Category Archive for "Real Estate"



Real Estate Patrick Glancy on 27 Aug 2008

Vacation Rental Homes-Relaxation by the Sea

by Sara Mendez

Oregon has unlimited options for a vacation site so picking one should be easy. You can go to Sunriver, Bend, Portland or the beach just to name a few. The hardest part about picking a destination is deciding how long you want to be there and where you want to stay. Spending time with your loved ones should be exciting and full of happy memories. You should not have anxiety and frustration in them what so ever. So pick your destination and time carefully but most of all pick a good place to sleep!

Most people decide to stay in a hotel, they are easy to find and usually located in central locations. For instance, staying at Lincoln City, a popular vacation site at the Oregon Beach, there are many hotels to choose from. Some offer ocean views, beach access or breakfasts. But as a smart consumer you should consider what you are getting for your hard earned dollar.

When staying at the beach most people want a hotel with beach access or and ocean view that is affordable. A hotel with a beach from or ocean view can run anywhere from $80.00 a night up to $200.00 a night in Lincoln City. Even if you decide you do not need a beach front or ocean view room, hotels can still range from $50.00 to $100.00 a night. Everyone has different criteria, but I think we can all agree that a hotel needs to be within your selected price range.

So let’s look at what that hefty price tag will get you. Most hotels offer a continental breakfast which let’s be honest usually leaves something to be desired. Most continental breakfasts offer muffins, bagels and other pastries along with coffee and juice. Now let’s be realistic, most people are going to be hungry shortly after eating, this is just not enough to keep someone satisfied. So what do you do, you go out to eat and get some real breakfast like bacon, eggs, waffles and pancakes. So by staying in a hotel you might think you are saving money on food but really you are not.

This shouldn’t even be a selling point, but many hotels say they offer clean and quiet rooms! Now, to me this should be a given! Let’s examine this advertising a bit shall we. Every hotel I have stayed at, house keeping usually comes around nine in the morning. A quiet room, now how can this be when you can almost always hear people running the halls all hours of the night and you can usually hear your neighbors TV. This is not my idea of a good nights sleep! Then of course check out is usually eleven, so after you have been up most of the night, you need to get up early enough to check out and miss house keeping, so that means your alarm must go off at eight in the morning. I don’t want to feel rushed while on vacation, I am sure you feel the same way!

So where can you and your family stay, this is the great mystery. I have your answer, vacation rental homes. At Lincoln City there many vacation homes for all budgets. Typically they range from $100.00 to $250.00 a night depending on what your wants and needs are. Most people want to know the benefits of staying in a vacation home and here you have it! In a vacation home you can bring your own food and cook therefore saving you money clear across the board by not eating out for every meal. House keeping comes when it is convenient for you. All you need to do is put the key back in the lock box when you head out and then house keeping will come. A vacation home offers you more private, candid time with your family, and the best part, it is quiet!

Spending a little extra money in order to have a better vacation just makes sense. No one wants to look back in ten years and remember that vacation as the worst ever! Renting a vacation home can help with that. You need to decide what is most important to you and what criteria need to be met in order for you to pick that location. Is it saving a few extra dollars worth sacrificing a peaceful, relaxing vacation with your family, the choice is yours but hurry your sanctuary awaits.

Real Estate Jason Storm on 24 Aug 2008

Moving To A New Home

by Jason Storm

There are a lot of things to do related to a home moving and a lot of people get overwhelmed by the workload. Surely, the things has to be done, but there are ways to make the moving project less stressful and seemingly lighter.

If you decide to let a moving company do the whole move for you, all the way from packing to unpacking, you obviously save yourself from most of the hassle. For those on a budget, this is usually not possible and there will be more work to do and for those movers there are a few helpful things that can be said.

First of all you want to make a moving checklist. Write on it the things you are going to pack as well as other tasks that need to be done, such as address change, cleaning and anything related to the move. In this way it gets easy to stay organized and you don’t risk forgetting something essential that you have to do.

If you want to avoid last minute stress and to have a somewhat easier packing, start it a good bit ahead of the actual move, a few week up to a month is often a good amount of time. Start with goods you don’t normally use and close to the move you can pack down your everyday items.

If you decide to let a moving company do the actual move, make sure you book them about a month before the date you want to move. A lot of the reputable moving companies are busy in the end of the month and on weekends and you don’t want to risk being without a mover on the day of your move.

When you are packing your boxes, work smart and make sure you fill the boxes to their capacity. This is to avoid that anything gets damaged during the move. You also want to make sure that each box is being marked properly with both content and the room it is going to. This little task makes it so much easier to do the unpacking.

