Karen
Lee Bertiger
CRB, CRS, e-PRO, GRI, RECS
FLORIDA LIC. REAL ESTATE BROKER
ARIZONA LIC. REAL ESTATE BROKER
INVESTMENT/INCOME REAL ESTATE
SPECIALIST
One # Access
Toll Free: 1-888-768-4454
Florida License Registered Branch
Office:
901 SW Martin Downs Blvd, Ste 304A
Palm City, FL 34990
PLEASE DIRECT ALL FLORIDA BROKER
MAIL TO:
Florida Branch Office Mailing Address:
PO Box 2449
Palm City, FL 34991-2449
AZ Office Mailing Address:
PO Box 1747
Barrington, IL 60011-1747
We Do Not Currently Have an Office
Location in Arizona
Investment Real Estate Brokerage & Asset
Management (Not Property Mgmt)
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A NOTE
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National Association of Realtors®
2008 Code of Ethics
Celebrating 25+ Years Career Experience in Investment Real Estate in 2008 With
30+ Years As An Investor
©2003-2008 Karen Lee Bertiger. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WORLDWIDE.
Privacy Policy
This web & its information is a
service to Karen Lee Bertiger's prospects, customers and clients. While designed
to provide accurate and authoritative information, it is not meant as a
substitute for your own CPA, professional tax advisor, or attorney. Investment
real estate tax planning depends on your individual facts and circumstances. You
should always consult with your own tax advisor to determine if the ideas and
techniques discussed here apply to your situation. It is
offered with the understanding that Karen Lee Bertiger is not engaged in
rendering legal, tax or accounting service. If legal advice or other
expert tax or accounting assistance is required, the opinion or the services of
a competent professional person in those disciplines should be sought. The
information contained in this web is offered in good faith, developed from
sources deemed to be reliable, and believed to be accurate when prepared, but is
offered without warranty, express or implied, as to its merchantability, fitness
for a particular purpose, or any other matter. Karen Lee Bertiger disclaims all
responsibility for any loss or damage arising from reliance on such information
by any party.
PRESERVING, PROTECTING & GROWING REAL ESTATE
INVESTMENT WEALTH
"2007 Will Be One of the Best Years Ever For Investment Real Estate!"
Karen Lee Bertiger
Important FLORIDA "NO Brokerage Relationship" Notices to all Website Visitors
WHAT'S NEW (7-10-2007)? Property
rights of commercial-investment building owners are now protected by Florida
SB1920 & functionally obsolete condominiums can now be dissolved with just 80%
of owners instead of 100% under SB 314. Did you know that there are
approximately 1.4 million condominiums in Florida & that many are in coastal
areas that were affected by the many hurricanes over the last few years & are
ripe for redevelopment.
Florida's
County Profiles have also been updated for all 67 counties
Important ARIZONA Mis-Classified
Residential Rental Properties Rental Tax Penalties -
NEW LAW
Income Property Specialist -
Investment Property or Income Property?
An experienced investment real estate broker such as myself, can convert each
investment return pitched to you from any source, from apples and oranges to all
oranges. Your after-tax return is what I believe should be important to you,
because it reflects what you can actually keep from an income point of view. You
may think differently. Please keep in mind that the rates of return currently
quoted by sellers of each type of investment are NOT directly comparable to each
other for the following reason. Single family homes have gained an average of
5.7% each year from 1976 through 2001 according to OFHEO.
REITs produced a 6.1% average annual return. If one reinvested their dividends,
one could have achieved a yield of 15.2% for the same 25-year period. On a home
with a 20% down payment however, leverage increased the single family home yield to
28.5%! (February, 2006 issue of Money Magazine also makes this common error of
telling you that your return on your home is less than the return on other
investments you might make.) Your banker will not allow you to leverage your REIT
stock purchase, nor will you be able to cover it with insurance, as you can with
real estate. So be sure you are comparing oranges to oranges. Make sure your
investment real estate broker knows how to do this and can prove it to you
(which is why you actually need a broker that specializes in investments.)
That's the best formula to avoid being taken advantage of when dealing with
stock brokers, financial planners, misinformed reporters, etc. It's an
important calculation even for owner-occupants purchasing properties to live in
- know what your after-tax situation is, including whether or not the mortgage
interest deduction & property tax payments are more than your standard deduction
and will not be phased out as your income rises. Tax time is a
great time to ask those questions of your CPA or tax attorney.
Even respected economists & financial
newspapers & their columnists are making these mistakes, particularly by
advising you that your personal residence is a millstone & that you never really
get ahead by owning your own home. This is fear mongering at its worst. The
meltdown in the real estate markets are in the builders & financial parts of the
industry. If you buy into their fear mongering, you will help them create a
downward spiral, which the investment bankers on Wall Street WILL use to their
advantage. They've making record breaking profits in 2006 from their
disinformation & fear mongering. IN MY OPINION, if this behavior on Wall Street
does not stop, the premier securities market on the planet, the US securities
market, will no longer be such.
