Legal-Ease: Where exactly is my property line?

While it would seem that real estate should be objective, sometimes it can be subjective or inconsistent. Boundary lines should be easy to measure, but as recently as even a century ago, property descriptions used trees and other items to explain where a property line was. 

Legal-Ease: How much tax will I owe when I sell my property?

The tax paid on the sale of investment property is called capital gains tax. Capital gains tax is calculated against the amount earned by property that increased in value by its nature and not by the virtue of the owner’s income, rental income or interest earnings. Capital gains tax rates are typically lower than income tax rates. Capital gains tax will usually become a consideration when someone sells stocks, bonds or real estate. Calculating capital gains tax liability can range from very simple to much more complex for some real estate. 

Legal-Ease: Real estate taxes more complex than commonly thought

Real estate taxes in Ohio operate under a unique structure. Real estate taxes are defined in terms of “mills,” which are created through local governments or through residents’ votes for “levies.” Mills and millage are understood to be a percentage of the property value. The calculation process is much more complex, though, because real estate tax levies can fall under two different categories. 

In the first category of real estate levies, millage is calculated as a percentage of the property value. In the second category of real estate tax levies, the levies are defined as mills, but they’re capped at the total dollar amount of money that the levy brings in during its first year. 

Legal-Ease: Four questions on easements

The law requires that each and every parcel of land has access to a public roadway. For owners of a landlocked parcel, this may require a purchase of an easement from an adjoining landowner. Easements allow for the use of property without owning that property. 

Typically, easement concerns break down into four different questions. 

Legal-Ease: Grains, trains and automobiles

In some areas, the local government doesn’t own the land adjacent to the road and instead will have an easement with the landowner. This easement is commonly called a right-of-way, and often the owner of the land gave the government the right to use the land more than a century ago for a road. If the government owns or has an easement over any area of land, the government has the right to use that area for roadway traffic, which includes ensuring clear vision near curves and at intersections.

Legal-Ease: Valuing components of co-owned property

Sometimes we can find ourselves co-owning property with one or more co-owners wanting to be bought out. Even if we are in the process of converting ownership of the co-owned property into assets owned by an LLC, it becomes important to value the property and each person’s portion.

Legal-Ease: Selling a house

Selling a house comes with a set of steps to be followed by the sellers and buyers. On the seller side, certain forms must be completed as mandated by the state that pertain to defects in the property. Buyers must submit their own reports, as a formal “offer.” Other formal steps must be followed, and certain conditions may create more steps depending on government law.

Legal-Ease: Co-owning and separating real estate

A “partition” is the specific type of lawsuit designed for splitting up co-owned real estate. But you can avoid this lawsuit by managing co-ownership with a few other options. Creating an LLC, a limited liability company, may not seem like it has much to do with real estate but it will help establish guidelines for multiple owners. A shared ownership agreement can also be used to manage conflict.

Legal-Ease: Do I need title insurance?

When purchasing real estate, public records are searched to confirm who owns the parcel of property and if there are any liens or assessments on the property. This process is called a title search. Anyone can perform a title search, and when a title search is done by someone who is not an attorney, the recorded instruments identified that could affect the property’s ownership or use are listed in a title report. The best protection to be sure that the property has no use or ownership issues is title insurance.

Legal-Ease: Water and sewer service for your new house

When building a new home, water and sewer services are pretty important pieces to have in place early. If the land you choose to build your home on is adjacent to public water and public sanitary sewer lines, some of the initial hurdles are already out of the way. If the land is not near water and sewer service lines, a water source needs to be found, such as a well or a pond. The biggest hurdle, however, is sanitary service. There are strict regulations surrounding sanitary sewer systems, and it’s up to local health departments to fill in the regulations’ gaps.