Stockbridge Georgia House For Sale $190,000
5 Bedroom 2.5 Baths

I am writing this article while I am in Atlanta Georgia visiting my aged parents who are in their mid 80’s. I have not been home for almost three years and it was high time I visited them to see how they are doing and to ‘reconnect.’ My only Brother, Kevin lives nearby and visits them every weekend.

I also wanted to see what they needed done around the house, update their Trust documents, their Will’s, meet with a Lawyer, etc. in hopes of making sense of what happens when they both are no longer with us on this Earth and to make their lives as pleasurable as possible while they are still here. Taking care of elderly parents is a lot like having children again, with the loss of memory and dementia they both need care.

My parents purchased their first home at the age of 78 after my Father worked many long years, serving in the U.S. Army. They are frugal, very much unlike what we all are today, as they both are products of the ‘Great Depression Era.’ Their combined financial assets are significant after so many years of saving and scrimping wherever they could and making the right investments.

My Mother is mostly responsible for their assets and I can see why as you go through the Kitchen drawers, closets and garage. There are hundreds of rubber bands, food storage containers that have been recycled from Grocery Store purchases, balls of string, untold numbers of plastic bags from various retail stores and an artificial Christmas tree that is made of Aluminum Branches with a Color Wheel Flood light that changes colors.

They purchased their first home in the year 2002 in an upscale community just South of Atlanta Georgia for $230,000. It is a 5 bedroom, 2 bath relatively new home that now is worth approximately $190,000 as I learned after stopping in at a local Keller Williams Real Estate office. This decline in home value equals a -17% decline in the last eight years.

The Atlanta Area, like Las Vegas added thousands of new homes to their inventory over the last few years and today many of them still stand empty of Families.

While ordering a Sentricon Termite Protection Systems for my parent’s home I had a chance to speak with an inspector for a local termite inspection service and he shared with me that well over 50% of his total inspections involve Short Sales and Foreclosures. Sounds like Hawaii, doesn’t it?

It appeared to me that ‘everything’ is cheaper in Georgia than what residents of Hawaii experience, and this lead me spend more money in Georgia, in order save more money that would have to be spent in Hawaii for the same goods.

Cigarettes, Atlanta Georgie - $3.79

Cigarettes, Honolulu Hawaii - $7.79

Jobs that are available in Georgia are mostly ‘service related’ low paying jobs, just like ours. Most graduating students have very low expectations of receiving well paying jobs and if they can find a job it is most likely coming from the Service sector. Does this sound familiar?

Local real estate agents here in Georgia believe that ‘things are picking up’ but at the same time herald the rising tidal wave of Short Sales and Foreclosures that are increasing in ever greater numbers every month as we head into Summer. The result of this rising tide of Foreclosures and Short Sales, combined with the Billions of Dollars that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac owe while sucking up our tax dollars is thought by some to hold the potential for even worse National Economic catastrophe of proportions we have not seen to date.

To add even worse news concerning the demise of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, take a look at how our fine representatives voted for Hawaii in the recent bill in house that would have provided us finally, with some conclusion to this Freddie and Fannie mess:

May 17, 2010
In this MegaVote for Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District:

Recent Congressional Votes

• Senate: McCain Amendment; Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010
• Senate: Durbin Amendment; Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010
• House: Motion to Recommit; America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010

Recent Senate Votes

McCain Amendment; Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 - Vote Rejected (43-56, 1 Not Voting)
 
The Senate rejected this amendment to the financial reform bill that would have established a time frame for ending the government’s support of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Senate continues work on the bill this week.
 
Sen. Daniel Inouye voted NO......
Sen. Daniel Akaka voted NO......

Recent House Votes
Motion to Recommit; America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 - Vote Passed (292-126, 12 Not Voting)
 
The House voted to send this bill that would reauthorize science and technology research programs back to the House Science committee with instructions to freeze funding at fiscal 2010 levels and to only fund the bill for three years, rather than the original five. House leaders are planning to bring the measure to a vote again this week.
 
Rep. Mazie Hirono voted NO......

Well, “thank you very much” to both Senator Inouye and Akaka for voting the ‘Party Line’ and not what their taxpayers needed them to do. Senators Inouye and Akaka are shinning star examples of why we should impose term limits.

