DEAR BENNY: I know someone who has qualified to obtain a second house by stating that he will rent his first house; however, he has no intentions of actually renting it. Upon obtaining the new house, he plans to walk away from the first house, letting it go into foreclosure. He will already own his new house before his credit is hurt by...

Whenever government is involved in a program to assist a private firm in trouble, much of the press reports it as a "bailout." Back in the 1980s when the savings and loan industry was in trouble, the operations of the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), which the federal government chartered to manage and liquidate the assets of failed...

Fixer-upper properties come in many varieties. Cosmetic fixers usually offer the biggest return on your investment. And, they tend to be a lot less costly than homes that require major renovation.

An ideal cosmetic fixer would be a house that had been somewhat neglected, but that has no serious structural problems. It could be...

Deck railings can do a lot for the appearance and especially the safety of any outdoor deck. So when designing and building your new deck, there are a number of things to take into consideration.

MEETING THE BUILDING CODES
The first thing you want to determine is what building codes apply to your deck railing...

Q: Several years ago my father deeded his home to me and two of my siblings. Our understanding was that he would pay the real estate taxes and the insurance premiums. The mortgage on the home has been paid off for some time, and my father still lives in the house.

We've just found out that my...

Q: I am a tenant and also the manager for our apartment building. I've just been fired from the manager's job, and given a termination notice, too. Here's what happened: The owner has been refurbishing rental units as they come vacant, having our maintenance crew rip up old floors and repaint. The building is old and I'm certain that the guys are dealing with lead paint and...

My mailbox is full of questions from homeowners trying to complete short sales. Here are two fairly common situations I'm hearing about:

Q: I signed a contract for an alleged "short sale." The price of the house is listed online at $280,000.

After accepting the seller's asking price, I made a down payment of...

Q: I bought a house about four years ago, and relocated for work last year. My old house has been on the market for almost a year. I thought about renting it, but I really don't want to deal with tenants from a long distance. The place is almost fully remodeled, and people have been viewing it, but my Realtor says I need to lower the price and try for a short sale....

Q: I had a termite inspection done on my home. Now I must find a reputable contractor to do the work. The work to be done is extensive, and I feel it will be costly. The termites have damaged the rim joist, mudsill and subfloor in the subarea. Termite evidence was also noted in the subarea that appears to extend into inaccessible areas and should be...

In a recent column, a seller wrote in that his agent had a buyer for his house at the full asking price. The only quirk in the deal? The seller -- not the buyer -- wrote up the full-price offer. The seller wanted to know if I had heard of this practice and why it was used.

I thought it was strange, but a number of agents all over the...