The property is located approx. 12 Miles from Worcester , Near I-395

 

 

A preview of the property will take place on November 10, 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

 

 

And

 

 

A 24 Unit (22 Occupied, 2 Unoccupied) Walk-Up Apartment Building in 18,160 sq ft 4 stories.

 

On approx. 0.2538 Acres

 

A preview of the property will take place on November 10, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

 

The auctions for both properties will take place on November 19, 2009 @ 11:00 am at

 

The Hampton Inn

328 Main Street

Sturbridge, MA 01566

 

Tranzon Auction Properties is a member company of Tranzon LLC and is independently owned and operated.

 

Auctioneer: Thomas W. Saturley, MA #AU2216

 

For more complete information contact:
The Tranzon Auction Properties Team

(207) 775-4300

 

Headache, nausea, fatigue — symptoms of the flu, right?  Could be.  Or,  it may be something even deadlier.

 

Carbon monoxide poisoning mimics the flu.  Many victims crawl into bed, and fall asleep. 

 

Legislators in Baltimore announced today they are enacting rules requiring landlords to provide carbon monoxide detectors for tenants, including accommodation for tenants with hearing impairments. 

 

This follows a long line of similar laws across the country, all in response to tenant deaths and an increase in the number of near-misses.   See Renter Deaths Prompt New Rules on Carbon Monoxide Detectors.

 

Take a look at this List of state statutes to get a sense of your responsibilities as a rental property owner or manager.  Please note this summary does not include local ordinances that might apply to you.  Some of these laws lay out specific requirements, for instance, where detectors must be located and who must supply the batteries. 

 

Despite efforts to inform the public of this danger, carbon monoxide is still the leading cause of poisoning deaths. 

 

The problem can be caused by many appliances, not just furnaces.  Wood stoves could be a culprit, as well as overheated battery chargers. Many lawn implements are gas-powered and must be handled with care.  It’s not just old appliances you have to watch out for – new ones can leak, too. 

 

Landlords with multi-level units or enclosed garages must be particularly diligent.

 

Many tenants don’t know whether they have a carbon monoxide detector in their unit, or what to do if it goes off.  Some mistake it for a malfunctioning smoke detector and disable it.  Do your tenants know what to do when they hear the alarm? 

 

 

See Fall Checklist for a Safer, Warmer Home

 

by Niman Singh

Property Managers, Landlords and Property Management companies generally may not have a plan to handle the worst flu year especially with the spread of H1N1 (Swine Flu).

In case of H1N1 spread in a large multi-family unit, they will have to coordinate with local health and community organizations such as local public health department and other city departments.

Therefore, it is very important to think about the rights and responsibilities of property managers, landlords, and property management companies.

The responsibility lies clearly with the tenant and so property managers, landlords and property management companies should avoid telling tenants what to do and what not to do.

 

It is also clear that they do not have much control over the tenants. The good news is that general limitation of liability protects them.

• Contact the city or county public health department.   

• Request your tenant to avoid going out to avoid people until 24 hours after fever is gone.  

• Suggest wearing a surgical mask to avoid spreading it to family members or others.

Better safe than sorry. Sure, it’s trite … but it’s also true. Every property manager should consider a well thought out emergency plan to be an essential part of his property management duties. In an ideal world you will, of course, never have to use it.

 

However, should you ever find yourself in an emergency situation, an emergency plan may literally mean the difference between life and death for your tenants and between a property making it through an emergency episode intact or not.

What kind of plan do I need?
Begin by carefully thinking through worst-case scenarios that could potentially strike your property.

 

Obviously, all properties should have a fire escape plan, but you may be subject to other natural disasters depending upon your location.

 

If you are located in California, for example, you may want to have a plan in place should an earthquake occur. If you live in the mid-West, you’ll want to have a plan of action in case of tornadoes; if you’re in the South, plan ahead in case of a hurricane.

 

Also bear in mind that even the most prepared person can’t foresee all potential scenarios, so it may also be wise to have a general evacuation plan on-hand to prepare for miscellaneous events that could put tenants and your property in danger.

What type of information should my plan include?
Every property’s emergency plan will vary dependent upon the size and layout of the property, its location, the landscape of the area around it, and the type of hazard the plan is designed to guard against.

 

There are, however, a few elements every plan should include, including:
Escape/evacuation route
Communications plan
Utility shut-off plan
Special needs (for handicap and elderly tenants, etc.)
Dealing with pets
Safety resources (list of emergency numbers, individuals who can administer CPR, etc.)

Disseminate information.
No matter how well thought out your emergency plans are, they won’t do you any good if tenants and other property management personnel are not aware that they exist. Make sure that all evacuation routes are clearly posted throughout the building in multiple places; the entrance to stairwells and elevators is always a good place to display evacuation routes.

 

In addition to posting this information, be proactive by providing printouts of such maps and a listing of emergency procedures in the lease packet at move-in. You may also want to redistribute this information on an annual basis, whether that’s at the beginning of every year or to each tenant on an annual basis when their lease renews. Annual distribution will also provide you with a built-in opportunity to update emergency numbers and review procedures to make sure they remain optimal and address any altered circumstances (such as a remodel).

Protect your property.
In case of an emergency, your top priority is making sure that all tenants are rapidly removed from harm’s way. Unfortunately, in certain scenarios, it’s simply not possible to avoid property damage or destruction. So the most surefire way to protect your property is to make sure that it is fully insured against all types of damage, however it may occur. FEMA recommends that all property owners carefully research the Insurance Information Institute to determine what kinds of insurance will offer the most protection.

