Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with property

Free/cheap property ownership search for New York City

cloudscratcher — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:18:09 -0800

Looking for free or cheap property ownership data for co-op/condo units in Manhattan. General question has been asked before but doesn't yield what I'm looking for here. I am looking to find the name of the owner of a specific condo unit in Manhattan. I assume that this is public data (and don't want it if it's not) -- I just can't figure out how to get to it.

shouldn't a vacant lot be buildable?

markhu — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:51:20 -0800

Are there un-buildable lots? I have read up on a similar question but that was about how expensive the known-to-be-buildable lots are. My question is if I see a lot listed that is "virgin" vacant never had a srtucture on it, how likely is it that no one could build on it? In my case, I found a vacant lot in a location I like up in the hills in Los Angeles, California, and would like to put an offer on it. But everyone keeps asking uncomfortable questions like, "is it buildable?", "is it on a fault line?", "are there utilities nearby?", "how deep is the bedrock?", "why hasn't anyone built there before?" and other such questions that it seems would take thou$ands to investigate.

Maybe my question should be, "if I find out I can't build, can I at least use it for picnicking and camping? Or build a little storage shed on it?"

IPR for a new Google business service?

Eltulipan — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:17:03 -0800

How do I go about proposing a new business service concept to Google? So I got this great idea for a new business service on Google. See http://www.google.com/friendconnect/home/overview?hl=en for an example. My question is how to go about protecting my idea and entering into a meaningful discussion with them on feasability. Apologies for being vague about the idea itself, for obvious reasons.

Bus bent my bike; am I stuck with the damage?

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:18:18 -0800

Locked my bike to a post, and a bus sideswiped my bike. Am I stuck with the damage? I stupidly locked my bike to a garbage can near a bus stop. A bus driver trying to squeeze past a left-turning car clipped my bike and pretzeled my wheel.

The damage is probably about $300 (unless the frame is bent in which case it's $1500). I don't have insurance. I do have photos of the scene of the collision, and two witnesses. I've made a report to the Toronto Transit Commission, and in three weeks I'll know what their claims department thinks of it.

Has anyone else tried to claim property damage from a Canadian transit system? What should I expect? If their claims department says no, what should I do?

Any not-legal-advice would be much appreciated

Who owns the area between the sidewalk and street?

team lowkey — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:31:49 -0800

What rights do the public have to the planting strip (between the sidewalk and street) in a Berkeley residential area? Does the city own the property and the adjacent homeowner is required to maintain it, or does the homeowner own it, and the city has an easement for their own use?

But more specifically, what rights do the public have to that area? Are people allowed to walk their dogs on it? Does it basically count as part of the sidewalk in the eyes of the law?

How can I find & rent/buy a small plot of land in the UK?

refactored — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:42:46 -0800

Where can I find information about how to find and rent/buy a small plot of land in the UK? I'm keen to make a home for myself but with the financial crisis, sky-rocketting house prices, and lack of 100% mortgages things seem much harder than neccessary.

I've always had a dream of building my own micro-home -- the tiny houses that are suited to the builder's needs -- and after a preliminary costing it seems achieveable.

However, obtaining the land to build on is easily tripple the cost of the build!

Since micro-homes are tiny and are usually made from timber and other light-weight materials they could be considered semi-perminant, so leasing/renting land could be a suitable option. So could leasing a building's flat roof (with the added bonus of existing on-site utilities).

Google searches tend to be fruitless, so I'm wondering whether the hive-mind of askmefi can assist?

* if it helps, I'm looking for land in the Leeds/Harrogate areas of the UK

Oh give me land, lots of land under LA skies above...

rileyray3000 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:48:29 -0800

Say I want to buy some cheap land in the Los Angeles area: where would I find such a listing online? Basically it's time to go from a renter to buyer. Only given that a nice two bedroom in Compton is still over 300K I think I want to go a different way.

I've been looking at some amazing pre-fab houses that are 100-150 all in and all up. Now all I need is a piece of property to put one on. So where do you look for that? Craigslist? Landhunter.com? Lotsoffun.net?

Required notice for vacating apartment?

mellifluous — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:30:51 -0800

Our apartment was damaged on Friday, and the whole floor needs to come out, possibly some of the drywall too. The property manager needs us to vacate, and remove all of our stuff, for an extended period of time (1-2 months). (Note that we have been dealing with the property manager, and to a lesser extent, the superintendent, and not our landlord.) How much notice is he legally required to give us? We live in Toronto. YANAL. Today, at about 6, our landlord emailed us, saying the property manager wanted us out of our unit by Wednesday. Which gives us less than 2 days to co-ordinate moving, storage, and new accommodation.

