More and more readers are beginning to utilize our “Ask a REALTOR®” feature which provides personalized answers to your real estate questions. Also, they use it as a resource for finding archived articles that can help them with their particular issue.

Here are the top 10 most read answers on REALTOR.com® Blogs in August:

1. Can Realtor Fees Be Negotiated? – Answered by Jonathan Osman, Keller Williams

2. Signing an As Is Contract – Answered by Allan Glass, ASG Real Estate

3. How to Bid on a Short Sale – Answered by Christina Rordam, Exit Realty

4. Buy a Condo or a Single Family Home? – Answered by Karen Crystal, Ewing & Associates/Sotherby’s International

5. How Often Can My Landlord Show My Rental? – Answered by Michelle Lane, Century 21 Commonwealth

6. Fannie Mae Closing Cost Aid – Answered by Christina Rordam, Exit Realty

7. Should I Take a Final Walk Through? – Answered by Tim McBrayer, The Triangles Broker

8. Why Do I Need a Realtor to Buy a House? – Answered by Jonathan Osman, Keller Williams

9. What Should I Look for in a Realtor? – Answered by David Welch, RE/MAX 200 Realty

10. What Does Gross Amount Mean? – Answered by Allan Glass, ASG Real Estate

Do you have a question you’d like answered by a real estate expert? Use the “Ask a REALTOR” form to contact a Realtor for advice and be sure to tell us your city and state so we can find the perfect person to assist you.

The surrounding area is comprised of residents with a median age of 30 and household income of $61,000. About 70 percent own and 24 percent are renters. The median home price is $333,000.

The home was recently featured in the on the market series of the Los Angeles Times.

 A: For Mary, and a lot of other homeowners who are in similar situations, masonite is essentially a siding that is nothing really more than particle board wrapped in paper that has been painted and then hung on a house.  It’s very maintenance intensive and as a result of the material, there’s a number of lawsuits. 

So, Mary, you could actually be able to get into a class action lawsuit.  Though, depending on the age of the house, being 1988, many of those lawsuits have probably passed you by. 

So, the other alternative would be to sell the house for whatever you could get for it.  Now if you owe more than what it’s worth, then it’s  time for you probably to consider a short sale.  And in a short sale, you would be able to sell the house for less than is owed.  And given the current condition, probably not up to market value.   So it would probably be the best way for you to go.  And to get assistance with a short sale, definitely contact a realtor or reach out to your local HUD community counselor who is aside from an eligible local realtor is the best resource for you to go through. 

Never of course pay anyone any upfront fees for any of these mortgage modification services.  As in most states, like in North Carolina, that’s illegal.  

Jonathan Osman is a Realtor/Broker with the Charlotte House Hunter Group at Keller Williams, Charlotte NC.

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By David Welch, Orlando Real Estate
Guest Writer

Many potential buyers are still concerned about their job situation, even if their company has not announced any layoffs. When unemployment is almost in the double digits, people worry a lot more about their job situation. The supply side of the equation is affected by psychology too. Most sellers still believe their home is worth more than their neighbors’ homes, and many do not think that the foreclosures or the short sales in their neighborhoods impact the value of their homes. Appraisers do account for the condition of distressed properties, but many are in good condition and reflect the true market value of the neighborhood. The concern about employment, warranted or not, limits the demand for homes. The persistent denial that values have gone down is creating the excess supply of homes available for sale.

New jobs will not change the minds of sellers that place too high a value on their home, but they will ease the minds of potential buyers. Right now employers are also wary about hiring as economic numbers teeter back and forth. It is also an election year that could be critical to the balance of political power in Washington. I am sure there are employers waiting to see what happens in November before they begin to make hiring decisions. Either way, added jobs will equal added home sales.

David Welch is a self-proclaimed Real Estate Optimist in Orlando, FL.

Click here to read David Welch’s blog.

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1. 13 bed, 23 bath Windermere FL home listed for $100,000,000: Surrounded by sand bottom lakes, this French Provincial estate sits on 10 acres and has private lake frontage and its own boathouse. Not all of the 66,800 square feet is completely built out, but is yours to customize as you wish.

2. 9 bed, 11.5 bath Stateline, NV home listed for $100,000,000: Stateline is home to five casinos, four of which qualify as resorts, but this 38,000-square foot, resort-style home comes with a game room, wine cellar and indoor pool for a getaway, every day.

3. 6 bed, 9 bath Reno, NV home listed for $75,000,000: Reno is known as “America’s Adventure Place” and the gateway to outdoor adventure, and there’s plenty of it surrounding this home. Whether it’s riding horses, water skiing on the lake or hiking the mountain, this 150-acre escape offers a plethora of options.

4. 16 bed Rancho Mirage, CA home listed for $75,000,000: The elevator makes entertaining in this three-story mansion much more convenient. Visit the wine cellar, make your selection, take it to the game room for a round of pool, sip it at the wet bar while admiring the desert view, then head outdoors to a tropical paradise playground.

5. 6 bed, 10 bath Hickory Creek, TX  home listed for $69,900,000: No need to escape to a resort destination – build it right in your backyard. With 48,000 interior square feet and 256 acres populated by gardens, private lakes and majestic trees anything is possible. It’s a developer’s dream.

