Recently, as natural gas and oil prices have continued to climb, and concerns over energy independence grow ever larger, Pennsylvania, and particularly Western Pennsylvania, has become the new hotbed of energy speculation in the U.S. This should not be...
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Real Estate Practice
Congress Raises FHA Borrower Cash Requirements
On July 31, 2008, changes to Paragraph (9) of section 203(b) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709(b)(9)) went into effect. In short, the amendments lay out cash investment requirements for buyers, and what sources of such buyers’ funds are permitted in...
The Politics of Real Estate Investing
It has been a long time since I have been seriously moved by a politician or his or her promises. The last I recall, Ronald Reagan was running for the Presidency, and gave a stirring oratory and a calming, fatherly view of the country. I was much younger then,...
Megan’s Law Searches
If you were a woman, or a family with young children looking to buy, rent-to-own, or rent a new place to live, would you want to know if a pedophile or serial rapist lived next door or down the block? Might that affect the value or marketability of the...
A New Scam Involving Trustees
Recently (July 2008), we received notice from one of our Title Insurance Underwriter’s warning us of a new scam involving Trust Deeds and Short Sales. We have been instructed not to close these transactions without prior review and approval by the Title...
Student Housing, Civil Rights and Property Rights
For many years, municipalities all over Pennsylvania have been attempting to deal with student housing issues. When colleges and universities do not have enough dormitories on their own campuses, many homes in the areas adjacent to the schools become student...
Windfalls and Pitfalls of Tax Sales
Are you interested in buying properties at a tax sale? This form of investment can be both inexpensive and quite lucrative if you know what you’re doing. In fact, fairly recently a client of mine purchased a $200,000 property at tax sale for $2,500 and ended...
When Is A Contract Not A Contract
Sometimes, the cases I find myself going to court on deal with issues which would be of great interest to real estate investors. That is the situation with a case I argued before the Pennsylvania Superior Court on March 19, 2008. In my case, a bank was the...
Pennsylvania Amends Transfer Tax Regulations
In late December, the PA Department of Revenue issued changes to several regulations affecting the assessment of transfer taxes on the sale of real estate, many of which are directed at transactions by investors. The new regulations govern how the Department of...
Foreclosures and Investors
. We hear it every day on the TV and radio, read about it in the papers, and see the results in our own neighborhoods: Real Estate Foreclosures are at an All Time High. But what does that mean for us as real estate investors? How did we get here, and should we change...