Our insurance company informed us that repairs wouldn't take place for at least another three weeks. Until just a few hours ago, the super + PM had given us absolutely no information on when we could expect them to begin. The two of them came by to inspect the damage twice just today, and said nothing about it.

As far as I can tell, this is completely unreasonable. But I can't seem to find any specific tenancy law it violates, perhaps because repairs rarely require tenants to leave for such a long period of time. I have seen by-laws, for example, that require 24 hours of written notice for repairs - and that's reasonable for something like "I need to repair your water-pipe," but not for something like "I need you, and all of your stuff, out for 2 months."

What can we do?

What's a good way to collect rent online?

getupandgo — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:52:34 -0800

Would anyone have recommendations for a rent payment website? I'm looking for a good solution for simplifying rent payments for a few out of state properties. I have talked to all of the tenants and they are pretty much all in agreement that they would use it if it were available, rather than sending checks in.agreement

I need the service for 8 units currently, are there any websites that people have experience using that they'd recommend?

User friendliness is a priority; something that tenants can just enter their routing number and link it to their bank accounts for either one time or automatic payment. Additionally, cost is a factor, although not as much as reliability and simplicity (I'm guessing that the fees wouldn't be excessive, hopefully I'm correct in that assumption). I don't need anything ultra fancy, just easy and secure. It would also be great if I could expand it at a later date if I end up adding more property.

I don't want to hear my neighbours... ever.

selton — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:09:35 -0800

I'm going to buy a home soon, probably a semi-detached bungalow. I want to have an educated guess at how soundproof a property is while I view it. Are there any tips/tricks to help me judge how soundproof a home will be while viewing it for (let's say) just 30 minutes at a time? When during those actual 30 minutes there are no neighbours making any noise, or maybe they're making a lot of noise but I just can't hear it. I'm looking to move to the Sussex coast of the UK, if it makes a difference.

For instance:
Can tapping on the walls tell me how thick/soundproof they are?
Does what the walls are made of make a big difference?
Is the age of the property any indicator? (the UK has soundproofing regulations for properties constructed from 2003 onwards, but none of the places I've viewed are that new)
etc.

When I have viewed properties they mostly seem deathly quiet. But I'm looking at homes far away from where I live now, so it's really not easy to "just hang around and see what it's like at various times of the day/week".

The number ONE important thing for me is that I do NOT want to hear anything from my neighbours: shouting, TV, music, doors closing, walking etc.

When I have viewed properties they mostly seem deathly quiet. But I'm looking at properties far away from where I live now, so it's really not easy to "just hang around and see what it's like at various times of the day/week".

Also it may be quiet now 24hrs a day because the current neighbours ARE just very quiet, but what happens when they go and Mr or Ms Noisy move in?

The problem is I probably can't afford a detached house in the area I want to live. I have seen some semi-detached bungalows that I like though but I'm concerned about the adjoining walls.

Pride and Judice

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:53:16 -0800

How do I defend myself against a spiteful landlord? In January, I was training for a job and I came home late when I realized that I forgot my keys inside. None of the doorbells were in operation and no one was answering the phone. It was cold as hell so after an hour, I chipped the bottom half of the fiberglass of the storm-door so I could reach the knob and let myself In. He had me arrested the next day.

The charge (so far as I know) is criminal mischief in the 4th degree. I can settle out of court for $270 dollars. I feel he is ganking me because only the fiber glass was damaged and it is replaceable.

Having me arrested was retaliatory because I was already willing to pay to fix the door. He and I were already at loggerheads over the state of disrepair of the building and the old wiring which caused frequent black-outs in the dead-of winter. Plus, his absurd stinginess with the heat.

I stopped by there today (I since moved out) with a guy I hired to fix the door. My guy said we can simply go buy a fiberg-glass screen at Home-Depot for $60 and replace it. The landlord was irate and threatened to call the cops. I in turn proceeded to curse him out and communication lines are closing fast. part of me wants to just pay and not deal with this anymore and another part of me wants to fight this because I know I'm being taken advantage of. What recourse do I have for fighting this so that it is a fair to me?

Appealing a Property Tax Assessment - need advice in King County WA

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:45:20 -0800

Property Tax filter: In August I bought a house in King County WA. The county's assessment of the property is very high. I would like to appeal for a review of the assessment. The desired result is a lower tax bill. I would be grateful for any strategy or advice. Details:
- The house is in the City of Shoreline, WA (north of Seattle).