If you want to save yourself a whole lot of work while arriving at your new home, make a plan before you move on where you want the furniture to be. Then let the moving company place it there straight away. Don’t overwhelm yourself with all the unpacking that has to be done, take it bit by bit and let the relocating process take the time it takes.

If you only know the tricks and stay organized throughout the whole move you might be surprised to see how smooth a home moving actually can be.

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Real Estate Elaine Petin on 23 Aug 2008

Short Sales Are Displaying Profit for Real Estate Investors

by Elaine Petin

Are you searching for real estate deal that could save you a lot of money and at the identical time provides you outstanding real estate? A short sale may be the type of real estate deal that you need. With the foreclosure marketplace making historic highs and the snap of booming towns like Denver, San Francisco, and Seattle, short sales are becoming one of the most best-selling real estate purchasing methods in the real estate marketplace today.

A short sale calls for the purchaser to have massive knowledge of both the real estate and the lending marketplaces. Having the appropriate tools in the real estate buyer’s toolbox can preserve time and more important money. When you take on a short sale, you are dealing with two companies that are spirited to move a deal. The foremost party is the property owner who is in danger of being foreclosed or going insolvent and the second company is the bank that wants to reduce its loses and get out of the mortgage taking at to the lowest degree any of the money back.

In the three phases of foreclosure, the parties of a short sale have opportunities to prepare dialogues with the loss mitigation department. Each phase has its gains and drawbacks, but time is the most essential element when looking at each respective phase. With the amount of foreclosures happening all over the nation, the time to make a short sale is now. As an investor, it is prudent to have cognition about both the property and the mortgage possessor.

When exploring remember to research the real estate laws in your state or the state that you are going to participate in a short sale. Each state has diverse laws concerning the purchasing and dealing of mortgages and your state might have certain foreclosure laws that might forbid you from getting the kind of profit you would like to produce. Laws can also dictate interest rates and the amount of savings you are allowed to gain.

It might be prudent to study a course in real estate buys so you can go into the short sale equipped to the teeth with cognition or you can hire an agent that knows the ropes in short sales. This way you can pay up an upfront fee or commission and acknowledge that you are getting the most dependable service for your money spent.

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Real Estate Alexandria P. Anderson on 23 Aug 2008

Which Type of Real Estate Investing Is Right for You?

by Alexandria P. Anderson

In his Rich Dad book series, Robert Kiyosaki trumpets the benefits of investing, especially those of real estate investing. Those include tax benefits, and the ability to have your money go to work for you without your lifting a finger. It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? The idea that you can turn a dollar into two just by placing it in what can seem like a magical realm can seem very enticing.

Striking it rich as a real estate investor doesn’t happen overnight, though. One needs to learn the ins and outs of the business, learning everything there is to know about real estate. A good place to start is to simply ask, what is real estate?

A parcel of land, and any buildings or structures that stand on it, constitutes “real estate.” The price of said real estate is dependent mainly on the changing climate of the local market. You may choose to invest in real estate in several different ways.

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) allow you to make money by investing in real estate, either by owning the properties themselves or by owning the mortgages on them, or to do a combination of both. The benefits of this type of investing are high yields and tax considerations. This is also a highly liquid type of investing, which means that it is easily converted to cash.

In a real estate partnership, you are pairing with another investor or group of investors. in order to make money from existing structures or to build new ones. You can even make money off the sheer appreciation of undeveloped land itself. This is a good bet because of high growth potential and tax benefits.

Purchasing and renting out vacation property is another option for investors. A vacation property is distinguished from a primary residence in that renters use it for recreation, as opposed to living in it year-round.

We’ve all had dealings with landlords at one point or another in our lives, and potential real estate investors have the opportunity to become landlords by purchasing rental properties. Nothing too complicated here, but be aware that there are some differences in renting space to businesses and renting out residences.

You may also invest in raw, or undeveloped, land.

It is a good idea to learn about each type of real estate investment to determine which yields the greatest benefits, determined by your particular needs. Kiyosaki named tax benefits as a good reason to become a real estate investor. After all, money you keep in your pocket is just as good as money earned.

If you are particularly interested in pursuing real estate investment because of tax benefits, you may even wish to become a real estate professional, as the IRS allows people who spend at least 750 hours a year on their investing duties to have nearly unlimited tax deductions. If you are not considered a professional, and your salary is high, that can actually cost you deductions on your real estate. You must have the time to participate in your real estate activities yourself, even if you have hired another real estate professional, to qualify for all tax benefits.

