share with us? we'd love to hear it. send me an e-mail or go to our website -- strangeinheritance.com. >> i'm bob massi. for 32 years, i've been practicing law and living in las vegas. i help people with all sorts of real-estate problems, from trying to save their homes to closing major deals. eight years ago, 6,000 people a month moved here, looking for employment and affordable homes. little did anyone know that we would become ground zero for the american real-estate crisis. now, it's a different story. the american dream is back. we're gonna meet real people who faced the same problems as millions across america, and we'll dive deep into a city on the rebound because las vegas was a microcosm of america, and now vegas is back. [ woman vocalizing ]

thanks for joining us. i'm bob massi. what if you could change your whole neighborhood or even an entire city? i'm gonna introduce you to some people who are doing just that, with amazing results. downtown las vegas has a rich history, but as the famous strip got built up and the suburbs grew outward, well, much of old vegas -- it became abandoned. then came the recession, which devastated the entire area. attorney oscar goodman was mayor at that time. his wife, carolyn, now is the current mayor. >> when you become the mayor, you see the first signs of blight. i didn't even know what the word meant at the time. windows were becoming boarded up in the downtown. i had been around the country. i went through various downtowns, and i saw what looked to me like war zones -- rubble and the like. and i didn't want that here for las vegas. >> things were looking pretty bleak for vegas, especially downtown, and despite the financial troubles, the city had already committed to moving out of this building, which housed city hall, the municipal court,

and the metropolitan police department. that would have left this enormous campus simply empty -- another massive hole in already depressed downtown las vegas. but tony hsieh, the c.e.o. of online retail giant zappos -- he approached the mayor. rather than constructing a new headquarters for the rapidly expanding zappos, well, tony hsieh had an idea. he wanted to take over and repurpose the old city hall. the end result was the largest ribbon cutting ever... >> cut! [ cheers and applause ] >> ...with every single zappos employee taking part. it was just the beginning of what some people say saved downtown las vegas. let's go take a look at exactly what they did. >> as you know, it's a historic building. the building's over 40 years old. it was the very first city hall that the city actually built itself to be the government seat. there was the metropolitan police department here, the municipal courts. for us, it was an adaptive reuse of an old building. so, we respected the exterior of the building. we added a very modest neon sign

on the outside, but, really, the magic is on the inside, where we really transformed the building and zappified it, as we like to say. >> and that they did. not only does it not look like a courthouse and city hall anymore, it doesn't look like any corporate office you've ever seen. the unique zappos culture has taken over. in all the days i've practiced law, i remember walking in here, and i remember what was here -- a lot of the city attorneys and things like that. and now another extension of zappos -- walk into a room that is full of stuffed animals. we have these plastic balls. we have zebras. >> this is just part of our culture. >> there are some things from the old building that zappos couldn't resist leaving alone, like the decor of the company gym. this is the old holding tank, where they used to bring the prisoners in the city. >> this is for our employees here to come and work out. most of the second floor of the old city hall in this part of the building was the old city jail. they used to bring the prisoners through the basement, and, actually, they would land here on the second floor, where they would be processed, given a nice uniform to wear, and stayed a

few nights. >> another historic piece of old vegas was left untouched -- the old city chambers, which is now zappos' corporate meeting space. >> this we left exactly the way it was when it was city council. you can tell by the design -- the stereotypical late '80s, early '90s. >> oh, absolutely. and to have a company like yours to come in and sort of preserve this is really very nice, you know, because it's sort of a part of the past. >> exactly. you know, for us, preserving this historic building, especially the exterior of the building, which is covered -- almost 90% of the building is all travertine marble. we respected that. >> thank you so much for calling zappos. my name is shannon. and who am i speaking with today? >> the call center is the backbone of our operation -- over 600 strong, from our 1,600 employees. they're located in this area and several parts of the building. these folks are on the phones 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, helping our customers out. >> and filling the old city hall with thousands of young zappo employees had an immediate effect on the surrounding area. >> so much of what tony hsieh has brought to town, which truly has electrified us, 'cause, boy,

have we gotten international focus on us because of this youthful, energized collision of people, and it's so exciting. >> when we come back, zappos decided to transform not just their headquarters but all of downtown, using a giant, fire-breathing praying mantis. it's something that could come to your city very soon. [ woman vocalizing ] you know who likes to be in control? this guy. check it out! self-appendectomy! oh, that's really attached. that's why i rent from national. where i get the control to choose any car in the aisle i want, not some car they choose for me. which makes me one smooth operator. ah! still a little tender. (vo) go national. go like a pro. to make something original...