- The August 2009 sale price of the property was over $200k less than the 2009 assessed value, and $40k less than the 2010 assessed value.

- The bank's appraisal, done prior to sale, estimated the value as just slightly higher than the actual sale price.

- House and yard are in good clean condition.

- The County's "parcel viewer" assessor information database states that the house has 4 bathrooms. Not true. It has 2 full baths, 1 half bath, and 1 water closet without sink. There is also a "roughed in" bathroom without any fixtures.

- The assessor database states that we have half a finished basement. Not really true. The basement has four small rooms. Three rooms are unfinished with concrete floors and no finishing over the wall and ceiling framework. The fourth room has ancient carpeting, a couple sheets of old wood paneling, one wall covered in old wallboard, no finish on the ceiling.

QUESTIONS:

If I understand it right, I can appeal either to the King County Dept of Assessments or to the Board of Equalization . Which one is likely to give me better results?

Apparently I just missed a July 31st deadline for 2010 appeals with the board of equalization. Is there any lee-way for me to get an appeal in, since I didn't own the house until August?

Would it help my appeal to remove the old carpet in the basement and expose the concrete floor? Should I take down the wood paneling?

Is there an easy way to measure the square footage of my house?

Any other tips on get them to re-evaluate in my favor? Is there a way to get it done quickly? TIA.

Reliable Property Managment Company in Atlanta?

maelanchai — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:20:31 -0800

Any personal recommendations for property management companies in Atlanta? For a duplex and two single family homes--4 rentals total. We are considering moving out of state, but don't want to sell anything... Also interested in any general advice about using a property management firm...

Why is the landlord trying to hide?

ishotjr — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:10:06 -0800

Property manager hid that other duplex tenant is property owner when getting me to sign lease. My partner and I signed a lease for a duplex back in early June, and we move in mid-July. When we were looking at the unit and signing the lease, the property manager, who handles all aspects of the property, from renting it, to maintenance, etc., told us about the "other tenant." She said it was a retired woman who likes to socialize with whoever lives in our unit, bringing over food and whatnot, and that she used to live in a neighborhood full of wild college students, so that she's cool with some noise (there are no shared walls, though). She also said that the owner is wanting the "tenants" of each unit to start sharing the cost of the landscaping costs after we move in, even though the owner paid the full cost before. There are other examples, but she definitely made it sound like some hands-off owner existed out there who rented the two units in the duplex, one to this retired lady, and one to us. The name of the owner on the lease was a company name that sounded like it could be a person's name.

I've worked for realtors and real estate lawyer in the past, so whenever I move somewhere, I look up the property in the online tax rolls out of curiosity. I hadn't done so before we signed the lease, though. Checking it out the other day, I realized that the "other tenant" was actually the property owner!

I have a hard time trusting property managers/landlords after having many bad experiences renting in college, so I find this to be a bit of red flag. While I can think of several legitimate reasons why they would do this (didn't want to freak out potential tenants, landlord wants to be friendly with neighbors without being treated like a landlord, etc.), it just seems wrong not to disclose this. Another red flag is that the previous tenant actually broke her lease and we are replacing her. The property manager said it was because she was moving in with her boyfriend. Now I am suspicious.

After this long description, I have a few questions:
1) Is this a situation that anyone else has heard of? Property owner living on the premises hiding that they are the owner?
2) Should we play dumb or address this somehow with the property manager when we go get our stuff to move in. I was thinking we should ask about the owner to see if she continues to lie, or if she's honest. We don't want to confront her about it, because we don't want to get off to a tense start.
3) I have the prior tenant's email address because their ad seeking a replacement was what I originally responded to. Should I email her and ask her if there is anything we should know?

Perhaps I'm just an overly cautious tenant, but I'm sick of being treated like an idiot by property managers. For all we know this is totally innocent, but we get a bad feeling being deceived about anything that we are locked into for a year.

New residents of Seattle. Please help us choose a neighborhood to buy a house.

valannc — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:35:59 -0800

Seattle region filter: We are new residents of Seattle, from New Jersey, enjoying our exploration of this wonderful city. We are house-hunting and have narrowed down our choice of neighborhoods. Any opinions or advice? Criteria:
- Commute is less than 30 minutes to South Lake Union.
- Quiet streets and beautiful light. We really like the light in the areas close to Puget Sound.
- Re-sale value. We have no kids, but we prefer good schools and desirable areas -- for resale value.
- Walkable friendly community.

