Don Spera, Serving York and Adams County, PA

Tennessee Begins Flood Recovery

By Margaret Foster | Online Only | May 11, 2010

Floods in Tennessee killed 23 people last week, and the federal government has declared 42 counties disaster areas.

As the state begins to recover, two preservation groups say that Tennessee's historic structures survived relatively unscathed.

"I don't want to downplay or marginalize the suffering," says Dan Brown, executive director of the Tennessee Preservation Trust. "There were people whose houses were washed away. ... But what we're finding is that those are not historic structures. The message I'm getting from [historic] communities is, 'We're fine.'"

In Nashville, for example, although floodwaters rose as high as six feet, newer structures sustained most of the damage. In addition, the water receded quickly, according to Brown and Tim Walker, executive director of the city's Metro Historic Commission.

"Overall, things have fared very well. It's mostly been basement and cellar flooding. There aren't really any historic neighborhoods that had the kind of damage that you see on the television." Walker says. "It could have been so much worse."

The main reason the state's historic buildings weathered the floods is that they have load-bearing masonry walls, Walker points out. "They were built to withstand that kind of intrusion. That's what we're hearing again and again: The historic buildings we have here had endured many other floods."

Aside from several areas that remained closed on Monday-including the Second Avenue Historic District and the Broadway Historic District-it's business as usual in Nashville. "You could come into the city right now and not even notice anything," Brown says. "Boy, did we dodge a bullet. There were no significant historical structures that were structurally compromised or structurally threatened."

Read more about Disaster Response >>

Some of Tennessee's historic buildings affected by the flood include:

Nashville

- Grand Ole Opry House, 1974: substantial damage

- Roy Acuff Museum: collections damaged

- Second Avenue Historic District and Lower Broadway Historic Districts: Lower-level interiors of several buildings on First Avenue have water damage, and buildings on Second Avenue South also sustained water damage.

- Residential historic districts: flooded basements

- The Hermitage: grounds and cemetery experienced some flooding and closed last Monday for one day. Minor damage to house due to a small roof leak.

- Cameron School, 1940: basement flooding

- Hume Fogg Academic Magnet School, 1912: basement flooding

Elsewhere in Tennesee:

- Historic Franklin, Tenn., withstood basement flooding, and its historic cemetery was flooded

- Belle Meade Plantation, Belle Meade, Tenn.: Parts of a 150-year-old stone wall were swept away, and its historic road was washed out and partially demolished. Repairs began last week.

- St. George Episcopal (1949), Belle Meade, Tenn.: Damaged but restorable.

You Have a Voice, take the time to write to your US Senators or Congressmen on what you believe will help our industry. Below you will see a response I received from US Congressman Todd Platts on the Real Estate issue of Flood Insurance.

TODD RUSSELL PLATTS
2455 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING EDUCATION AND LABOR
WASHINGTON, DC 20515 RANKING MEMBER

May 5,2010

Dear Mr. Spera:

Thank you for your e-mail. I appreciate your taking the time to make me aware of your support for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the Section 502 Guaranteed Rural Housing Loan Program (GRHLP).

As you know, the acquisition of flood insurance is required by law for the purchase of any real estate within a 100-year floodplain. The authority for the NFIP to issue new or renew existing flood insurance policies expired on March 28, 2010, after the Senate recessed without passing legislation to extend the program (H.R. 4851) that had already passed the House of Representatives.

I understand and share your frustration regarding the disruption that this lapse in coverage caused. Accordingly, I joined with Representatives Connie Mack, James Himes, and several other colleges in sending a letter to the Chief Executive Officers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, urging that they exhaust every possible option afforded to them under existing law to allow for the continued servicing of commercial and residential properties. On April 15, 2010, 1 joined with the majority of my colleagues in voting for an amended version of HR. 4851, which extended the NFIP through May 31, 2010. President Barack Obama signed HR. 485 1 into law this same day.

Additionally, the Section 502 GRI-JLP provides loans to low-income individuals for purchase of homes in rural areas. Because the Rural Housing Services issued a notice that lending authority is soon to be exhausted, lenders have stopped providing applications for this program. The GRHLP program is funded in part by fees collected from lenders and in part by congressional appropriations. On April 27, 2010, 1 joined with a majority of my colleagues in voting 352-62 to pass legislation (HR. 5017) that would provide increased funds to the Section 502 program. Specifically, HR. 5017 would allow the Department of Agriculture to increase fees charged to mortgage lenders when issuing rural home loan guarantees from 1 percent to up to 4% percent of the loan principal.

The Senate must now act on this legislation.

Thank you once again for making me aware of your opinions. I hope that you will continue to keep me informed about issues that are of importance to you.

