News about properties and real estate
Bankruptcies likely to spike, experts warn Adjustable-rate-mortgage payments are rising, forcing unpleasant options. In the year since a tougher federal bankruptcy law took effect, personal-bankruptcy cases have plummeted, and consumers must clear more hurdles than ever to get a financial fresh start through the courts. That’s a stark contrast to previous years, when personal bankruptcies …
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Caught off balance [Los Angeles] Home prices dropping here, rising there and sluggish appreciation. Squeamish owners fear a sudden tumble. Experts predict a long slowdown. Whether at the dinner table, Starbucks or just standing around the office water cooler, Question No. 1 for most property owners these days is this: Is my home’s value tanking …
Forced-out tenants could see more money Ann Silver’s landlord must pay her $500 to move out of the apartment she’s lived in for nearly 16 years — an apartment that’s about to become a condo. But if her landlord knocked down the building and built a new condominium tower, rather than converting the apartments, Silver …
Banks help keep borrowers afloat Andy Hallmark recently faced a financial squeeze familiar to thousands of Americans: The interest rate on his home-equity line of credit (HELOC) had shot up to uncomfortably high levels. But Hallmark decided to try something other than refinancing his loan or biting the bullet and paying big mortgage bills for …
‘Conversion, reversion’ As the market skyrocketed, area apartment complexes thought they could cash-in by converting the units into condos. After stale sales and little interest, many are reverting back to rental communities. Now come the reversions. In the past year, investors have flooded the market with apartments turned condo. While sales are moving slowly at …
Area rents surge in the wake of rising property values Denise Johnson, who just a year ago thought she had found her dream apartment, now faces losing it as her rent rises along with her landlord’s property tax bills. “I honestly don’t know where I will go,” said Johnson, a former registered nurse and paralegal …
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