Neighborhoods, in order of preference:
1. Richmond Beach. Wonderful quiet neighborhood seems like a retreat from the city. But not a bad commute. However, there is the Point Wells development looming. It could change the whole character of the community.
2. North Beach. I like the relaxed feel of the neighborhood.
3. Blue Ridge. I think it's a bit too spruce and upscale for us. But there are some beautiful houses.
4. Sunset Hill. What a lovely community! But the lots and houses tend to be small. Houses are selling quickly in Sunset Hill, despite the "buyer's market."
5. Magnolia. Shorter commute to South Lake Union, but homes are more costly, and the area is kind of isolated from the rest of Seattle.

Also, is there any advantage/disadvantage to living in Shoreline vs the city of Seattle?

Comprehensive Real Estate Sites?

AdamOddo — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:39:22 -0800

I use Trulia for the United States and Funda for The Netherlands whilst looking for property. Anyone have an inclusive site such as these for real estate in another country? Preferably for another European country or South American.

Who owns that lot?

gilgamix — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:19:33 -0800

How can I find the owner of that abandoned lot? There's a project I want to do in an abandoned lot nearby. (I live in east Los Angeles) It'll take a week and we'll need to build a few things, so I'll definitely need to get in touch with the owner of the lot (no fence hopping in and out quickly). So... how do I find the owner of that lot, man?

Buying property with a water view... How can I confirm that the nice view will remain unobstructed over the years?

valannc — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:54:18 -0800

We are house-hunting in the Seattle area. Looking at property with water views. Willing to pay the higher price that comes with a view. But I'm reading some horror stories about how a neighbor will build a tower in front of your view, or neighbors who refuse to trim their tall shrubs. And then your view is obscured and your property value drops. How do I research this? How can I know if the viewshed is protected or not? What sort of monitoring would I need to do over the years? I will ask my realtor to research it, but I'd like to hear from people with experience with this issue.

How to find dead parent's Texas mineral rights?

Anonymous — Mon, 11 May 2009 11:29:51 -0800

Finding deceased parent's Texas "mineral rights?" How can I do this cheaply? My pop was married twice. He and his first wife had property in Texas. They sold the land but kept the mineral rights. At least I believe it was called this. My pop told me about it decades ago when I was a kid, so I may have the name wrong. If someone were to find something underground, he would have the rights to it.

Pop and his first wife divorced. He remarried and had me. He passed away decades ago.

I would like to track down any mineral rights he has or had prior to his divorce in the 1950s. The property would be in Texas, possibly Bexar County. How can I do this for cheap / free? Internet methods especially appreciated.

First wife is unavailable & unreliable, so looking for official sources for this information.

Help my friend find out if she can claim her inheritance.

somas1 — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:46:37 -0800

My friend would like to know if is she is entitled to her father's and grandmother's properties, so I thought I'd submit her question to metafilter. Her father and grandmother have been deceased for several years now so she is unsure where to start looking for answers. This is the full text of her question:

I am interested in how I can find out more about whether I am entitled to my father's and grandmother's property. Both are deceased. I'd like to know where I can go to find out certain information such as what I may be entitled to with regards to property, land, and veteran's benefits. Here are the facts:

My father was a Vietnam veteran. He and my mother were married but divorced shortly after I was born. He never paid child support until she went to court about it before I started college for help with expenses, and he made two $100 payments and no more. According to court papers, he owed around $20,000 in child support as of my 16th year (1996)

My father remarried a woman who had a (grown) child from a previous relationship, but he and his new wife never had any other children. As far as I know, I am his only child. He had one brother, now living in Germany, who has children, but I'm not sure how many, or any other information about them. As far as I know, they've been in Germany since I was a child.

My father lived in another state, so I only saw him every couple of years or so, in the summertime. He would take me to my great-grandmother's farm and tell me that it would belong to me one day. I was very close to them, closer than to my dad, I'd say.

My father died in 2000, shortly before his 50th birthday. My grandmother and great-grandmother had both passed the year before - 1999.

I was in college at the time of all their deaths, and did not wish to pursue any kind of estate entitlement at that time - I thought my father's wife would handle everything, and I didn't press it, considering she had just been widowed. We were never particularly close, but we had no problems with each other, either. However, I never heard anything more about it except one note not long after his death that she sent me regarding the sale of his truck.

As far as I know, here are the assets that my father had at the time of his death: the house that he and his wife shared. The house that my grandmother lived in (possibly). My great-grandmother's land, home, and belongings (he should have been at least a partial owner of that, with his brother). He most likely also had Veteran's benefits, and possibly SSI/Disability. As of today, I believe his wife still lives in the home that she shared with him, but I have no idea what happened to everything else.

