The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 12 No. 36 - June 20, 2012

REAL ESTATE

Real estate misrepresentations

 

Remember the 1950’s game show “Who Do You Trust?” where couples needed to decide if their answer or the answer of their spouse was the correct one. It’s actually a question we should all be asking ourselves in today’s over abundant 24/7 newsfeeds on network and cable television, not to mention radio.

On a recent quiet sunny Sunday morning, I was reduced to the edge of rage before the clock struck noon. One piece of the rage was part of a Sunday morning talk show the other was a letter to the editor in the morning paper.

A reasonably well known national figure, in an effort to support the government’s attempts to help underwater homeowners, quoted a startling figure. He said that 90 percent of Florida homeowners were underwater. First of all, what I think he meant to say was that 90 percent of Florida mortgage holders were underwater, but even that didn’t sit well with me. It only took me and Google about 10 minutes to get the number straight.

The opinion of almost everyone commenting on this number is that between 44 percent and 47 percent of Florida mortgage holders are underwater. Now don’t get me wrong. That’s a terrible and very troubling number, however, it is not 90 percent. Since, unlike me, most people hearing 90 percent would just have accepted it and repeated it to others without verifying. This unfortunately is happening from all media pundits regardless of their political affiliation.

Of course, you don’t have to be a media pundit to get a letter printed in the newspaper. This particular one addressed something that has been going around the Internet for some months and one that I actually checked out a while back. Part of the new health care bill, which is currently awaiting a Supreme Court decision, contains a little known 3.8 percent tax on profits from selling your home designed to help fund Medicare. When this was first discovered, it was interpreted incorrectly by most, including the Sunday morning letter to the editor writer, as being a straight 3.8 percent sales tax on the sale of all homes.

Again although this is a very complex statute written into an already very complex piece of legislation, it does not impose a 3.8 percent sales tax on all home sales. The truth is that only a tiny percentage of home sellers will pay the tax, if indeed the law stands.

First of all, only those with incomes over $200,000 a year or $250,000 for married couples will be subject to it. And even for those with high incomes, the tax will not apply to the first $250,000 on profits from the sale of a personal residence or the first $500,000 in the case of a married couple.

For example, a married couple with a $100,000 income and $450,000 of capital gains on the sale of their primary home would not be subject to the tax. Even if their capital gain was over the $500,000 exemption, they still would not pay the tax because their income was below $250,000. This couple would need an income of at least $250,000 and have capital gains in excess of $500,000 before the tax would kick in and then only on the excess above the $500,000 capital gains. I know it sounds confusing, but the bottom line is this tax is being misrepresented as something all home sellers will be impacted by, and it’s just not the case.

It’s really important to check out the source before you hands down believe anyone from your bridge partner to the Sunday morning talk shows. Rememer what Ronald Reagan said, “Trust but verify.” Now that would a good name for a game show.

Real Estate Transactions
Real Estate Transfers from May 1 through 31
Sponsored by Alan Galletto Island Real Estate

Sold Date | List Price | Sold Price | Address | Provision | Property Style

Anna Maria

05/01/2012 469,000 435,000 830 N. Shore Drive 1467 3 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/07/2012 599,000 550,000 521 Loquat Drive 3246 75x102 3 Br/3.5 Ba SFR
05/09/2012 597,500 550,000 405 Pine Ave. 1930 3 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/09/2012 479,000 435,000 614 Rose St. 1552 50x100 3 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/11/2012 499,900 450,000 314 Spring Ave. 1620 52x145 4 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/15/2012 593,900 495,000 428 Pine Ave. 1258 52x110nyte 2 Br/1.5 Ba SFR
05/17/2012 549,000 500,000 408 Poinsettia Road 2288 67x103 4 Br/3 Ba SFR
05/18/2012 449,000 437,500 522 South Drive 1111 60x110 3 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/21/2012 599,000 585,000 111 Peppertree Lane 1680 83x106 3 Br/1.5 Ba SFR
05/25/2012 575,000 542,500 113 Peppertree Lane 1998 50x106 3 Br/2.5 Ba SFR
05/31/2012 394,000 327,500 607 N. Bay Blvd. 1188 50x100 2 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/04/2012 649,000 625,000 2 Park Bte III Ave. 06x95 Vac.
05/11/2012 369,000 335,000 115 N. Bay Blvd. 5 6x110 Vac.