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♪ >> i'm bob massi, the property man. when tony hsieh and zappos plopped themselves down in the middle of downtown las vegas, well, things started to change. but then he decided to really shake things up and transform the entire area. ♪ he launched a massive private-redevelopment program called the downtown project. >> the project itself has been funded entirely by tony hsieh. so, there's $350 million been put into this project. $200 million went into

property -- just buying real estate -- so the project itself owns 65 acres of land in downtown. $50 million went into funding a whole bunch of tech companies to try and bring innovation and creativity downtown. $50 million went into small businesses -- everything from hairdressing salons to amazing restaurants, food and beverage, bars, juice bars, yoga studios, just to really try and kind of be a catalyst for change for this community. >> along comes tony hsieh and zappos, and they take over the old city hall, and he brings in the critical mass, where we now have the little grocery stores. and a week ago, i actually went to a bookstore in the downtown. it was phenomenal -- i mean, a real bookstore in downtown las vegas. >> i came to las vegas about 14 years ago and been working in the casinos and cooking as a chef. >> natalie young had always wanted to open a restaurant, but she was completely broke. then she met tony hsieh and

suddenly had a $250,000 loan. >> tony walked in to where i was at, and he said, "what size restaurant do you want?" and eight months later, i had my own restaurant. i paid back the loan in a year and three months, so it's a win-win situation for everybody. it's been amazing. across the street, there was a motel 6 right when i moved in here, and that was pretty much it. now there's five restaurants in the very close vicinity of here and other small businesses that are coming in. >> john curran is head of rgg, the downtown project's housing-development arm. >> here we've got glutton, which is sort of a gourmet-comfort-food concept. and right next door, it's got vegenation, which is an all vegan, or plant-powered, as they call it, restaurant. >> ♪ fremont street just can't be beat ♪ ♪ when lady luck shines on me >> downtown las vegas area had long been blighted, but they didn't want to disneyfy old vegas, so on the outside, the old vegas vibe remains, while

the inside is completely transformed. >> so, john e. carson was a 64-unit extended-stay residence hotel. each of the units was like 10'x10'. it had a sink and a closet in it and a shared toilet. >> the old john e. carson hotel may look the same as it has for decades on the outside, but it is now the home of new stores like the doughnut store. >> this very cool, kitsch, retro kind of design doughnut shop that has the best doughnuts in town. >> if there's something standing and in good shape, like the john e. carson was, we're really not going to tear it apart and reassemble it, so you get this sort of collision of the old and new. >> it's so exciting, what they're doing. there's an old medical office converted into the beat, which is a coffee shop -- really cute. but all those examining rooms made into individual art galleries. ♪ >> and they have life is beautiful, which is a special event. you know, you talk about the burning man? well, they used a similar concept, but they make it into an urban experience, and they have music, they have speeches,

they've got artwork, they have a cooking fair. i mean, it goes on for three days and nights. it doesn't stop. i remember our first first friday here when i was the mayor. i guess it's like 14 years ago. 30 people came. now they get 20,000 down there. ♪ >> the local barbershop -- been around for decades, and they have seen the neighborhood transform around them. >> it's changing dramatically, and we love it here. the neighborhood was pretty bad. when we moved down here, it was all base -- you know what i'm saying? -- drugs, prostitution. but now it has -- there wasn't even restaurants down here at the time. a lot of people are starting to walk around and smile. it's a smiling area now. >> ♪ never seen the sky so blue ♪ >> an old motel, long run down and abandoned, has been brought back to life as a swanky boutique hotel, but that classic old vegas vibe remains. >> we are an 86-room hotel.