I'm not particularly interested in getting his house, since his wife still lives there, but I am interested in my great-grandmother's land and property. I also don't particularly want my family's land and belongings to be left to his wife's daughter and her children. She's nice and all, but she was an adult when he married her mother, and was not raised by him, so I feel she has no real claim to it.

It's been several years now since he passed, and it's only recently that I've begun to really think about pursuing this information. I'd like to know what, if anything, I may be entitled to, and where is the best place I might go to find out all this information.

Thanks!

What happens when two deeds "own" the same property?

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:56:21 -0800

I'm worried that my neighbor might actually own my property! While my property deed says that I own my property, my neighbors deed also shows that he owns my property. I found this out while researching the history of my property and looking through land records. Long story short, 100 years ago, my plat was 160ft by 90 ft. 50 years ago, it was split into two properties, each of equal size. While my deed shows that I own half of the original property (80x90), the neighbors deed shows that he owns the full original property still (160x90). Both of our deeds are relatively new, well after the split was done 50 years ago.

Is this a common oversight when deeds are drawn up? Someone just copied and pasted the text from the previous deed without realizing that the property had been split? Could my neighbor legally come after me and kick me off of my land?

YANML and I'm going to see a lawyer about my will next week and will ask them about it then, but would like to get the hivemind opinion on this. I'm in the US and MD.

Neighbor impeding water runoff

tronec — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:44:38 -0800

How do I approach a business owner whose work on his adjoining property is causing excess water to pool on our lawn? . . . details inside. . . A portion of our home’s grass backyard serves as a drainage path for water from our neighbors’ yards. When the ground is saturated or frozen, sometimes water will pool in our yard, roughly 6” deep, 25’x35’, for a couple of days following heavy rains. The downstream adjoining property (zoned for business) was purchased last summer. Over the winter, the new owner dumped some 15 truckloads of soil/gravel on his property where the water used to flow on down from our lawn. Following March rains, our “pool” is now at least a foot deep and has lasted for more than a week. It encompasses a much larger area including the bases of two 30’ trees in our back yard. I don’t want the water to stand so long that it would kill the trees, nor do I want a semi-permanent bog/mosquito hatchery in our backyard.

I will speak to the property owner, but how should I approach him? What do I have to negotiate with? Do I talk with him first, or with the city/state officials to find out legally what our rights are? I do not have $ for a lawyer. (Illinois city of 20,000)

I would like at least a return to the relatively unimpeded flow of water from our yard. This would likely mean at least the installation of some sort of drainage tile on his property.

How to let someone borrow your car for an extended period?

txubergeek — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:37:57 -0800

Traveling overseas; how can my friend legally borrow my car for 9 months? I'm looking to travel overseas for 9 months later this year, and was wondering what I would have to do in order to allow my friend to legally borrow the car for that time. The car is paid for, there is no lien against it, it's insured and runs well. I just don't want to sell it, as I know I'll need a car when I return.

What would I have to do to ensure that, if he's pulled over, he wouldn't get carted off to jail? Also, what about insurance?

Toronto Tax Filter

Chuckles McLaughy du Haha, the depressed clown — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:48:47 -0800

I'm currently working on my request for reassessment for my Toronto property. Are there any generic reasons could I add to my list? My assessed value was just above where the new city transfer tax would kick in; I think this places a cap on the value, and I do have some exterior renovations (roof, garage, etc.) that would lower the value.

But there were not a lot of sales on my street, (which is a mix of 20's and 40's) so there isn't much basis for comparison, and this seems to be how MPAC primarily sets their values.

Do I have to call myself a landlord if my SO helps with my mortgage?

chowflap — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 17:31:35 -0800

I own a house. Boyfriend lives with me, pays me "rent" to help out with my mortgage. He wants to claim his rent payments on his taxes. But I don't want to be his landlord -- at least, I don't want the IRS to think I'm a landlord. What to do? I know you are not my accountant. I don't have one, otherwise I would ask them. (I use TurboTax Deluxe.)

My boyfriend moved in with me last summer, and he wants to get some tax credit on the "rent" (half the mortgage payment) he's been paying me (via check, directly to me). However, I think that if he does this, I will get in a mess of trouble with the IRS for not claiming my house as a rental property, or calling myself a landlord, or some other mess I can't even begin to imagine. I am inclined to tell him he's out of luck and to consider his rent payments to me "gifts" or something (which he is willing to do, to avoid any headaches), but maybe I'm being overly cautious? What should I do?