Property solutions

A house can be the hardest part of a hard year.

It is also the part with the most moving pieces: a deed, a mortgage, taxes, insurance, liens, other people, and a clock that nobody set. Here is how I help you get it into order.

Talk about your property Call (404) 903-3788

A modest single-story brick house on a quiet street in late afternoon light

The four situations people bring me most.

A set of house keys resting on a stack of envelopes and papers on a wooden table

An inherited house

You became the owner because someone died, and now there is a house with a mortgage, taxes, insurance, and a lifetime of belongings in it. Before any decision, we establish what you actually hold, who else has an interest, and what it costs each month to keep it standing.

A blank weekly planner, a pen, and a mug on a sunlit wooden desk

A property tied up in a divorce

One of you wants to keep it, or neither of you does, or you agree on nothing at all. We separate the emotional question from the arithmetic: what the house costs, what it is worth, what each option does to both people, and what has to be settled before anything can be signed.

A home that needs to be sold or handed off

It needs repairs you cannot afford, or it is full of things nobody has sorted, or it sits four states away from you. We look at what it takes to sell as-is, what a little work would change, and what handing it off to someone else would honestly cost you.

A tidy stack of manila folders and papers on a wooden desk beside a small lamp

Liens standing in the way

A tax lien, a judgment, an old contractor claim, or a second mortgage nobody mentioned. A lien attaches to the property, not to you personally, and it usually has to be resolved before a closing can happen. We find out exactly what is recorded and what it will take to clear it.

The process

From the first call to a closed file.

Six steps. The pace depends on the property, the people, and the county — but the order almost never changes.

Start at step one

Step 1The first callYou tell me what you have and what is worrying you. No paperwork needed yet. I ask questions about the property, the people involved, and what you would like to be true a year from now.
Step 2Get the record straightWho is on the deed. What loans are against it. What the county shows for taxes and recorded liens. Whether there is insurance, and whether it is still in force. This is usually a week of phone calls and a few online records requests.
Step 3Run the numbers honestlyWhat it costs to hold the property each month. What it would bring as-is, and what a modest repair would change. What you would walk away with, or owe, in each case. Numbers first, feelings second — it makes the feelings easier to sort.
Step 4Choose the pathSell, keep, rent it out, or hand it off. We name the path you are taking, who else has to agree, and what happens if they do not. If the honest answer is that you need an attorney to weigh in first, that is the next step.
Step 5Do the workThe unglamorous middle: the repairs, the cleanout, the paperwork, the appraisals, the professionals. I stay with you through it, and I help you keep the people involved moving on the same timeline.
Step 6Close it outThe closing, the transfer, the lien released, the final accounting. Then we make sure nothing is left dangling in your name — an open utility, an insurance policy, a tax bill that follows the property rather than the new owner.

What helps to have on hand

You do not need any of this for the first conversation. But if you have it, bring it — it turns two weeks of phone calls into one.

The deed, or the names as they appear on it
The most recent statement for each loan against the property
The last property tax bill and any letters from the county
Any notice about a lien, a judgment, or a filing
The homeowners insurance policy, if it is still active
A rough list of what is in the house and who else has a key

A modest two-story apartment building with a leafy tree in front, in warm evening light

Where the professionals come in

Anything you would sign, I want an attorney to have read. Anything involving taxes, liens, or the estate, I want a tax professional or the estate’s representative in the conversation. I am not either of those, and I will not pretend otherwise.

What I do is make sure you get to them with your records in order and your questions written down, so the hour you pay for is spent on answers rather than on catching somebody up.

Ask about your property

Or text (404) 903-3788 with a sentence about what is going on.