Quick, everyone who is in a delayed escrow now, bust out with your iPhone and make a music video! Trust me, it will work. Just ask  these clever and musically talented buyers who were waiting FOREVER for their loan to close on their new place. Despite high credit scores & perfect buyer profile, Bank of America kept stalling and stalling on closing their loan. So, at their wits end,this couple made a little music video (more like a video plea) to get BofA to take action...and guess what? It went viral and Bofa followed thru!  

Ziggy rocks! 

*"No more wire hangers!" Hangers are the least of  Faye Dunaway's concerns. She may be ousted from her 1 bedroom rent controlled $1,048.72/mo NYC apartment which she claims as her primary residence. It is allegedly just a pieds-a-terre, which is a no-no for rent controlled units. Looks like Dunaway's apt will soo be "done away." [via NYTimes] 

*Student Loan Bubble! Well, no wonder people can't afford a home! They are buried up to their armpits in student loan debt!  I hear that  for the 1st time ever, student debt surpassed credit card debt in America. We'll be a generation of renters! [via Gawker]

*After plopping  down $3.4M for a Toluca Lake house in 2010, Miley Cyrus just dropped another $4M on new Studio City house. Geez, when I was 18 yrs old, I could hardly scrape together $4 for a Happy Meal! [via Hollywood Reporter]

*In un-related Miley news, the teen starlet got a marriage equality tattoo on her hand. As much as I envy her, I definitely can't hate on her. [via Perez Hilton ]

*Foreclosure via Facebook. Banks now serving papers thru social media. Just another reason to increase your privacy settings! [via Time.com]

*Subprime lending roars back with a vengence! Is history doomed to repeat itself? [via HuffPost]

*Contrary to popular reports from Perez Hilton to Huffington Post, Carnie Wilson of 90's pop trio  Wilson Phillip's fame (and recently featured in Bridesmaids) is not in foreclosure. She says  "My house is not in foreclosure. My house is in a short sale." OK, she's not in foreclosure. She's in pre-foreclosure. [via Zap2it]

QUESTION
Hello Herman, I am totally insulted that my agent won’t show me any more homes until I get pre-approved for a loan...It’s not any of her business yet.  Shouldn’t we find our house first and then work on a loan? -Abbie

ANSWER
Abbie, simmer down! No need to be insulted. Everyone is being very cautious nowadays....

Read the rest of my no non-sense advice for MTV's site 365gay.

Tell me when & why your realtor nagged you!

Boy oh boy do I hate answering these kinds of emails! I usually like to be the bearing of good news, as everyone's favorite ball of sunshine. But alas, today I am Grumpy Guss & I gotta burst this man's bubble with bad news.  Let me know if I let him down easy! Comment on the site directly here.

On a more professional note,  I sometimes get asked about the effectivenesss of those federal and state tax credits. They  were touted as the saving grace for the struggling real estate industry.  Yet I always felt  that, as well intentioned as they were, they were merely a short term band-aid solution.  It certainly did not jumpstart the real estate market to recovery. It was a temporary device to artificially prop up the housing market.

Did they really think it was gonna be that easy to un-do all the subprime loans & predatory lending entrenched on Wall St?! Band-aids are for treating cuts and bruises.... not for  herroraging amputated limbs!

I hope you enjoyed my video response last week for LogoOnline / 365gay.com. We are alternating between video and written response.  This week will be written.

Read my latest real estate Q&A for Ask an Expert Column. 

Ari and his partner bought a house during school.  With graduation around the corner, one of them may get a job relocation and another may go to law school. What should they do with their house? Rent it? Sell it?

What is a sure fire way for a buyer to submarine their purchase? Lowball the seller's price? Submit a  3 page laundry list of repairsfor the seller? No! It's going on an Imedla Marcos shopping spree!  If you are in contract with your new house, avoid any huge purchases before you close! You might disrupt your debt-to-income ratio & blow your deal! Hold off onengagement rings, cars, big appliances until AFTER you get your keys!