Also be sure to strongly recommend (or even require) that all tenants carry renters insurance. Many renters assume their personal property is covered under the building plan, which is not the case. Let them know upon lease signing that they are responsible for covering their own personal property and that renters insurance plans can be found through most major insurance companies at an affordable rate.

Creating an emergency plan can be overwhelming. You should always feel free to consult with city engineers and planning or zoning administrators, all of whom will be able to advise you specifically on what sort of disasters you should be guarding against. They can also give you professional tips on how to protect your property and its tenants from potential threats. Also, be sure to visit FEMA’s website for tips on how you can protect your building from fire, flood, and earthquake hazards ahead of time; their Are You Ready guide to emergency preparation is a resource every property manager should have on-hand.

 

Michael Monteiro works for Buildium LLC, maker of online property management software for landlords, professional property managers, condos and homeowner associations (HOAs) and is author of the The Buildium Property Management Blog.

Check out the Buildium Blog for more property management resources.

See The Right Way to Handle Subletting.

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for landlords related to your real estate investment including REAL ESTATE FORMS, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing. Find out more at joinaaoa.

To subscribe to our blog, click here.

Check out the Buildium Blog for more property management resources.

See Janet Portman’s feature, Can Landlord Charge Pet Rent?

 

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for landlords related to your real estate investment including REAL ESTATE FORMS, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing. Find out more at joinaaoa.

To subscribe to our blog, click here.

With the number of bargain properties now on the local real estate market, you would think both investors and owner-occupants would be racing to take advantage of attractive deals.

While many potential homeowners — especially first-time buyers attempting to beat the Nov. 30 deadline and take advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit — have re-entered the market and have made compelling offers to purchase Puget Sound homes, investors have been reluctant to capitalize on reverse tax-free exchanges.

Nine years ago, the federal government enhanced 1031 delayed exchanges that allow taxpayers to defer the capital gains tax on an investment property if they purchase a “replacement” investment property of equal or greater value within specific time frames.

The enhancement, Internal Revenue Procedure 2000-37, permits the title to the “replacement” property to be held by an independent third party (typically a facilitator or attorney) until the “old” property sale closes. In other words, you can buy before you sell and still defer the gain.

“I think the reason why reverse exchanges have not been terribly popular of late is that investors still need the cash to buy the property,” said Kelly Yates, an attorney who along with fellow attorney Dennis Helmick operate Exchange Facilitator Corp., which specializes in tax-deferred exchanges.

“Even though something might be an absolute deal and too good to be true, you need money to buy it. It’s difficult finding financing for exchange properties.”

This original concept of a 1031 delayed exchange, or Starker exchange, is named after T.J. Starker, an Oregon man who made a deal with Crown Zellerbach in 1967 to exchange some of his forested property for some suitable “like kind” future property. That agreement ended up in court. Starker’s battle was the basis for congressional approval of delayed exchanges.

“What we have been seeing more since the real estate market slowed down more than 18 months ago is conventional tax-free exchanges with a longer closing date,” Helmick said. “This gives the seller a longer period to execute the entire exchange.”

The clock does not start ticking on a tax-free exchange until the first property closes. Then, the seller has 45 days to identify a replacement “like-kind” property of equal or greater value and 180 days to close that second leg of the exchange.

In real estate, “like kind” can apply to a variety of situations and is quite flexible. A house may be traded for an apartment building, and vacant land traded for an office building, etc.

A house that is the owner’s primary residence cannot be traded for investment property. Nor do stocks, bonds, securities and similar equity investments qualify as “like kind.” Likewise, if you own land and build a structure on it with 1031 exchange funds, the IRS will probably not consider your investment an exchange.

One of the more complex parts of the original regulations explains that within the 45-day period following sale of the investment property, you can identify three or more parcels of property, regardless of value, that you may wish to buy for your new investment.

In other words, you can consider taking the equity from your first rental house and reinvesting it in three or more new pieces of real estate without paying taxes.

However, if the number of parcels on your list exceeds three, and their combined value is greater than 200 percent of the property sold, you are required to buy 95 percent of the total sales price of the replacement properties.

To totally defer capital gains tax, you must pass the IRS’ acid test by:

* Trading even or up in value.
* Trading even or up in equity.
* Not pocketing any cash from the first sale.
* Identifying the new (or old) property (or properties) within 45 days of the sale. (This typically means having a signed purchase and sale agreement.)
* Closing the transaction within 180 days.

“In this environment, investors are thinking twice about reverse exchanges because they don’t want to take on the financial risk and the business risk,” Helmick said. “They are wondering where their money would be better placed and if the property they bought for cash will retain its value or appreciate.

“It’s far more likely to see individuals tying up a property for as long as possible with as little as possible.”

Tom Kelly’s book “Cashing In on a Second Home in Mexico: How to Buy, Rent and Profit from Property South of the Border” was written with Mitch Creekmore, senior vice president of Houston-based Stewart International. The book is available in retail stores, on Amazon.com and on tomkelly.com.

 

Copyright 2009 Tom Kelly

 

See Tom Kelly’s feature, Cashing In On Vacationers.

 

 

 

A landlord shared with us a story about his recent court case for unpaid rent and damages against his tenant who ran out early.  Among other things, this tenant chiseled his initials into the stone fireplace.

The landlord owned only the one property and he cared for it with great pride.  So, he felt motivated to pursue this tenant, and with some diligence, was able to locate him.  The landlord then hired a lawyer, paid a retainer and a court filing fee, and asked for a judgment for his losses.