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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom M who wrote (8884)	2/14/2003 11:03:18 AM
From: MSI	Respond to of 306849

These are in good ol' California, just outside Sacramento in the foothills of all places. The homestead law in CA used to be only $40k and probably isn't much more than that now. FL and TX have unlimited homestead, or did. I think there is legislation proposed with some limit after that bit of unpleasantness w. ENRON and others robbing shareholders blind and socking it away. I had an acquaintance tell me of similar mansions in Texas of S&L thieves back in the Reagan era who had safes with $20 million in cash in them, secure in the notion they can't be kicked out. As long as they pay their taxes and maintain the arsenals, I imagine. The only attraction I can think of for the Sac area, besides the open space, is the 1-1/2 to 2 hrs to SF or San Jose, and the same to Lake Tahoe in the other direction. It's not a daily-commuter location, but tech is becoming established. The state gov't payroll never seems to diminish, but if ever there were a year for it this would be it. I suppose if you absolutely had to have a 30,000 ft house and only had $5m or $10m I'd do it in TX, not CA, at least not for financial reasons. Even w. Prop 13 taxes and assessments are going to eat up $100,000/year. Then you gotcher staff of 8 including gardeners. My buddy the developer says sometimes he thinks he'd rather just walk the earth with a robe and a bowl, like Kane.

To: Tom M who wrote (8884)	2/15/2003 8:57:03 AM
From: MoneyPenny	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

There are many huge homes in Florida. Some of these are not winter homes or principal residences, no matter the declaration, these are virtual "banks" protecting certain assets from bankruptcy, lawsuits, etc. some information on the FLORIDA HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION Florida homestead status is an important concept which appears in three different sections of the Florida State Constitution. First, obtaining homestead status on your property saves the homeowner on their real estate tax assessments. Secondly, obtaining homestead status caps the amount a homeowner's property can be reassessed annually. Thirdly, homestead status protects a homeowner with asset protection for his home against third party creditors. Article VII, Section 6 of the State Constitution extends homestead protection to "every person who has the legal or equitable title to real estate and maintains thereon the permanent residence of the owner, or another legally or naturally dependent upon the owner..." Accordingly, to qualify you must own the real estate and make it you principle residence for yourself. You can own it individually or jointly or as the beneficiary of a trust holding the title. Tax assessment savings Once homestead is properly declared, Florida law provides the homeowner a $25,000.00 exemption from real estate tax assessment. For example, if a home is assessed at a market value of $150,000.00 the $25,000.00 of this value is exempt from taxation thereby computing the property taxes on only $125,000.00. With and annual tax milage rate of approximately 1.5%, this exemption equates to an actual savings of $375.00 annually. Assessment cap savings Secondly, obtaining homestead status will cap the amount a homeowner's property can be reassessed annually to 3% or to the percentage change in the Urban Consumer Index, which ever is lower. Annually properties throughout Collier County are reappraised to reflect the actual current market value. In the past this gas led to dramatic increases in certain years, however, due to the recent TRIM amendment to the Florida Constitution, the property owners are beginning to receive additional savings by applying for homestead exemption. Creditor protection Finally, the Florida Constitution provides homestead property with a shield of protection against third party creditors. Under Florida law, homestead property is immune from any judgments, liens or claims of third parties. The only exemption is if a property owner affirmatively pledges his or her homestead property as security such as a mortgage or improving the property and thereby subjecting the property to the construction lien law. Even after a property is sold, if there are judgment liens against the property owner provided the homestead proceeds are reinvested in another homestead property, they are again immune from third party claims. The above is a cut and paste from: ronwebsterattorney.com Money Penny