You may have heard that it is a good time to buy a home and you may think it is merely the hyped-up advertising of the National Association of Realtors.  It may also be that, of course, but it really is a good time to buy the right home, because I am walking through homes that sold for $360,000 in 2005 that are today selling in the range of $120,000.   Not every house in every neighborhood of course, but if you know where to look and have some patience, they are available, for even less than that.  But this article is not necessarily focusing on buying homes as primary residences.

For the past several months I have been seeking investment homes for various buyers in the Pembroke Pines, Hallandale, Dania and Hollywood areas.   One tactic that real estate agents now employ for modern shoppers is to set up a search in a select area with the buyer’s search parameters such as number of bedrooms, baths, square footage, pool, lake and so forth.  The MLS computer can then email listings that meet those criteria.

The problem with the above search technique for bargain hunting is that it will produce selections you might not want walk into without a protective suit and a can of Lysol.  So lately, I have taken to previewing bargain homes, of which the majority are foreclosures.   In order to find the best bargains, you need to know your buyer’s intentions.  Is the purpose to rehabilitate it and resell or is it to do a light fix up and face lift and rent it out?

For the rehab/resale scenario, there are opportunities for investors to purchase a home, fix it up with no more than $15,000-$20,000 and possibly resell it for a nice profit of as much as $40,000 to $60,000 or even more. 

In my opinion, these purchase, rehab and resell scenarios are byproducts of thoughtful planning and execution.   The buyer and agent must be on the same sheet of music, as far as the area and type of home selected, the amount of money the buyer will put in for rehab and the sale price afterward.

Likewise prices are now low enough that you can purchase these homes and rent them out and have money left over…cashflow.  Section 8 housing vouchers in this area will pay up to $1520 per month for a three bedroom house and over $1900 for a four bedroom house.  Even if you choose not to go the Section 8 route, it serves as an indicator of the rental values in given areas. 

There is money to be made in purchasing, fixing up and reselling or renting out homes in select neighborhoods at bargain prices.

If you are a landlord and prefer to rent out your purchase, make the place safe, habitable and presentable and you should have no problem having extra money left over after all expenses and, as a big bonus, your investment house should be worth much more when the market turns back around.

Various guidelines and restrictions apply:

• -Single or Head of Household homeowners can make up to $75,000 or, if filing jointly, $150,000. This does not mean you will not be able to benefit if your income is somewhat higher… you may still see a reduced tax credit up if your income is up to $95,000 if filing as Single or $170,000 if filing jointly.
• -The tax credit is for 10% of the purchase price of the home, up to a maximum of $7,500.
• -Any condo, single family home, or coop is eligible.
• -You may not resell the residence within 15 years to avoid having to repay any portion of the tax credit. If you do sell, a portion of the tax credit will have to be repaid.
• -The homeowner can claim the tax credit for the year of purchase on his/her tax return for that year.
• -First time homebuyers have until June 30, 2009 to purchase their eligible home.

See your CPA or tax preparer for specific details. More information may be found at http://www.realtor.org/gapublic.nsf/files/hbtaxcreditqa2008.pdf/$FILE/hbtaxcreditqa2008.pdf

Sources say that half of those laptops are never recovered and according to Dr. Larry Ponemon of the Ponemon Institute, a privacy and data protection think tank, the airport environment is partially to blame. “I think it’s the perfect storm for losing things,” he says. The Transportation Security Administration’s requirement that passengers remove laptops from carriers before going through X-ray machines may be partially to blame.

Recently though, the TSA gave the go-ahead for passengers to pass through security without removing laptops from their cases, by using a new designed case. These bags are manufactured by Targus and Pathfinder Luggage and may be available in October 2008.

As you might expect, most laptops are lost in the largest airports, such as JFK, LAX and MIA with as many as a thousand laptops lost weekly at those airports, according to the Ponemon Institute. Almost 70 percent are never returned.

Other airport statistics include Orlando International, where five laptops are lost each week and 70 percent are never recovered and in Sarasota, where eight are misplaced and 83 percent are never recovered.

The most likely places to lose laptops are security checkpoints, departure areas and passenger clubs or lounges.

And all these losses make you wonder… where do they all go? They are ‘lost’ inside a facility dedicated to the security of the traveling public, where no weapons, hazardous chemicals or dangerous people are supposed to be allowed on aircraft, and yet in Sarasota, 83% of laptops are never recovered? Don’t security personnel walk around looking for lost and suspicious articles? And how can laptops disappear forever from the TSA screening point, for gosh sake?

You have to wonder who is in charge of personal articles left sitting around gate areas past the screening points. Is it the cleaning staff, local law enforcement, TSA or other support personnel… or anyone at all? And if someone were to leave a valuable laptop at a gate… wouldn’t one of the airline gate personnel notice and take it to lost and found?

