Louise Bolger
August 17, 2017
Louise Bolger is The Sun’s Real Estate columnist.
September 28, 2025
Finally, meaningful declining mortgage rates
The Federal Reserve finally graced us with a lower interest rate bone on Sept. 16 that should make everyone happy. The reason this ¼ point reduction is important is that the Federal Reserve all but p…
September 22, 2025
Mortgage fraud and hurricanes
You might not think that mortgage fraud and hurricanes have much in common. But if you get caught in a mortgage fraud, it could end up being the biggest hurricane you’ve ever seen.
There have been…
September 16, 2025
Signs of a real estate turnaround
Did you hear it? Did you hear buyers and sellers, and, of course, real estate professionals slightly exhaling the breath they have been holding for over a year now?
There are definite signs that…
September 8, 2025
Are you buying a house for the boat slip?
Buyers all come to the house hunting jungle with their lists of must haves and can’t stands. But when they’re looking for a waterfront property to buy, whether it’s a single-family home or a condo, i…
September 1, 2025
Are we stuck in place?
I wrote a column that came out on Aug. 20 talking about moving trends around the country focusing on Florida and Manatee County. This week I’m going to talk about how mobility around the country is s…
August 25, 2025
Homeownership in the golden years
Back in June, I wrote a column asking, “Are you tired of homeownership?” focusing on renting versus owning. Well, it now appears that plenty of people are tired of homeownership, primarily in the go…
August 19, 2025
Americans on the move
Americans have always moved around. Going back to the original settlers who first landed on the eastern coast of the country, everyone was looking for adventure and opportunity. Not much has changed;…
August 12, 2025
What investors are eyeing now
The old expression “follow the money” can be applied to several different aspects of life. Sometimes it’s as simple as tracking trades in the stock market and sometimes following the money can discl…
August 4, 2025
The property closing dance
There are all kinds of issues that can arise between signing a contract for sale and the actual closing. Realtors always say don’t spend your commission ‘til the check is in your hand, and that is g…
July 29, 2025
Why aren’t we a boomtown?
Looking for a boomtown? Then look in the South. Eight of the top 10 U.S. metro areas ranking as boomtowns are in the South; five are in Florida. But there’s not one in Manatee or Sarasota counties or…
July 21, 2025
Disasters may have silver lining
Last week we talked about the future restoration and look of Cortez after the storms and after the county’s purchase of the Seafood Shack property. This week we’ll cover an emerging trend in the coun…
July 15, 2025
Look to the future
Time to talk about Cortez again in view of the monumental changes being made on the Cortez peninsula and, by extension, within the fishing village. The changes will affect all Cortez residents and ma…
July 6, 2025
There are bridges and there are bridges
There are a lot of bridges on the coastline of Florida. They serve as an important function to transport vehicles and people to our beautiful beaches and restaurants. However, there is another type o…
June 30, 2025
Big holiday, not so big housing market
July Fourth is this week, so fire up the grill and hang up the flags, but go easy on the fireworks. You may not need real fireworks after reading the May sales statistics for Manatee County and the g…
June 23, 2025
Time to consider downsizing your home
Sometimes it’s just time for a change, and that change can take a lot of different forms – breaking off toxic relationships, getting a new vehicle that isn’t a BMW or Mercedes, or downsizing your liv…
