Realty Pupil - Secrets of Real Estate

I decided to find out just how much of the test I could wing, and get some feel for how hard the test will be.

The School here requires that the students take a practice final before allowing them to take the real state exams. You must get at least an 80% on the tests, which in the eyes of the school, guarantees you can pass the state and national tests which require 70%.

I took the tests with 19 classes completed, so just over half done. I was hoping I would ace them, which would mean I wouldn’t have to study these thick books.

No such luck. I found myself confronted with questions about redlining, 90 day mechanic liens, and dozens of different dates which you must memorize…pity.

So I’m going to have to hit the books harder and see what I can do to ace these. Oh and a bit of advice, which will sound humorous coming from me…bring a calculator. Or at least some scrap paper! I think I suffered a few missed problems using my fingers to calculate how a mortgage amortizes.

My scores? 69% on the national (1% away from 70!!!) and 61% on the Utah state exam (still had a lot of state classes to finish.)

I retook the Utah State test after taking another two classes and got a 69%.

I’m going to study lightly and finish the courses and see how I do.

I have dozens of classes to complete as well as some pretty fun stories, so stay tuned. I’ll do my best to keep things updated daily, and get a few more posts up to make up for the vacation in California.

Speaking of which, the market is still very pricey in SoCal. I was visiting a friend in a neighbourhood I remembered as being particularly bad, and stopped to grab a for sale flier in front of a small condominium.

It stated that they would accept and consider all offers from $520,000-$559,000. I had to laugh. This was 3-4 times more expensive than a very nice condo in the best neighbourhood here.

And WHY would anyone submit an offer following the suggested offer range? It seems ridiculous to put a $40,000 price range on a flier.

I also spent some time in Vegas on my way back. The market seems to have slowed there as well, perhaps even worse than in California. All along the highway we saw billboards offering amazing promotions and builder incentives on new homes. Offers such as $40 closing costs, with 40% of the first year’s mortgage covered by the builder were being tossed out like pancakes…cheap pancakes at that.

So they overbuilt Vegas, there might be an opportunity there. Me, I think I’ll sit back and watch before shopping.

I’ve changed the title on the Blog to hopefully reflect the direction I want to take this. I don’t hate real estate. I find it fascinating. I do think the industry needs reform, but as has been commented, there are bad agents and good ones out there. I appreciate the existence of good agents. I hope they’re making the money they’re worth. I just fear that the industry has devolved into facing a ‘bad waiter’ crisis.

The ‘bad waiter’ comes to exist when a waiter or waitress realizes that they can work their rears off to net a modest tip income, or do as little work as possible and STILL GET TIPPED by people who are too embarrassed to tip poorly.

Good waiters continue to exist, but the bad waiters are still getting paid, and often have little to no incentive to work harder. It seems to be the same with Real Estate agents. Why work harder than is necessary if you get the commission either way? And lets be honest here, which is more important, the client or the commission?

Thanks for everyone’s patience. I’m back from California, and I have a lot of posts to catch up on. Look for them over the next week.

I apologize for the slow days with few entries. I am travelling in California and unable to post much. I do have several large entries which I hope to get up shortly. Thanks for your patience!

On a sidenote, property prices here in Southern California seem to have dropped only slightly (unlike Northern California, which has plummeted). In fact, it would appear that the market has completely stabilized.

To be honest I’m not sure what direction prices will head in here. It seems quite possible that prices will remain where they are, though the increase in foreclosures from the bubble burst may lead to a slight downturn. It’s probably a good time to sell, but since things aren’t dropping, one might be wise to hold until the market moves again in either direction.

For those shopping in California, they may find PropertyShark.com invaluable. It has TONS of information on values and things which Zillow sadly does not offer.

How to Lower Your Property Taxes For Less Than a Dollar

Depending on where you live, you will usually receive a letter from the county assessors office towards the end of the year detailing the assessed value of your home. Unsurprisingly, these values almost never decline. This can lead to you paying thousands of dollars in taxes for an overvalued home.

Thankfully there exists a method for resolving inflated taxes. This can often be done for less than a dollar and can save you a small fortune. Here’s how:

First off you’re going to need evidence that your home is overinflated. The best proof is an appraisal performed by a certified appraiser. Try calling around to find an appraiser who will cut you a deal. Often you can find ones that will give heavy discounts if you let them know you just need something fast and simple to present as a property tax appeal.

If you don’t want to spend the $250 or so for an appraisal to be done, try calling a local real estate office. Ask for a CMA (competitive Market Assessment) to be done on your home. Never pay for this to be done. It takes an agent less than a minute to enter your home into their CMA analysis program, and most offices are happy to do it. Some may insist you come into their office to get one done. That’s fine, but don’t sign anything. We just want a CMA.

If you for some reason cannot find an agent, or an appraiser, you can prepare a CMA of your own. What you want to do is compile a brief list of 3 or 4 homes which have recently sold in your area that are similar to yours. Zillow.com can greatly assist in this, or you can take a look at your County Assessor’s website and find out what similar homes are going for.

If nothing else, you can gather some for-sale fliers from local listings and use those as your comparables. Just remember, the more evidence the better.

Once you’ve compiled your evidence, I would suggest taking your information with you and going down to your local assessor’s office. You can mail it in, but it’s much harder for them to say no if it’s in person than it is for them to send out a denial letter. If you do get a denial letter, I’d recommend going into the office and trying again in person.

Whether writing in or presenting in person, you will want to be brief. The less you say the better. Dress well, be polite, and DO NOT do anything more than say “I wish to appeal/dispute my assessed value.”

Present your evidence, be brief when answering any questions and don’t be argumentative. If you don’t get anywhere, try again another day with another clerk/assessor. If that fails you can always appeal at a higher level. Keep in mind that if you have enough evidence and are polite you will almost always succeed.

Find out if your local office has a manager or some degree of appeals. They will direct you accordingly. At this point you may want to consider getting an attorney willing to work for a portion of the saved taxes if they succeed. Chances are you won’t have things get that far. Just remember, you CAN win an appeal.