Bradenton Beach

05/04/2012 495,000 440,000 1007 Gulf Drive N. # 103 1836 2 Br/2 Ba Condo
05/18/2012 119,000 105,000 2315 Avenue C # 3 488 1 Br/1 Ba Condo
05/18/2012 239,000 229,000 1801 Gulf Drive N. # 285 1080 2 Br/2 Ba Condo
05/18/2012 94,900 84,000 117 7th St. N. # 27 594 1 Br/1 Ba Condo
05/24/2012 244,500 230,000 1801 Gulf Drive N. # 235 1080 2 Br/2 Ba Condo
05/25/2012 264,900 250,000 1801 Gulf Drive N. # 287 1080 2 Br/2 Ba Condo
05/02/2012 349,000 332,000 104 2nd St. N. 1248 2 Br/1 Ba SFR
05/14/2012 249,000 225,000 2601 Gulf Drive N. # 102 1000 2 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/30/2012 375,000 330,000 1461 Gulf Drive N. # 12 1524 3 Br/2.5 Ba TH
05/25/2012 244,780 272,000 502 Gulf Drive N.# 104 735 1 Br/1 Ba Inc., Short Sale

Cortez

05/21/2012 419,900 380,000 3850 Mariners Walk, #713 1762 2 Br/1 Ba Condo
05/31/2012 99,000 83,000 10004 Cortez Road # 214 754 2 Br/1 Ba Condo
05/24/2012 849,000 775,000 12413 Baypointe Terrace 3198 3 Br/2.5 Ba SFR

Holmes Beach

05/24/2012 369,000 349,000 6925 Holmes Blvd. 960 45x88 2 Br/2 Ba 1/2 Dup.
05/29/2012 300,000 280,000 203 70th St. # A 1008 45x102 2 Br/1 Ba 1/2 Dup, Short Sale
05/02/2012 239,000 260,000 3801 E. Bay Drive 110 2316 4 Br/3 Ba Condo, Short Sale
05/03/2012 229,000 200,000 4001 Gulf Drive # 105 1106 2 Br/2.5 Ba Condo
05/09/2012 349,900 325,000 6500 Flotilla Drive # 185 1185 2 Br/2 Ba Condo
05/11/2012 219,000 195,000 727 Manatee Ave. # 24 1179 2 Br/2 Ba Condo
05/15/2012 645,000 620,000 5808 Gulf Drive N. # 209 1048 2 Br/2 Ba Condo
05/16/2012 429,000 411,000 3806 6th Ave. # 3806 1725 3 Br/2 Ba Condo
05/23/2012 650,000 607,000 5300 Gulf Drive # 205 1516 3 Br/2 Ba Condo
05/25/2012 189,900 183,000 4307 Gulf Drive # 103 1027 2 Br/2 Ba Condo
05/31/2012 299,000 273,000 3803 E. Bay Drive # 7 2350 4 Br/3 Ba Condo
05/01/2012 759,900 705,000 515 56th St. 1643 108x129 3 Br/2.5 Ba SFR
05/07/2012 489,900 480,000 507 72nd St. 1732 93x125 3 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/08/2012 565,000 540,000 524 69th St. 1803 80x113 3 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/11/2012 1,149,000 1,149,000 505 68th St. 3600 90x101 4 Br/4.5 Ba SFR
05/11/2012 349,000 348,500 2715 Gulf Drive 1280 50x100 2 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/15/2012 449,000 425,000 510 Key Royale Drive 1441 96x101 2 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/18/2012 435,000 402,000 306 67th St. 1134 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/18/2012 549,000 520,000 215 81st St. 2020 2 Br/2.5 Ba SFR
05/21/2012 899,000 831,000 217 64th St. 2600 50x117 5 Br/3.5 Ba SFR
05/21/2012 449,000 405,000 303 62nd St. # A 1200 3 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/24/2012 435,000 410,000 302 67th St. 1716 100x100 3 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/25/2012 539,000 534,000 7906 Marina Drive 1884 3 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/25/2012 439,000 405,000 301 72nd St. 1800 3 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/30/2012 749,000 740,000 8325 Marina Drive 1848 85x102 3 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/30/2012 334,900 315,000 604 Ambassador Lane 1256 85x102 2 Br/2 Ba SFR
05/31/2012 549,000 549,000 206 56th St. # A 2456 4 Br/3.5 Ba TH, Short Sale
05/10/2012 3,250,000 3,250,000 103 77th St. # A 13280 Irregular 4 Br/4 Ba Inc.
05/25/2012 219,900 199,000 3010 Gulf Drive 1760 50x105 3 Br/1 Ba Inc.
05/01/2012 759,900 705,000 515 56th St. 1592 127x131x7x117 3 Br/2 Ba Vac.

Source: Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Office


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