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Real Estate Mike Fairweather on 23 Aug 2008

How To Buy Tax Lien Certificates For Profit

by Mike Fairweather

Investing in property tax liens can be very profitable, but if you’re new to the tax lien arena, some background information is the best place to start. In its simplest form, a tax lien is a mechanism that guarantees that a lender will be paid for a debt by allotting a tax commitment on the debtors’ property. This then effectively prevents the property owner from raising further capital or financing secured against that property.

A tax lien certificate is issued and is secured against the personal property of the person receiving the loan. Of all the different types of liens, the most popular or common is the mortgage lien. Every different type of lien is subject to its own set of rules and regulations.

When the debtor is unable to pay their property taxes, the state issues a tax lien certificate against their property which also includes a time line by which the taxes must be repaid. This grants the lien owner access to the equity within the property in order to claim the money they are owed. If the property owner is then unable to repay the tax lien, it may be sold or auctioned off to the highest bidder.

As a private investor, you are then able to buy tax lien certificates with the aim of profiting from the liened property. You need to be aware, however, that you are not actually buying the property - you are in effect lending the property owner the money they need to repay the lien certificate, but at an agreed rate of interest that was set at the sale of the property lien, and a pre-determined time period by which they must repay the money to you.. This rate of interest can vary anywhere between 6% and 50% depending on the state and various other factors.

You’ve probably already realised there are two main ways you make your money from buying property tax lien certificates in this way. If the debtor (the property owner in this case) is able to repay the loan in full within the allotted time period, your profit is the interest he has to pay on that loan.

If the property owner fails to repay the lien in time, ownership of the property is transferred to the holder of the tax lien certificate - in this case you, as the recent purchaser of the lien - and you are free to manage that property as you see fit as the new legal owner.

So as a quick recap, s an owner of a tax lien certificate, you will either make a profit by way of the interest repaid on your loan to the property owner, or of the owner is unable to make the repayment, you take ownership of the property and make your profit from how you then manage that property.

As with most investment opportunities, you need money to make money, but hopefully you can see that investing in tax lien property certificates is a fairly safe way to profit from and acquire real estate.

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Real Estate Hal James on 22 Aug 2008

Preparation Is The Key To Selling Your Home

by Hal James

Preparation is the key to success in many fields. The same goes for selling your home. It is a rough market out there and we all know it. Taking the extra steps to get your home positioned correctly can make the difference between selling it or not.

We live in the information age, but sometimes it seems as though there is way too much of it. This is true for real estate tips. They are a dime a dozen. If you are planning to sell your home, this is what you need to know.

The first step you have to take is to make an emotional adjustment. Most people view their home as a part of their life. Memories have happened here and such. When you make the decision to sell, this view has to change if you really want to succeed.

Seriously, this can be the hardest thing for most people. Your tastes and views regarding your home no longer matter. It is a product like a car that needs to be positioned for sale. Just like you would buff out a car, you must do the same for the property.

Now apply this product attitude to your home. This means pulling all personal items. You want people to picture their family living in the home, so pull all your personal photographs, drawings by kids and so on.

The next step is to cast a critical eye towards clutter in the house. If you objectively do not use something, get rid of it. Most rooms have way too much junk in them, so really do a critical walk through. Space sells. Junk does not.

As you walk the house, also evaluate furniture and the like for the comfort classification. Every home has a comfortable couch or piece of furniture that is very comfortable, but not in great shape. Locate yours and get it out of the house.

Importantly, you need to understand that the entire home is going to be looked at by buyers. Closets will be opened, basements will be walked, attics will be snooped in and garages will be strolled. You should not expect any privacy, so remove anything private.

Now a last step, make sure you do quick improvements to any obvious problems. If you have a few bucks, paint all the trim on the home. This small change can make an absolute world of difference in the overall appearance.

The current market is a tough one for sellers, but homes are selling. Take the necessary steps to get your home buffed out and you should be able to move it. Be positive and you will be surprised how well things can go.

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Real Estate Joe Boyd on 21 Aug 2008

Applying for Bad Credit Mortgage Loans

by Joe Boyd

A lot of people who happen to have bad credit make the mistaken assumption that their less than spotless credit history will keep them from being able to buy their own home. They think that no mortgage provider could possibly ever trust them with a mortgage. While things once were indeed this way, the rules have changed a bit in recent years. Instead of just passing by people with bad credit, banks and mortgage lenders have instead developed bad credit mortgage loans - ideal for those who have had some credit problems yet still want to pursue the dream of home ownership. These loans have been a wonderful thing for many families who though that they would never be granted the opportunity to buy a home of their own.

