I identify with this experience in my business and the blog post below. I thought it would help buyers to reflect on the process....Steve
Zillow Blog Content found on Denver Post
1.3.12
Often I'll receive a call from a prospective client who was just at an open house. During our conversation, I'll discover that they've fallen in love with the property, and it's the first open house they've visited. Now -- based on a friend's recommendation -- they want to engage me as their real estate agent and they're hoping I'll help them write an offer on this home.
It sounds like the ideal opportunity for a quick sale, right? In reality, it's just the beginning. I'll meet with the client and tour the house they're interested in. As we go from room to room, they'll tell me why it's the perfect property for them. We may even go so far as reviewing the property disclosures and writing that offer.
But the stars don't always align and the deal doesn't go through, and that can be a good thing.
Glad They Were Talked Out of That First Home
Once the client has engaged me as their agent, they have a new resource - someone who deals with their local real estate market every day, someone to give them a second opinion and introduce ideas or concerns that wouldn't have crossed their mind. I may say things that make them take a step back, or I might ask questions that they aren't prepared to answer.
What often happens is that we agree to let this first property go and use it as a springboard to start the real estate journey. Ultimately, when they find the property that's truly right for them, they can always look back at their first "love" as a great learning experience. I can't tell you how many times a new buyer, when closing on their new home, mentions that first house with which they were so enamored. They're happy they didn't actually buy it and are grateful I "talked them out of it."
For instance, I met two buyers in San Francisco who had previously lived in New York City. They met me at a high-rise amenity condo building and loved the unit for sale. They returned a few times, assessed the area, the proximity to work and toured the building to see all the amenities. Next, they returned for a final showing, and then they wanted to make an offer.
The high-rise condo lifestyle was what they were familiar and comfortable with coming from Manhattan. When they sensed hesitation in my voice, they asked my opinion. I told them that, for the same amount of money, they could get into another neighborhood and a completely different housing situation. That hadn't occurred to them, as they only knew what they had known from New York real estate.
Before they wrote the offer, I took them around to some other areas where their money could go further. At the end of the day, they made the decision to keep looking - and in other areas. After just a few months looking at condos and houses, they bought a small 1920s fixer-upper in a different part of town. They hired a contractor, renovated it, moved in six months later, and were quite content with their new home and lifestyle.
The Journey is the Reward
During the home buying process, you visit a variety of properties and neighborhoods. You go up and down and around through excitement, joy and disappointment. This is all part of the home buying journey. Through the journey, you discover what you don't know; you learn what you like and don't like. Experiencing a lot of different properties and neighborhoods gives you a wider perspective, which ultimately helps in the final decision.
Some people don't have the time or energy to look at multiple properties. They want to speed up the process just to get it "out of the way." Or they become smitten with that first property and their intuition tells them that's the home for them. Maybe it is. But buying a home is a huge decision; you shouldn't rush it! Brendon DeSimone is a Realtor® and real estate expert based in San Francisco and New York. He is a contributor to Zillow Blog, has collaborated on multiple real estate books and is often quoted by major media outlets.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Top 3 tax breaks for homeowners
By Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Inman News
CORRECTION: The original version of this article contained an error, and the article has been updated with a correction. The Internal Revenue Service reports, in Publication 530, "You cannot deduct transfer taxes and charges on the sale of a personal home."
Q: We bought a house this year! We put $33,000 down and the bank financed $28,000. Can I write this off on my 2011 taxes? How much of it?
A: First things first: Congratulations! You've become a homeowner, and seem to have done so using an enviable financial arrangement. But now that you own a home, you might need to shift the way you think and look at some things, including your taxes and other financial matters.
Owning a home is one of those landmarks that signify financial adulthood. And one of the things that responsible financial adults do is get professional help when the situation requires it. Taxes are one of those areas that often do warrant calling the pros in.
I'm not just shilling for the tax prep industry here, either: The ultimate aim of using a tax professional is to make sure you get every deduction, credit and other tax advantage for which you qualify, without jacking up your chances at triggering the universally dreaded Internal Revenue Service audit by claiming dubious deductions.