all 86 rooms are individually designed, unique to one another -- different artwork, furniture, and layouts, as well. >> in the old days, this was basically -- really did become somewhat of a rundown motel, correct? >> this originally was a travelodge built in 1962. with the changes that have been happening in the last couple of years, what we've seen is that a lot of people are coming down here and gravitating down here, just to come hang out and take downtown in and just hang out. >> well, i can tell you this -- this is definitely not a room from 1962. >> no. not at all. >> this is beautiful. >> thank you. the gold spike was a casino way past its prime. >> i was scared to go into the casino for fear of getting a secondary lung disease. now it's a boutique hotel. >> that used to be in the pit, where we used to have table games. >> yep. >> there'd be gaming machines all throughout here. you know, it's just one of those things where it used to be a lot smokier back then, as well. what you see here monday through friday during the day is you walk in and there's people working on their computers. we use it more as a co-working space, and as we get later on into the evening, the lights get dim, the music gets a little bit louder, the happy hour starts,

and it morphs into a party pretty much every night. so while people work in the day, they party at night. >> but how do you know if a business will succeed? well, you could try them out first by putting them in a shipping container. ♪ container park is a collection of businesses which inhabit 30 reconstructed shipping containers and 41 metal tubes. they plopped them down on the former site of an old run-down motel and put a giant treehouse playground in the middle -- out front, a giant, fire-breathing praying mantis that tony hsieh got at burning man. mark rowland runs dtp ventures, which supports the businesses created by the downtown project. >> there are lots of small businesses working out of these little containers, and it's shops only, so it's a little bit of a business incubator. >> so, let's talk about these containers. like, for example, i'm looking at this barbecue. >> yep, big ern's bbq. >> so, this is a container? >> that's an old shipping container repurposed. >> they came from a shipping yard in southern california, and

we repurposed them, you know, redecorated them, insulated them, and did whatever we had to do to get them to be habitable structures. we've got six food-and-beverage outlets, which range from barbecue to tacos to gourmet hot dogs and a vegan restaurant. the largest container in there is about 1,200 square feet, and that's a toy store. they have all the coolest toys in the world, according to them. there's a lot of sort of boutique, fashion, crafts. >> not every business survives, and the downtown project has certainly seen some come and go. >> some businesses have started and stopped, and a bunch of businesses have started and grown. the other good thing about the project itself is we have a ton of people that can help. all these businesses, whether it's marketing support, finance support, operational, human support, so that they can actually run their business as best they possibly can, flourish, and continue to grow. i moved over here two years ago, and this was a vacant block of land. there was nothing here. and then as soon as the containers went in and the playground went in, it was the first time i'd literally ever seen young children, mothers with strollers, walking down the streets. >> in downtown las vegas. >> downtown las vegas. >> that's really amazing.

is this something you think that should go to other places in the united states, other cities that have been going through tough times? >> not just the united states. >> all over the world? >> could be globally. >> yeah. up next, you've heard of buying a fixer-upper, right? how 'bout buying a 1.2-million-square-foot fixer-upper? we'll meet the man who did this, plus an update on a story we brought you a few weeks ago of a couple fighting to keep their home. stick around. [ woman vocalizing ] you each drive a ford pickup right? (all) yes. i'm going to show you a next generation pickup. awesome. let's do this. the bed is made of high-strength steel, which is less susceptible to punctures than aluminum. stronger the better. and best of all, this new truck is actually- (all laughing) oh my.... the current chevy silverado. current chevy owners and lessees get a total value of ten-thousand, six hundred dollars.

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across all your locations. hello, mr. deets. every branch running like headquarters. that's how you outmaneuver. ♪ >> thanks for staying with us. i'm bob massi, the property man. sometimes when everyone is running one way, you'll find one person going the other direction. that's the case with roland sansone, and he might just save an entire neighborhood by doing it. if you think buying a house is a big investment, how about buying

75 acres of fading shopping mall? as shoppers flock to the internet in the ever-expanding suburbs, malls across america have faced some real tough times. but that's where one man sees an opportunity to not just bring back the american shopping mall but revitalize an entire neighborhood in the process. throughout the 1970s, the boulevard mall -- well, it was the place to shop in las vegas. it was the first and the most popular shopping mall in the area. but as time marched on, the mall and its surrounding area fell on some hard times. now developer roland sansone is taking a major gamble. he bought the boulevard mall for $54 million and is sinking more than $25 million to complete it. >> this is the old dillard's building. it's approximately 200,000 square feet. it's been vacant for about eight years, and when we purchased the mall, a large portion of the mall was vacant and abandoned. we felt that it had a lot of potential.

