WNY Handyman

I have often wondered why Ebay hasn’t become the place to be to list real estate. It seems natural to me that their huge audience would be drawn to a real estate section the way that they are with the Ebay Motors product. I never think to look to Ebay when it comes to real estate because the listings are just not there. Sure, there are some, but for the most part, listings are scarce.

Here is a sad example. In New York state, there should be thousands of real estate listings.  In fact, a quick search of a rival “classified” type site named Oodle.com turns up 2,262 listings in Buffalo, NY alone. Not the whole state of NY as I pulled on Ebay, just Buffalo New York.  On Ebay, the entire state of NY returned 14 listings!  That’s right, 14 listings.  Who would even bother to go there.  Visitors will move toward the listings when searching for real estate.

Ebay Listings in New York:

Ebay real estate

Oodle.com Listings in Buffalo NY:

Buffalo Real Estate on Oodle

Why isn’t Ebay able to generate real estate listings at their site?  There are a number of reasons, but here are the two primary ones:

1. Price
   To list a property on Ebay, it is expensive (Fee table below).  Expensive is relative, but based upon the options out there for someone looking to sell a property, the cost outweigh the potential reach. I can only assume that the reach is poor based solely on the listing results.
2. Audience
   If they are heading to Ebay as one of the top few listing sites, I don’t care to be there at their price.  When you search for real estate, you probably find yourself hitting a few sites and quickly realize that you are seeing the same listings across multiple sites.  Because listings are scarce in Ebay Real Estate, they don’t have an opportunity to capture audience during the short window when someone is searching.

Ebay Real Estate Listing Fees:

Ebay Real Estate Listing Fees

I hope Ebay’s leadership takes a long look at their real estate category. As with EbayMotors.com, they could be a dominant force in this space.

Lancaster, NY revaluation. It stinks!

Well, if you live in Lancaster, NY, you probably received a lovely letter yesterday regarding your property taxes and your property assessment.  There were increases that appear across the board.  The equalization rate is no longer as we have moved to 100% valuation.  The increases are staggering in many cases.

The town of Lancaster continues to spend, and spend, and spend on projects that don’t benefit the town as a whole.

1. There is a pricey new addition to town hall (approximately $985,000).
2. There is a new police and courts facility in the works ($8,000,000 Plus).
3. There is the new use of a former library for an emergency management office (that’s right, Lancaster has one).
4. There is the proposed recreational facility that will certainly add long term costs.
5. etc. etc.

Let’s not forget that use of these properties suddenly pulls them off the tax rolls. And, in the case where a sale is possible, eliminates the funds from a sale (Depew Library is a prime example).

Many will be fighting the new assessment figures.  In a couple of cases, I will be one of them.  If you aren’t familiar with the tools available to you for searching property information here are a couple:

• Lancaster Online Assessment Review System (OARS) http://www.oarsystem.com/ny/lancaster/main.asp
• Erie County Real Property System http://www.erie.gov/ecrpts/webprop.asp
• Erie County Internet Mapping System http://gis1.erie.gov/website/Erie_help/help.htm

I know that there is quite a bit of state and/or federal funding drying up for Towns and Villages. How about cutting costs rather than continuing to spend. If a surplus builds, cut taxes!

Politics suck.

Please check with your accountant or tax professional regarding definitive answers to the first-time buyer tax credit.  The following 7 questions should give you some guidance regarding qualification for the home buyer credit. You can refer to IRS form 5405 for complete detail.

Do you have questions about the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit?  You are not alone. The following should provide you with some answers:

Who qualifies as a first-time home buyer?

You are considered a first-time buyer if:

• You purchased your primary residence after April 8, 2008 and prior to December 1, 2009.
• You, or your spouse, haven’t owned another primary residence in the 3 years prior to your purchase of the qualifying home.

How much is the first-time home buyer credit? Everyone seems to refer to $8,000, but I have heard a credit of $7,500

• For a home purchased in 2008 the credit amount is $7,500 (or 10 percent of the purchase price, whichever is less).  In this example, the credit is essentially a loan that is payable over a 15 year period and is interest free. If you sell the home, you are obligated to repay the remaining balance.
• For a primary residence purchased in 2009, the credit amount is $8,000 (or 10 percent of the purchase price, whichever is less).
  You only need repay the loan if you move from the property, or it ceases to be your primary residence within the 36 months after you close on the property.
• NOTE: The amounts will differ if you are a married couple filing separately ($3,750 and $4,000)

Does a Condominium or Town-home qualify for the credit?

Yes.  The definition of a primary-residence is broad enough to include a condo or townhome. In fact, other house types such as trailers, co-ops, or even a house boat can qualify.

What if I don’t ever reach a level where I pay income taxes? How will I receive the credit?

Even if you don’t owe taxes, you will receive the credit. You will receive in the form of a check from the IRS.

Are there any income restrictions?

For those with gross income above $75,000, or $150,000 for joint filers, the credit will phase out (sliding scale). When your adjusted gross income is $90,000 or $170,000 for joint filers, the credit is completely phased out.

Can I purchase from a relative just to receive the credit?

Related party transactions are excluded.  The IRS defines a related party as:

• Your spouse, parents, grandparents, or lineal descendants such as children, or grandchildren.
• A business in which you directly or indirectly own more than 50% of the shares of the entity.

• A business in which you own more than 50% interest or profits interest.

What IRS form is needed?

IRS Form 5405 should be filed with your Form 1040.  

If you have been a landlord for any period of time, I am certain that you have taken some vacancy loss, or had late payers that, in turn, led to a tenant skipping out on rent owed. After you have that experience, you realize the need to screen prior to allowing a tenant to sign a lease for your rental property.

I have used a service for the past few years called e-renter. They allow you to run a credit check and/or a criminal background check. Obviously nothing is foolproof, but by doing some basic tenant screening, you can eliminate some of the worst potential rent loss issues.

Tenant Screening

I often tell the story of the owner of a duplex next to mine having an issue with a tenant and I asked her what screening service she used. She paused and answered “… ooohhh, maybe that is the problem”. She wasn’t screening at all and only collected 4 months of rent in her first 10 months of ownership. The first tenant was recently bankrupt and the second was headed there. Had she screened in advance, she would have gotten a better picture of her prospective tenant.

In addition to tenant screening, I encourage any landlord to be sure they check references. I have rented to people with less than perfect credit because their references were so solid and their story regarding the credit issues checked out. I have also had references throw their ‘friends’ under the bus and essentially say “you would be crazy to rent to them”.

Do your homework… screen your tenants… be a real person and learn the story before you accept the first person who says “I’ll take it”.

There aren’t too many true “online real estate auction” sites around. There is one that I keep coming across. The site is Williams & Williams Auctions. They offer a true auction format that allows you to place online bids in real time on properties. This isn’t the case for all properties, but it is designated when it is.

A friend picked up a house in Lockport last year on this site. I think he ended up paying $14,000 for a home in a decent neighborhood. It was obviously a gut job, but for the price, that was justified.

Check out the site for yourself. Buyer Beware!

NY Real Estate Auctions

Is it just me, or has Zillow had a real difficult time locating properties on the map lately? I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten the following page when doing a simple search on a valid property address.

Zillow - Property Not Found