I am surprised that some insurance agency does not offer competitive policies since it seems like they could make a killing on a $400 policy for only a few months of risk exposure.

If you're the seller you would want to provide disclosures of any significant issues concerning your property to a potential buyer when they're looking at the property, if you're listing with a real estate agent/broker then you should provide instructions in the listing agreement to make such disclosure in their written or online materials for the property.Making a disclosure of existing issues, or known potential issues that you know as fact could potentially negatively affect the property will reduce the burden of surprise during negotiations and mitigate the risks of potential future lawsuits. 

I'd be surprised if it was done by the previous seller.  

Let the guy that created the mess fix it.Yes that was my initial plan, I was surprised the bank wouldn't accept the offer contingent on that.  

Chad:  Ironically, the Schedule 1 banks are not getting that lenient - the government has even pulled back the qualification and other regulations to where they were a decade ago to try and prevent a fiasco akin to what the U.S.A. suffered though in 2008/2009.I too am also very surprised, and wonder if the bank has placed a second (HELOC) on the other property, but perhaps a registered lien in Québec is sufficient to secure their position.Lisa - are you dealing with Desjardins?

Hey Jennifer,Just read your note and was very surprised.

Well, not being surprised is somewhat preventable.  

Tax rates are pretty much the same for Montclair and Newark, it is all based on the property value.I was surprised to see areas like Irvington and East Orange to have the highest rates, but property values are very low.http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/lpt/taxra...Hope this helps :)Anastasia

I'm surprised a $40k house wouldn't cash flow at $750.  

This doesn't surprise me, but still a questionable thing happening in our area--and in Canada too.Best to you!