I know it may be surprising to some, but I enjoy watching hockey and football (Go Gators!) as well as a great action movie. And with the Olympics just starting, there are a lot of “sports viewing” opportunities about to occur in my household. And if you’re watching a sport from home, it’s important that you have a great home theater with a big screen and surround sound. It used to be that only the mega rich could install lavish home movie...

Too many clothes, not enough closet space? Where to put your heaps (upon heaps) of clothes can be a problem, especially if you’re planning to buy an older home or a smaller home. In those types of listings, closet space is at a premium. What can you do? A. Buy a bigger home, with a bigger closet B. Call a reality TV show for help with a closet makeover C. Store your extra stuff in an off-site storage building D. Throw away or donate stuff you...

The following Special Stipulations are real. The names of the parties have been changed to avoid embarrassing the agents who are sure to never commit such errors again. Buyer Clara Careful entered into a binding agreement on July 1 to purchase a home through her buyer’s agent, Sally Speedqueen. The home Clara wanted to buy was in “rough” condition and there were several obvious repairs which Clara wanted the seller to complete prior to Clara...

Depending on where you call home, your roof is a source of protection from rain, sleet, snow, sun, the odd errant fly ball and just about everything else. Yet one thing you can be sure of is that sooner or later, your home will need a new first line of defense from the weather. When your home reaches the point of needing roof repair, take a good look to see if a simple patch job will do or if your home needs some professional TLC. If the...

You might have heard rumors or received e-mails stating that all real estate sales would have a new tax in 2013 due to the passage of the Health Care Law. Here are the basic facts: Yes, there is a new 3.8% tax that is part of the recently passed Health Care Bill. Yes, this new tax comes into effect January 1, 2013. No, this is not a transfer tax that will be charged on all real estate sales. The tax will only impact individuals who have more...