the upstairs will probably never be retail again, so we're converting it, as you can see, into office use. we are taking the downstairs and cutting it up for retail. the actual exterior of the mall hasn't seen much change in it. it was built back in the '60s. we are creating a completely new facade on the outside. we're bringing the inside out. >> we've got a lot of out-of-the-box things going on. for example, we've got entertainment, like free magic show on the weekends, live music, live dj. >> the shopping is gonna be like a secondary aspect. the experience will be number one. what we're doing is we're creating what will almost be like a downtown disney feel to the outside. it's awnings, large walkways, landscaping, music. >> ironically, it was the recession and the real-estate crash that allowed them to make this happen. >> a lot of the malls had a lot of heavy debt, which then required large rents, and with the malls going into foreclosure, people like us were able to come around and pick up

these malls at a discount and able to offer discounted rates to people. >> like any city over the years, things change, and this became a blighted area. tell us about what's happened with malls all over the country. >> certain parts of the cities or towns got forgotten or left behind and became blighted. as the neighborhoods turned, these 100-plus malls around the country have become abandoned. now you have what you see -- opportunity for those of us that have a vision for changing the malls into something else. >> particularly in today's day, where so much is done on the internet, a lot of people think malls are extinct. >> it's fun because many people said it can't be done. old malls like this should be torn down and turned in to an apartment complex or something else. but i feel people still want to shop in air conditioning. it's about a new experience. it's about entertainment, dining, and shopping all included as one. >> and now we're gonna walk into a place that was abandoned for years, and, again, you're gonna revitalize that. let's go take a look. >> right. empty for about eight years, so let's see. >> now we're in here, which, basically has been, as you said,

abandoned for eight years. >> finding a big-box user today is, i think, next to impossible. >> what does that mean -- a big-box user? >> 200,000 square feet, which is what this building is, so we're cutting the building up to accommodate smaller users. >> makes it easier to market and get tenants? >> yeah. it's risky because we're doing something without having a tenant signed up. >> it's gonna create jobs and energy and families coming together again. >> it'll create hundreds of jobs -- not a hundred but several hundred jobs. >> this is a pretty aggressive move. so, what do some of your colleagues think about you coming in and doing this venture? >> actually, most of my friends think i'm a little crazy, and they think my vision's a little off the wall for what i have planned for this mall. all i got to say is come back in six months and see what it's gonna look like. >> it's like the american dream again, you know? it's like, "look, believe in us. believe in who we are." and the other thing i liked is you are using local contractors, people in the community, to make this happen.

>> turning what used to be a big box into several different things -- family entertainment downstairs, office use upstairs -- says that with just a little creativity, you can actually transform these old malls that were built back in the '50s and '60s, because i believe you shouldn't abandon america's malls. >> up next, an update on a story we brought you a few weeks ago of a couple fighting to keep their home. stick around. [ woman vocalizing ]

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♪ >> welcome back. i'm bob massi, the property man. a few weeks ago, we met karen and dennis. they hit hard times when they both lost their jobs and the insurance company said they need a new roof. they fell behind on their payments and even turned to selling things on ebay to pay for their bills. i told them the only way out was a loan modification and explained how to approach the banks to get one. time now to check in and see how they're doing. tell us what's happened since the last time we saw you. >> well, we did get a loan modification, and it took a big -- and thanks in large part to your efforts, as well... >> thank you. >> ...we have our head above water at this point, and we're beginning to reorganize things here and inside the house. >> it's taken a whole year. >> now, i know that there was a period of time that you had made payments, so part of the modification was what on what was owed? >> they put the part that i had

missed payments for several months in a row -- they put that at the very end of the loan, so we still have that coming up. >> right. but that's the end of the loan? >> that's the end of the loan. >> so, we have a modification -- signed agreement between all parties? >> yeah. >> okay. you saved a little bit on your monthly payment, which helps. >> couple hundred. it helped. >> everything helped. >> yeah, definitely. >> but, more importantly, what you were concerned about was what was owed. were they gonna make you come up with that money? that allowed you to take a deep breath. >> that's right. >> and so with that -- now, i know you're working now. things are better with you, employment-wise. things are good with you. you successfully made it through some tough times. >> really bad, yeah. >> what's your message to those people who still find themselves wanting to keep their home? >> find someone like you. [ laughter ] >> it's true. >> just keep going and keep going. don't lose faith. >> that's it for today. be sure to send me your questions or property stories at...

