A divorce mortgage is a refinance transaction that removes the departing spouse from the current debt secured by the home or other real estate. The spouse retaining the property refinances the loan that is currently in both parties name with a loan in their name alone.

Last week, I broke down the various price ranges in real estate and what we might expect for the coming year. I mentioned that the 400-800K price range might be the toughest price range to sell for a variety of reasons.

Ok, it’s that time of year again to rub my crystal ball and foretell the coming year in real estate. I should disclose that I am not a professional crystal ball reader so take this interpretation for what it’s worth (totally free, unscientific guess).

Here we are at the end of the year. It’s always a good time to sit back and reflect on the past year. I also like to make a quick list of the lessons I have learned over the last year in Real Estate.

Unfortunately, some of the terms in the mortgage industry are not applied uniformly. My favorite example concerns a mortgage that supposedly has no closing costs.

A friend of mine was on a business panel and he was asked the question, “As an employer, what is the number one characteristic you look for when hiring someone?”

About half of the mortgages I will close in December are for people who have an existing FHA mortgage and thought they could not refinance because of all the misinformation floating around about the current mortgage environment.

Most of the time, the sequel to a movie is never as good as the original. Recently the federal government announced that it was reviving the Home Ownership Refinancing Program (HARP) allowing homeowners who owe more their home is worth to refinance.

If you have been following this column all month, you would know that I have been writing about the fix and flip business as well the fix and rent business. If you would like to re-read any of those columns, you can do so at www.coloradodreamhouse.com/news.

Have you ever heard of the spreadsheet guy? It is today’s modern buyer. He is highly educated, highly motivated, and beyond analytical. This is the guy that goes out to look at homes with his laptop or iPad in hand.