It would be easier for laptops to disappear prior to the security screening area, it seems, because there someone could just pick one up after the owner walks away. Maybe airports need flashing signs reading “do you know where your laptop is?”

As many as 700 laptops are never recovered at JFK, LAX and MIA weekly. It doesn’t take Maxwell Smart to smell a money-making operation here. Wonder if the local law enforcement community is taking notice and doing something about these statistics?

However, some homeowners find an advantage to sticking around.  Because home buyers are ever more savvy, they look for reasons behind a home sale and a divorce may be to their advantage.  If a separation is in progress and the homeowners are in distress, buyers may offer a lower price.   Some amateur sleuths have even been known to look in the closets for signs of a spouse’s missing clothing.  So giving the appearance of a normal, healthy household has its advantages.

 Included in these job openings are one Planner, one Fire Inspector, one seasonal Lifeguard, three Police personnel and three Utilities Department employees.  Additionally the Town of Davie is seeking volunteers to assist in working the reception area of the Police Department.   

 Click here to access job information and applications:

 http://www.davie-fl.gov/pages/DavieFL_HumanResrs/currentpostings#ADMIN

The plan would impose impact fees on builders  who opt out of affordable housing quotas set forth by this plan - up to $14,400 per unit.

This ordinance stipulates that new developments with 10 or more units will be required to rent or sell at least 20% of those units to low-income residents for 15 years.  In return, the builder will receive a building variance and a density bonus allowing them to build more units per acre than current zoning allows.

If a developer decides not to participate in the plan, the impact fees would be levied and paid to the Davie Florida Affordable Housing Trust Fund which could provide down payment assistance to eligible residents.

The Builders Association of South Florida would rather see a lower percentage set aside for affordable housing.  They explain that high impact fees will discourage future development in Davie and will force builders to choose surrounding communities such as Cooper City or Plantation for new projects.

This event will run from 7:30AM to 4PM at Signature Grand, 6900 State Road 84 in Davie and will be sponsored by NSU’s Health Professions Division (HPD).  It will feature 130 research presentations from world-renowned researchers, HPD faculty and students.

HPD’s research is conducted at its six colleges — medicine, pharmacy, optometry, medical sciences, dental medicine and medical sciences.

An expected 1,800 researchers, faculty and students are expected to attend this Research Day, where awards will be given for outstanding research.   Keynote speakers will include Robert Bell, Ph.D. of Drug & Biotechnology Development, LLC in Clearwater; and Ron Hays, Ph.D. Professor of Medicine and Health Services RAND Corporation and UCLA in Los Angeles.

This event will be one of the largest research seminars in Florida and offers participants a chance to learn more about HPD’s cutting edge discoveries and their worldwide impact.

Contact HPD Research Director Patrick Hardigan, Ph.D., at (954) 262-1524 or patrick@nova.edu or visit http://www.nova.edu/hpdresearchday/index.html.
sciences for more information or visit www.nova.edu.

An Orlando Sentinel charter school investigation is credited with helping frame the legislation, which allows the closing of schools with financial emergencies for two years.  This legislation would also prohibit conflicts of interest among board members, employees and charter administrators.

Construction monies would be diverted from regular local schools to charter schools and these monies come from property taxes. 

School districts would be prevented from entering into confidentiality agreements with teachers accused of harming students in any way, whether welfare, safety or health.  

They offer these items on various sites such as Govdeals.com, Propertyroom.com and Publicsurplus.com.

Property varies from tools, bicycles, jewelry, furniture and cameras at airports and law enforcement departments to old teacher desks, computers and vacuum cleaners from school systems in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Some agencies also use eBay to sell items such as a rare collectible comic book sold by the Lauderhill Police Department for about $180.

At least 15 Broward cities use online auctions to sell items, lowering costs for disposal and reducing the workload on employees.

Last year, Broward County began using PropertyRoom.com, said Joel Mariani, Division Logistics Manager for the county. The public has responded positively.

Among other unusual offerings are dump trucks and ambulances as well as various other vehicles. Oakland Park is holding its fourth online auction since 2001 and used renebates.com, to raise $350,000.

Some governments have stayed with live auctions to ensure residents benefit from the low prices and also let those without computers bid. Davie and North Lauderdale are among these entities.

Police departments have used the money for protective vests, weapons and other equipment. Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport finds many lost iPods, laptops and cell phones and waits 90 days before passing the unclaimed items through the county to PropertyRoom.com.

Broward County plans to add a section Broward.org later this year to auction larger items. it is currently nicknamed “bcBay.”

The letter finally arrived in Wyomissing in 2008.   Richard Lanshe’s parents had died and, in fact, so had Richard last year, but a dedicated United States Postal Service employee forwarded the letter to Richard’s daughter in Davie.  

Daughter Kathy Lanshe was overjoyed to receive the letter and photos from her father.  She was also curious, like many of us as to where that letter was for all those 56 years. 

The USPS has no idea why it took so long to get from Europe to Pennsylvania.