You could have ended up with a bad credit rating for any number of reasons. You may have overextended yourself financially with a credit card, had emergency medical expenses which you were unable to repay or a variety of other reasons. However it happened, you can still qualify for bad credit mortgage loans. There are some very important differences between these bad credit mortgage loans and an ordinary mortgage loan, however.

The biggest difference between a regular mortgage loan and bad credit mortgage loans is the interest rate. People with good credit can get interest rates between five and seven percent. People with bad credit may see interest rates much higher than that. This is the bank’s way of ensuring that you are worth the risk. But some banks’ interest rates are much higher than others. Because of this, you should put in a bit of effort to find the best loan with the lowest rates. This can take some time, but it will be well worth it as you will save a lot more money in the end.

While you’re comparing bad credit mortgage loans, you should also keep an eye out for the down payment percentage. This is a small percentage of the full loan that you will have to pay at the very beginning in order to secure it. Most loans require a 5% down payment, although, with bad credit mortgage loans, it may be higher. This is another aspect in your loan search that you will need to take into account.

Monthly payments can often be very high. There is a way that you can make it as small as possible. When you are talking with banks, ask them how long their repayment terms are for. They can usually be either fifteen or thirty years. Try to get one that lasts thirty years. This will drastically reduce your monthly payment. For instance, if you buy a $150,000 house, you would need to pay around $833 each month if you chose the 15 year plan. If you chose the 30 year plan, you would only need to pay around $417 each month, not including interest.

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Real Estate Danny McNeely on 21 Aug 2008

Arranging the Ideal Getaway - Timeshares

by Danny McNeely

Most people take a vacation once a year. It is a time to relax and recoup from the stress and pressure from everyday life.

While planning your vacation, there are many things that are important to consider: dining places, shopping areas, location, attractions in and around the location are all deciding factors. Most people want to thoroughly investigate the area before coming to a decision.

Above all, consider where you plan to stay. An increasing number of people are looking into and purchasing timeshares.

The biggest benefit to timeshare rental is that you will not have to worry about hotel reservations during your vacation. There are many timeshare choices available, with a variety of facilities and upgrades available.

When buying a timeshare rental, the season in which you’ll be occupying it is a major consideration. To avoid crowds you should consider choosing a timeshare during off seasons. You should also consider what the climate will be during the time of year you have selected. If you love skiing, the right choice for you would probably be a winter retreat at a timeshare in the mountains, but if you prefer the beach, take a trip to a tropical paradise.

You can find time share rentals available across the globe. If it’s an exotic trip you’re after, you can take one with the knowledge that when you get there you will have a rental ready. The money saved with a timeshare rental can be used for shopping and entertainment.

Most often, timeshare rentals have the same amenities as you do at home. They have fully stocked kitchens, dining room, however one thing that you may not have at home is a Jacuzzi or hot tub.

For some vacationers, cooking is not an option. For those people, renting a timeshare at a resort hotel might be the best option. They are affordable to most people and have wonderful restaurants that have incredible menu selections.

It is important that you research your options very carefully. Although most timeshares offer similar amenities, there are differences in what you will receive and what the rates are. If you are planning a vacation during the tourist season, the prices will most likely be higher than purchasing in the off season.

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Real Estate john krol on 20 Aug 2008

CEO Boomers Bank IRA-401K Real Estate Investing

by john krol

Boomers-Bank The Investor’s Guide to Commercial Real Estate and Retirement Planning How to Invest In Commercial Real Estate Using Your IRA or 401(k)Maximize Your Profitand Save For Retirement

