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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 23, 2024
By Louise Bolger

Sheetrock rocks

There are a lot of things about Hurricane Milton and its aftermath that are new to me and, unfortunately, so many people. I never thought much about sheetrock except what color to paint it, but I’ve…
October 7, 2024
By Louise Bolger

The epic storm that crept up on us

Hurricane Helene was the second deadliest storm in 55 years, Katrina being the first. Did we expect it? I didn’t, and I think most Florida coastal residents did not fully understand the danger of suc…
September 23, 2024
By Louise Bolger

Fondly remembering the 80s

If you loved shoulder pads, Cabbage Patch Kids and the Rubik’s Cube, you probably loved the 80s. But one thing not to love about the 80s was the home buying affordable rate, which has just been outdo…
September 17, 2024
By Louise Bolger

Vintage, or just old?

My mother had a favorite expression regarding fashion. “You need to shop where you won’t see yourself coming and going,” meaning, seek out stores with a unique selection of goods. The same can be sa…
September 10, 2024
By Louise Bolger

Condominium deconversion

Remember The Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida? Probably haven’t heard that name in a while, but it was the very shocking collapse of the tower with loss of the building and los…
September 3, 2024
By Louise Bolger

Will declining mortgage rates fix the market?

It may take more than the Federal Reserve throwing us a lower interest rate bone this month to make everyone happy. Nevertheless, when it comes to lower rates, we’ll take what we can get, but will it…
August 27, 2024
By Louise Bolger

The day has arrived

Starting this month, the rules have changed for governing real estate commissions. We’ve been talking about this since the National Association of Realtors (NAR) voted on this change to the commissio…
August 20, 2024
By Louise Bolger

Mortgage rate relief?

Aug. 9 was an interesting day. Manatee County was still cleaning up from the flooding and record-breaking rain from Debby and the mortgage rates hit the lowest level in over a year. What’s the connec…
August 12, 2024
By Louise Bolger

Real estate brats

One of the things I love about writing this column is that while I’m doing my research, I frequently stumble on things I never heard of and likely never would in my day-to-day life. This month I lear…
August 5, 2024
By Louise Bolger

Housing market the only thing frozen in August

If you’re one of the lucky homeowners who was able to lock into dirt-cheap mortgage rates, well done. You’re one of the winners in today’s peculiar and lopsided housing markets. This isn’t the first…
July 29, 2024
By Louise Bolger

Hot temps, cool market

For some reason, I’m finding this summer more uncomfortable than in past years. I considered that I’m just getting older, but I can’t believe that, or maybe reading the sales statistics every month i…
July 22, 2024
By Louise Bolger

House swap to escape the heat

Are you hot yet? Are you always saying, “Next summer I’m going to a cooler climate?” Are you starting to feel like you’ll never see 60 degrees again? Well, maybe it’s time to log on to a house-swappi…
July 17, 2024
By Louise Bolger

Appraisals an art form

The last time I did a column about property appraisals was almost four years ago in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic when the real estate market was all over the place and a fair appraisal was dif…
July 9, 2024
By Louise Bolger

Bargains on the beach

Realtor.com is part of my everyday life. I check it for new listings, sold listings, open houses and sometimes just to look at the pictures on what may be an otherwise slow day. Sometimes I even lea…
July 1, 2024
By Louise Bolger

The three-month sofa

Tomorrow is July 4, a festive day for the country and Anna Maria Island, where small-town vibes and celebrations still happen. Flags flying, parades, fireworks and barbecues will be on full display…

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