The American Tax Authority

Right now in Florida, property tax is a very big issue. Homeowners pay much of their hard earned money to the tax powers of the counties they own property in. There are exemptions, and write offs at tax time, but this does not help everyone. There are always “qualifications” it seems in this more regulated society. Now, look beyond local taxation and consider the national taxation, the power of IRS. I just read that the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) has 100,000 employees, 240 computer systems, and 1,500 electronic databases. This is acording to a 2007 Associated Press report.

Is it any wonder why taxation is an issue, concern and frustration in American society, at any level, local or national?

Three Tallahassee Neighborhoods

Tower Oaks, Russell’s Pond and Oak Valley neighborhoods in northwest Leon County, Florida, just outside Tallahassee, offer affordable homes in the $160,000 to $190,000 range, having three bedrooms, two baths, a garage, close to shopping and close to town as well as state parks and forest land. The neighborhoods were built in recent years. There is also a pond in the community and Lake Jackson, one of the biggest of over 60 lakes located in and around Tallahassee, Florida. If you want to know more about these homes and community feel free to contact me. I am the area real estate specialist and live in the area as well.

Kenneth Fach, REALTOR, ePRO Certified
Weichert, REALTORS-Anchor
1607 Village Square Blvd., Ste B 103
Tallahassee, FL 32303
Direct/Cell/Text 850-339-5753

Each Office is independently owned and operated.

My life with maps

I have always liked studying maps and place names. When I was a child, my uncle use to always give me maps, all kinds of maps, maps of towns, terrain, historical maps, street maps. My dad was also an avid map collector. He kept every National Geographic Magazine inclusing the maps. He must have had over 200 maps from that magazine. I am just guessing. In school, including geography courses at college, I excelled in geogaphy, making top grades. Then, as I adventured around the world, I collected maps. Maps of the different places of the Americas and Europe. I remember in high school, I wrote letters (something people use to do before computers) to most of the 50 states in the United States to gather maps and brochures. At that time state liberally sent big packets of tourist literature, booklets sometimes, and maps.

You are probably thinking, why didn’t I become a map maker? Well, I didn’t foe whatever reason, but I am in a field of work that requires map knowledge, and give me opportunities to use maps everyday. Nowadays, maps are even more attractive and useful. The world now has online maps, and interactive maps. I caneven access maps on my TREO 700wx. What better maps than Google Maps and Google Earth. I can zoom into childhood neighborhoods, neighborhoods that I work in, study the real estate market in. I am a real estate agent. Maps are my life in this business. Technology makes the work of a real estate agent much more productive than ever before, thanks in part with what can be done with maps today. With aerial views of homes and neighborhoods, I can more clearly see real estate around me, and perform better research and better comparative market reports. Buyers and sellers appreciate having aerials of their communities or communities they are interested in.

I may not be a map maker, but I still get to work with maps.

Kenneth Fach, REALTOR, Internet Professional
Cell/Text 850-339-5753
Weichert, Realtors-Anchor
Tallahassee, Florida 32309

Each Office is Independently Owned and operated.

Another Tallahassee Ranch Home for Sale

I am always pleased when buyers look for ranch style homes and sellers sell ranch style homes. You see, I grew up in ranch homes and have experienced the benefits: easy maintenance. Easy to get on the roof and rake the leaves off. Easy to get in and out without climbing stairs (unless it is a raised ranch), easy to know where things are with an easy open floor plan. Ranches are predictable, but have much individuality within that predictability. I love the comforts of ranch.

Right now among many ranches available in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, there is one in particular in the popular Eastgate Neighborhood of NE Tallahassee, on the market for only $189,000, with 3br/2ba, approximately 1100 square feet of heating/cooling space, in an area of popular schools as well. It has the standard ranch features of low lying horizontal rectangular structure, fitting in with the many trees surrounding the home, brick exterior (in those days brick was so much less expensive), nice yard, garage, and many windows.

Call or text me at 850-339-5753 for more information about ranch style homes.

Kenneth Fach, REALTOR
Weichert-REALTORS-Anchor
Tallahassee, FL 32309
Direct 850-339-5753, http://KennethFach.com

Each office is independently owned and operated.

How I practice “Order is heaven’s first law.”

I got up early this morning to upload, and rearrange my documents in my Google Docs account. I basically now have another storage place for my contracts, documents, marketing pieces: Google Docs. As a rule of thumb, we all need more than one place to keep copies of our important documents, both online and offline. Online, Google Docs gives me a lot of easy maneuverability, and user friendliness. I know exactly what I am doing with Google Docs. For my memos, short messages, reminders, to dos, I use JOTT. I simply call the Jott phone number from my Treo, and then I  verbalize my Jott. Then, I get the reminder in three sources: a text message, a transcription in my gmail inbox, and the audio recording, if i don’t feel like wearing out my eyes anymore. The other cool thing is that all my Jotts, are sent to my Gmail inbox under my Jott label. This is easy to set up, and I can assist with this. It only takes a few seconds.

I also text my calendar events to Google Calender. So I get the calender event or appointment as both a text message when it comes back after my texting is done, and in my online Google Calender.

I have to be so organized and systematic to be happy and successful in my days plans and activities. Dad always did quote from Pope, “order is heaven’s first law.” I wonder what the second one would be.

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The Land is for All to Honor

I am getting ready for a new day in the real estate world. I have checked trulia.com to see the wonder mapping feature offered where you can see homes for sale on the map, and recently sold homes. I grew up with maps, and am attracted to good map features. That is why I like Google Maps, and Google Earth so much, and use them as regular tools in my real estate practice, and research.

Beginning my day on the right foot, I am drawn to the first line of the REALTOR Code of Ethics in which it says, “Under all is the land.” I love pondering that statement. It takes me back to the early aboriginal cultures in which the land was sacred, and belonged to all, not to any one person. Our culture is different in that persons get to claim exclusionary rights to pieces of the land. However, take away our culture, and societal beliefs, and we will be back to the land as belonging to all and nobody claiming ownership of a piece of it. The land will always be there no matter what culture or cultures dominate. Truly, all experiences the land, those who have, and those who have not. Everyone relates to the land in some degree and in some way.

Now, comes honor. The Creator provides the land under all. We as the Creator’s children need to wisely use the land, honor it, rever it, care for it. Think of the Boy Scout fundamental of “Leave No Trace.” We learn to pick up our trash at the campsite, make sure the campfire remains are buried, and we leave nature as we found it. We can apply the teaching of leave no trace in our neighborhoods, cities, and elsewhere. We can keep the land cleaner, richer, and make better use of it that will benefit all under the land. We can do this as citizens, and as communities. Maybe we need more parks, more green, more trees. Maybe we can clean up the commuity we live in, and weed out the garbage, the waste, the plastic. Maybe we can recycle more and reuse what has been use to exploit less the earth around us. We can do this in our own backyard.

As real estate professionals, we have a moral obligation to help protect the land, and champion it’s highest and best use. We can set the example in our own lives. I try to make it a habit to recycle, keep my yard clean, grow some vegetables for a healthier diet, with food organically produced from the land, and learn more about a greener lifestyle. I have goals to use other forms of energy for my home someday, or support community efforts towards alternative, healthier energy sources. I support community self-sufficiency. This goes back to the fact the real estate is local, the land is local in whatever spot on earth one may find her/himself.

Now, I am going to sip some more mate, and see what new happenings are taking place in real estate.