Best wishes.

TODD RUSSELL PLATTS
Member of Congress
19th District, Pennsylvania
ADAMS COUNTY DISTRICT OFFICE CUMBERLAND COUNTY DISTRICT OFFICE YORK COUNTY DISTRICT OFFICE
22 CHAMBERSBURG STREET 59 WEST LOUTHER STREET 2209 EAST MARKET STREET
GETTYSBURG. PA 17325 CARLISLE, PA 17013 YORK, PA 11402

Buyers Often Overlook Insurance Costs

Insurance is usually the last thing people worry about when they are buying a new home. That's a mistake, because it will be an expense a buyer will have as long as they own the property.

Here are some key issues that the institute urges every buyer to consider:

• How far is the home from the fire department? A location close to the station usually means lower insurance costs.
• What is the condition of the plumbing and electrical systems? Older and poorly maintained systems cost more to insure.
• Does the property meet current building codes? Up-to-date properties are safer and also cheaper to insure.
• What about wind damage? If insurance against windstorms is required, is private insurance available or will the buyer have to rely on a state-run program? If there a windstorm deductible, how high is it?
• Is the home vulnerable to flooding? Floods aren't covered under a standard homeowner policy, although most major insurers will provide it through the National Flood Insurance program. How much the insurance costs depends on where the property is. More information is available at FloodSmart.gov.

Homeowners counting on relief from school property taxes got some good news from Gov. Ed Rendell on Thursday.

Rendell announced that slot-machine gambling is expected to generate $773 million in property-tax cuts this year, with an average reduction of nearly $200 per household -- about the same as last year -- for eligible households

To qualify, homeowners must have signed up through their counties for the state's "homestead exclusion" program. The appropriate reductions will be subtracted from the tax bills that school districts will mail out this summer.

Last year, nearly 2.7 million households in 66 counties paid lower property taxesbecause of the program. In Philadelphia, the slots money is used to reduce the local wage taxes instead of the property tax. Those will make up roughly $595 million of the cuts Rendell outlined Thursday.

Additional tax relief, financed with most of the remaining $178 million in gambling revenue, is available through the state's Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program for homeowners and renters who meet certain criteria. Participants must be 65 or older, widows or widowers 50 and older, or permanently disabled people 18 and older.

This is the third year of the slots-financed tax cuts.

To satisfy a legal requirement that the state provide at least the same amount in tax cuts as the prior year, officials said they had to transfer part of the money -- about $70 million -- from a slots reserve fund, but insisted that the unprecedented move does not reflect deep-rooted problems in the gambling industry.

"Gaming has far exceeded its expectations in giving property tax relief, job creation" and other benefits, the governor said. "I shudder to think where we would be in this economy without it."

Nine casinos are currently operating and one of the Philadelphia casinos is slated to open in September, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

USING A COMPARATIVE MARKET ANALYSIS TO ESTABLISH MARKET VALUE FOR REAL ESTATE ASSESSMENT PURPOSESOur local Real Estate Board office has received a number of questions relating to comparative market analysis. More specifically, the question arises as follows: Whether a real estate licensee can offer a comparative market analysis to a county board of assessment appeals to establish fair market value of a property for assessment purposes.

The Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission regulations on this subject are veryclear. The answer is no. This may also be adhered to you in your state, please check with your local board office.

The Rules and Regulations of the Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission are found at 49 Pa.Code Sections 35.1-35.392. Under Section 35.201, Definitions, "Comparative Market Analysis" is defined as follows:

"A written analysis, opinion or conclusion by a contracted buyer's agent, transactional licensee or an actual or potential seller's agent relating to the probable sale price of a specified piece of real estate in an identified real estate market at a specified time, offered either for the purpose of determining the asking/offering price for the property by a specific actual or potential consumer or for the purpose of securing a listing agreement with a seller."

In another Section, 35.340, the Regulations make further reference to comparative market analysis and states as follows: "A comparative market analysis shall contained the following statement printed conspicuously and without change on the first page: This analysis has not been performed in accordance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice which requires valuers to act as unbiased, disinterested third parties with impartiality, objectivity and independence and without accommodation of personal interest. It is not to be construed as an appraisal and may not be used as such for any purpose."

Remember, failure to abide by the Rules and Regulations as established by the Real Estate Commission can result in sanctions by the Real Estate Commission which can include fines as well as suspension of license to market and sell real estate.

I hope this clarifies things for those that are trying to utilize our services to appeal their assessments.

There has been many successful stories about winning an assessment appeal, so please follow these regulations as you may prosper in the long run by giving this great advice out to your potential clients. They will be extremely happy with the results in most cases with supportive documentation.