Your mortgage debt is fairly small, as was your home's purchase price, though I don't know whether they are large or small in the context of your overall financial picture (i.e., income, assets, investments, etc.).
The fact that you saved or somehow came up with such a sizable chunk of change to put down makes me hesitate to assume that your finances are as simple as your mortgage balance might otherwise lead me to believe.
So, it might be the case that you can easily handle your own taxes -- in fact, it's even possible that your real estate-related deductions won't even outweigh the standard deductions, so that filing a simple form without even itemizing your deductions is actually the financially advantageous move.
Whether that's the case cannot be determined in a vacuum -- you may have other financial and tax issues going on. But with software and tax preparation services as inexpensive as they are, starting at under $20 for simple returns, I think it behooves you to get some professional advice and ensure you get the deductions you need.
Hiring a tax preparer might be a worthwhile investment to make, even if just this year, so he or she can brief you on what records you should keep and strategies you should do moving forward, like home repair and improvement receipts, or documentation of your use of an area of the home as a home office.
Now, let's talk more substantively about the deductions that are available to you, in the event you do decide to itemize your taxes (IRS Publication 530 offers a more nuanced view into Tax Information for Homeowners):
1. Mortgage interest deduction. Assuming this home is your personal residence, 100 percent of the mortgage interest you owe and pay before Dec. 31, 2011, is deductible on your 2011 taxes. In January, your mortgage lender will send you a form documenting the precise amount of interest you paid, although most lenders also now make this form immediately available to borrowers online.
Chances are good that you paid some amount of advance interest on your home loan at closing -- expect to see that on your statement from your lender, but you should also be able to find it on the HUD-1 settlement statement you received from your escrow agent at closing.
2. Property tax deductions. Again, assuming that this is the home you live in most of the time, you should be able to deduct 100 percent of the property taxes you've paid to your state and/or local taxing agency this year.
3. Closing-cost deductions. Discount points and origination fees paid to your mortgage lender and/or broker at closing are frequently deductible, but there are rules around this, which tax software and/or professionals can help you make sure you meet. Note that, according to Internal Revenue Service Publication 530, "You cannot deduct transfer taxes and similar taxes and charges on the sale of a personal home."
There are various home improvements (especially those that increase your home's energy efficiency), state and local tax credits for buying a foreclosure, and other tax advantages that might be available to you.
My advice is to work with an experienced, local tax preparer or, at the very least, use reputable tax preparation software to ensure that you get the maximum tax advantages available to you as a result of your new role as a homeowner.
Inman News
CORRECTION: The original version of this article contained an error, and the article has been updated with a correction. The Internal Revenue Service reports, in Publication 530, "You cannot deduct transfer taxes and charges on the sale of a personal home."
Q: We bought a house this year! We put $33,000 down and the bank financed $28,000. Can I write this off on my 2011 taxes? How much of it?
A: First things first: Congratulations! You've become a homeowner, and seem to have done so using an enviable financial arrangement. But now that you own a home, you might need to shift the way you think and look at some things, including your taxes and other financial matters.
Owning a home is one of those landmarks that signify financial adulthood. And one of the things that responsible financial adults do is get professional help when the situation requires it. Taxes are one of those areas that often do warrant calling the pros in.
I'm not just shilling for the tax prep industry here, either: The ultimate aim of using a tax professional is to make sure you get every deduction, credit and other tax advantage for which you qualify, without jacking up your chances at triggering the universally dreaded Internal Revenue Service audit by claiming dubious deductions.
Your mortgage debt is fairly small, as was your home's purchase price, though I don't know whether they are large or small in the context of your overall financial picture (i.e., income, assets, investments, etc.).
The fact that you saved or somehow came up with such a sizable chunk of change to put down makes me hesitate to assume that your finances are as simple as your mortgage balance might otherwise lead me to believe.
So, it might be the case that you can easily handle your own taxes -- in fact, it's even possible that your real estate-related deductions won't even outweigh the standard deductions, so that filing a simple form without even itemizing your deductions is actually the financially advantageous move.
