The American Dream didn't come with a warning label. Many homeowners discovered that mortgage insurance protected the lender, not them, and that short sales and foreclosures could have financial consequences long after they left the home.

When housing stopped being local Part 16 of the Real Estate Transparency Series To start at the beginning of my Transparency Series, go here.  Part 1 During the foreclosure crisis, I learned something that changed the way I look at real estate. I learned what happens when the people making decisions about a home have never actually seen it. At first, that...

“If Buying a Home Is So Personal — Why Is the Industry Becoming So Impersonal?” Part 15 of the Transparency Series. If you are new here, you can go back to the first of my Transparency Series.   Originally, this article was going to focus only on inspection referral pipelines. But the more I wrote, the more I realized something important: It’s not...

Part 14 Rust = Dysfunctional? Says Chuck in a Truck And in Colorado, no state license is required to perform a home inspection. The Word Problem A home built in 2000 is younger than me — we both have to maintain what we have. But rust does not define dysfunctional. So when I reviewed a recent inspection report on an older Denver home and saw 76 out of roughly 100 items labeled...

Colorado Property Tax Protest Guide Colorado homeowners have a limited window to challenge their property valuation. If your Notice of Valuation made you question whether the number actually reflects the market, you are not alone.This guide explains:how the protest process works,what evidence may help,common mistakes homeowners make,and where to file directly with your...

When You Ask for a Recommendation — Do You Know What You're Actually Getting? Critters The Four Characters in This Story-Some helpful. Some noisy. Some expensive.There's The Giant — always at the center. Always connected to the next click, the next referral, the next relationship you didn't know existed.The Spider- just trying to keep the current clients...