ClogLines?

Uh, so yeah.

So I'm working 23 hours per week. It shouldn't interrupt my life all that much, but somehow, it has! How is that?

Anyway, the job is going well so far. Don't think I can do it for the rest of my life, but there are worse things I could be doing. I finally have A job, and the Estate is close to being over forever—yes, it is STILL open, but now it's just a technicality. We're waiting on a couple of big refund checks to put into the Estate account, then we can close up shop. All the other stuff is done. (Warning: boring estate update to follow.)

While I was in Southern Ohio for ten minutes last week, I drove past the old place, fully braced to see an empty lot.

Nope. House looks just like we left it. It's oddly comforting to know that.

When I say ten minutes, I mean that that is exactly how long it took to resolve The Property Tax Nightmare at the Board of Revisions. That's right. I drove three hours (one way) for ten minutes of work. But had I not gone down, we would have forfeited by lack of appearance. The good news is, we won. The FMV was restored to the original amount for 2008 and will equal the actual sales prices for 2009 (which is only about a $3,700 increase in FMV or about $35/year payment extra—which doesn't even matter to us, because the new owners will be paying it).

In addition, because of the fire, the Auditors Office did us an enormous and generous favor. Had we been aware of it, we would have filed a document after the fire to have the FMV of the house reduced due to damage. But we didn't find out about this option until long after the papers should have been filed. The Auditor unexpectedly decided to allow the 50% reduction in FMV on the house ANYWAY!!! I was happily floored.

All in all, the FMV on Grandma's property dropped $128,000 in that meeting! We'll be getting a refund for the property taxes that were overpaid at the last lot closing. No, not $128k. That's the FMV. We'll be getting a couple thousand back, though, that we shouldn't have had to pay.

I walked out of that office feeling about 90 feet tall and a tad bulletproof, LOL! That attitude went with me to the bank where the first lot closing was to sort out the taxation fallout on that closing. You probably don't remember, but there had been a deed mixup, and the man buying a 3-acre lot accidentally was deeded the entire 8.7 acres. Whoopsie there, Title Office!

What we didn't catch at the closing was the tax proration. It had been prorated and deducted from both sides of the closing statements. It was my first property sale, so I just trusted what the realtor said. I know better now. Take a calculator and add up the figures yourself, and KNOW approximately what your prorated property tax should be.

Turns out, the proration the Title Company did was based on the ENTIRE LOT. Not 3-acres of it (about 1/3rd). That means we received less in our proceeds than we should have. Whoopsie.

The attorney from that closing says if we show payment of the taxes made by us, once we know the actual FMV for that year, we are due a refund. Luckily the buyer is an honest decent man. He'll likely make good on it. I feel bad asking, but... it's business. And it isn't much, but... it's business.

Anyway. End of boring Estate update. I promise there won't be too many more of these. If any.

At the moment, I'm just getting used to being an employee again, and enjoying the relief that comes with having an income AND suddenly having the financial cushion again. This time, though, I won't be complacent. I've learned my lessons the hard way, and I'm better prepared this time. I know it all happened for a reason, and as hard as it was, it was GOOD for me.

Maybe one day there will be knitting content in here again. And maybe I can relax now, knowing that at least one post appears in Bloglines tonight (nothing! no posts! freaked me out).

Labels: estate nonsense, gratefulness, nothing important

posted by Jeanne @ 2:32 AM