christopher sevick: Real Estate Still a Good Tax Benefit
- 12/16/07 11:58 AM
Real Estate Still a Good Tax Benefit With all of the discussion in the "downturn" in our economy and home prices this article still addresses a few of the tax advantages of home ownership. I personally and professionally believe that home ownership is still a strong investment and with our strong rates for mortgages we should still see home sales for long term investments. Tags: Attorney, Christopher Sevick, Estate Plan, Real Estate, Trust, Will, Ypsilanti, www.SevickLaw.com, Ann Arbor, www.MIEstatePlanBlog.com, www.MIRealEstateBlog.com, Washtenaw, Michigan … (1 comments)
christopher sevick: Automotive Components Holding & Ypsilanti's Taxes
- 06/13/07 03:40 PM
The move now to have the Ypsilanti Automotive Component Holding plant (ACH) reassessed, in this article, may cost the City of Ypsilanti an additional $600,000 to $700,000 in loss. This comes on the heals of a proposal for the City to place an income tax for resident who live in the City as well as those who just work in the City, but have their residence outside of the Ypsilanti City limits. I briefly addressed the income tax issues in this blog article just over a week ago. … (0 comments)
christopher sevick: Ypsilanti City Mayor-Income Tax Needed to Support Services
- 06/13/07 03:18 PM
Great link to the Mayor's Corner for the City of Ypsilanti addressing the discussion to place a City Income Tax on the November 2007 ballot for vote and just exactly what it is needed for. The proposal is calling for a 1% tax on residents of the City and an 1/2% tax on non-residents who work in the City of Ypsilanti. This does not affect Ypsilanti Township residents, which is the majority of the population within the designation of "Ypsilanti". One thing this tax will do is to generate some income from the staff at Eastern Michigan University that work, but … (0 comments)
christopher sevick: Real Estate & Wills and Estates
- 06/12/07 02:56 PM
Real Estate & Wills and Estates WWJ, our local newsradio station just published an article in their weekly new magazine, RealView relating to real estate and probate. Why is this noteworthy? I was the attorney who was interviewed for the article. If may be found here on their site. It was a great opportunity to speak to someone and be able to help steer some people in the direction that can help. I would have loved to see some more length to the article but understand that any online news article has to be relatively short in length. Tags: Attorney, … (1 comments)
christopher sevick: Local Municipality Sells Land to Keep 700 Jobs!
- 06/12/07 01:38 PM
Local Municipality Sells Land to Keep 700 Jobs! Canton, MI just recently approved the sale of 61 acres of land to Poco, Inc, a local manufacturer of safety construction equipment. The sale is contingent on Poco selling additional land to Sysco, the food distributor, for a plant expansion. This transaction should help the local economy by continuing to allow these two businesses to continue in the local area. A large pat on the back for Canton making this decision to assist what is a struggling economy now.
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christopher sevick: University of Michigan-Private Dorms Provide Taxes
- 06/12/07 01:35 PM
University of Michigan-Private Dorms Provide Taxes Good news for the local tax base, but poor news for Ann Arbor's already slow rental market. New plans have been announced by Education Realty Trust that they will build 896 new rooms on North Campus. The company currently has almost 60 other communities nationwide including several at Michigan State. Given the makeup of the North Campus this will benefit students in the College of Engineering, School of Art and Design, School of Music, Theatre and Dance and College of Architecture and Urban Planning the most due to the proximity of their classes. Tags: Attorney, … (10 comments)
christopher sevick: Yahoo Finds Foreclosures?
- 06/12/07 01:33 PM
Yahoo Finds Foreclosures? It seems that more & more foreclosure sites just keep popping up to help potential buyers find the homes. With more foreclosures coming on the market and often good deals on them. Yahoo has stepped in to assist people in finding the foreclosures by adding a new foreclosure section on it's site. Tags: Attorney, Christopher Sevick, Estate Plan, Real Estate, Trust, Will, Ypsilanti, www.SevickLaw.com, Ann Arbor, www.MIEstatePlanBlog.com, www.MIRealEstateBlog.com, Washtenaw, Michigan … (0 comments)
christopher sevick: Internal Revuenue Service-Taxing on Short Sales
- 06/12/07 01:32 PM
Internal Revenue Service-Taxing on Short Sales On March 27th I wrote a blog piece on how you may be liable for taxes on a loan that is partially forgiven as part of a short sale. Now, I have found an article that details this, but takes a hard approach toward the IRS. This is nothing new for the IRS, they have always taxed forgiven debt--just ask anyone who has ever settled a credit card for less than full value. The following year they received or should have received a 1099 making the forgiven portion income. Despite this, remember that paying a … (0 comments)
christopher sevick: Read the Mortgage Fine Print
- 05/10/07 02:11 PM
Many of the calls to my law office involve assisting potential clients with a review of their mortgage situation when their payments seem to jump up $300-$500 seemingly overnight. This MSNBC report address just such an occurrence. For many, it seems they converted to an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) when they were offered an interest rate or 1-3%. However, now three to five years later the potential clients have neglected to refinance, and now may not be able to since their home may not apprise in the "down" market for what they currently owe. Their first step needs to be a … (0 comments)
christopher sevick: Fight Against Foreclosure--On the Phone
- 05/10/07 02:09 PM
One of the largest items that I find for many in foreclosure is that they were not speaking to their lender, or the correct department at the lender. The most important thing when facing foreclosure is to communicate with the lender. This article outlines some good steps, to approach them and negotiate. Remember, banks DO NOT want to own houses, they want their money back so that can re-loan it and profit again. If you can communicate with the loss mitigation department and work out a situation to extend your mortgage payments there may be a solution. However, you must … (0 comments)
christopher sevick: Pitfalls of For Sale By Owner
- 05/10/07 02:08 PM
Here is a really good article written by Bob Bruss, one of nation's foremost experts and authors in real estate. It discusses just how there are pitfalls to selling "For Sale By Owner" and even more so in this tough economic market. It is all the more tempting now to try a for sale by owner due to the reduced housing prices, but with a slow market you must make your home marketed, shown, and presented the best. In my opinion, you should have a professional agent assisting you in this to help set you and your home apart. … (0 comments)
christopher sevick: Michigan Private Forest Land & Tax Savings?