By defeating the McCain Amendment we have now kept both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on our Tax Payer Doll Out! The sheer Billions of $'s that these two Government entities are in the RED while being supported by our Tax dollars is the next Big issue that is going to have a tremendous effect upon the National Economy and the Real Estate Markets.

These two Government Mortgage Organizations should have been cut off from Congress's bailouts and privatized.

Remember the names Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as this is going to come back and really bite us in the Okole!

The same local real estate agents believe that the public of Georgia do not realize that interest rates are at all time historic lows and that our National Economy cannot sustain these low rates in the months to come. The last I looked, interest rates were around 4.5% which has allowed many buyers to purchase a home now, who would not qualify when rates start to rise. I think the Georgia agents should make a bigger effort in educating their public that interest rates cannot stay as low as they are now.

The realization that no matter who is in office, because of the ill conceived National borrowing our current Administration is conducting to ‘save us’ from past ills of George Bush, (Yes, I am being sarcastic!) taxes for U.S. citizens are going to rise at a tremendous rate no matter who is in office and controlling the Senate and House.

Here is new information on our Taxes for Health Insurance:

The dollar value (cost of what the company pays for your insurance) will be considered income and added to your gross pay. You will be taxed on the total.

You will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you have never seen.

Take your tax form you just finished and see what $15,000 or $20,000 additional gross does to your tax debt. That's what you'll pay next year. For many it also puts you into a new higher bracket so it's even worse.

This is how the government is going to buy insurance for 15 % that don't have insurance and it's only part of the tax increases.

Not believing this I researched the summaries and here's what I'm reading:

On page 25 of 29 :

TITLE IX REVENUE PROVISIONS- SUBTITLE A: REVENUE OFFSET PROVISIONS - (sec .9001 , as modified by sec. 10901)
Sec.9002.  "requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee The aggregate cost of applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employees gross income."

I hear figures that less than half of all U.S. citizens across the Country do not pay any taxes. Those who are paying taxes are doing so in ever increasing amounts to the detriment of our Economy as we force more and more businesses into Foreclosure, crushed under the already high National Tax burden and the incredible, moronic unemployment insurance tax imposed in Hawaii.

I would think that the amount of residents of Hawaii who do not pay any income taxes is similar to those taxpayers in the rest of the United States. I believe many in Hawaii do not own homes, pay no property taxes, make less than $35,000 per year and really could care less about the National Tax burden and are in total agreement to tax the ‘rich’ as, after all, our Liberal press has done a great job of demonizing the ‘rich'. Trust me, if you have any assets, a dollar to your name, you are going to be considered ‘rich’ very soon.

Home ownership in Hawaii is approximately 60% of all residents and the U.S. average is closer to 70%.

Average per capita income for Hawaii is approximately $30,913. Average per capita income for the U.S. is approximately $45,113.

Maybe right now many Hawaii residents do not pay any income tax and maybe these same residents work for the State and Local City & County and these positions are heavily Unionized and union members see little chance of loosing their jobs or declining wages or reduced benefits. The reason for this is that Unions in Hawaii are strong and have incredible political clout over candidates running for Public Office through the unlimited use of Political Contributions. After all, Neil Abercrombie, who’s job is to work with National Defense Contractors, literally receives hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to his campaigns for re-election from ….Defense Contractors and…you guessed it…Unions.

In the 2006 election cycle, Abercrombie’s campaign raised $1,074,345, some 52 percent of which derived from PACs. Of the PAC contributions, $249,693 came from businesses, and $276,770 from labor unions. Over the course of his political career from 1989-2006, Abercrombie received $6,853,048 in political contributions, 53 percent of which were from PACs. Of those PAC funds, $1,194,440 were from businesses and $2,234,115 from labor unions.

Congressman Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii awarded Pacific Biodiesel a $3.5 million earmark to try to grow fuel for the Army in Hawaii. It turns out the founder of Pacific Biodiesel is a co-chair of the Congressman's gubernatorial campaign.

The pattern is repeated over and over.

