Ease our tax burden, lawmakers are urged [South Florida]

Ease our tax burden, lawmakers are urged [South Florida]

Taxpayers asked their state lawmakers to come up with a plan to lessen the property tax burden on homeowners and businesses.

Madeleine Hernandez stood at the microphone and told the crowd of 100 Miami-Dade and Broward taxpayers gathered at a town hall meeting about the toll her rising property tax bill has taken:

”I had to pawn my engagement ring to pay my real estate taxes,” said Hernandez, who bought a $380,000 home in West Miami-Dade in 2005 and is now facing a $7,400 tax bill.

“Next year, I will probably lose my house.”

Condo rules clash with market realities

Condo rules clash with market realities

When some owners of condos in Pelican Cove wanted to hold an open house to help with sluggish sales, it set off a storm of controversy.

Barbara Simons gazes at the serene view of Sarasota Bay that dominates the condominium she inherited from her mother, a spacious second-story waterfront hideaway within the gated and lushly landscaped enclave of Pelican Cove.

But Simons is not serene. She is furious with Murray Sherry, the outgoing board president of the south Sarasota complex, and with everybody else keeping her from holding an open house to get out from under the condo — to her a half-million dollars on the hoof.

Where has the money gone? [South Florida]

Where has the money gone? [South Florida]

The arrest of Sarasota businessman Daniel Prewett has investors worried.

Dr. Wayne Cohen and his wife invested $462,000 with Daniel Prewett, so the Cohens had reason to be alarmed when they heard Prewett had been arrested on a federal money laundering charge.

The couple had given Prewett the money to buy real estate with his company, JH Investment Services Inc. After the arrest, the Cohens did some checking and found Prewett had transferred one of the deeds to himself without paying for it just a few months earlier, court records show.

The couple immediately asked for their money back. Then they had an attorney send a letter, and they say Prewett still hasn’t responded.

So what does $250,000 get you these days? [Central Florida]

So what does $250,000 get you these days? [Central Florida]

The median resale price of a home in Central Florida has hovered at a quarter of a million dollars for almost a year.

A cool quarter of a million dollars. Two hundred and fifty grand. That’s roughly what it takes to buy a typical used home in Central Florida these days.

Existing-home sales soared to record heights in 2004-05, taking prices with them: The median resale price of a home in the Orlando area rose more than 60 percent in those two years alone, according to data gathered by the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

But since then, the local median — the price at which half the homes sold for less and half sold for more — has been stuck in neutral: For nearly a year now, the median has been exactly $250,000 or within a few thousand dollars of that amount in the Realtors’ core Orlando market, which consists mainly of Orange and Seminole counties but includes some sales in surrounding counties.

Mortgage co-signer’s name shouldn’t be on title

Will quitclaiming interest to relatives have tax consequences?

DEAR BOB: About five years ago, I co-signed a home mortgage for my nephew and his wife. They were newlyweds buying their first home. They both had great jobs and great income, but no credit history so I volunteered to help them get a mortgage loan at my bank. Since then, they have done very well. He has been promoted about five times and now earns more than I do. She recently “retired” to have a baby boy, which they named after me. However, when I co-signed their mortgage, the bank insisted I go on the title to their modest house, which I did. They recently refinanced the mortgage to take out some tax-free cash so I am now off the mortgage. But I am still on the title, although there is no reason for that. When I mentioned to my lawyer I plan to sign a quitclaim deed to them, he advised me not to do so because that would create a gift tax situation. As I never paid any cash for the house, have no equity interest in it, and was merely on the title as a convenience, do you think I have any gift tax obligation? –Curt T.

DEAR CURT: No. If you have no equity to convey, you won’t be giving away anything of value. As you state, your name was on the title merely as a co-signing convenience to help the home buyers qualify for a home mortgage.