Pricing home for quick sell often means lowering asking price

Q: On several occasions, you have said, "The public has voted that your price is too high" (in response to little interest in listed homes).

What does my friend do when a broker says, "The price is correct"? There has been only one showing and one open house visit in two months. The broker says, "Houses in this price range just aren't selling." So what does my friend do? --M.

A: If he really needs to find a buyer promptly, he reduces his asking price to a range that is selling.

Drywall dilemma

Q: In 2006, we moved to Florida for a job opportunity for my husband. We purchased a condo for $300,000 and added an additional $10,000 in upgrades. We borrowed less than $100,000 on a short-term mortgage and currently owe $57,000. As a desirable job offer came our way in 2010, we have since left Florida and moved back home.

Before that, in 2009, we learned our condo was built with defective Chinese drywall, which emits corrosive sulfur gases. Our property tax assessment is now $65,000 for this reason. We are involved, along with thousands of other unfortunate homeowners, in lawsuits. But we've received no money yet.

In our building, one new owner acquired his unit at a bargain price of $70,000 and has begun remediation, which is costing him about $20,000 to $30,000. About 15 apartments nearby have been remediated and then rented out or re-occupied by owners.

We're thinking of spending the money to do the remediation. After that, the value will go up and we could probably get enough rent money to cover our expenses. Selling now for what we could get will cause us to lose close to $200,000 in equity. -- B.N.

A: I'm afraid, my dear, that you've already lost the $200,000. Selling is emotionally difficult because it means facing up to that fact. (Some of your value, by the way, you would have lost with the collapse of the Florida real estate market -- even without the drywall problem.)

You can sell for enough to pay off that mortgage, and that's what you should do. Would you buy a damaged condo many states away today as an investment? I'll bet not. But every day you choose not to sell, you are buying it.

Investing more money in hopes of an uncertain future rental would be throwing good money after bad. And being absentee landlords thousands of miles away is asking for all sorts of trouble.

Small claims complaint

Q: I read both your columns fairly regularly and note that you often advise the letter writer to go to small claims court. Perhaps you are unaware that while one can "win" in this type of court, it's often only a moral victory. I took a landscape company to small claims court and won my claim. When the judge ruled in my favor, he commented, "Good luck getting the money!" The company just ignored it.

It seems there's no way that one can get a monetary award through a small claims court unless one hires a lawyer and goes to a higher court, which only takes more time and money. -- G.

A: It's true that some people are "judgment-proof" -- they have no money, they owe everybody in sight, and it's hardly worth the trouble of taking them to court. Nevertheless, if a judge thinks you're entitled to money, you needn't give up. For one thing, you can turn a judgment award over to a professional collection agency. If they collect anything, you'll owe a fee, but you do get to keep most of it.

Brother on the title

Q: My two brothers and I bought 12 acres of raw land years ago. We each paid one-third. However, we decided at the time to put only my older brother's name on the title. We've shared paying the property tax for the last 20 years.

Unfortunately, he died recently. What do we do now? He had no will or anything. How can we change the names on the title? Would an original purchase receipt with all our names on it help? -- B.

A: Your names on the receipt simply show that you made your brother a gift. His estate is the owner of that property, and you can't change that on your own.

If the land is valuable enough to make it worthwhile, consult the best real estate lawyer you can find. Perhaps the fact that you've paid your share of taxes all these years might help. I don't know. Remember: I'm not a lawyer. Do let me know what your attorney says.

Edith Lank will respond personally to any question sent to askedith.com.