A Tale of Two Residences

Tag Archives: residential real estate

August 2, 2012

A Tale of Two Residences

Written by Lee David Medinets, Esq.
General Counsel, MCRES and Senior Counsel for Madison 1031

IRC § 1031 provides an opportunity to defer taxes when like-kind properties are exchanged. In order to qualify, one essential requirement is that both the relinquished property and the replacement property must be “held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment.” Therefore, a common problem in like-kind exchanges is to determine whether a particular residential property is held for investment or for personal use. Two recent U.S. Tax Court cases give a little help in making that distinction. Continue reading →

Tags: 2012), April 23, Goolsby v. Commissioner, Internal Revenue Code, investment intent, investment property, IRC § 1031, IRS, like kind property, Qualified Intermediary, Reesink vs. C.I.R., relinquished property, replacement property, residential real estate, T.C. Memo 2012-118 (U.S. Tax Court, T.C. Memo. 2010-64 (U.S. Tax Court 2010), taxpayer, §1031 exchange Comments Off

June 21, 2012

A Home Inspection Is A Buyer’s Due Diligence

Pat Anarumo

There are a lot of things that go into the purchase of a home. One of the most important is the home inspection. It is usually done within a given period of time after the contract to purchase is signed. This is one thing that should be done thoroughly and with great care in the process of buying residential real estate. After all, for most people, buying a place to live is the largest investment they will ever make. Continue reading →

Tags: asbestos, Co-Op, Condo, engineer, home inspection, home inspector, inspection, lead paint, pest control, physical due diligence, radon gas, real estate Broker, residential real estate, toxic mold, water intrusion Comments Off

May 31, 2012

Underwriter Fidelity Title Changes the North Carolina Real Estate Landscape

Samuel M. Shiel

By Samuel M. Shiel, Esq.,
Director of National Title Services and
Senior Underwriting Counsel, Madison Title Agency

In my February 16, 2011 blog post, I addressed the decision that major underwriters made to end the practice of removing the creditor’s rights exception from their policies. This changed the practice of negotiating the removal based on significant financial analysis. It was with great intrigue that I followed that development within the real estate industry.

Now, a little over a year later, we are seeing yet another significant change to real estate title by one title insurance underwriter. After many years of significant loses on Mechanic’s Lien claims in North Carolina, the Fidelity Title Insurance Group, parent company of Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title and Commonwealth Land Title, announced on May 10th that they would no longer issue Mechanic’s Lien coverage for title commitments issued after June 15, 2012. (See their letter below.) Fidelity is also placing restrictions on the effective date of endorsements for previously issued policies. Why this change and why now? Continue reading →

Tags: "broken priority" situations, Article 2, Chicago Title, Commercial Real Estate, Commonwealth Land Title, endorsements, Fidelity National Title, hidden lien, lenders, lender’s policy, materialmen's lien, mechanic’s lien, N.C.G.S. Chapter 44A, owner-builders, owners, owner’s policy, real estate attorney, residential real estate, title commitment, title insurance, title insurance policy, unrecorded lien Comments Off