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All Forum Posts by: Terry Pratt

Terry Pratt has started 5 posts and replied 14 times.

Post: Bye Bayh

Terry PrattPosted
  • Posts 14
  • Votes 2

I sometimes make little musical commentaries, usually parodies, in response to current events. I take existing songs and write new lyrics.

Here's one a liberal might be able to use next year:

Bye Bayh Birch
Bye Bayh Evan too
Hello Dan Quayle II
I think I'm a-gonna cry...

This post is intended to be more about real estate than politics, but I didn't notice a more appropriate RE forum here.

In many but not all states, owner-occupied homes are taxed at one rate and rental properties are taxed at a higher rate. I am researching this within the United States.

Question for landlords:

Are your rentals and your primary residence taxed differently? (tax rates, homestead exemption, etc)

I'd like to get a handle on the tax differences across the country.
I

TWP's post "A development idea for a novice" inspires this post. I have another development idea which is probably silly, but perhaps there will come a time for this idea.

How about a building of say a dozen (give or take a few) energy-efficient, compact tiny condos. Like studios or maybe even SRO units.

If I'm going to live in tiny cramped quarters, I'd rather have an opportunity to own something (stabilize housing costs, lock in P&I, enjoy preferential property tax rates and income tax breaks, build equity over time plus a little appreciation on a good day) than continue to pay rent.

I'd like to thank Trevor for this post. I've had the same dream for years but even in the boom years I had no hope of funding.

So I'm happy to see someone in a better position to realize this same dream.

Post: How About Tiny House Condos?

Terry PrattPosted
  • Posts 14
  • Votes 2

Actually, my phone was ringing off the hook with calls from mortgage telemarketers.

Well I was pretty sure I couldn't get a loan - minimum wage job, student loan debt, and an old unresolved IRS lien - and one telemarketer was just SURE I could get a loan, so I went along with him. (I wanted to PROVE I was right, plus I figured it couldn't hurt to get a free copy of the credit reports he pulled. Bonus - I was not expecting but he gave me all three scores as well. )

So he pulled my credit and sure enough he couldn't get me funded. Those pesky bureaus never let a tax lien go by.

So it's not QUITE true that anyone could get a loan in 2005.

Post: How About Tiny House Condos?

Terry PrattPosted
  • Posts 14
  • Votes 2

II've long had this idea that there is probably a market for developing multiple small houses on land and selling (or perhaps renting) them as condos.

Someone actually did this in my neighborhood five years ago with a red-tagged meth house.

He bought the property cheap, tore down the house, and put up four houses on the lot, none of which were tiny. Because the property was close to transit, the parking requirements were substantially reduced.

He put up a banner offering his houses as condos and grossed about $750K. I didn't look up the price he paid but it was assessed at $130K and I'm guessing he paid considerably less than $100K for the property, and made a decent profit after development and constuction costs.

He sold all four units within two weeks, thereby reinforcing my belief that there is a market for units like these.

I didn't have a choice when I moved in. I live on a poverty-level income and had to move when the rental I had been living in was short-saled on the brink of foreclosure.

I had to move in a hurry and this was the only place I could afford to move into on short notice.

Perhaps you assume that everyone has a stockpile of cash ready to tap for situations like this.

And Tom was renting to Joe an illegal basement so Tom was at fault for illegally renting to the perp, and hiw gains from Joe are tainted.

Now we seem to have worked out a resolution where I'm continuing to pay the rent on time like clockwork but I'm no longer paying the utilities, all of which are in Tom's name.

Steve said:

I agree with Jeffrey here. You will need rooming house zoning and rooming house license to do this; or whatever the equivalent to "rooming house" is for your area. It is not just multi-family, as multi-family usually have multiple complete units that are separate; you have only a single unit.

WHEW am I glad the nanny state is not (yet) universal!

In Oregon, state law allows dwelling occupancy of 2-per-bedroom plus one.

So a 3BR house can legally house seven unrelated people.

Once upon a time I lived in a place where maximum dwelling occupancy was limited to two unrelated. The town was relentlessly trying to get rid of rental housing and managed to drive out the small landlrods and make the remaining landlords bigger.

Okay, I explained it in the "rent out the whole house or by the room" item.

My landlord is cool with the arrangement, his master tenant does the basic maintenance (is carpenter/contractor) and he gets the rent like clockwork without hassle.

So there's no problem on that front.

Now Joe the alleged thief was renting an illegal part of the house (which has remained unoccupied since Joe moved out), so I think Tom made money and screwed me at the same time. Joe and his GF and their kid moved in with a sob story and money from Joe's GF.

So I'm thinking Joe shouldn't have been in the house in the first place.

oh look at the newest Featured Property:

5 bed 1 bath, $24,900.Remodeled
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana
$24,900

Ah, now we're starting to get close to something I can afford.