Whether that's the case cannot be determined in a vacuum -- you may have other financial and tax issues going on. But with software and tax preparation services as inexpensive as they are, starting at under $20 for simple returns, I think it behooves you to get some professional advice and ensure you get the deductions you need.
Hiring a tax preparer might be a worthwhile investment to make, even if just this year, so he or she can brief you on what records you should keep and strategies you should do moving forward, like home repair and improvement receipts, or documentation of your use of an area of the home as a home office.
Now, let's talk more substantively about the deductions that are available to you, in the event you do decide to itemize your taxes (IRS Publication 530 offers a more nuanced view into Tax Information for Homeowners):
1. Mortgage interest deduction. Assuming this home is your personal residence, 100 percent of the mortgage interest you owe and pay before Dec. 31, 2011, is deductible on your 2011 taxes. In January, your mortgage lender will send you a form documenting the precise amount of interest you paid, although most lenders also now make this form immediately available to borrowers online.
Chances are good that you paid some amount of advance interest on your home loan at closing -- expect to see that on your statement from your lender, but you should also be able to find it on the HUD-1 settlement statement you received from your escrow agent at closing.
2. Property tax deductions. Again, assuming that this is the home you live in most of the time, you should be able to deduct 100 percent of the property taxes you've paid to your state and/or local taxing agency this year.
3. Closing-cost deductions. Discount points and origination fees paid to your mortgage lender and/or broker at closing are frequently deductible, but there are rules around this, which tax software and/or professionals can help you make sure you meet. Note that, according to Internal Revenue Service Publication 530, "You cannot deduct transfer taxes and similar taxes and charges on the sale of a personal home."
There are various home improvements (especially those that increase your home's energy efficiency), state and local tax credits for buying a foreclosure, and other tax advantages that might be available to you.
My advice is to work with an experienced, local tax preparer or, at the very least, use reputable tax preparation software to ensure that you get the maximum tax advantages available to you as a result of your new role as a homeowner.
Net in-migration to Colorado from other states growing
By Aldo Svaldi
The Denver Post
1/15/2012
Doug and Heather Klof moved to Denver from Los Angeles via Portland in March as part of DaVita's corporate relocation.
"I came to visit in February and fell in love with Denver," said Heather Klof. "It was a very easy move for us and a good transition. We are happy here."
Sam and Isobel Brooks and their 2-year-old son, Alex, came to Boulder County in August from New York, without jobs lined up.
"My primary reason for moving was to give my son a good environment to live in," Sam Brooks said. "I had my heart set to come here, and nothing was going to deter me. It was going to happen."
The two couples are among the 31,195 people the U.S. Census Bureau estimates relocated last year to Colorado from other states, after subtracting out those who left. The figures don't include immigrants moving to the state from outside the U.S.
Colorado ranked fifth among states for domestic net migration, in total numbers, after Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Washington.
That's an improvement from the state's 10th-place ranking from 2001 to 2009.
Among 25- to 44-year-olds, the age group launching careers and forming families, Colorado was the most popular state for those relocating, said state demographer Elizabeth Garner.
Let Florida and Arizona have their retirees — Colorado is drawing people like the Klofs, both 32, and Sam, 30, and Isobel Brooks, 28.
Doug Klof moved to Denver to work at the headquarters of DaVita, a provider of kidney dialysis services that announced it would relocate its headquarters from California to Denver in 2009.
Although Heather has struggled to find a job, she has kept busy volunteering in the Highland neighborhood.
Heather said Colorado offers a good middle ground between her family in Wisconsin and Doug's in Oregon, and the couple, who are expecting a child, are closing soon on a house in the Sloan's Lake neighborhood.
Michelle Ackerman, a real estate broker at Redfin who helped the Klofs find their home, estimates that people relocating from out of state represented about 60 percent of her business last year.
"Many of the buyers I have worked with tell me it is Colorado's low property taxes, quality of life pertaining to crime and traffic, our many outdoor activities and relatively low housing prices," she said.
