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Question:
I live in the beautiful, historic, seaside town of
Ipswich, Massachusetts. There are many historic
homes as well as newer homes in the mix. We will be
moving in 1-2 years and have done renovations to our
1860s Colonial. The big question is, in the interest
of time and money, do I or do I not renovate the old
70s style kitchen?
I put in new appliances, so these are fine. We are
redoing the floor as hardwood, but should I spend
money on cabinets and countertops if the buyers are
interested in the 6-Bed, 3-Bath home and want to add
their "own style" of kitchen? Also, I
would only do a 'value kitchen' ($10K Home Depot) at
this point because we spent money on other pressing
repairs/renovations. Other homes in the area, for
comps, have designer kitchens and others do not. If
I should renovate, how much is the minimum because
someone may just want to redo it? Historic homes are
a 'unique' category and I want real expert advice
not just Home Depot or eager Realtor advice. Answer:
If we understood your question, you essentially
asked if we think it's a good idea to redo the
kitchen and if so, whether to do an expensive or
inexpensive kitchen redo. If you do decide to do it,
we vote to do the expensive one. Kitchens are a
great selling point for old houses, just as
bathrooms are, when they are up to date. The house
gets to keep the old charm, but have the new
upgrades. My co-author did it, and has never
regretted it. May we also suggest choosing your
favorite search engine -- we used Google.com -- and
enter the words "national+historical+trust"
(without the quotes). Google returned 42,900,000 in
0.04 seconds. The first listing that was returned on
Google comes with high praise, the National Trust
for Historic Preservation. There are quite a few
State and Local Preservation Contacts listed in
Massachusetts. A thorough examination of the
National Trust website plus contacts with Local
Preservation folks should provide you with the types
of expert advisers you seek. Question: We represent
through a Power of Attorney (POA), my husband's
mother. My husband's parents have been out of the
country 1-2 years and just got divorced last month.
We have the US house listed and we consulted with a
lawyer about selling. However, there are credit
cards in the dad's name only, which are way overdue
and will never get paid. They were charged after the
mom had already left the US.
At what point can the credit card company attach a
lien on the house? Can they attach a lien since the
house is jointly owned but the credit card is singly
owned? I do not have a POA over that side of things
so I don't know how to find out what's going on. I
want to protect the mom's proceeds from the sale.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. Our lawyer just
said hurry and sell before they attach, so all I do
is worry!! Answer: We recommend that you get a title
commitment immediately. However, you also need
professional, legal advice from an attorney who
represents you in exercising your rights and
responsibilities under the Power of Attorney. The
credit card company may be able to attach a viable
lien to the property with the exception of a $15,000
Homestead exemption available to the owners in
Missouri. A Title company should be able to
determine if there are any existing liens on the
property. However, it is possible that if property
is held by tenancy by the entirety it may be exempt
from the debts owed by one spouse. Question: My
husband and I are getting a divorce. We jointly own
a condo in New Jersey. He will not allow me to use
this property, but has allowed his 32 year old son
to live there rent free without my knowledge. In
addition, my husband is president of the condominium
association and has refused to notify me of meetings
or minutes to the meeting. Finally, he had the condo
appraised, but neglected to have the appraiser see
the inside of the condo. As a result, his appraisal
was $550,000 while my appraiser did a thorough job
and gave market value at $890,000. Do I have any
recourse to protect my rights to this property?
Answer: Your recourse is to hire a good Lawyer who
specializes in divorce. Your husband may be hiding
additional community property and/or causing its
value to be understated. His son will probably
resent your intrusion into his rent-free living
arrangements, but at 32 years of age -- absent any
condition that would preclude it, it is about time
for him to suck it up and start paying rent.
Question: I live in Long Island, New York. I've been
trying to find an answer regarding why the taxes are
the same for a condo as they are for a private
house. I know that condos are considered private
property, but I don't even have a backyard, and the
taxes on a private home in my town are the same
amount. Also, we maintain our own roads as well. I'm
trying to find out who to contact or if there have
been any similar cases that you have heard of. Is
this a County or State issue? No one seems to know.
Answer: It is basically a county issue but it is
based upon New York State statutes. Property Taxes
are based upon the appraised value at which a
property is assessed. Please visit the Nassau
County, New York site, where you will find all the
information you seek under the Assessment
Information section. Also, you can enter the Nassau
County Department of Assessment here, and once on
that site you can select "Property Search"
to locate your property records, or even ask your
question to Harvey B. Levinson, Chairman of the
Nassau County Board of Assessors.
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