and check out our website at... i'm bob massi. i'll see you next week. [ woman vocalizing ] ♪ >> i'm bob massi. for 34 years, i've been practicing law and living in las vegas, the center of the recent real-estate crisis. lives were destroyed from coast to coast as the economy tanked. now, well, it's a different story. the american dream is back. and nowhere is that more clear than the sunshine state of florida. so we headed from the strip to the beach to show you how to live the american dream. i'm gonna meet real people who are facing serious problems, take you behind the gates of properties you have to see to believe and give you the tips that everyone needs to navigate the new landscape because information is power, and the property man has got you covered. [ woman vocalizing ]

thanks for joining us. nearly 700,000 new homes were built in america last year, and over the past five years, more than three million. [ saw whirring ] new construction enables you to build the exact home you want, but it can be a daunting process if you've never done it before. so we're gonna tell you how to do it right. there is a new home-building checklist on our website at foxnews.com/propertyman, and i'll have more critical information later on the massi memo, but first... deanna, nice to meet you. >> hi. nice to meet you. >> i wanted to check in with deanna armel. she's a realtor who specializes in new-home construction in the orlando area. ♪ what are some of the first things and tips that you give a prospective homeowner, particularly somebody that's never done it before? >> the first thing i would say is, "what do we need to do to set you up for success? do we need to sell your home first? do you need a lender? what can you afford? what area are you looking for?

and how much home can you buy?" >> get a competent realtor. why? because you want them to understand what your needs are as a homeowner. >> know the location you want to be in. if you have children and you want to focus on top, a-rated schools, research realtors that are experts in the area. >> they need to understand what your needs are, the area where you're developing it. is it close to the church? is it close to the school? does it have shopping areas around it? understand your developer. what is their background? how many homes have they built in the area? and understand the incentives that they're giving you. >> builders want your business. they want to give you incentives. an incentive could be 5% or 3% towards your closing costs, and that's cash you don't have to bring to the closing table. >> sure. and as it relates to upgrades and things like that, what role do you play? >> the important component of the realtor is to protect the buyers' interests. the builder is protecting their interests, and then there's no one to protect the buyers' interests, unless you have that realtor. >> true. >> oftentimes, you drive by new home communities, and they say,

"homes offered from $300,000 to $400,000." well, that doesn't include the lot premium, and that doesn't include upgrades, and most people spend about 10% to 20% to 30% in upgrades. >> make sure that you do your own due diligence to understand what kind of upgrades you're gonna use for the home. >> step one is picking your floor plan. step two is going out to the raw land and picking that lot that you want, watching the slab be poured, then you get to pick out all of your colors, your cabinets, your faucets, where you want your extra outlets. there's nothing more exciting than being able to stand on a piece of raw land, dirt, just a mound of dirt, and say, "this is where my home is going to be built." ♪ tell me about the lifestyle that you've chosen here and... >> deanna just finished building a home for bob and caitlyn, a couple who wanted to build a three-bedroom, two-bath home. >> first of all, we have great neighbors. [ chuckles ] >> yes. >> we have lucked out. >> with deanna's help, they built a beautiful 2,000-square-foot house with a study.

>> that part of it is just super. >> i wanted to stop by and just see how it all turned out. this is actually your 11th home that you've been involved with with building. >> it is. >> and why did you pick this area? >> like our realtor, dee, said, it's location, location, location. >> picked out the layout and said, "this is what we want." >> absolutely. >> the advantage of building a new home from the ground up is, you can pick exactly what you want -- the square footage, different things that you want in your home 'cause it's personal to you. >> you are in total control of your home build. you pick your colors. you pick your roof tile, your floors, your granite. you are a part of the whole process from start to finish. >> i wanted to make sure the kitchen, first of all, was bright, cheerful. >> mm-hmm. >> i picked the white cabinets because they're light, and so that would make it look a lot, to me, a lot larger. >> the particular community we're standing in is what they're selling maintenance-free living. their hoa fees are substantial, but the substantial hoa fees pretty much cover everything.