First Elected: 1990
Rep. Neil Abercrombie resigned on February 28, 2010 to run for Governor
REPRESENTATIVE (D - HI)
Committee Assignments:
Armed Services Natural Resources
Leadership PAC:
Aloha PAC
Cycle Fundraising, 2009 - 2010, Campaign Cmte
Raised:   $33,927 
Spent:  $745,316 
Cash on Hand:  $361,107 
Debts:  $0

Last Report: Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Top 5 Contributors, 2009-2010, Campaign Cmte
Contributor Total Indivs PACs
General Dynamics $5,000 $0 $5,000
Transport Workers Union $5,000 $0 $5,000
National Community Pharmacists Assn $2,000 $0 $2,000
Gutierrez for Congress $1,000 $0 $1,000
Marty Meehan for Congress Cmte $1,000 $0 $1,000

Top 5 Industries, 2009-2010, Campaign Cmte
Industry Total Indivs PACs
Transportation Unions $5,000 $0 $5,000
Defense Electronics $5,000 $0 $5,000
Candidate Committees $3,000 $0 $3,000
Health Professionals $2,000 $0 $2,000
Leadership PACs $1,000 $0 $1,000
Total Raised vs. Average Raised
Cycle Source of Funds, 2009-2010, Campaign Cmte only
 
Individual Contributions $9 (0%)
 
PAC Contributions $12,000 (35%)
 
Candidate self-financing $0 (0%)
 
Other $21,918 (65%)

We as tax payers, at least the residents of Hawaii who have to pay taxes because they are ‘rich’, will have to pay even more taxes to support the Federal, State, City & County employee sector which is the fastest growing hiring sector Nationally. At the same time this is happening, Federal, State, City & County unionized employees are now earning with benefits, far more than the Private Sector Economy. When did this happen and when does it make sense for the Public Service sector to make more money than business owners, risk takers and Small Business?

Are things any better in Georgia? Probably not, but Georgia Citizens are not the Second Most Heavily Tax Burdened residents in the United States, we are! Oh please, the next time you hear one of our idiot residents of Hawaii spouting off about what the big deal is about just raising our G.E. tax by a one percentage, someone educate them that this is pyramid tax and our G.E. Tax equates to an almost 30% Sales Tax which is the traditional form of sales tax in the United States and …tell them to just keep their mouths closed until they check facts.

Hawaii does not have a sales tax per se, but it does have an gross receipts tax (called the General Excise Tax) which applies to nearly every conceivable type of transaction (including services), and is technically charged to the business rather than the consumer. Hawaii law allows business to pass on the tax to the consumer in similar fashion to a sales tax.

Unlike other states, rent, medical services and perishable foods are subject to the excise tax. Also, unlike other states, businesses may or may not show the tax separately on the receipt, as it is technically part of the selling price. 4.0% is charged at retail with an additional 0.5% surcharge in the City and County of Honolulu (for a total of 4.5% on Oahu sales), and 0.5% is charged on wholesale.[51] However, the state also allows "tax on tax" to be charged, which effectively means a customer can be billed as much as 4.166% (4.712% on Oahu). The exact dollar or percentage amount to be added must be quoted to customers within or along with the price. The 0.5% surcharge on Oahu was implemented to fund the new rail transport system. The use of an excise tax means that tax-exempt non-profit organizations must pay the tax, unlike states where they are exempt from sales taxes.

Although we ‘may’ be near the bottom in the current Real Estate Cycle, the persistent high unemployment and rising tide of Foreclosures just does not look good to me and I for one am thinking about saving balls of string and saving like my parents and even perhaps moving to Georgia where I can save even more money. At least in Georgia I can pay lower costs for goods and services, less in taxes and then just come back to Hawaii…after the Democratic control of our lives is over.

Go figure, only in Hawaii can Neil Abercrombie have a possibility of being elected as Governor.

But wait…there’s hope for a State that will elect a Republican Senator that will take over Neil’s vacated seat!

Much Aloha, You All!

Mike Gallagher

Broker in Charge-Abe Lee Realty, Ethics Complaints Review Commitee Member, Honolulu Board of Realtors

This article is also available on my website at www.hawaiirealestatestatistics.com along with Monthly updated Real Estate Repoting for all major areas on Oahu, both Single Family Homes and Condo/Town Homes.