Sam Brooks said he has lived in 10 states and visited all but Maine and Hawaii. Three stood out to him: New York, Colorado and Alaska.
Alaska, while beautiful, was short on sunshine. New York offers a lot, but the cost of living is high, the commutes are long and the people aren't always friendly.
"Colorado has the best of everything," he said, noting the move was the fulfillment of a five-year plan to get to the state.
After five months of searching for work, Brooks found a job at Gaiam that he started Monday. He said the same salary made in New York would stretch about $10,000 to $15,000 further, even living in Boulder County.
"Downtown Boulder is kind of like the Village, just with different kinds of weirdos," he said.
Garner, the state demographer, said Colorado's difficult job market hasn't deterred people, given that times are tough almost everywhere.
Colorado's November unemployment rate of 8 percent, while high in historical terms, beats Nevada (13.4 percent), California (11.3 percent) and even Arizona (8.7 percent).
Colorado has a big bulge of people in the 45-to-65 age range, many of whom moved here in the 1970s and '80s.
Those people are "aging out" of the labor force, being replaced by younger workers.
"Basically, this means that we are creating new jobs for people but they are not new jobs at the firm," Garner said.
That said, Colorado's in-migration numbers are much lower than they were in the '90s, and they haven't been strong enough to lift the construction industry out of the doldrums.
Single-family housing permits have averaged at just over 8,000 a year the past three years, a far cry from the more than 38,000 a year pulled between 2003 and 2005, according to the Colorado Business Economic Outlook from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Colorado still has about 130,000 more housing units than it needs because of overbuilding last decade, Garner estimates. Even if in-migration holds up at current levels, it will take years for the newcomers to absorb the surplus housing.
Still, Colorado remains the sole magnet for domestic in-migration in a once-popular region that has fallen off the charts.
Last year, Colorado's domestic net migration was 15 times that of New Mexico and more than double Arizona's.
Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Kansas and Nebraska actually lost more U.S.-born residents to other states than they gained, census figures show.
The Denver Post
1/15/2012
Doug and Heather Klof moved to Denver from Los Angeles via Portland in March as part of DaVita's corporate relocation.
"I came to visit in February and fell in love with Denver," said Heather Klof. "It was a very easy move for us and a good transition. We are happy here."
Sam and Isobel Brooks and their 2-year-old son, Alex, came to Boulder County in August from New York, without jobs lined up.
"My primary reason for moving was to give my son a good environment to live in," Sam Brooks said. "I had my heart set to come here, and nothing was going to deter me. It was going to happen."
The two couples are among the 31,195 people the U.S. Census Bureau estimates relocated last year to Colorado from other states, after subtracting out those who left. The figures don't include immigrants moving to the state from outside the U.S.
Colorado ranked fifth among states for domestic net migration, in total numbers, after Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Washington.
That's an improvement from the state's 10th-place ranking from 2001 to 2009.
Among 25- to 44-year-olds, the age group launching careers and forming families, Colorado was the most popular state for those relocating, said state demographer Elizabeth Garner.
Let Florida and Arizona have their retirees — Colorado is drawing people like the Klofs, both 32, and Sam, 30, and Isobel Brooks, 28.
Doug Klof moved to Denver to work at the headquarters of DaVita, a provider of kidney dialysis services that announced it would relocate its headquarters from California to Denver in 2009.
Although Heather has struggled to find a job, she has kept busy volunteering in the Highland neighborhood.
Heather said Colorado offers a good middle ground between her family in Wisconsin and Doug's in Oregon, and the couple, who are expecting a child, are closing soon on a house in the Sloan's Lake neighborhood.
Michelle Ackerman, a real estate broker at Redfin who helped the Klofs find their home, estimates that people relocating from out of state represented about 60 percent of her business last year.
"Many of the buyers I have worked with tell me it is Colorado's low property taxes, quality of life pertaining to crime and traffic, our many outdoor activities and relatively low housing prices," she said.
