Traditionally real estate brokers only represent properties in the states which they are licensed in and reside.  However, my good friend wanted more exposure to his family’s investment property so I am making an exception to list it in my Connecticut real estate blog.

What I found amazing is that the property taxes on this home are only $50 a year.

The Property for sale in Ecuador is in the city of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, two hours west from Quito, Ecuador’s capital.

Sales Price is  $185,112

The home is 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, 753 square feet

There is a lush .63 acres to do some farming on. The climate and terrain allow for tropical fruit like oranges, lemons, limes, pineapples, cassava, bananas, among others to be cultivated.

The house has electricity and a septic tank.

Seller financing may be considered for qualified buyers.

Uniandes University and the city center are a short 5-7 minute drive from the home.  Excellent location close to all amenities;  El Paseo Shopping, Botanical Garden, Supermaxi Supermarket, Post office, IESS Hospital, KFC, Zaracay Park, Grand Hotel Santo Domingo (4 ½ star hotel)

Contact the broker/owner to discuss further

Mobile USA: (203) 461-2685

WhatsApp ECUADOR: (011) 593-99-868-9446

When considering what area to buy a home a significant part of your decision making may be what the property taxes are in the town your dream home is located in.

Some towns have many schools, hospitals and less industry. This is where the burden is higher for the homeowners of the community. 

Some towns in Connecticut have seen property tax increases, but this year for 2016 Milford, Connecticut has dropped its Mill rate from 27.88 to 27.84  for the 2016-2017 tax year.   However, this is only the second time taxes have gone down in the last 30 years (CT Post). http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Milford-tax-rate-goes-down-a-little-7468222.php

Other places like Milford, Connecticut 06460 have a huge commercial base that contributes and hereby reduces the tax burden on homeowners.

Milford covers 22 square miles in New Haven County.  There are approximately 21,199 households*

The median household income for Milford, Connecticut is $80,743, where the median for the state is $69,899*

The five largest employers are;  Servicom llc, Schick-Wilkinson Sword, Doctor’s Associates Inc, Milford Hospital, Subway World Headquarters

And the top five contributor’s on the Grand list are;

Connecticut Post Mall                $135,310,262

Connecticut Light and Power    $109,403,339

Milford Crossing Investors        $61,950,000

Wolff                                                $51,316,641

JP Construction                            $28,200,980

Total:                                            $6,440,527,586*

July 2016 Market Report for Milford, Connecticut

405   Actives homes for sale on the Multiple listing service

343 homes have closed in the last 180 days

163 homes are under contract in the last 180 days

*(CERC Stats)  http://profiles.ctdata.org/profiles/download

One would think when you are old and sick in the hospital and you’ve hired many professionals to deal with your assets that everyone would be working for your best interests completely and absolutely.

This story will make you shudder and re think who you are leaving in charge of making decisions for your assets.

I found a cute little cape home for sale on the MLS. It was priced well below market value although it needed some updating and freshening up. I was looking to buy this house for myself as a first investment property to rent out.

A few weeks prior I offered and missed out on a home just like it that sold for 128k.  This time I was armed and ready to offer the highest I was willing to go for this hidden gem that came with instant equity.  This is the first time I had offered on a home that was in the process of probate, so this was a completely new experience for me.

The probate judge had requested that all the offers are submitted to the probate court directly and don’t even cross the listing brokers desk. I found that an unusual way of doing things but, okay I thought I guess this helps them get a higher price because it doesn’t give the listing agents any capacity to withhold any offers etc…. This struck me as being a very fair process for the seller.

My offer was the highest in the room, and by a significant amount of $13,000.  However, I did not get the house even though for a few heart stopping moments I thought I did.  Here is the kicker. My deposit check for the down payment was not exactly 10% of the offer. It was short by literally $100, only because by nature I had decided to round down rather than round up.  I was stunned as I walked out of that court room, My offer was very legitimate. I had brought my checkbook in case I had a chance to offer more and need to give a larger deposit. But the probate judge refused to consider my highest offer in the room by, merely because my 10% deposit was $100 short of being exactly a 10% of the total amount I offered.

I thought it was really bizarre and even unethical turn of events for the judge to not accept the highest offer in the room. The homeowner is actually sick and infirm, and she would expect all these professionals to accept the best possible price for her.  But instead they ignored my offer, based on the deposit check not being a precise amount. Ive never seen such an irrational decision take place and all the people involved seem to think there was nothing wrong with it.

As soon as I got home I emailed the listing broker to express my surprise at the turn of events and that I felt that was unjust towards her client.   I asked her to take my offer and give it to the sellers attorney as the backup offer in case the first buyer cant or doesn’t proceed.

The bigger surprise was the listing brokers comment to me when I told her it’s a shame that the judge’s poor decision lost her client $13,000. She said, “well if a judge made an exception for you he would have to make an exception for everyone”.  But if I was the highest bidder in the total amount offered, then that point is completely moot. 

The lesson here was round up not down when deciding the amount of your deposit check, especially with a property being decided in probate court.  And be careful who you choose to trust to act in your behalf when you become incapacitated.