[svelte]

When I lived in a MR district, we put the MR tax on our tax return every year, as did our neighbors. At the time, my understanding was that if the tax was to pay for something that would benefit only the MR district residents (ie, a private pool, private roads, etc), then it was not tax deductible. Since this was not the case, we deducted it. As TG points out, it showed up on our 1098 in the “taxes paid” figure and was not a separate tax bill. I just took that 1098 number and plopped it into TurboTax.

All of our neighbors at the time did the same thing. I never heard of anyone getting audited, but then again the MR was not high and I think the difference it made in the taxes we paid was minimal. I didn’t spend any time worrying about it because I didn’t realize there was controversy about it’s deductibility beyond the private vs public as stated above.

I agree with TG that it would probably look suspicious if the number you claim for prop taxes paid did not match what the 1098 says, since I’m sure the IRS has software that tries to match those numbers up.

This whole issue is moot here at our current house, so I don’t even have to think it through any more.

Excellent thread. These are the types of post that make this such a wonderful place to visit.

[svelte]

I actually don’t know how to do that, unless you are really familiar w/your area and know what’s been on the market and monitor it. But if you’re new to the area, how do people check if a place has been for sale before?

One way would be to ask a neighbor – they are usually so taken by surprise that someone is asking them about the house for sale that they’ll tell you anything.

The drawback I have found to this approach: they’ll invariably run over and tell the seller they talked to you, causing the seller to hunker down and think they are going to get full price.

Here’s an example that happened to us: we toured a house that had signs all over the interior saying “make an offer! all offers considered!”. We really liked the home, but had a few issues with the neighborhood so I went next door and talked to the neighbor. Within a day, my realtor was getting calls from the seller’s realtor asking when we were going to make an offer.

The seller’s realtor stated that someone who had toured the home a month earlier had heard we looked at the house and they had just made an offer at near asking price. Not wanting to get into a bidding war, we passed and never made an offer. Two weeks later, the seller’s realtor was calling again stating the house was still for sale. Stupid realtor – if she hadn’t invented that phony offer to entice us to bid high, we just might have bought that house.

[svelte]

I actually don’t know how to do that, unless you are really familiar w/your area and know what’s been on the market and monitor it. But if you’re new to the area, how do people check if a place has been for sale before?

One way would be to ask a neighbor – they are usually so taken by surprise that someone is asking them about the house for sale that they’ll tell you anything.

The drawback I have found to this approach: they’ll invariably run over and tell the seller they talked to you, causing the seller to hunker down and think they are going to get full price.

Here’s an example that happened to us: we toured a house that had signs all over the interior saying “make an offer! all offers considered!”. We really liked the home, but had a few issues with the neighborhood so I went next door and talked to the neighbor. Within a day, my realtor was getting calls from the seller’s realtor asking when we were going to make an offer.

The seller’s realtor stated that someone who had toured the home a month earlier had heard we looked at the house and they had just made an offer at near asking price. Not wanting to get into a bidding war, we passed and never made an offer. Two weeks later, the seller’s realtor was calling again stating the house was still for sale. Stupid realtor – if she hadn’t invented that phony offer to entice us to bid high, we just might have bought that house.

[svelte]

I actually don’t know how to do that, unless you are really familiar w/your area and know what’s been on the market and monitor it. But if you’re new to the area, how do people check if a place has been for sale before?

One way would be to ask a neighbor – they are usually so taken by surprise that someone is asking them about the house for sale that they’ll tell you anything.

The drawback I have found to this approach: they’ll invariably run over and tell the seller they talked to you, causing the seller to hunker down and think they are going to get full price.

Here’s an example that happened to us: we toured a house that had signs all over the interior saying “make an offer! all offers considered!”. We really liked the home, but had a few issues with the neighborhood so I went next door and talked to the neighbor. Within a day, my realtor was getting calls from the seller’s realtor asking when we were going to make an offer.

The seller’s realtor stated that someone who had toured the home a month earlier had heard we looked at the house and they had just made an offer at near asking price. Not wanting to get into a bidding war, we passed and never made an offer. Two weeks later, the seller’s realtor was calling again stating the house was still for sale. Stupid realtor – if she hadn’t invented that phony offer to entice us to bid high, we just might have bought that house.

[svelte]

I actually don’t know how to do that, unless you are really familiar w/your area and know what’s been on the market and monitor it. But if you’re new to the area, how do people check if a place has been for sale before?

One way would be to ask a neighbor – they are usually so taken by surprise that someone is asking them about the house for sale that they’ll tell you anything.

The drawback I have found to this approach: they’ll invariably run over and tell the seller they talked to you, causing the seller to hunker down and think they are going to get full price.

