1031 Exchanges and Title Insurance: What Ohio Real Estate Investors Should Know
Articles Charlene Echerivel

1031 Exchanges and Title Insurance: What Ohio Real Estate Investors Should Know

Deferring Capital Gains on Investment Property For real estate investors in Southwest Ohio, a 1031 exchange, named for Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, offers a way to sell an investment property and reinvest the proceeds into another like-kind property while deferring capital gains taxes that would otherwise be due immediately. While the tax …

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Ohio's Deed Recording Requirements: Why Recording Matters After Closing
Articles Charlene Echerivel

Ohio’s Deed Recording Requirements: Why Recording Matters After Closing

Closing Isn't the Final Step After signing all the paperwork at closing, it's easy to assume the transaction is complete. But one important step often happens just after closing day: recording the deed with the county recorder's office. In Ohio, this administrative step carries real legal weight, and understanding why it matters can help buyers …

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Power of Attorney at the Closing Table: What Ohio Buyers and Sellers Need to Know
Articles Charlene Echerivel

Power of Attorney at the Closing Table: What Ohio Buyers and Sellers Need to Know

Can Someone Else Sign Your Closing Documents? Life doesn't always cooperate with closing dates. Military deployment, medical issues, travel, or simply living out of state can make it impossible for a buyer or seller to attend their own closing in person. In these situations, a power of attorney can allow a trusted agent to sign …

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Trust-Held Property Closings in Ohio: What to Know When the Seller Is a Trust
Articles Charlene Echerivel

Trust-Held Property Closings in Ohio: What to Know When the Seller Is a Trust

Buying a Home That's Held in a Trust Many Ohio homeowners place their property into a revocable living trust as part of their estate plan, often to avoid probate and simplify the transfer of assets to heirs. If you're buying a home and discover during the title search that the seller is actually a trust …

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Deed Fraud Is Rising: How Ohio Homeowners Can Protect Their Title
Articles, Consumer Protection & Fraud Prevention Charlene Echerivel

Deed Fraud Is Rising: How Ohio Homeowners Can Protect Their Title

What Deed Fraud Actually Looks Like Deed fraud, sometimes called title theft, generally happens when someone files a forged or otherwise fraudulent deed with the county recorder's office, attempting to transfer a property's title away from its rightful owner entirely without that owner's knowledge or consent. It often targets vacant land, rental properties, homes owned …

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How Rising Interest Rates Are Shifting Buyer and Seller Leverage
Articles, Local Market Updates Charlene Echerivel

How Rising Interest Rates Are Shifting Buyer and Seller Leverage

Where Rates Stand Right Now The benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate has been holding in the mid-6% range through much of 2026. Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 6.67% as of August 13, 2026, down slightly from 6.69% the week before, and up from 6.58% a year earlier. Forecasters …

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What Happens When the Appraisal Comes in Low?
Articles, Home Selling Education Charlene Echerivel

What Happens When the Appraisal Comes in Low?

Why Appraisals and Purchase Prices Sometimes Diverge A low appraisal simply means the appraiser's independent estimate of value came in under your agreed purchase price. It happens more often in fast-moving or low-inventory markets, where buyers compete aggressively and bid above recent comparable sales. It can also happen if there aren't enough truly comparable recent …

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How Agents Solve Problems Buyers Never See
Articles, Behind-the-Scenes, Real Estate Agent Expertise Charlene Echerivel

How Agents Solve Problems Buyers Never See

Keeping the Timeline Together Behind the Scenes A closing date depends on dozens of moving pieces all lining up at once: appraisal scheduling, loan underwriting progress, inspection-related repairs getting completed, title clearance, and careful coordination with everyone else in the chain if you happen to be buying and selling a home at the same time. …

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Buying New Construction
Articles, New Construction Charlene Echerivel

Buying New Construction: What’s Different From a Resale Closing

You're Often Working With the Builder's Contract, Not a Standard Purchase Agreement Resale transactions typically use a standard state or local real estate association purchase contract that's fairly consistent from one deal to the next, regardless of which agents or attorneys are involved. New construction purchases, by contrast, usually run on the builder's own proprietary …

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How Interest Rates, Inflation, and Employment Are Shaping Ohio's Housing Market
Articles, Economic & Real Estate Trends Charlene Echerivel

How Interest Rates, Inflation, and Employment Are Shaping Ohio’s Housing Market

Mortgage Rates Are Holding in the Mid-6% Range The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has been hovering stubbornly in the mid-6% range through the summer of 2026, offering little relief to buyers hoping for a meaningful drop. According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed averaged 6.66% as of August 27, 2026, essentially …

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