>> all the ground and landscape maintenance, all the water for the outside, the mowing of the grass, all of that from the paint out is covered by the hoa. >> that was important for you to have that? >> sure. i get to play golf. >> absolutely. >> thataboy. [ both laugh ] ♪ >> different communities have different monthly fees. now, although those monthly fees include a lifestyle, basically maintenance-free living, it may be fees that are too high for people that are looking to have an affordable monthly payment. it's something to be aware of. >> what kind of anxieties did you have in building a home? because for many people, from the ground up, you know, it's scary. >> you try to stay on top of the builder, watch what's going on during the construction. >> don't be afraid during the construction process to drive by that home to make sure that everything is laid out the way you intended when you started from the beginning. >> making sure, yes, did they put in the right amount of electrical outlets? did they put them in the right places?

is that where you want them? [ saw whirring ] >> so, they're able to walk in and make sure that things are set up the way that they saw it originally, you know, the outlets, the kitchen, the family room, the bedrooms. >> i absolutely encourage every homeowner to be a part of that, number one, to make sure everything's being done right and to their liking, but, number two, the pure excitement of watching your dream come true. >> we could pick out the lot. we could pick up the location of where the sun was rising and setting. i wanted a patio where we could entertain at night. those types of things you have more difficulty with if you're looking for a -- at a second home. we've always just found it more convenient, more to our satisfaction to get what we want. you get the incentives from the builders. with a good realtor that knows the builders in the area, you get a quality builder that'll work with you. >> there's nothing more rewarding than helping a family from start to finish make their dreams come true. ♪ >> we've got more information about building your home from the ground up on our website, foxnews.com/propertyman, and

i'll review some critical tips at the end of the program in the massi memo. but first, for happily ever until death do us part. well, sadly, a lot of people part long before death, and that could cause a lot of headaches when it comes to divorce and your property. [ woman vocalizing ] my friends think doing this at my age is scary. i say not if you protect yourself. what is scary? pneumococcal pneumonia. it's a serious disease. my doctor said the risk is greater now that i'm over 50! yeah...ya-ha... just one dose of the prevnar 13® vaccine can help protect you from pneumococcal pneumonia- an illness that can cause coughing, chest pain, difficulty breathing, and may even put you in the hospital. prevnar 13® is approved for adults 18 and older to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. you should not receive prevnar 13® if you have had

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♪ >> thanks for joining us. i'm bob massi. good news for marriages -- across america, the divorce rate is dropping, but there are still about one million divorces every year, and combine that with 5 1/2 million property purchases each year, and you've got some problems. the two biggest commitments you will ever make are getting married and buying a home. i got an e-mail from a man named dennis. >> once you go through the divorce, you've got all of the other things that are still carrying on from the past. the big issue that i'm working on right now is, of course, trying to get her name removed from the house so that she can get on with her life. >> he went through a divorce, and his ex-wife deeded their

home to him, even though her name was on the original note and mortgage. so, the property now is in your name? is that right? >> that's correct, yeah. >> okay, but her name and your name is still on the original loan. >> that's right. >> when you get divorced, the language in the divorce decree does not bind the creditors. >> what she was looking for was to have her name removed from the note so that she could move on with her life, and i thoroughly agree with that. >> she moved away to california, and dennis was approved for a loan modification that was based solely on his own income and qualification. >> i called them up and told them that i was going through a divorce and i needed some help on this because i was gonna be just a single income to support the house. first, they had told me that i had to stop paying on the house. that was the first thing. >> and "they" being bank of america at that time was servicing the loan? >> and bank of america said, "there's nothing that we can do for you until you" -- 'cause i was current on all of the payments. once i was not current, then they were able to start the modification process. the whole thing was done solely and based on my salary alone. >> the loan modification was

processed without her having to sign anything. >> the modification was complete, and i was in the trial process for three months. unfortunately, on the third month, i got a letter saying that they were selling the loan to caliber home loans. >> oftentimes, lenders passed on their loans to servicers. those are the people that you make your monthly payments to, and then your money is sent on to the lender. >> caliber wouldn't do anything, wouldn't even discuss an assumption. >> yeah, as a matter of fact, in looking over the loan-modification agreement, the representative from caliber, the new servicer, actually is the one that signed the -- the loan-modification agreement. >> yes. i got nothing from caliber until after the modification was complete, and then the letter that we had received was -- stated that "bank of america has now sold the loan to caliber." >> now, in this case, the new servicer refuses to remove the ex-spouse name from the loan, even though the lender only looked to dennis for the ability to pay. >> caliber is holding her hostage. there's no reason for her to be

