With a below average supply of homes for sale in most areas of the country, the availability of real estate is limited according to the National Association of Realtors.  This means the possibility of over-asking price sales is strong and should motivate would-be...

With deference to those who remember the old Emerson Lake and Palmer Song quoted above, and with another potential snow storm pending for Saturday, February 21, 2015, trustees, managers, unit owners, lawyers and those who are endlessly shoveling roofs and plowing...

Don’t Worry They’re Here… Technology has a way of sweeping over the public before it is ready for regulation.  Witness Craigslist, Facebook, Twitter and Uber. The next areas where we can expect issues to arise pertain to the use of drones.  Amazon indicated last year...

While historically low interest rates are not expected to be available forever, rates below 4% are still available now.  Until the driving forces of commodity turmoil and low Treasury rates reverse themselves, analysts at the Housing Finance Policy Center see rates...

Many of us have been told that Spring is the best time to sell a house, perhaps because moving is easier in warm weather.  Others believe that summer is the most convenient time to make a location change because of the school calendar.  However, a study by Redfin that...

Written by Attorney Charlie Perkins Unfortunately there have been contractors in Massachusetts requiring subcontractors and other parties to alter insurance certificates in a way that misrepresents the actual coverage provided under the insurance policy. Governor...

Closing Attorney Rick Dunn forwards this article describing closing costs and expenses that home buyers could expect at the time of closing.  Things like the abstract or title exam, flood hazard area determination and credit report fees can surprise some first time...

This is according to HartfordBusiness.com, a publication of the Hartford Business Journal.  The upshot is that potential buyers are expected to enter the market in earnest as they attempt to prevent opportunity from passing them by.  Trends from the previous year show...

Just as there are alternate names for condominium-type ownership in other countries such as strata title in Canada and commonhold in the UK, there are community associations that are similar to but distinct from US-style residential condominiums. Home Owners...

At the end of January, 2015, Charlie Perkins, David Chenelle and I travelled to San Francisco for Community Association Institute’s 36th Annual Community Association Law Seminar. The Seminar is a multi-day exposition of national legal developments in the area of...

Current mortgage interest rates remain near historic lows but the Federal Reserve is biding its time until implementing the planned increase.  Expected some time this year, the rate hike may bring 30-year mortgages up to around 5%, prompting economists...

The Community Associations Institute has issued an Action Alert relative to Congressional easing of antenna installation requirements for HAM Radios and how they may affect condominiums and other community associations.  CAI views the unrestricted installation of...

Membership of the Community Associations Institute is gathering in San Francisco this week to attend sessions on ethics, fair debt collection, fair housing, employment and numerous other topics.  Discussions are expected to be national in scope but also applicable to...

New England as a region is not as prone to the events many would consider disasters as some other parts of the country but we do have our share, including hurricanes, fires and the occasional earthquake.  Senior Partner Charlie Perkins notes that while these are...

In the United States, most people have a pretty clear idea of what a condominium is but unit owners travelling outside the country who are interested in learning about condominium living will need some new vocabulary.  For instance, Australian and Canadian (Except for...

Two condominium clients have recently banned smoking both in common areas as well as inside individual units.  The change is a timely one, given the appearance in the current issue of Condo Media of an article on the subject that takes a national scope in addressing...

Those seeking to buy a home and obtain a mortgage tend to spend much more time locating the house and less time deciding on a lender.  The complexity of the process may be to blame so the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and the Federal Housing Finance Agency have...

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have fallen well below 4% as of Tuesday, January 6, 2015.  The decrease is said to be linked to falling oil prices and to declining treasury yields, a mixed blessing that may benefit...

The end of the legislative session for the Year 2014 unfortunately did not provide the holiday gift most associations wished for, legislation that would have overturned the case of Drummer Boy Homes Association, Inc. v. Britton and reinstated rolling liens. This...