Sam Brooks said he has lived in 10 states and visited all but Maine and Hawaii. Three stood out to him: New York, Colorado and Alaska.
Alaska, while beautiful, was short on sunshine. New York offers a lot, but the cost of living is high, the commutes are long and the people aren't always friendly.
"Colorado has the best of everything," he said, noting the move was the fulfillment of a five-year plan to get to the state.
After five months of searching for work, Brooks found a job at Gaiam that he started Monday. He said the same salary made in New York would stretch about $10,000 to $15,000 further, even living in Boulder County.
"Downtown Boulder is kind of like the Village, just with different kinds of weirdos," he said.
Garner, the state demographer, said Colorado's difficult job market hasn't deterred people, given that times are tough almost everywhere.
Colorado's November unemployment rate of 8 percent, while high in historical terms, beats Nevada (13.4 percent), California (11.3 percent) and even Arizona (8.7 percent).
Colorado has a big bulge of people in the 45-to-65 age range, many of whom moved here in the 1970s and '80s.
Those people are "aging out" of the labor force, being replaced by younger workers.
"Basically, this means that we are creating new jobs for people but they are not new jobs at the firm," Garner said.
That said, Colorado's in-migration numbers are much lower than they were in the '90s, and they haven't been strong enough to lift the construction industry out of the doldrums.
Single-family housing permits have averaged at just over 8,000 a year the past three years, a far cry from the more than 38,000 a year pulled between 2003 and 2005, according to the Colorado Business Economic Outlook from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Colorado still has about 130,000 more housing units than it needs because of overbuilding last decade, Garner estimates. Even if in-migration holds up at current levels, it will take years for the newcomers to absorb the surplus housing.
Still, Colorado remains the sole magnet for domestic in-migration in a once-popular region that has fallen off the charts.
Last year, Colorado's domestic net migration was 15 times that of New Mexico and more than double Arizona's.
Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Kansas and Nebraska actually lost more U.S.-born residents to other states than they gained, census figures show.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Atlas Van Lines: More people moved into Colorado than out last year
Denver Business Journal
Date: Tuesday, January 3, 2012, 2:26pm MST
Fifteen percent more people moved into Colorado in 2011 than moved out of the state.
The Evansville, Indiana-based moving company compiles its annual “migration patterns” report each January, based on data from its interstate household moves during the previous year.
Atlas said it handled 2,403 moves into Colorado in 2011 and 2,082 out of the state.
Colorado had more inbound moves each of the previous nine years as well, according to Atlas’ data.
Colorado was one of a handful of western states that saw more inbound moves last year than outbound moves in 2011, Atlas said. Others were Washington, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.
Date: Tuesday, January 3, 2012, 2:26pm MST
Fifteen percent more people moved into Colorado in 2011 than moved out of the state.
The Evansville, Indiana-based moving company compiles its annual “migration patterns” report each January, based on data from its interstate household moves during the previous year.
Atlas said it handled 2,403 moves into Colorado in 2011 and 2,082 out of the state.
Colorado had more inbound moves each of the previous nine years as well, according to Atlas’ data.
Colorado was one of a handful of western states that saw more inbound moves last year than outbound moves in 2011, Atlas said. Others were Washington, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.
CoreLogic: Foreclosure rates dip in metro Denver
Denver Business Journal by Mark Harden, New Media Editor
Date: Thursday, January 5, 2012, 8:44am MST
The foreclosure rate for the Denver metro area was 1.66 percent of home mortgages in October, down from the 1.85 percent rate of the same month a year earlier.
The rate measures the percentage of existing mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process. It does not reflect new filings.
CoreLogic said the foreclosure rate for the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield metro area, which excludes Boulder County, was below the national rate of 3.51 percent for October 2011.
CoreLogic reported the Denver area's foreclosure rate as below 1.71 percent since April 2011. Before that, the rate exceeded 1.8 percent as far back as June 2009.
Date: Thursday, January 5, 2012, 8:44am MST
The foreclosure rate for the Denver metro area was 1.66 percent of home mortgages in October, down from the 1.85 percent rate of the same month a year earlier.
