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Louise Bolger

Louise Bolger

August 17, 2017
Louise Bolger is The Sun’s Real Estate columnist.
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October 11, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Mortgage protection in the time of COVID

As we keep moving along down this never-ending pandemic road, hardly a day goes by when there isn’t another major hit to our nervous system. Buried in all of this bad news and extraordinary events th…
October 4, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Florida is new home to thousands

When I moved to Florida 23 years ago, I honestly thought I was at the end of the world. During my dog’s 11 o’clock walk, the brightness of the stars was so overwhelming, I would ask the dog, “Where h…
September 27, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Mortgage interest rates lowest since 1971

Based on current interest rates, it’s a great time to buy a home, and it’s also a great time to sell a home. At this moment in time, sellers have the upper hand, prices are high, inventory is low and…
September 21, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

COVID can’t ground soaring real estate market

Strange doesn’t even come close to describing today’s real estate market. You would think that in the middle of a pandemic, everyone would be afraid to leave their home, much less purchase a new one…
September 13, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

To disclose or not to disclose

Since there are no perfect houses, when it comes time to sell your imperfect home, just how honest do you have to be about its defects? Basically, you should disclose anything that might affect a…
September 5, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Everyone needs a change – even in paradise

Are you starting to feel like you’re in prison? Granted it’s a really nice prison and you’re enjoying the views, but since you haven’t left recently, even the beach gets redundant. Welcome to what I’…
August 29, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Real estate sales reaching lofty heights

The above-the-fold headline in a national newspaper a couple of weeks ago said this: “Home sales reach lofty heights.” My real estate heart started fluttering even before I read the first sentence, a…
August 21, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Homeownership still a great deal

Benjamin Franklin was the author of many memorable sayings, and one of the most memorable is, “There are only two certainties in life – death and taxes.” In spite of the very volatile times we’re liv…
August 16, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Buy a yard for your Zoom

If you look at a lot of waterfront advertising, you see a commonly used phrase – “buy your boat a home.” Now with COVID-19 influencing almost everything in our lives, pretty soon you’re likely to see…
August 10, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

COVID causes changes in housing market

Lots of people these days are telling themselves, “If this is the one life I have to live, maybe I need to set some priorities.” According to national and local real estate sales statistics, a lot of…
August 2, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

When the news is good, be happy

The news hasn’t been that great recently, but the one bright spot is the country’s housing market. Likewise, Manatee County’s housing market is shining almost as bright as the afternoon westerly sun…
July 26, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Are historic low interest rates a good thing?

I really hate to use this much-overused opening line from A Tale of Two Cities, but it works and I have no shame. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” perfectly describes the residen…
July 20, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Perspective on the real estate market

There’s no getting around it; what we’re living through is one for the history books. When we finally come to the end of the dark tunnel called COVID, there will be changes to our lifestyle in ways w…
July 13, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

COVID-19 hitting the credit market

Just when you need credit the most it’s becoming more elusive. Americans have always depended on the equity in their homes as a slush fund for an emergency or big-ticket items like tuitions and home…
July 5, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Add one more problem to the list

I was at lunch recently with friends and we talked about new vocabulary words that may come out of the pandemic, like covid brain, covid dining and covid social distancing. Real estate has always had…