Boomers-Bank Introduction Why invest in real estate using your retirement plan? In this book, we’re going to discuss several concepts for buying real estate using IRAs and 401(k)s; the socalled nontraditional investments. Let’s start by asking what advantage is there to all of this? Why not just let your IRAs and 401(k)s sit around and do whatever it is they’ve always done? Well, you can secure tax-deferred or tax-free income for one thing. Anytime you have a profit or a gain, either you are not paying taxes on the gains until you start using the money, or if it is in a ROTH IRA, you aren’t paying taxes at all. By having real estate in a retirement plan, you are also avoiding what’s known as capital gains every time you sell property. Your money is allowed to accumulate and your interest will compound. Moreover, you can put all of the money back into your next deal. However, you’ve got to bear in mind the current state of the economy. Money doesn’t just sit around these days. In most parts of the world, the dollar is losing value at a pretty alarming rate. The United States is a country at the edge of a financial and economic precipice, owing trillions of dollars to other countries and borrowing money against, well, the value of its existing borrowed money (we’ll talk about this later). The infrastructure of the United States is at present rather unorganized. We aren’t producing much and so we’re importing more than we’re exporting. It’s basic mathematics. Notice how the prices of food and gas have been rising recently. That should give you a pretty clear idea of what’s going on and what is likely to continue to happen (we’ll also talk about this a little later on). The main focus of this book, however, is to demonstrate the value of nontraditional investment choices for 401Ks. Our goal is not only to introduce you to the reasons why these choices are advantageous, but it is also to explain the particulars of the related processes. For the sake of helping you confront your financial advisor or accountant, we’ll discuss the various strategies for undertaking this type of investment. We also plan to take you through the processes for finding appropriate real estate to undertake the actual investment. Since the property market can be a bit difficult to navigate, particularly if you’re a beginner, we’ll allow you to benefit from our wealth of experience and wisdom on the subject.

We need to establish here why most people don’t invest their 401K, despite the fact that it is a very sound financial move. Firstly, what most average Americans do not understand is that you and your IRA/401K are two separate entities. Repeat: you are not one and the same, nor are you in any way, shape or form joined at the hip. You will need to absorb this fact so you can begin to understand how to actually structure a deal with your IRA. If you don’t take the time to learn the difference between you and your retirement plan, you’re going to spend a lot of time wondering, “is it me, or is it this plan that owes this money and needs to pay this bill?”. Let’s avoid confusion. Depending on the particulars of the loan you broker, the answer to this question, who owes the money, will be quite different. The next concept you need to bear in mind is that you and your IRA/401K, being two separate entities, have a third-party administrator for all of your deals. All deals involving your IRA or 401K will thus have a third party acting as a recordkeeper, administrator and a custodian or trustee. They will be the entity that is actually holding the money as well as the person who must meet government guidelines and regulations to be able to hold your retirement money. That said, let’s move onto the specifics of IRAs and 401Ks. We’re going to mention these entities quite a bit throughout the book, so it pays to be clear now. An IRA is a place where you can keep your assets for retirement, basically all the money that will see you through when you are no longer working. What most people don’t understand, however, is that you can pour into your IRA whatever type of investments you want, while your assets can take any one of a number of forms. It is important to note though that your IRA is not an investment in itself. Next, let’s take a look at non-traditional investments. Of course, retirement planning is a big issue for a lot of people. Most people, when they think about it, consider themselves limited to stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and the like. There’s a general consensus that these are the types of things that we should be investing our money in so that it will grow in the years that we’re working, giving us something to fall back on when the time comes. What a lot of people don’t know, however, is that these investment types are not necessarily the best option. They certainly aren’t’ the only option.

Non-traditional investments such as real estate, notes, foreclosure properties, rehab properties, and other things along these lines, may actually be much more viable investments for the baby boomer generation. In this book, we’re going to explore the ways you can go about investing in real estate for maximum efficiency and return. By law, there are only two things you cannot put in a retirement plan: you can’t use retirement money to buy life insurance and you can’t put collectibles, such as art work or antiques, into your plan, not that most of us have to worry about these types of things. Long story short, the IRS gives you a pretty free rein. They let you be your own advisor and best financial friend when it comes to retirement. Many people believe that they already have a self-directed plan for their retirement, particularly if they are working with a brokerage firm. There is some truth to this. While you select your own mutual funds and stocks in many cases, most brokerage firms won’t allow you to invest in real estate or notes. Thus, they usually have a limiting plan for investment. Unless you take something of a do-it-yourself route, real estate investment options using your 401k or IRAs are actually quite limited. To purchase such nontraditional types of investments within your retirement plan, you need to be allowed to self-direct. The person or entity holding your money, the custodian, must allow you to self-direct. One of the perceived disadvantages to self-direction, of course, is that you are assuming responsibility for how well your retirement plan actually does. You can, for example, pick the wrong stocks and bonds and hence secure nothing but financial losses. Thus, you can end up jeopardizing your future if you don’t take the right approach. On the other hand - and let’s now consider an example - you can save yourself a lot of money by acting in a financially sensible and knowledgeable way. Consider the case of Ms. X. Working as an investment advisor, Ms. X has been investing stocks and bonds for many years in her retirement plan. Her plan, like most of her contemporaries, is driven by traditional types of investments. During her working life, Ms. X has invested a good deal of money in real estate. In fact, it’s become something of a hobby to her. However, one of the problems with such an approach is that she had to pay taxes on the profits she made from her real estate investments. Using her retirement plan to make the investment, however, Ms. X discovered a way of avoiding these issues, as a number of other savvy individuals have done before. Real estate investing is nothing new as a means of acquiring wealth; it is a practice that has been popular since the beginning of recorded history. Most of the wealthiest people in history have either secured or built the bulk of their wealth using real estate. Land had always been the defining possession of the nobility in the vast majority of early socio-economic systems. Even during times of war and economic depression, land and property have tended to hold up as strong sources of wealth. Hence, it is safe to say that things are unlikely to be much different these days. However, despite the popularity of real estate and the many centuries of experienced buying and selling, even some of the most savvy investors are still unaware that they can use their retirement plans to invest and thereby save themselves from capital-gains’ taxes and other such annoyances. Although many people claim to feel ‘trapped’ by traditional investment options, the vast majority of them are totally oblivious to the fact that real estate is available to serve as one rather convenient nontraditional investment commodity for use in individual retirement plans (IRAs) and 401(k)s. .