6. 9 bed, 13 bath Beverly Hills, CA home listed for $68,500,000

7. 12 bed, 17 bath Alpine, NJ home listed for $68,000,000

8. 5 bed, 5 bath Malibu, CA home listed for $65,000,000

9. 9 bed, 13.5 bath Hobe Sound, FL home listed for $65,000,000

10. 9 bed, 6 bath Del Mar, CA home listed for $61,000,000

Check out  Realtor.com’s Facebook Real Estate Trends page to see weekly updates on the Top 10 Most Expensive Homes.

If you have a real estate question, now’s your chance to “Ask a REALTOR®”!

“Ask a Realtor” is a question and answer feature connecting home buyers and sellers with real estate experts. You can ask about any real estate-related item, and many of the answers are published on REALTOR.com® Blogs.

Take a look at some recent examples on Realtor.com, and on our YouTube page.

If you want your question answered, submit now through the Ask a Realtor online form.

–REALTOR.com® Blogs Team

Here are some of their entertaining answers:

“One of my best listings has a dog house that is inappropriately named. If anything, it should be called a “King and Queen Canine Mansion!”
 
I’ve stumbled across many dog houses that were almost suitable for us (people, I mean), however, one particular canine mansion is rivaled only by the actual home that its owners live in; it’s a mini replica of the Victorian Estate!  It even has the high-pitched gabled roof of its human owners.
 
The Victorian-styled puppy estate is not only fit for the most highly sophisticated canine, it is fully equipped with a fresh coat of paint, fresh flowers planted in the window, a gorgeous see-through state-of-the art chain-linked fence and last, but not least, it’s  perfectly positioned in the shade.
 
Go figure –  the canine McMansion houses a pup that has it “made in the shade” and in Hidden Valley’s own lap of luxury!”

Karen Crystal is a Realtor in Ventura County, CA




“Well, I am in Orlando, and we do have a reputation for being sunny and warm. So it should come as no surprise that I came across a home that featured an air-conditioned dog house!”

David Welch is a Real Estate Optimist in Orlando, FL

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1. 4 bed, 3 bath Parkland, FL home listed for $219,000: This is an expanded model on an oversized lot with many appointments including marble floors and wood blinds throughout.

2. 4 bed, 2 bath Kissimmee, FL home listed for $179,900. The golf-front home boasts a screened-in lanai with community tennis, pool and recreation building nearby.

3. 4 bed, 4.5 bath Parkland, FL home listed for $247,500 Floor-to-ceiling windows make it impossible to miss the peaceful lake views. The home has great bones and with a little TLC, the interior views can be aesthetically pleasing as well.

4. 4 bed, 3 bath Fort Myers, FL home listed for $170,000 This may be a short sale, but the upgrade list is long with cherry wood cabinets, plantation shutters, and a screened lanai with a lake view, to name a few.

5. 4 bed, 2 bath Concord, CA home listed for $200,000 With a little TLC this could be a first-time homebuyer’s dream or the perfect downsize for a retiree. 

6. 5 bed, 4 bath Parkland, FL home listed for $250,000

7. 4 bed, 2.5 bath Davie, FL home listed for $225,000

8. 4 bed, 3 bath Myrtle Beach, SC home listed for $208,000

9. 3 bed, 2 bath Wilmington, NC home listed for $175,000

10. 4 bed, 2.5 bath Miami, FL home listed for $175,000

Check out the Realtor.com Facebook page to see weekly updates on the Top 10 Most Searched Homes.

Take a look for yourself:

	In Christopher Solomon’s slideshow story,”Celeb homes: As if you need more proof they don’t live like us“, Realtor.com provided the extravagant visuals of outstanding celebrity homes for sale on the site.
	Inman News had praise for Realtor.com’s new iPhone app in its feature story, “Real estate top apps: social, search,” calling it “a standout.”
	In the popular section “Closing Costs: Recent sold megahomes“, Realtor.com was given props by MSNBC.com for supplying an outstanding Orange County, CA beach property for sale.

She shares her story here:

“What started out with my mother innocently adopting their first dog, Sachi, has ballooned into her volunteering for the Humane Society, donating dog and cat food to shelters, fostering shelter dogs, and permanently adding three more dogs and a cat to their household.  Now keep in mind, their 1,800-square foot house in Flower Mound was smack in the middle of a neighborhood and the backyard was all pool. 

So this past February, as I’m about to walk out the door of my house to meet friends to watch the Super Bowl, my phone rings…it’s my parents.  They are standing outside of a house in Haslet. Unbeknownst to me, for the last six months, my mom has been scouring the internet specifically looking for a house FOR THEIR DOGS.

So they got in the car on Super Bowl Sunday, drove all the way out to Haslet and were standing in the backyard of this vacant house begging me to come meet them. I struggled with my emotions for a few minutes.  My mom says she wants to lease the Flower Mound house out and buy this one.  Right now.  I ask her why and she informs me it’s because the previous owners of this house had an addition built.  Not a fancy sun room overlooking the pond, or a game room…but a dog room. Yes, a dog room. I drove all the way from North Dallas to Haslet and, like a good daughter, I let my parents in to view the house. 

Long story short, we made a full price offer on the house that very day, they closed in mid April and, as a matter of fact, I just got off the phone with my mom who informed me that she has just adopted another dog.”

Michelle Hackney is a REALTOR®, ABR at William Davis Realty in the greater Dallas area.

Take a look at Move.com’s Pets section for more information on how to keep your pets happy and healthy at home.