It's been just over six months since that fateful day when Northpointe subdivision was one of the communities effected by the the JANUARY 7th tornado's that caught Kenosha, County by surprise.

As a resident of Northpointe, my home was one of the many affected by the storms. While the siren's raged throughout all of Kenosha County, and there were reports of sightings out in Wheatland, WI, I found myself racing home while on the phone with my then-pregnant wife, who was huddled in a corner of the basement with my sons and our dog.

I'll never forget the feeling in the pit of my stomach as I turned down our street and began to see the damage to our neighborhood. My next door neighbor was screaming in fear as she ran into what was left of her home to see if her husband and two children were safe.

In the end, nobody in our family, or in our neighborhood was injured. We were one of the more fortunate families with the damage being repairable, and all of our losses fully insured. Our next door neighbor's home had to be torn down and is almost rebuilt, and the neighborhood church is still under construction.

Six month's later, most in Northpointe, seem to have returned to business as usual. The sound of tornado sirens has been replaced by the melodic rifts of the ice cream truck. And on any given day, scores of neighborhood children can be seen riding their bicycles or playing basketball in a neighborhood driveway.

Overall Northpointe is a great little subdivision in Kenosha. There is a condo complex at the entrance, and the Northside Library is practically in the subdivision, only 2 blocks away and no major roads to cross. Piggly Wiggly is also within walking distance. There are still currently some lots available as well as a few homes for sale. These homes are some of the best values in the Kenosha real estate market. Just to the west of Northpointe, is the Meadows at Hunters Ridge. These new homes are again, part of a short neighborhood walk, with no major streets to cross.

... more pictures

<--Before After --->

Photos from KENOSHA NEWS ONLINE

http://kenoshanews.com/web_extra/index.php?galleryId=951617

I often get the question... Will I have to pay taxes on the amount the bank writes off on my short sale?

The answer is NOT a simple one, it depends on the situation. Legislation is currently being proposed that will further simplify the issue, but in the mean time, there are cases where you WILL NOT have a tax liability.

#1 - Not ALL lenders actually issue a 1099 to their borrowers.

#2 - There are rules regarding insolvency. Here is the response from my CPA on this issue:

According to IRS Publication 908, Bankruptcy Tax Guide, income from cancellation of debt can be excluded from income on an individual's tax return if the cancellation takes place when the individual is insolvent, but only by the amount of the insolvency.

Insolvency is when an individual's liabilities exceed the fair market value of their assets. Determine your liabilities and the fair market value of your assets immediately before the cancellation of your debt to determine whether or not you are insolvent and the amount by which you are insolvent.

The amount excluded must be used to reduce certain tax attributes. These don't apply to most people, but they are net operating loss, general business carryovers, minimum tax credit, capital losses, basis in other properties, passive activity losses.

Form 982 needs to be attached to the person's 1040. This shows that the cancellation of debt income is being excluded.

- This of course is intended for informational purposes ONLY and should not be used as a substitute for professional tax advice. You should contact your CPA if you need advice on how to handle your individual situation!

http://RalphNudi.com

Ralph Nudi (Right) Testifies before the Wisconsin State Legislature's Joint Committee on Finance

Tuesday I testified before the Joint Committee on Finance. I waited for five hours to speak for 3 minutes. I was astounded at the fact that State Senator Lena Taylor (who was moderating the hearing) consistently gave extra time to every special interest group in Milwaukee County that was in favor of the Transfer Tax increase & the Tobacco Tax increase and/or had their hand's out for more taxpayer money for whatever their pet cause was.

Below is a transcript of my testimony:

"Chairpersons Decker and Rhoades, ladies and gentlemen of the Committee, Today I am here to speak about an issue that is currently on the budget proposal. I know your time is valuable so I will be brief.

I have done some research and do not recall, nor can I find in either the Governors or any of your campaign's statements, anything claiming that Wisconsin Property Owners pay too little in taxes. That being said, I believe most property owners would be shocked at the proposed 100% increase on the Real Estate Transfer Tax.

I would like to summarize MY opposition to this, or any such increase with four points.