on the mortgage or on any note or anything like that. the whole modification was completely based on my salary, and so she should've been removed from the -- from the paperwork. >> as we sit here today, is the value of the property still underwater? >> yes. >> today, because homes are still under value, what's a court going to do? the court can either tell the parties, "hey, go short-sell it" or "continue to make the payments." when people get divorced, there's certain language that -- that is put in divorce decrees or property-settlement agreements that basically say, "you get this property. you get the car. you get this bank account," and transfers of title happen. for example, in this case, right, your wife deeded the property to you. many times, the thought process is, "i have no more responsibility on the note," but, in fact, she did. why? because they're both still responsible for the underlying loan in case of a default. but caliber looks at it from this perspective. they say, "hey, if for some reason this property never goes up in value and this guy wakes

up one morning and says, 'i'm done,'" they have two people to go after for the deficiency. they have you, and they have your ex-wife, so they look upon her as sort of another safety net. when he makes a payment for a period of time -- for example, one year -- he could go back to the servicer, show his good-faith payment, and ask them if they would consider removing his ex-wife from the loan. you could say, "i will provide you updated financials. i'll give you my tax returns. and would you then consider removing her from this loan?" just as an alternative, let's assume that they want her on there, just what i said, as a safety net. if you have a friend, a brother, sister that is willing, many times, you could go to them and say, "listen, i have somebody that'll guarantee this loan besides me being primary. would you then consider it if they're willing to go on it just for purposes of removing her name from the note?" so, there are alternatives, and, by the way, the under and over is, this loan will probably be transferred again.

>> right. i'm sure it will. >> from caliber, you know? >> [ laughs ] yeah. >> the last thing i want to tell you, there are always new programs, dennis, that are being proposed by brokers, mortgage companies, lenders. even though this is underwater, i'm telling you, there's federal programs. there's state programs you should always look at. so, just because you have this loan mod in place, that doesn't mean the process stops. and we may try to contact caliber ourselves, saying, "listen, he is the reason why the loan modification happened," but be proactive in that yourself, and you may catch lightning in a bottle. >> i hope so. >> there's a lot more to discuss when it comes to properties and divorce, and i'm gonna speak with a few experts whose advice just might surprise you up next. [ woman vocalizing ] you know who likes to be

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>> thanks for staying with us. i'm bob massi, the property man. as we've seen, when a couple gets divorced, it can be very tough to untangle everything related to homes and properties, but it can be done. so, i asked some experts to walk me through it. >> buying a home is, close to getting married, the biggest decision you're gonna make in your life. let's face it. >> a prenuptial agreement is important when you want to protect all of your assets. >> let's talk about a prenuptial agreement. it's a contract between both parties that intend to get married. here's what's very important for it to be enforceable in most states in the country. first of all, there has to be a total disclosure of all debts and assets between the parties, and most states require both parties to have an attorney so everybody understands what the prenuptial means, what it stands for, and what the legal impact will be if you ever get divorced. >> if you're going into a marriage with non-marital property, i would recommend a prenuptial agreement, absolutely. >> difficult, though, to discuss it. love is blind. people get married, right?

>> it is very difficult. it's a very difficult topic to discuss, but there are certain marriages that i think require it. >> there's also what's called, believe it or not, a postnuptial agreement. it's just another contract after you get married. you have a couple that doesn't want to do a prenup. they don't want to do a postnuptial after they're married. if they're married 50 years, how do they keep their assets separate? >> the best way to keep their assets separate is to keep it titled in their individual names and don't put into those accounts any monies earned during the marriage. >> so you could be married for many years, and if you keep it separate, it remains separate. >> you need to be able to prove that during the entire marriage, you didn't put any marital money into it. >> that's where you really start to get into turning assets that should be separate into marital assets. one example of doing that would be paying down the mortgage with marital funds. this is any money earned during the marriage going into a mortgage payment. >> that's what we call a transmutation. in other words, you've given up

the separate character of the property, and you've given it to both you and your wife or your husband. if somebody is married and they inherit or something's gifted to them? >> if they receive it by inheritance during the marriage, it would be considered a non-marital asset. >> so long as there is no co-mingling, and co-mingling goes back to paying down the mortgage or appreciation. >> but they never transferred the title into both names. would that -- would that other person still have a claim to some equity in the property if they get divorced? >> they could be entitled to a portion of the appreciation, especially if the appreciation is due to renovating the property, which is a term that we use as active appreciation. >> the husband or the -- or the wife buys a piece of property and puts it in their name only. >> mm-hmm. >> but it's from community funds. >> well, that's a marital asset, and that asset is going to be divided in the -- in the event of a dissolution. so that equity would be split equally between the two parties.

