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Louise Bolger

Louise Bolger

August 17, 2017
Louise Bolger is The Sun’s Real Estate columnist.
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June 7, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Mortgage forbearance can lead to foreclosures

Sometimes when something looks too good to be true, it is, and this may be one of those times for mortgage forbearance. Just to be clear, the definition of forbearance is a pause, not a termination…
June 1, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

It’s June – do you know what that means?

Here we are again – the official beginning of hurricane season. But as every Floridian knows, hurricane season is a moving target, as are hurricanes. One week you’re basking in the glow of sunshine a…
May 23, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Does anyone have a clue what’s going on?

Just like the coronavirus predictions about numbers of infections and deaths have been off the mark, so too are the predictions about the future real estate market. There are a whole range of conflic…
May 17, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

When the real estate market sneezes, it infects everyone

The last thing anyone wants these days is for someone next to you in line at the market, the bank or in our slowly-opening restaurants to sneeze near you. But if the real estate market starts to get…
May 11, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

What’s bad for New York may be good for Florida

I am a New Yorker, I was born in New York City and worked for 25 years in the city. Until I moved to Florida over 20 years ago, I lived my whole life in either New York City or its surrounding suburb…
May 4, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Preparedness for COVID-19, hurricanes not the same

Since the middle of March, we have been filling our freezers to overflowing and our pantries with enough paper products to grow a forest in an effort to abide by social distancing and reduce visits t…
April 27, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Lockdown creativity

We are so living during a time when creativity can make the difference between just getting through it or getting through it with a bit of flair, and real estate purchasing is opting for the latter…
April 19, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Changes in the pandemic age

If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s how quickly everything can change, and the real estate market is no exception. We went from a blow-out real estate market, overflowing restaurants, planning h…
April 12, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Locked up in paradise

As I write this, outside is the first non-perfect spring Florida day in about three weeks. It just makes me more thankful for living in paradise even if we’re locked down. You can still walk out your…
April 5, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Home is where the disinfectant is

By now you should be getting to know your house really well, its assets and its defects, and it sounds like you’ll have a lot more time to make those assessments. Point is your home is you and your f…
March 30, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

April real estate fools

Well here we are; it’s April 1st, April Fools’ Day, and most of us are camping out in our homes while some of the best spring weather is outside our doors. Fortunately, this is Florida and you can st…
March 22, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Just tell me what you want

Remember the movie, “What Women Want” with Mel Gibson about 20 years ago? He suddenly acquired the ability to read women’s minds, not men’s minds, just women. There are real estate professionals out…
March 16, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Million-dollar homes and curb appeal

Three months pass by really quickly. Just think about where you were three months ago mid-December; wrapping Christmas gifts, planning a New Year’s Eve party, getting your heating system checked for…
March 9, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Real estate in the time of coronavirus

Last week I wrote about a seller’s market, which we are in at this moment in time. I cautioned about sellers not getting too smug about the value of their property, and how markets can turn on a dime…
March 2, 2020
By Louise Bolger
Castles in the Sand

Seller’s market?

We’re in a seller’s market, words that every homeowner wants to hear. But even a seller’s market needs to be handled with care and respected; it can turn on a dime on so many factors, quickly depleti…