The rate measures the percentage of existing mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process. It does not reflect new filings.
CoreLogic said the foreclosure rate for the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield metro area, which excludes Boulder County, was below the national rate of 3.51 percent for October 2011.
CoreLogic reported the Denver area's foreclosure rate as below 1.71 percent since April 2011. Before that, the rate exceeded 1.8 percent as far back as June 2009.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Zillow's top 10 most-viewed homes
Zillow's top 10 most-viewed homes
The most popular homes in 2011: from 'Jersey Shore' to Fifty Cent
By Inman News
A mix of celebrity and private luxury single-family (if you can call the White House single-family) residences made up the top 10 most-viewed homes on Zillow in 2011. Half of the top 10 are found in a cluster around New York City, and the other five range from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles.
Topping the list, at a Zillow-estimated $467,400 listing price, the lowest-priced home in the top 10 list is the notorious "Jersey Shore" house, where MTV filmed the first season of the reality TV phenomenon. People must have been curious where "Snooki" and "The Situation" (nicknames for a couple of the show's stars) first entered public life.
The White House is No. 8 on the list, but is by far the most expensive, with a Zillow-estimated $261.76 million value. The Woolworth's retail magnate Frank Woolworth built a French Gothic-styled Upper East Side townhouse, ranking No. 3 on the list, for his daughter Helena, which is going for a mind-boggling $90 million.
An art gallery resides in a beautifully landscaped, sleek and ultramodern Santa Barbara, Calif., home, No. 4 on the list, priced at just under $20 million. No. 6 is the gaudy and notorious Champ d'Or Estate in Hickory Creek, Texas, which was modeled on a chateau just outside Paris (in France -- not Paris, Texas).
Apparently, it's been on the market since 2003 and can't sell, which could be because of its $58 million list price, or its overgilded aura -- or both.
Rap mogul Fifty Cent's sprawling 50,000-square-foot Connecticut mansion and its 21 bedrooms makes the list at No. 5, and is priced just under $10 million -- which, on this list, may seem like a comparative bargain.
The most popular homes in 2011: from 'Jersey Shore' to Fifty Cent
By Inman News
A mix of celebrity and private luxury single-family (if you can call the White House single-family) residences made up the top 10 most-viewed homes on Zillow in 2011. Half of the top 10 are found in a cluster around New York City, and the other five range from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles.
Topping the list, at a Zillow-estimated $467,400 listing price, the lowest-priced home in the top 10 list is the notorious "Jersey Shore" house, where MTV filmed the first season of the reality TV phenomenon. People must have been curious where "Snooki" and "The Situation" (nicknames for a couple of the show's stars) first entered public life.
The White House is No. 8 on the list, but is by far the most expensive, with a Zillow-estimated $261.76 million value. The Woolworth's retail magnate Frank Woolworth built a French Gothic-styled Upper East Side townhouse, ranking No. 3 on the list, for his daughter Helena, which is going for a mind-boggling $90 million.
An art gallery resides in a beautifully landscaped, sleek and ultramodern Santa Barbara, Calif., home, No. 4 on the list, priced at just under $20 million. No. 6 is the gaudy and notorious Champ d'Or Estate in Hickory Creek, Texas, which was modeled on a chateau just outside Paris (in France -- not Paris, Texas).
Apparently, it's been on the market since 2003 and can't sell, which could be because of its $58 million list price, or its overgilded aura -- or both.
Rap mogul Fifty Cent's sprawling 50,000-square-foot Connecticut mansion and its 21 bedrooms makes the list at No. 5, and is priced just under $10 million -- which, on this list, may seem like a comparative bargain.
Bad neighbor can cost you when it's time to sell
Consider contacting authorities if pet filth is deterring buyers
By Barry Stone
Inman News®
DEAR BARRY: My neighbor's dogs inhabit a small chain-link enclosure, located behind my backyard fence. I don't believe anyone ever cleans this area, and the accumulated filth creates an unbearable stench. On days when I'm downwind, I don't dare open a window.
