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Louise Bolger

Louise Bolger

August 17, 2017
Louise Bolger is The Sun’s Real Estate columnist.
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July 11, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

The value of a renovated home

Most homebuyers today want to buy a home, but very few want to buy a project. Nice work if you can get it, but even in our slightly leveling-off market, it may not be so easy. Unfortunately for bu…
July 3, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Is having two homes too much?

This column is all about being careful what you wish for. Some people love their childhood home and long for the day they will inherit it from their parents. Others know if they just had that beach h…
June 26, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

100 years of paradise

Anna Maria is celebrating 100 years of providing exquisite beaches and aqua water to beachgoers and visitors. The celebration started on Memorial Day and will probably go on for several months and ri…
June 21, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Timing is everything

In life, sometimes it’s just luck that makes the life-changing decisions we make look genius. In real estate, the importance of the old adage, “location, location, location” is only surpassed by timi…
June 12, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

It can’t hurt to ask

In certain parts of the world, the marketplace is designed for negotiation. Don’t ever offer full price and don’t ever accept the first negotiation are two commonly employed strategies. It’s a cultur…
June 5, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

More fraud red flags

Summer is here and while you’re sitting on the beach you might not want to think about real estate fraud, but fraudsters may be thinking about you. Over the past few weeks, we’ve gone over different…
May 22, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Too good to give up

According to Lawrence Yen, whom I quote frequently, “It’s a unique market condition.” Coming from the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, this is saying something considering…
May 15, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Fraud by any other name is still fraud

For many of us who hold Florida real estate licenses in the state, you will be renewing this year. Renewal is pretty easy, it’s a 14-hour open book test and a state fee. Every renewal period addresse…
May 8, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Packing up the wealth

Pity the poor governors of some of the large metropolitan areas in the Northeast, West and Mid-west. Specifically, New York and Illinois, where their mostly wealthy and upper-middle-class residents a…
May 1, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

One country, two housing markets

The trend has been obvious for a while, east coast versus west coast with COVID-19 accelerating the movement. In fact, the March sales statistics are still showing that home prices are declining the…
April 25, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Baby boomers continue to influence

Is the baby boomer generation ever going to disappear? Well, they surely will, but it could take another 40 years since the youngest of this influential generation is only 58. This large generation b…
April 17, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Contingency clauses

The word “contingent” is defined as “subject to chance,” something that no one wants to hear in a real estate transaction. However, every contract to purchase real estate is likely to have contingenc…
April 10, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Honesty is such a lonely word

In 1978, Billy Joel won a Grammy Award for his song “Honesty.” The premise of the song was how dishonest relations between lovers can be. But honesty, integrity and straightforwardness of conduct are…
April 3, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Real estate potpourri

Think of the real estate market as one big pot. Into the pot you throw in the asking price of a property, selling price, availability of properties, mortgage interest rate and your personal credit sc…
March 27, 2023
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Rate sensitive

Mortgage rates appear to be controlling the real estate market across the country. My new favorite term is “rate sensitive.” This means that a buyer who would have been happy at 6.75% ran f…