Real Estate Information

Check all radiators for proper antifreeze protection soon.  You should change antifreeze every 2 or 3 years so as to keep its rust protection.

When you mow for the last time this year be sure to winterize the mower.  Add some StaBil to the gas and run the motor long enough to get it in the carburetor before shutting it off.  I like my mower deck’s underside to be scraped, wire brushed and painted with Rustoleum to prevent rust from eating on the deck all winter.  Take the battery out and keep in a safe warm place.  You can slip the battery in to your wife’s closet and set it on a block of wood while she scraping the mower deck.  I’ve found if you cover the battery up with some summer clothes, she shouldn’t even find out about it…unless of course, the acid eats a hole in her new blouse.           

The 2 cycle motors on weed whips, blowers, edgers, etc. should be okay without StaBil as the oil in the gas slows its evaporation.  It’s also a good time to have the blades sharpened for next year.  I prefer to wait until spring to change the oil and filters so any condensation from the winter will also be drained out.   

Don’t forget to drain the water out of your boat motors.  Used washing machines and dishwashers stored in the garage should be drained also, or you’ll be finding them a new home in the landfill next spring.   

Someone asked me this week, “Should I buy now, or wait till spring and hope home prices drop another 10%?  Here’s my answer.

If you could control interest rates, unemployment, layoffs, factory closings, terrorist attacks, tax laws, etc etc. then you could wait and take the chance. Problem is, there are so many variables that affect the cost that you can’t take the chance.   Here’s something to think about.  A $300,000 house purchased today with a 5.5% loan will actually cost less than a $270,000 house purchased with a 6.5% loan.  The chances are greater that interest will go up 1% than the values fall 10%.   

There is an old saying, which I live by, “The best time to go fishing is… when you can.”   

I say, “The best time to buy a house … is when you can.”  If your budget and circumstances allow you to buy now, then don’t wait.  

Reminds me of a story I heard…. well, I better save that for another day!

QUESTION:  (Brett)  On a short sale, (where a bank is not fully paid) is the forgiven debt taxable income?

ANSWER:  (John)  Technically yes, but most people get an exception and do not have to pay tax on the forgiven debt.   I forwarded this question to my accountant for a more complete and accurate answer.  

John,

 Generally, if a taxpayer owes a debt that is canceled or forgiven, the canceled amount is taxable income.  There are exceptions:

Bankruptcy – Canceled debt is not included in gross income if the debt is canceled in a bankruptcy case under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.  The debtor must be under the jurisdiction of the court, and the cancelation of debt must be granted by the court or occur as a result of a plan approved by the court.

Insolvency – Canceled debt is excluded from gross income up to the amount by which the taxpayer’s liabilities exceed the fair market value of assets.  This determination is made immediately before the cancelation of debt.

A foreclosure or a short sale results in canceled or forgiven debt.  These are treated as a sale or exchange of property.  If this is a primary residence, then the normal rules for exempting the income from taxation come into play.

The bankruptcy and insolvency exceptions apply to income resulting from foreclosure or sale of property.

Have any of your clients contact me regarding their personal situation. I’d be happy to help.

Gary

This is brought to you by Teressa, John’s Closing Coordinator and Marketing Director.  I wanted to let you know that I have worked in the real estate business since 1996.  I have done everything from working the front desk of a real estate office, sell real estate and I have worked for 3 different real estate agents.  In all the 13 years I have never seen anyone as good with negotiations as John.  We had a little problem earlier today and I want you to know I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of John!  He uses that soft, teddy bear, good guy image to his clients benefit.  But, let me tell you, here in the office we all know what he really is…a giant, granite alligator. 

Here is a secret that not everyone knows…when I worked for other real estate agents I referred my friends & my husband’s co-workers to John.  I think that says a lot in regards to my confidence in his abilities, his integrity, his morals and his vast experience in Real Estate.  What a blessing when it finally worked out that I could be a part of this team.

Recently, John was talking to someone needing a rental.  Turns out that he is filing bankruptcy because of the present economy.  John asked what he was doing with the house he owned.  He was going to give it back to the bank…that is a foreclosure.  John told him that he could do a short sale and though his credit would still be dinged with the bankruptcy he could rebuild his credit in about 2 years.  A foreclosure follows you for 10 years.  John is now helping him avoid foreclosure by doing a short sale.

What is the tip in this you say?  If you need to buy, sell, renegotiate your loan, want advice on short sales or pre foreclosures don’t hesitate one minute to call John.  He will work for YOU!

YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY OFF YOUR COLLECTIONS before you get your loan closed, anyway. Lenders do not require all collections to be paid, so using your cash to pay an old collection may actually hurt you by making an old issue a current one.  Sounds crazy doesn’t it?  Sorta like taxing coal companies into bankruptcy when 90% of Ohio’s electricity is coal generated.  I guess my brain is just too small to understand complicated stuff.  My advice?  Get your mortgage loan closed, then pay off any collections.       

This tip is brought to you by Teressa, John’s Closing Coordinator and Marketing Director.  I wanted to let you know that I have worked in the real estate business since 1996.  I have done everything from working the front desk of a real estate office, sell real estate and I have worked for 3 different real estate agents.  In all the 13 years I have never seen anyone as good with negotiations as John.  We had a little problem earlier today and I want you to know I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of John!  He uses that soft, teddy bear, good guy image to his clients benefit.  But, let me tell you, here in the office we all know what he really is…a giant, granite alligator. 

Here is a secret that not everyone knows…when I worked for other real estate agents I referred my friends & my husband’s co-workers to John.  I think that says a lot in regards to my confidence in his abilities, his integrity, his morals and his vast experience in Real Estate.  What a blessing when it finally worked out that I could be a part of this team.

