Expenses of Home Ownership

Hopefully all goes smoothly when you purchase your home. In your anxiousness to become an owner it may not have crossed your mind and no one tells you, your'e not done spending money on this transaction. It may not be soon and it may not be much, but you will need to have a comfortable income above your expenses.

Why didn't they tell you? Shouldn't a good real estate agent prepare you for everything they can think of, neighborhood analysis, schools, crime, child molesters, stigmas...? All of us who have been out here in the business have seen it too many times. Too many buyers spend what they are qualified for and many times that is too much. They may not have thought about buying a car in a couple of years, or how much it costs to raise children, how much furniture is going to cost....

The best thing to do is not buy the most expensive house you can afford. Secondly, hire a reputable home inspector. Ask around, call different agents for suggestions. A good home inspection will turn up so many things on an average house that it would startle almost everyone. Most things are minor and some aren't even worthy of mention, but if an inspector quickly walks through the house and says it's fine, chances are you got the wrong guy. Keep in mind if you contract the service,(you can request the fee be paid by the seller in your written agreement) the inspector has no reason to deceive you. However many times an agent will use the same company repeatedly who doesn't present any problems.

Don't expect problems but be prepared for them. Things do happen. Water heaters break, usually dumping out all the water in the tank. Plumbing gets stopped up and leaks. Appliances fail. Carpet, padding, vinyl, paint and roofs wear out. Even slate roofs need repairs and that is heavy on the wallet. A good idea is to have money only for your emergency home expenses, not for the wants. That comes out of checking or your pocket.

Suzie is a licensed real estate broker and residential real estate appraiser with twenty years experience. Other professionals in the industry have contributed as well, including agents, brokers, appraisers and educators. http://www.freewebs.com/realestatenews

Also: David W. Higgins, David Bohnett and more.

Reality TV star and singer Heidi Montag has been hiding out by the beach this summer at a Malibu place she rented for $25,000 a month, according to the Multiple Listing Service. But she moved on in late August, and the gated contemporary is back on the market at $5.5 million.

A Long Beach couple struggling with mortgage payments find out their home's been auctioned off by Wells Fargo when the new owner's representative shows up on their doorstep.

Mike and Ellen Kahara knew times were tough. They'd run up about $30,000 in debt on their credit cards and had fallen about $8,000 behind on their mortgage payments.

The 1960s Buff & Hensman-designed Wong House has a pool, a walled garden and downtown and ocean views.

It seems as though actress Scarlett Johansson had no sooner sold her old place in the Hollywood Hills than she and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, closed on a house in Los Feliz for $2.9 million.

Completed a few years ago, a Normandy-style estate was built to look a century old.

Glen and Linda Keane felt guilty about tearing down the O'Melveny family home. After all, John O'Melveny was part of a group of Los Angeles businessmen who formed Lake Arrowhead Co. in the 1920s and oversaw the lake's development into a popular resort destination.

The mortgage giant quietly launches the HomePath program, which offers subprime-era terms for buyers: minimal down payments, no appraisals, no mortgage insurance and lower minimum credit scores.

If you're a buyer with little cash or a small-scale investor looking for a deal on a foreclosed house, a little-publicized national lending program could be just what you need this fall.

How some of our previously featured properties have fared in the sales market.

Buff & Hensman-designed beach house

Lenders lose an estimated $310 million annually in undervalued short-sale transactions, according to a study released in August.

Question: I am fed up with my homeowners association and successive boards for sabotaging owner requests for records and refusing to fix maintenance problems in common areas that directly affect individual units. I believe I have no other choice than to sue the association and the boards. What are the steps I have to take?

Keeping tenant out over concerns of illegal activities may be viewed as a 'constructive eviction.' Such moves as changing the locks to prevent access can bring significant penalties.

Question: I own a couple of houses that I rent out for extra income. Unfortunately, they are not in the best part of our town. I have a tenant living in one of them who may be dealing drugs or doing something else illegal because the police have arrested him several times. Every time he is arrested he makes bail and returns to the house in a day or so. Even though he pays the rent on time, I realize that I can't continue to allow him to live in my house. My plan is to change the locks the next time he is arrested, so he can't come back into the house. I know that I need to protect his property inside the house if I do this, but my plan is to move his belongings into a storage locker. I can't afford a lawyer to file an eviction case, so this is my only alternative. Will I be OK if I do this?

July's increase from June in the National Assn. of Realtors' gauge for previously owned residences follows two straight months of declines and a report that sales of such homes dived 27.2%.

An index of home purchase contracts for previously owned dwellings unexpectedly increased 5.2% in July over June, the National Assn. of Realtors said Thursday, a modest note of good news for the U.S. housing market.