The real estate appraisal business has been under increased scrutiny in the wake of the national housing bust. An article in today’s Wall Street Journal highlights the current challenges in securing an independent, yet accurate, property valuation. Appraisals are an important part of a real estate purchase, helping to make sure that the negotiated purchase price is in line with recent comparable sales. Mortgage underwriters require an appraisal so that they can feel comfortable that
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Maybe you’ve been following our tomato experiment. A couple of weeks ago we were rejoicing about beating the neighborhood critters. Well, now our plants have succumbed to the blight. Eh. Our five remaining tomato plants still have tons of tomatoes on them, it’s just that we lose about 15 tomatoes for every 1 we harvest. These are some ugly tomatoes… This past week we did declare a small victory, as we were able to save
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Note: This post continues the Saving a West End Home series. Not everything in a historic home is worth saving. Consider the furnace. Does anyone want to live in a house with a 105 year old furnace? Especially if it was completely preserved in original condition? It’s possible that someone might, but most buyers and homeowners would prefer to have a modern furnace generating their heat. Not only is it more efficient, it’s also safer.
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This past weekend the Bergquist family ventured down to Long Island for a friend’s wedding. It was mentioned that we should prepare for extravagance. I’m not really up on the whole Long Island wedding scene, but apparently it is a huge business. I was told that my friend looked at fourteen “wedding centers” when considering her reception location. Yes, fourteen. And apparently there were many more to visit but they really liked the first one
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Kyle and I are proud to announce the release of our brand new Home Buyer’s Guide. We are dedicated to sharing as much information as possible about the real estate markets and the process of buying and selling homes. This website is one way in which we communicate, telling stories, analyzing data, and reporting on real estate related events. We try to make it interesting, and we try to be timely. The Home Buyer’s Guide
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