Here’s the scoop: There was a fourth debate

Senators McCain and Obama came to Blue Grass this week for a fourth debate, because they recognized that my vote might decide the 2008 election.

We sat at my kitchen table. They came dressed for farm work, both in new bib overalls and ironed flannel shirts.

Me: Senator Obama, say some good things about Senator McCain.

Obama: Well, let’s be clear. For a man his age and considering the dreadful things he’s been through over many decades, like skin cancer and five years of torture, yes, for a man his age, I think he’s doing okay. I hope I’m as chipper at 72.

Me: Senator McCain, same question about Senator Obama.

McCain: That one gives a great speech, which he learned how to do at those Ivy League schools that Bill Ayers and other terrorists might have attended while they were making bombs. I dropped bombs on Hanoi, but I sure didn’t make them in my college dormitory room. Senator Obama has yet to deny that he associated with all the terrorists, socialists and Woodstockists that he could have associated with back then. America doesn’t know the real Barack Obama, and neither do I. Read more »

What’s Up With Land Prices?

In Upstate, SC land prices are still up…and will probably stay there.

There appears to be little impetus driving sellers to reduce prices despite weak demand for certain types of land. To the contrary unstable stock prices will drive land values higher as investors become convinced that land offers more security.

Why are land sellers holding their ground while house sellers sink?

Much has to do with the underlying mortgage…or lack of one. Hardly any of our current land listings are mortgaged. On the other hand, the entire housing meltdown is attributable to bad lending practices and mortgage pressure on homeowners.

Even mortgaged land differs substantially. Banks have always been conservative when it comes to land loans with 60% to 75% loan to value being the norm. Without political pressure on lenders to make everyone a landowner, credit qualifications were valid and borrowers actually paid a down payment along with closing costs. In short, most of the people financing land are monetarily committed to the deal. Read more »

Real-estate tax policies: What would McCain and Obama do?

What are the real-estate tax policies of Senators McCain and Obama?

I’m not sure reliable answers are available. Campaign promises are preferences, not contractual obligations. Circumstances — the economy, control of Congress, competing demands — will shape what either wants to do as President as well as what is feasible. But mostly neither has said.

On fiscal policy, they share some positions. Both appear to like balanced budgets, pay as you go and deficit reduction, but both have proposed policy packages that would increase the national debt—McCain more than Obama.

Both urge tax cuts and spending as part of a post-election stimulus package now being worked up in Washington, but with different components and orientations.

McCain now supports continuing the Bush tax cuts that he opposed when they were enacted. Obama supports tax cuts for the majority of taxpayers and tax increases for the top five percent.

The tax positions that both candidates have taken in their stump speeches differ from the positions their campaign staffs and economic advisers advance. Read more »

5 Benefits to the Recipients of Florida Conservation Easements

A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a government agency or qualified conservation organization that restricts specific uses or development on the land. This is a landowner’s way to protect the land for now and in the future. One of the significant benefits of a conservation easement is the protection of wildlife habitats, natural lands, and resources for generations to come.

The seller of a conservation easement is a landowner who desired to restrict development or land use through this option, but still holds on to ownership of the land.

The buyer or recipient of a conservation easement is typically a government conservation program or a private conservation organization. While the landowner seller has specific benefits that make a conservation easement desirable, the buyer or recipient too reaps benefits from this type of transaction. Read more »

What’s an easement? Part II

Four types of easements are not agreed to: easement by necessity, easement by implication, easement by prescription and easement by condemnation.

1. An easement by necessity prevents certain properties from being landlocked, that is, cut off from a public road. If I were to sell 50 acres at the back of my 100-acre tract and provided no access easement to the buyer, he could get a court to grant him an access easement for a road over me by necessity so that he could reach his 50 acres. The buyer in this example should be aware that the court may not award him the location for a right of way that he wants. Easement by necessity may also be used to gain access to a water source in certain circumstances.

To gain an easement by necessity, the landlocked party must prove that his parcel was once part of the parcel that he wants to cross. In Virginia, at least, property can be landlocked if this cannot be proved in court. Read more »