All Forum Posts by: Timothy Murphy III

@Ron S.

Welcome to BP.

@Tim W.

For a property of that case, it's probably best to hire an appraiser if you're challenging the valuation. Ideally, one that has experience testifying before the Board of Revisions. They'll probably use an income based approach to valuation for that property.

Thank you.

@James Wise

Are you working with buyer's agents on this one?

@Frank Schwarz

Welcome to Cleveland.

@Gwen Fyfe

A lot of owners choose to pay the water / sewer bill directly, even if they bill their tenants for actual usage. To the best of my knowledge, there's no requirement in law that this is done. Rather, it's because water / sewer in this market is different from other utilities because unpaid bills become a lien against the property similar to unpaid property taxes. If your tenant doesn't pay the electric bill, that doesn't come back on the owner or the property itself. But if the tenant doesn't pay the water bill, the owner will ultimately be responsible for it.

@Kerry Mertz

I can't speak to the other markets, but contact me if you'd like more information on the Cleveland, Ohio market.

@Sunitha Rao

Welcome to BP. Feel free to contact me with questions about the Cleveland, Ohio market if that's one you decide to focus on.

RITA is a nightmare for everyone around here. Of the calls and emails I get about tax related issues, I'd say RITA related issues are more common than anything else. A lot of employers don't withhold properly for local taxes and non tax professionals that do their own taxes through TurboTax type services usually don't realize they have a local municipality tax obligation. 

If you have properties in a RITA municipality, you'll need to prepare a local tax return and pay municipal income tax. It should be noted that City of Cleveland is NOT a RITA municipality, but they do have CCA Division of Taxation instead and you'll still need to prepare returns and pay municipal income taxes. 

@Shawn Ackerman

Yeah, it sounds like we have similar mentalities and approaches. I look for appreciation in value by buying at a discount, either through finding good deals or by forcing it through rehab and renovation. I don't pretend to be able to predict the future as to property values. And yes, the numbers are making sense here in the Cleveland market, even for the more stable neighborhoods.