Recently, John was talking to someone needing a rental.  Turns out that he is filing bankruptcy because of the present economy.  John asked what he was doing with the house he owned.  He was going to give it back to the bank…that is a foreclosure.  John told him that he could do a short sale and though his credit would still be dinged with the bankruptcy he could rebuild his credit in about 2 years.  A foreclosure follows you for 10 years.  John is now helping him avoid foreclosure by doing a short sale.

What is the tip in this you say?  If you need to buy, sell, renegotiate your loan, want advice on short sales or pre foreclosures don’t hesitate one minute to call John.  He will work for YOU!

HOT HOT HOT

The real estate market is HOT!  But only for properties under $250,000.  The $8000 tax credit given to first time buyers has really helped this price segment.  Homes up to $350,000 are still doing pretty well, but over that the market slows to a crawl. The higher the price the slower it gets.  A lot of areas have up to a 4 or 5 year supply of homes available at current absorption rates.  

The $8000 tax credit goes away on Dec 1st.  That means a buyer will need to be “in contract” by Nov 1st and if things get stacked up like I think…it may take 6 weeks to get a loan closed.  So, to be safe a buyer will need to be “in contract” by Oct 15th in order to close by the Nov 30 deadline.

If you want to buy or sell, you should do it when this stimulus money is available. Give me a call.

Check your evergreens at least twice a week for the next two months for bag worms.  One little bag contains 500 eggs.  Cheri has pulled off as many as 150 bags on an eight foot pine.  Taking care of them before they hatch is relatively easy.  Pull the bags off by hand and burn them.  Once those critters hatch you have to spray.  Finding and removing 75,000 of those little gremlins is more work than I can even get Cheri to do by hand!  They will absolutely kill your tree.  Most people see the bags but assume they are pine cones. You have to take a closer look…and often.  You can get sprays that work if they have already hatched.  They prefer pines, but check all your plants.  I found them on all sorts of plants. Last year, I discovered a bagworm momma hung her little bag of eggs on my gutter…50’ from the nearest food source.  Now there's a mother to die for.

Japanese Beetles won’t kill your trees and plants but will eat all the leaves and cost you the normal growth for the year.  They are partial to River Birch and a few other landscape trees…and they love raspberry and blackberry leaves.  There are several sprays available that work marvelously, however I don’t use sprays on my fruits and vegetables. I remove them by hand or give them a little love squeeze with pliers.  When heavily infested I spray them off with water.  Washing your plants with water and dish soap disposes of the scent they give off which attracts more of their friends.  The soap also repels them.  I know my little brothers sure didn’t like it when I had to wash their mouths out with soap.  That was mom’s trick when they picked up a bad word…I found it handy to get them to do my chores.  

Ron Wilson (Sat 10-12 Gardening show on WTVN) says, “If you have to buy the bags that attract and capture Japanese Beetles…buy them and give them to your neighbor”.

If you know me you know I think everyone should pay their fair share.  NOT!  I wouldn’t pay a dime if they didn’t make me.  I don’t like what they did with what I’ve sent so far!  At great personal risk to my personal welfare and maybe being labeled un-American, I want to share with you how to reduce your real estate taxes.

Go to your county auditor’s website.  Check your valuation and see if you agree. If you think it’s too high then you can contest the valuation. On the auditor’s site you will also find a document titled something like “Real estate valuation complaint form”.  Fill it out and hold until the appropriate time.  Read the instructions, but most counties have a window… say Jan 1 through Mar 31.  Do not submit before the prescribed time.  Some counties have smaller windows.  What you are trying to do is get the auditor to lower his valuation of your home.  Say you get a $50,000 decrease in market value (assessed value is 35% of market value), that will save you approximately $1000 per year depending on your local tax rates.     

Documentation.:  You can have a professional appraisal done at a cost of approximately $350 or do it yourself with a little help from your friend (me).  I will do a competitive market analysis for you (clients & friends) showing listing and sales info on comparable homes in your area.  You will need to review the info and choose 3 comparable sales and 3 comparable listings to present when you get the appointment with the review board.    

You may be able to get your valuation decreased substantially…saving hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year.  Of course, if everyone does this, then the taxing authorities will have to raise taxes to cover the shortfall…however not everyone is as well informed as you and me.  So, as I so profoundly say…let the other guy pay.  It’s not fair to give our politicians too much money and make them work so hard to get rid of it.  Let’s give ‘em a break.  Let ‘em go home early.  We’re working those poor fellows too hard.  Lighten up.  It’s the least we can do for our country. 

If you successfully challenge your valuation, calculate the savings and let me know.  I would like to know if you saved money.  If you’re the one in a thousand who believes in paying your fair share, then go ahead and get your valuation lowered and apply the difference to my tax bill.  Call me for my parcel number.      

If your wife complains, like mine about weeding the flower beds, here’s a tip to make your life a little more stress free.  Roundup (and generic names like “Razor Burn” since roundup’s patent ran out) can save a lot of time, sore backs and grumpy wives.  Take a funnel of appropriate size and turn upside down and duct tape to your sprayer wand.  Now you can get close to the flowers without accidentally killing them too.  Just one more tip to help score points with the little lady.  Get a backpack from Lowes or Home  Depot for her.  They cost about $80, but, if you love your wife ,  you need to part with the money.  Cheri can easily spray for 30 minutes without stopping to rest.  Think how much exercise you’re helping her get while making the place look beautiful.  I know before I broke down and invested in the backpack sprayer for Cheri, sometimes I just had to turn my chair around and not watch her lug that cumbersome fruit sprayer with one hand while pumping and spraying with the other!  You know what an inconvenience that is to have to turn around all the time to get your Coke off the picnic table?  

Do yourself a favor and show her some love.  Get a backpack for her for Father’s Day.