When a loved one dies, everyone goes through the same five stages of grief. However, not everyone goes through these stages at the same speed, since recovery may take a couple of weeks or it may take a couple of decades. At the same time, a death in the family also creates financial concerns, as...
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Many people are confused about their obligations and options in these cases. First and foremost, the mortgage is still due. Repayment obligation does not terminate with the death of the original owner. Second, to avoid foreclosure or other adverse action, such as collection letters, the mortgage must be current. The lender can still take...
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While there are some ways to expedite the process and reduce the amount of inherited property involved, some legal proceedings are almost inevitable when a loved one dies. Properly understood and carried out, probate often brings emotional closure in these situations, but if it gets out of control, probate litigation can become an expensive...
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All property, for example inherited home, has both economic and non-economic value. In many instances, the former vastly outweighs the latter, because very few people have an emotional bond with a box of corn flakes. But that is not always the case; in fact, the opposite is sometimes true. There are people reading these...
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At the risk of giving our loyal readers too many numbers to deal with too soon, there are basically three steps in selling inherited property, but only two of them are financial. Step one is to recognize the emotional ties that the heirs probably have to the property, and deal with them. Consider having...
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“A man’s Self is the sum total of all that he CAN call his, not only his body and his psychic powers, but his clothes, and his house, his wife and children, his ancestors and friends, his reputation and works, his lands, and yacht and bank-account.” – William James If that statement was true...
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The local real estate rental market is benefiting from the strength in the statewide sales market. According to the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority, median rents for two-bedroom apartments in the Granite State inched above $1,200 per month. That’s 15 percent higher than they were in 2011. Low vacancy rates of under 2 percent...
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A proposed measure would require real estate sellers in the Bay State to provide energy audits of the inherited real estate that they sell. Consumer and housing groups say the bill is a good idea. “Buyers need to avoid being duped into buying a ‘money pit,’” urged the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance and a...
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The loss of a loved one is devastating enough, but when that loss is coupled with the prospect of losing the family home, inherited real estate, which is typically the most valuable asset in these situations both financially and emotionally, the burden can almost be too much. Massachusetts is a non-judicial foreclosure state. In...
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The lingering effects of the Great Recession, and the fact that many homes are still underwater, are driving the foreclosure rate in Massachusetts back up. Some observers contend that the continued rise really is a backlog of cases. Three times in the last ten years, Massachusetts lawmakers enacted foreclosure relief measures, such as giving...
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