Here’s an example that happened to us: we toured a house that had signs all over the interior saying “make an offer! all offers considered!”. We really liked the home, but had a few issues with the neighborhood so I went next door and talked to the neighbor. Within a day, my realtor was getting calls from the seller’s realtor asking when we were going to make an offer.

The seller’s realtor stated that someone who had toured the home a month earlier had heard we looked at the house and they had just made an offer at near asking price. Not wanting to get into a bidding war, we passed and never made an offer. Two weeks later, the seller’s realtor was calling again stating the house was still for sale. Stupid realtor – if she hadn’t invented that phony offer to entice us to bid high, we just might have bought that house.

[svelte]

I actually don’t know how to do that, unless you are really familiar w/your area and know what’s been on the market and monitor it. But if you’re new to the area, how do people check if a place has been for sale before?

One way would be to ask a neighbor – they are usually so taken by surprise that someone is asking them about the house for sale that they’ll tell you anything.

The drawback I have found to this approach: they’ll invariably run over and tell the seller they talked to you, causing the seller to hunker down and think they are going to get full price.

Here’s an example that happened to us: we toured a house that had signs all over the interior saying “make an offer! all offers considered!”. We really liked the home, but had a few issues with the neighborhood so I went next door and talked to the neighbor. Within a day, my realtor was getting calls from the seller’s realtor asking when we were going to make an offer.

The seller’s realtor stated that someone who had toured the home a month earlier had heard we looked at the house and they had just made an offer at near asking price. Not wanting to get into a bidding war, we passed and never made an offer. Two weeks later, the seller’s realtor was calling again stating the house was still for sale. Stupid realtor – if she hadn’t invented that phony offer to entice us to bid high, we just might have bought that house.

[svelte]

Shouldn’t your deposit go into an escrow account so that it doesn’t go poof if the sale doesn’t close? That way, if the sale doesn’t go through, you can get your $$ back from the escrow account.

[svelte]

Shouldn’t your deposit go into an escrow account so that it doesn’t go poof if the sale doesn’t close? That way, if the sale doesn’t go through, you can get your $$ back from the escrow account.

[svelte]

Shouldn’t your deposit go into an escrow account so that it doesn’t go poof if the sale doesn’t close? That way, if the sale doesn’t go through, you can get your $$ back from the escrow account.

[svelte]

Shouldn’t your deposit go into an escrow account so that it doesn’t go poof if the sale doesn’t close? That way, if the sale doesn’t go through, you can get your $$ back from the escrow account.

[svelte]

Shouldn’t your deposit go into an escrow account so that it doesn’t go poof if the sale doesn’t close? That way, if the sale doesn’t go through, you can get your $$ back from the escrow account.

[svelte]

Even when I’ve worked with Realtors, they haven’t had access to permit information. They have went back to the seller or seller’s realtor to inquire and ask for copies of the permits. Maybe I’ve had lazy Realtors, I don’t know, but that’s what they have done.

I’ve generally found that sellers that have done the proper thing and permitted all changes have kept a record of it and are more than happy to show you. To my way of thinking, failure to produce the proof (“my dog ate my permit”, “of course I did, and I don’t have to show YOU”) is a pretty sure way to determine that no, the permit was not filed.

[svelte]

Even when I’ve worked with Realtors, they haven’t had access to permit information. They have went back to the seller or seller’s realtor to inquire and ask for copies of the permits. Maybe I’ve had lazy Realtors, I don’t know, but that’s what they have done.

I’ve generally found that sellers that have done the proper thing and permitted all changes have kept a record of it and are more than happy to show you. To my way of thinking, failure to produce the proof (“my dog ate my permit”, “of course I did, and I don’t have to show YOU”) is a pretty sure way to determine that no, the permit was not filed.

[svelte]

Even when I’ve worked with Realtors, they haven’t had access to permit information. They have went back to the seller or seller’s realtor to inquire and ask for copies of the permits. Maybe I’ve had lazy Realtors, I don’t know, but that’s what they have done.

I’ve generally found that sellers that have done the proper thing and permitted all changes have kept a record of it and are more than happy to show you. To my way of thinking, failure to produce the proof (“my dog ate my permit”, “of course I did, and I don’t have to show YOU”) is a pretty sure way to determine that no, the permit was not filed.

[svelte]

Even when I’ve worked with Realtors, they haven’t had access to permit information. They have went back to the seller or seller’s realtor to inquire and ask for copies of the permits. Maybe I’ve had lazy Realtors, I don’t know, but that’s what they have done.

I’ve generally found that sellers that have done the proper thing and permitted all changes have kept a record of it and are more than happy to show you. To my way of thinking, failure to produce the proof (“my dog ate my permit”, “of course I did, and I don’t have to show YOU”) is a pretty sure way to determine that no, the permit was not filed.

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