- 04/15/07 01:19 PM
Michigan has just enacted a new savings tax break for private forest lands of as small as 20 acres. Why am I posting this on this forum you ask? While, that is simple, people have second homes and "up north" cabins that have private forest lands nearby. In addition, we know that there are people that have inherited homes up north that may qualify for this tax break. … (1 comments)
christopher sevick: Potential Roadblocks & Pitfalls in Short Sales
- 04/15/07 12:43 PM
While doing some work this weekend I came across this great article from Inman News on Short Sales. Each week I receive literally dozens of calls or email about short sales and how the caller or writer needs to sell short due to their home being worth less than they owe. Upon further questioning some may qualify due to financial information and should move forward with contacting their lender for a loss mitigation packet, while others are financially able to pay, but feel they shouldn't need to due to the decrease in house value as compared to the mortgage. My final … (2 comments)
christopher sevick: House Over-Insured?
- 03/27/07 03:19 PM
Is your home carrying too much insurance? Just this week I was evaluating my family's coverage for auto, home, and life. While we all know to adjust our auto insurance as our car loses value, do we do the same for our home as the mortgage adjusts? Given that a considerable amount of your home value may be in the land it sits on, which isn't destroyed by a home fire, carrying a homeowners policy for the mortgaged amount instead of the replacement value may be costing you some of your hard earned cash for coverage you don't need. Knowing I … (1 comments)
christopher sevick: Prepaid Taxes a Lure to Buyers?
- 03/27/07 03:11 PM
In this time of increasing property taxes, as I discussed in this post, and lengthening days on the market lots of seller are trying to "do one better" and see what they have to offer to move their home. In addition, not just the sellers are seeing what they can do, buyers are asking for more all the time since many sellers are expected to be desperate. This article discusses just what is occurring in the market and why the taxes are such an issue that they are now being a part of the negotiations in home sales. … (5 comments)
christopher sevick: Short Sale-Taxed On Money We Didn't Receive?
- 03/27/07 02:58 PM
As I originally discussed on February 13th, here, short sales, or attempts for them are becoming all the more common as homes are not able to sell for what is owed on them. I'm beginning to see lenders now realize this and approve them easier, but still far from easily. However, despite the ability to sell the home now and relieve yourself of the debt of the home payment you need to be aware that you may have tax liability for the money that was forgiven. For many people however, a little tax next year is far better than the … (4 comments)
christopher sevick: Appliances - Do They Stay or Do They Go?
- 03/19/07 05:38 PM
Just last week I was working on a purchase agreement review that was written by a newer local Realtor. The buyers had contacted me to review the agreement, title work, and condominium documents prior to closing. The buyers are first time home buyers and moving in from out of state. While reviewing the purchase agreement I saw that nothing had been included in the "Inclusions" section of our local contract despite that the kitchen appliances and washer/dryer had been listed on the MLS listing ticket. A real estate expert, Bob Bruss discusses a similar concern in this article. … (4 comments)
christopher sevick: Progress on Michigan "Pop Up" Tax?
- 03/15/07 02:57 PM
Finally, some possible good news. I first blogged on February 17th about the possibility that the Michigan Legislature would cap property taxes for the next 18 months on any transfer between March 2007 and September 2008. To be honest at that time I was skeptical that it would happen due to the impact on the taxes of the local units of government. Now, the House at least has passed a bill that would do just that. The Senate has yet to do so, but it will certainly provide for some good discussions and articles in the upcoming days. The article on … (1 comments)
christopher sevick: Good Home Deals At Auctions?
- 03/08/07 01:31 PM
When I first blogged about this January 15th, I didn't anticipate another one of these auctions to roll around so soon. On March 17th & 18th the auction firm of Hudson & Marshall, the nation's largest seller of foreclosed property for multiple lenders will be auctioning off 260 Detroit homes valued at $10,000 to $300,000. More information may be found in this press release from Hudson & Marshall. Information on the homes being sold as well as restrictions and bidding criteria may be found on the website of Hudson & Marshall.
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christopher sevick: Can "Character Flaws" Cost You Money?
- 03/04/07 11:21 PM
I was out today meeting with an elderly client to update his estate plan before he was having minor surgery this week. Upon opening the storm door to his porch I found that he met me at the front main door. He indicated that he had heard me come in the storm door. I stopped for a moment and thought about it. In retrospect he very possibly had heard me since the hinges on the storm door had been very loud with a squeak that I chalked up to the wet weather we have had lately. For my elderly client, living … (2 comments)
Real Estate Still a Good Tax Benefit With all of the discussion in the "downturn" in our economy and home prices this article still addresses a few of the tax advantages of home ownership. I personally and professionally believe that home ownership is still a strong investment and with our strong rates for mortgages we should still see home sales for long term investments. 
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