The dual advantages of real estate and IRA/401(k) investments are overlooked. The only requirement of the IRS is that you have a custodian for your IRA or other retirement plan, which we will review. Beyond that, you are free to use your IRA or other qualified retirement plan to invest in real estate. You can also use your plan to keep your real estate investment, earning money and limiting what you have to pay in taxes. Since 1975, one has been able to use Keogh plans, now known as qualified plans, to purchase real estate as a tax-deferred investment option. With the increase to allowable contributions, simple employee retirement plans have become popular as well. In 1997, Roth IRAs further enhanced the popularity of tax-free investments. In 2006, the establishment of Roth 401(k)s made it possible for deferrals to be made regardless of salary amounts. At this point in time, the long and the short of it is that investment options are phenomenal and as we shall explore soon, the need for making sensible investments has never been greater. Whether you currently have retirement funds or you’re looking to set up funds for investment purposes, the time is right for you to make an investment in real estate using your IRA or qualified retirement plan. This book will show you how. This unque book has a retail value of $35,000. When included with our one on one coaching program–so enjoy and If it were me I would the entier book as this will be the only time this marketing promotion will happen… The book will continue with he next post you can go to blog.IRA-401K-RealEstate.com and request the entire ebook with all the charts pictures and examples.

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Real Estate George Evers on 20 Aug 2008

Real Estate Property Taxes and Assessment Loopholes

by George Evers

Many times when blanket assessments are done on homes, the resulting values are inaccurate and a result of a ”quick fix” mentality. Often adjustments are made using a factor or multiplier to adjust values. Not that a blanket reappraisals accuracy is much better, because it also suffers from lack of diligence to detail.

Ask yourself: if you were an appraisal company bidding on a municipal revaluation contract and your winning bid had only a $40 margin allocated for every home you needed to appraise, how much time would you spend on each property? Being a businessman, you would want to make a profit, so you have to cut out the time spent on each property. Compound that by a hired hand that may have little experience and you could have a hit and miss mess as a result.

Property tax assessments derived from blanket assessment abound with errors. These estimations of value are even derived by multipliers of the previous year?s assessment. If the original assessment was wrong, multiplying that assessment adds nothing to clarify the value.

An inexpensive fix for the town could come about if building inspectors and the tax department communicated closely by working together. If the building inspector passed on information to the assessor, there would be no need for blanket re-assessments. New homes sold need only be equalized with the previous blanket assessment. If an addition or home improvement took place, the added value could be passed on to the tax assessor. If the building department and tax department worked efficiently, there would be no need for blanket reassessments.

Tax assessors are time pressed and rarely appraise homes. Usually, they are not property appraisers and are politically appointed. Often they use an entirely different method to derive value for a home by using a cost of materials approach. The universally accepted approach is the market value, what an informed buyer would pay for a home.

In a property tax appeal, only the market appraisal counts. That means that your home stacks up to the current selling price of your comparable homes and that becomes the only solid evidence of value.

A huge amount of money is spent on blanket municipal appraisals. Sure they may catch the occasional patio or shed built without a permit, but that does not warrant the extra appraisal cost.

This spells out gigantic loopholes for homeowners. Doing a simple analysis of your home’s market value and seeing how it lines up with the appraised value can save thousands of dollars wasted on taxes.

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