Question: I had my closing a year ago. Now the title company realizes they made a math error and undercharged me. They want me to pay that amount to them. Am I obligated to do so? They should have Errors and Omissions liability insurance to cover their mistakes, right?

Answer: Let's look at this differently. Imagine that you picked up your laundry at the cleaners and the shop accidentally included three pairs of pants belonging to someone else. Would you keep them? Imagine that three pairs of your pants were delivered to another customer -- would that be okay?

Mistakes are made. We are each imperfect. The title company should be compensated for the work it did simply because that's fair. Whether they have or do not have insurance is not part of the equation.

As well, you likely signed a closing form agreeing to help the closing agent resolve any errors.

Question: I'm going through a divorce. My soon-to-be ex and kids are living in our house and I live somewhere else. Since I've been gone she has refinanced. Can I find out the value of the refinancing? Also, how do I find out what houses are going for in the same area as my house?

Answer: Are you still on the title? If yes, the lender will want you to co-sign the loan, but why sign unless you see all paperwork? Speak with your attorney for specifics.

Alternatively, if you're no longer on the title then check local public records. The sale price and often the amount of the loan are often shown in public records. A list of online public records sites can be found at Research Ventures Prospect Research .

Question: My husband and I are getting our house ready to sell, we're expecting to walk away with about $30,000 dollars at closing. I was about to start looking for a bigger home for our family, when my husband said his father (who is usually pretty smart about financial matters) advised him to sell but not to buy yet, to rent instead. He believes that in a year's time we'll be able to buy a house at half the cost. Is he right?

Answer: No one knows how real estate will be valued in the future, anymore than anyone knows the value of a given stock down the road.

At the very least, you should speak with your father-in-law and consider the basis of his views. For instance, is his concern based on local trends or does he see a nationwide decline? What specific, objective reasons support his view, say a declining local population, job losses, etc.

If the point made by your father-in-law is that real estate values can both rise and fall, then that's true if only because property is a commodity. If he believes values will be literally cut in half, then we are talking about an extreme event -- extreme but not impossible. Asset prices in Japan, as one example, have been substantially devalued since 1989. Investors on Wall Street lost as much as $5 trillion in value as a result of the dot-com crash earlier in this decade. And, certainly, our depression from the 1920s and 1930s saw terrible asset losses.

Could property prices fall by 50 percent in a year? It's hard to envision any set of economic, political or natural causes which would produce such a result. That said, huge federal deficits, massive balance-of-payment outflows to other countries and rising oil prices should trouble everyone.

Question: I had a lease to purchase. The seller agreed to sell me the house for $225,000. He even took $4,000 from me. He then sent me a contract, but it was supposed to be under my mother's name, He never sent a contract again and is selling to someone else. I have emails showing all of this. Now he is evicting me. Shouldn't the emails and the fact he took an extra $4,000 mean that he cannot do this?

How do I make him sell me the property as we agreed?

Answer: Speak with an attorney and ask if you have grounds to compel "specific performance." If appropriate, the lawyer can then write a suitable demand letter.

Question: We need an example of a wraparound deed of trust. Do you have one that I can go buy?

Answer: No. You are about to make a mistake.

A wraparound deed of trust is often used in an effort to get around a loan's due-on-sale clause, the lender's right to call a loan if title changes. Whether such a deed can work or not work is something which needs to be reviewed in terms of state rules and the actual loan agreement.

This is not the type of problem that can be resolved by getting a form from the Internet or a stationary store. Before signing anything, go to the legal clinic or attorney of your choice.

Question: We just bought a house a year ago. It has a third of an acre and is in good shape. Are you better off staying in one place for 30+ years and investing in the property as you go, or is it better to sell every seven years and keep moving?

Answer: Moving or staying are not the only choices. You could also move -- and then rent the old place.

With investment property in a rising market there is a very good reason to do a tax-deferred exchange: If the replacement property is priced substantially above the acquisition price of the relinquished property, you will get a larger depreciation allowance. Thus, even if the rental income does not increase with a trade, the amount of sheltered revenue can grow substantially.

Question: When I pay off a credit card should I leave the account open with a zero balance or close the account? Which is better for my credit score when I'm trying to qualify to purchase a house?

Answer: It may be best to leave it open. The reason? You have a higher credit score when less of your credit is used. Thus a credit card with a $5,000 line and no borrowing is better for credit score purposes that a credit card with a $20,000 line and $14,000 in debt.

Question: I currently own several rental properties, I have 73 percent equity, a 51 percent return or $4,200 a month clear. Do you think refinancing the free and clear ones to buy more is a good idea? From what I've been reading, I should buy as many properties as I can, later sell some and pay off the others.

Answer: What you're saying is that you have several properties and a loan-to-value ratio of 27 percent. As currently financed, the properties yield enough income to cover all costs plus $4,200 a month.

That $4,200 plus your equity could support additional borrowing. You could, for example, raise your loan-to-value ratio to 60 percent -- a level that would thrill most lenders -- and acquire additional properties for cash. The rental from those properties, in turn, could offset your new and higher mortgage costs.

But should you? You have a terrific track record and a good position currently. Before going further you need to look at the local marketplace and consider rental demand; the return you can get for additional properties versus the return from other investments with the same level of risk; general area trends such as population and job growth; and your personal preferences -- do you want to manage more properties? Speak with local brokers for more information.

Question: My sisters and I obtained ownership of my aged mother's home in April of 2002. This was so she would not have to pay property taxes, repairs or homeowners insurance with her limited funds.

We would become the heirs eventually when she passed away if she had retained ownership. She passed away in May of this year and we intend to sell the home and related land. What will be our tax situation? Not being the principle residence of any one of us, we assume the sales it will be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains.

Answer: If you and your sisters "obtained ownership" then you already have title to the property and the home is not part of your mother's estate. This is unfortunate, because had you simply paid your mother's taxes, repairs and such, the home could have been conveyed to you as part of the estate. That means you would have taken ownership at the property's "stepped up" value and not had any capital gains worries. Now if you sell you will have a tax on the difference between what you paid and the sale price.

The lesson here is not to change title without appropriate legal and tax advice.

Question: My mortgage was $1,672 a month. After my lender did an escrow analysis in July they said there was a shortage of $3,500. As a result my mortgage payments rose to $2,300. I don't know if I should pay the shortage and keep my payments at $1,672 or should I use apply $3,500 to help reduce the principal?

Answer: If you divide $3,500 by 12 the result is $291.67 What the lender did, I think, is increase your monthly payment to re-capture the past shortage and to assure that there will not be a shortage this year.

Ask the lender what would happen to your monthly payment if you paid the $3,500 shortage in full. Most likely your monthly loan payment would be around $2,000.

The money needed for escrow and principal payments are different. The escrow money is needed to pay current costs such as property taxes and insurance. A $3,500 principal reduction would not make any monthly payment difference if you have a fixed-rate loan and only a marginal difference if you have an adjustable. For instance, the cost of $3,500 at 7 percent over 30 years would be $23.29. Thus, if you paid down the debt by $3,500, the monthly payment ARM reduction would be limited.

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