however, the court would take testimony as to who maintained that property. the court could award that spouse that property in an equitable distribution. >> let's talk about community property and equitable distribution. essentially, all this means is that when you get divorced, a court will look at the assets and liabilities during your marriage, and they will make a determination how they are supposed to be equitably divided amongst the parties. well, some states, like the state of nevada, are community property. in other words, there's a statute that specifically states certain things under the law. equitable distribution are mostly those states that don't necessarily have and recognize just because you're married that it's a community interest, but when all is said and done, courts always look to equity, and they will distribute the property under the laws in the state where you live. >> i represented a husband where, for example, there was a lot of net equity in the house, meaning the house was worth more than they owed. and so, when we divided the net

proceeds, we were able to do some type of unequal distribution to maybe compensate for a waiver of an alimony claim. the wife saw the money now, the husband didn't have to pay alimony to the wife, and both parties knew that house was gonna sell. >> you definitely want to interview the couple to make sure that they have an agreement and an understanding about how the mortgage is gonna work, you know, what their responsibilities are gonna be when they sign that mortgage. >> what happens with the mortgage of note? what happens with the lender? because the contract, the agreement that the parties reach is not binding on the bank. >> a divorce decree doesn't necessarily mean one party is removed from a debt. quite frankly, the mortgage lender doesn't care what the divorce decree says. a decree usually will say which property and which party is responsible for that particular debt. that debt is still joint. >> so, what they should do is probably talk to the other spouse and say, "could you refinance this property in your name alone?" and if they can, likely, they will, but a lot of times, they can't because now you have one

spouse maybe with half the income who can't refinance, and maybe their credit isn't so good. >> what do you do to protect yourself? >> this is a dangerous situation now where we have housing values that have declined and mortgages that are underwater, a lot of -- one spouse could -- could stop paying the mortgage, and then both of the parties are in foreclosure, so that's a very dangerous situation. >> if one spouse keeps the property, you want to say that that spouse will have 60, 90, or 120 days to refinance the property. if they can't do it, you want the other spouse to be able to come back into court to request that the house is sold in a partition sale. >> if you have assets during your marriage, if you inherit something during your marriage, if anything becomes a gift during your marriage and you're concerned or you don't want to have the spouse that you're married to have an interest, go get legal advice. >> i'll always recommend, you know, that someone seek independent advice from tax and family-law attorneys before making these decisions. >> up next, the massi memo, with

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if one party defaults, guess what? the other is still responsible. or if one party files bankruptcy, the other party is still responsible regardless of the language in the divorce decree. the reason being is that the creditor was not a party to the divorce decree. it's only between the couple that got divorced. if it was a joint debt during the marriage, in most cases, lenders will not release the other party, even on a loan modification. so, what if your property is still underwater and you're getting divorced? well, the best thing to do with real estate that is still underwater when getting divorced -- try a short sale so that maybe you can get the property sold. both names will then be removed, and you no longer have any responsibility. now, i have to say, short sales today are not as prevalent as a few years ago, but it's something you could try to do. make sure your attorney explains thoroughly the responsibility that you still have upon the granting of that divorce decree. ♪ that's it for today. be sure to send me your questions or property stories to propertyman@foxnews.com and

check out our website at foxnews.com/propertyman. i'm bob massi. i'll see you next week. [ woman vocalizing ] we'll see you monday. good night from new york. >> announcer: from fox business headquarters in new york city the new "wall street week." maria: welcome to "wall street week," the program that analyzes the week that was and helps position you for the week ahead. our special guest this weekend carlisle group president and chief operating officer, glenn youngkin is here. first here are the big headlines impacting everything from wall street to main street. president trump has been working both sides of the aisle to push for a plan on tax reform. though lately this focus has been more on the democrats. he had dinner with chuck schumer and nancy pelosi. th