#1 - Over the past several years the state has decreased the cost of processing transfers by automating the process. Based on that rationale this state should be passing that savings on to property owners, instead of investing new ways to spend more of our hard working home owners money.

#2 - Property values typically increase at a rate of 2-3 times the rate of inflation. This means there is an automatic increase built in to the transfer tax. To double the rate effectively meand to exponentially increase the already built in increase.

#3 - In Kenosha County (where i currently live and work as a Real Estate professional) the averagehome price is nearing the $200,000 (two hundred thousand dollar) mark. This additional fee makes it harder for Wisconsins working people to sell their homes and move up to a larger home for their growing families

#4 - The current housing market, both nationally and state wide is going through a difficult period. Doubling the transfer tax further burdens the market place, making recovery and a transition back to a healthy, thriving real estate market more difficult. This will affect both property values and the number of transactions. Less transactions and lower property values ultimately means less money collected on property and transfer taxes.

In summary, the impact of doubling the fee will be bad for homeowners, bad for the real estate market, bad for economic development and bad for Wisconsin."

IF you are a Wisconsin property owner, please EMAIL or write your legislators and the Joint Chairpersons of this Committee, Decker and Rhoades. This is an important issue and we need to STOP the MONEY GRAB going on in Madison.

Ralph D. Nudi

Kenosha, WI

http://www.ralphnudi.com/

This morning I will be voicing my concerns to the state legislature's JOINT COMMITTEE ON FINANCE. The subject? The proposed fleecing of wisconsin homeowners by DOUBLING the transfer tax from $3.00 per thousand to $6.00 per thousand.

Lets look at the merits of this request...

#1 The state has in recent years COMPLETELY AUTOMATED the process for transferring property from one owner to another LOWERING the cost to process transfers (the supposed reason for the fee in the first place) If anything, we should be looking at LOWERING the transfer tax accordingly.

#2 The appreciation rate of properties is at about 2-3 times the rate of inflation. The means there is already a built in increase for the total revenue collected, considering the tax is based on purchase price.

#3 This proposal would especially hurt home owners who are selling their first home so that they can upgrade to a larger one. This additional tax could mean hundreds of dollars out of their equity needed to buy their next home

#4 The real estate market nationally and in Wisconsin is already stalled. Increasing fees on transferring real estate just further discourages real estate sales over all.

Contact your State Representative and State Senator, and let them know you OPPOSE this. You can find your state representative at http://www.legis.state.wi.us/leginfo/contact/legislatorslist.aspx?house=assembly and your state senator at this address: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/leginfo/contact/legislatorslist.aspx?house=senate

Anyone writing to oppose this legislation has my permission to use any material in my post. Feel free to copy and paste my four bullet points, and use them as they are, or edit them into your own words. We need Realtors and homeowners to write in. Also, pass this post along to any Wisconsin homeowners.

For more information, please email me. Let me know your thoughts

Ralph D. Nudi

Weichert, Realtors - Unum Properties http://www.ralphnudi.com/ http://www.4salewi.com/

One of the great advantages to living in Kenosha, WI is how close you are to Milwaukee, Chicago and of course Chicago's playground for the wealthy, Lake Geneva, WI. It never ceases to amaze me how much wealth has been created as a result of Real Estate.

As I was taking a boat tour with my children, I remember coming across a mansion called Stone Manor. It was not the magnificence of the 18,000 sq' structure, but the story behind it that left an impression. In 1871 there was a little fire in the midwest known to most as The Great Chicago Fire. While every one was panicking and leaving the city of chicago in droves, a little known immigrant from Germany kept his cool and bought real estate along State Street with money he had saved while working hard as a street vendor and with almost no education.

There is a lesson here, those who save their money AND are willing to risk that hard earned money when everyone else is panicking will reap the rewards. While the current real estate downturn (and subprime market failure) pushes prices down, people will panic The media will tell everyone to stay away from real estate. But the smart investors are looking for the good deals now, and realize that the worse it gets, the better for them.

Ralph D. Nudi

Weichert, Realtors - Unum Properties

www.RalphNudi.com