The great condo divide

The great condo divide

Not since Archie and Meathead went toe to toe in “All in the Family” has generational conflict reared its ugly head this high.

As people who have bought into condominium projects are discovering, a battle of priorities among different age groups is raging on the common-ownership front. After all, just because those lofts are being marketed to a younger crowd doesn’t mean they are the only ones buying.

Battle lines over maintenance, special assessments and day-to-day operations are frequently drawn along generational divides. Should money be spent on putting in park benches and planting more flowerbeds, or on repaving the tennis courts? Should the swimming pool stay open until 10 p.m. or be locked up at 7 p.m. as a noise-control measure? Should association funds be used to install an on-site gym or replace the siding?

Tax plan: Big savings, major cuts

Tax plan: Big savings, major cuts

The Legislature is preparing to cut the average property-tax bill 7 percent this year, and then ask voters next year if they want to save far more by supersizing homeowner tax exemptions, under a plan Republican leaders released late Friday after weeks of secret talks.

Total cost to local governments over five years: $31.6 billion — a record tax cut.

But the big number includes $7.2 billion from schools and $3.1 billion from taxing districts that support hospitals, water management districts and children services. Those cuts could spell political trouble for parts of the plan among Democrats.

The complicated proposal would fundamentally change the property tax system by capping and rolling back government spending, while expanding homeowner tax exemptions from $25,000 to a maximum of $195,000. It also seeks to punish governments — including Miami-Dade County — that taxed and spent more than the statewide average during the real estate boom years.

Avalon Homes CEO never planned to hurt anyone

Avalon Homes CEO never planned to hurt anyone

In his first public comments, the attorney for a former home builder who is accused of defrauding several North Port families said Joseph Pufta never planned to hurt anyone and was himself a victim of the downturn in the real estate market.

“It was a business slowdown and a market turndown that led to his difficulties,” said Henry Lee, a Sarasota attorney who is representing the 62-year-old former executive of Avalon Homes.

Lee said Pufta was waiting for new home sales to generate the cash he needed to continue work on the 50 homes the company eventually abandoned before packing up its offices.

Lee has entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of Pufta, who is charged with 20 counts of misapplication of construction funds and one count of grand theft, all felonies. Authorities say more charges are pending.

You can hardly lose with California housing

You can hardly lose with California housing

Yes, there have been small declines in some relatively overbuilt parts of this state. But in places where homes have not been overbuilt, or where in-migration continues at a fast pace, prices are still rising slightly or just staying flat.

It happens every year about the same time pitchers and catchers report to Florida and Arizona for the start of spring training: “For sale” signs pop up all around California like toadstools after a heavy rain.

And this year, there was good news and bad news in the springtime for both buyers and sellers.

Many Investors Feel Like Running Away From Homes

Many Investors Feel Like Running Away From Homes

Buying real estate seemed a no-brainer five years ago. Cheap loans were easy to get. Home prices were soaring. Stocks were dead money.

How things have changed.

For-sale signs are sitting ignored in some cities. Interest rates on exotic loans are doubling. Insurance premiums and property taxes are skyrocketing. Wannabe real estate tycoons stuck with properties they can’t sell have been turned into landlords, forced to fix toilets and take tenant calls in the middle of the night. Many are “under water” — owing more on the mortgage than they could get by selling.

Meanwhile, stock investors have been celebrating again as broad market indexes march to new highs. And that is prompting some real estate investors to make the switch back to stocks. Real estate “isn’t as lucrative as it used to be,” says Jack Patterson, a financial adviser in Coral Gables, Fla., who has been helping clients sell real estate and buy stocks.

Seniors can get caught in a tax trap

Seniors can get caught in a tax trap

After Kimrey Newlin retired two years ago, he and his wife moved closer to their grandkids, leaving the $1.2 million Key Biscayne house they had lived in for 27 years for a $545,000 home in the Falls.

Now they’re 10 blocks from the kids, and a hand-painted lawn ornament in the front yard declares: “Grandma’s House. Kids Spoiled Here. Cookies and Milk.”

But the Newlins are paying for the move. Although the new place costs less than half the old one, their property taxes jumped to $9,000 from $6,400.

The couple are among a large and diverse group of seniors who find Florida’s property-tax crisis especially vexing. With many older residents living on fixed incomes, they are being hit with the rising cost of owning a home as they juggle increased prices for things such as food, gasoline, insurance and medical care.