Complaints to the owners have only produced anger and unfriendliness. They just warn me to mind my own business. To complicate matters, I'm now preparing to sell my home and am afraid that this unsanitary condition will deter buyers. What, if anything, can be done to convince my neighbors to eliminate this problem? --Wayne
DEAR WAYNE: Your neighbors are apparently not eligible for the pet owners' good citizenship award. Hopefully, the public nuisance they have created will arouse the dissatisfaction of the municipal authorities in your area. Aside from the practice of cruelty to animals, your neighbors are generating a potential health hazard.
If these miscreants refuse to correct these conditions in a decent and acceptable manner, you can report them to the animal control department, the health department, and the district attorney's office. In all likelihood, these complaints should motivate some form of positive response, and that will aid you in the marketing of your home. More importantly, it should help to eliminate a disgraceful condition for which there is no reasonable excuse.
As an aside: I heard a tale about a person who complained about a neighbor who kept a dog in the same filthy, neglected conditions that you have described. One day, when the neighbor was away, someone apparently took the liberty of finding a good home for the dog. That week, the neighbor reportedly received the following letter:
"Dear Former Dog Owner,
"You will be pleased to know that your dog now has an excellent home. You will be happy, as well, to know that he now enjoys the following advantages:
"1. Each day he receives the attention of a family who plays with him and cares for him, rather than waiting for meager attention that never arrives.
"2. He now inhabits a large, clean yard where he can run free and explore the bushes, rather than lingering in a filthy circle at the end of a short chain.
"3. Now he can drink from a bowl of fresh water, always at his disposal, rather than hoping for someone to fill the one that is overturned in the rank dust.
"If you choose to acquire another dog, be assured that we will gladly find a good home for him as well.
--Your neighbor"
(Of course, I can't advocate for stealing pets so this seemed an extreme example of vigilante justice!)
By Barry Stone
Inman News®
DEAR BARRY: My neighbor's dogs inhabit a small chain-link enclosure, located behind my backyard fence. I don't believe anyone ever cleans this area, and the accumulated filth creates an unbearable stench. On days when I'm downwind, I don't dare open a window.
Complaints to the owners have only produced anger and unfriendliness. They just warn me to mind my own business. To complicate matters, I'm now preparing to sell my home and am afraid that this unsanitary condition will deter buyers. What, if anything, can be done to convince my neighbors to eliminate this problem? --Wayne
DEAR WAYNE: Your neighbors are apparently not eligible for the pet owners' good citizenship award. Hopefully, the public nuisance they have created will arouse the dissatisfaction of the municipal authorities in your area. Aside from the practice of cruelty to animals, your neighbors are generating a potential health hazard.
If these miscreants refuse to correct these conditions in a decent and acceptable manner, you can report them to the animal control department, the health department, and the district attorney's office. In all likelihood, these complaints should motivate some form of positive response, and that will aid you in the marketing of your home. More importantly, it should help to eliminate a disgraceful condition for which there is no reasonable excuse.
As an aside: I heard a tale about a person who complained about a neighbor who kept a dog in the same filthy, neglected conditions that you have described. One day, when the neighbor was away, someone apparently took the liberty of finding a good home for the dog. That week, the neighbor reportedly received the following letter:
"Dear Former Dog Owner,
"You will be pleased to know that your dog now has an excellent home. You will be happy, as well, to know that he now enjoys the following advantages:
"1. Each day he receives the attention of a family who plays with him and cares for him, rather than waiting for meager attention that never arrives.
"2. He now inhabits a large, clean yard where he can run free and explore the bushes, rather than lingering in a filthy circle at the end of a short chain.
"3. Now he can drink from a bowl of fresh water, always at his disposal, rather than hoping for someone to fill the one that is overturned in the rank dust.
"If you choose to acquire another dog, be assured that we will gladly find a good home for him as well.
--Your neighbor"
(Of course, I can't advocate for stealing pets so this seemed an extreme example of vigilante justice!)
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