NEW PROSPECTS READ THIS FIRST:
You need to know yourself and your objectives to be successful. What are your
required returns? Your expected holding period? What are the most likely costs
of capital for the foreseeable future? What markets are you interested in? What
property type(s)? Single assets or portfolio? What are the forecasts for the
markets you will invest in? Where are the demographic gaps creating opportunity?
What are the rental income projections? Are there alternative uses for the
property? At what stage of the investment cycle is the property type and market?
What is your strategy - buy, sell, hold?
As an investor, if you can be open (in confidence) in providing information on
your current real estate portfolio, I can provide real estate investment and/or asset management services that will
provide big picture in-depth knowledge of the markets I work in which can be
invaluable to your strategic planning. Together we can improve your investment
performance.
My current requirements are a minimum beginning REAL ESTATE equity or available
investment funds of $250,000 for new
investor clients and customers (depends on scope of services.) You should also know the answers to the following questions before
our first conference - What amount of equity are you committing? Do you have
product type requirements? Cap rate requirements? An exit strategy or timeline?
Have you diversified your entire investment portfolio? Will you be investing
through an entity such as a pension or profit sharing plan, 401(k), SEP or
self-directed IRA, family trusts or foundations?
COMMERCIAL-INVESTMENT SELLERS NEED TO BE AWARE OF NEW FLORIDA
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE SALES COMMISSION LIEN
LAW IN EFFECT IN FLORIDA AS OF OCTOBER 1, 2005
The Florida Commercial Real Estate Sales
Commission Lien Act provides that when a broker has earned a commission by
performing licensed services under a brokerage agreement with you, the broker
may claim a lien against your net sales proceeds for the broker's commission.
The broker's lien rights under the act cannot be waived before the commission is
earned.
(The new law applies to
all property except single family residential, multi-family property with
one-four units, condos, townhouses, timeshares and mobile homes.)
Withholding Required on Certain U.S. Real Property Transactions Involving
Foreign Persons, IRS Warns Here's
a link concerning
how to avoid ID theft - Form W-8BEN - Certificate of Foreign Status of
Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding
REAL ESTATE BUBBLE? PROBABLY NOT!
FINANCIAL BUBBLE YES!!!!!
What an understatement follows and let's hope current tax & financial reforms don't have
the same unintended consequences! "The
Tax Reform Act of 1986 - almost mythic in its destruction of real estate values
- remains seared on the minds of all real estate professionals who lived through
it. Only the strong survived. If you weren't in commercial real estate 20 years
ago, you may get a chance to find out just why the horror of '86 still lingers."
Linda Goold, director of tax policy at the National Association of Realtors
Registration
Required for Customer &
Personalized Client Reports (Web site is currently being upgraded.)
Past
Commentary & Analysis for May, 2005 -
Gaps,
Niches & Real Estate Riches & Earlier (Registration Required) This
Column Was Discontinued as a Regular Service. It will return during 2007 as a
Paid Subscriber Service.
Click here if you're considering
investing in single family homes. There are lots of reasons to consider other
real estate investments. Look before you leap! (Registration Required)
General Information on Property Taxes
Are Your Stocks Performing As Well As Real
Estate? (Registration Required) (Requires Adobe PDF Viewer)
"Labor Secretary Elaine Chao told the National
Press Club in January '05 that private pension funds were under funded by an
estimated $450 billion. A separate study by Morgan Stanley estimates the
nation's public pension funds are now
under funded by $1 trillion." Scott
Burns, Syndicated Columnist
My Real
Estate Investment Specialization Can Help You Invest Your Retirement Funds
(Registration Required)
INFORMATION GALORE
ARIZONA
INFO (Registration Required)
FLORIDA INFO
(Registration Required) - An International Destination - International
Flair, Tropical Flair - Where You Can Live With
Tropical Fish, Tropical Plants, Tropical
Flavors & Tropical Music!
NEW!
Florida Office of
Financial Regulation - Don't Be A Victim of Bogus Real Estate
Securities Offerings - Check It Out!
Real
Estate Cybertips
No Random Thoughts Column Will Be Published During 2007. It Will Be Included in
Commentary
& Analysis Subscription.
2006
- Our Objective & Sincere Wishes for Our Friends Around the World!
Random Thoughts for 2006
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of Realtors®.
Download a PDF copy of the 2005 Realtor Code of Ethics
& Standards of Practice,
2006 Realtor Code of Ethics (effective January 1, 2006), & 2007
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by NAR)