course of your succeeding payments.

But the good news is defaulted borrowers can regain control even in the face of a foreclosure. Mortgagors paying unreasonable bills for their homes can do something to cut their monthly payments. And even if you are not in this kind of situation right now, options are available for you to stop foreclosure or to make your loan more acceptable to you. The right knowledge, reliable ally, and quick response are all that are needed to successfully circumvent a foreclosure or reduce your payment.

Modifying a loan to stop foreclosure or lower the monthly installment is becoming a highly favored choice both among defaulted and up-to-date homeowners. In loan modification, the lender, usually a bank, agrees to adjust the terms of the mortgage loan. Changes could be any of or combinations of these - reduction in the interest rate, reduction in principal portions of payments, or an extension of the amortization in order to decrease overall payment obligations, or reduction of principal balance. These are the common adjustments that are most acceptable to the lenders.

In almost all cases of loan modification attempts, procedures can get extremely complicated. This can be very intimidating and frustrating. Just setting up an appointment with the lender’s decision makers is much like a hunt for Osama Bin Laden. They just can’t be found. Preparing all the necessary documents even at the onset of the process is very daunting.

This is the reason that loan modification companies, like LIG Loan Modification Services, are sought after by Massachusetts homeowners. They can provide expert analysis of your situation based on their experiences in this field and offer you workable plans to make your lender modify your loan and save you from foreclosure or unjust loan terms.

Having loan modification services working for you means increasing the possibility of success. Over the years, they have developed methods, to resolve the kind of situation you are in, by negotiating with all types of lenders. They are capable of delivering the best results to your greatest advantage.

©2008 Tom Brady
Reprint rights available for free

Tom Brady

Property and real estate continue to be big business and this is recognized by the MLM real estate program which offers four different ways for people to train in this type of business. Don’t be afraid that you might fail in the real estate program as a high success rate is the norm. The size of the real estate market is huge and opportunities are estimated to be in the trillions - this means that it is a rapidly increasing market and almost guaranteed to provide you with more than enough money to live on.

The MLM real estate program is a downline builder, club and investment club all rolled into one. The company offers three paid programs which come with a free website. The aim is to draw traffic to your site and get them to sign up. Once they have signed up they will receive follow up from the program’s founder James Carvin. As with most programs of this type the MLM real estate program’s documentation is quite upfront about the fact that those who rise to the top will stand a far greater chance of business and financial success than other members of a team. Your personal income level could rise into the billions and with such a huge market your business is almost guaranteed longevity.

The MLM real estate program appears to have very good results for those people who decide to take up the challenge - and within a year to eighteen months some clients testify that their income has risen to thousands of dollars and growing every month. You don’t have to have experience in the real estate field in order to sign up for the mlm real estate program, although this would likely help in your success. When you sign up you will receive orientation and training along with the friendship of others who are on the program.

One of the things couples often discuss is buying their first home. Now, I don’t have to tell you that buying a home is a topic best dealt with on its own, but when the love bug bites, it can often make its way into the wedding preparations. This is a huge mistake. In fact, this type of mass newlywed hysteria can cause some couples to make five very costly mistakes when they decide to purchase their home.

While there are three paid programs you don’t have to invest any money in order to sign up. Once you have joined however you will be encouraged to enroll on all four of the programs. The MLM real estate program states that with good training and some hard work and solid promotion members could be earning more than $20,000 for each transaction that they make.

On the MLM real estate program you will learn how to build a downline to survive when times are bad - this is done to provide a foundation for when the market picks up again and you will be ready for it. Those who sign up will also receive training in creative real estate investment which works whether the market is rising or falling - this creative investment does not incur cost which is a great plus for those starting out in the MLM industry.

Brian Garvin

The name of the place where she lives now would be enough (for example Brookline Massachusetts is the name of the place where she lived as a child but not a full address)

Oh yeah like anyone is going to tell you on here.

I inherited a home in Massachusetts many years ago and it was my primary residence for over 50 years. I recently moved to California and sold the home in 2010. I had thought that I didn’t have to claim the monies received from the sale if:

a. It was a inheritance
b. If the monies were used to purchase another home

Do I have to pay capital gains on this home?

Being an inheritance just means your basis in the property was reset at the time you inherited it, not that you don’t pay tax on it.

And the rule about investing the money in a new home has been gone for many years.

But there’s another rule that might mean you don’t owe tax, or owe less tax. If you owned at and lived in at as your main home for at least 2 of the 5 years right before you sold, gain of up to $250K ($500K on a joint return) can be excluded from being taxed. Sounds like you easily meet that. So you could exclude at least that much of the gain from being taxed.

The majority of water damage comes from leaky or broken pipes. It can also come from leaky roofs or major storms. It’s important that after this happens, you get assistance for your property as soon as possible. Water damage in Massachusetts is handled in several ways. One way they take care of it is to dry off the affected areas.

This is something you can’t do. You will have to enlist the services of a professional water damage service. This services should specialize in drying techniques that can restore your property to normal. In order to dry areas effectively, the technicians will need to use dehumidifiers.

In Massachusetts, after the water damage has passed, there is a lot of humidity that seeps in certain areas of your home. The technicians work to reduce the humidity by using the dehumidifier. The air has to work quickly in order to rid the areas inside your home of moisture. It is important that the large mass of humidity is eliminated and not allowed to return. If it stays, certain areas can be affected. Then you’ll have to deal with swelling, excessive absorption and other things. This can also set up a path for mold to set in.

Mold creeps in where there is a lot of moisture. There are other reasons when a technician will need to use a dehumidifier:

• If the humidity indoors goes beyond 60%

• You have wet carpet and related material

• You have wet walls and floors

The larger the dehumidifier, the better chance that the materials will dry faster. There is a certain window in which this should take place (the first 24 – 48 hours). If not done quickly, you may experience some serious problems, such as allergies and other health ailments, in addition to mold. If the area has not dried thoroughly, the material may get damage and you may experience mold in those areas. That’s why in Massachusetts, it’s important to have technicians that know what they’re doing.

A large dehumidifier is good to get people back in their houses quickly. It would only take a day or two for the affected areas to dry. They can also be used to decrease humidity. The less humidity you have, the better off you are. So when you’re looking for a water damage specialist in Massachusetts, make sure it’s someone that specializes in drying the affected areas thoroughly so you won’t have to experience unnecessary after affects.

Leo Nov