I like the appearance of this house, but it sits right next to some train tracks which were recently put into service again. There is a commuter train that passes within shouting distance. I have to wonder: did the valuation of the property change when the tracks were put back into service?
]]>Charles Rangel Abuses Rent Control
This time he's under greater scrutiny than by reporters, but I have to wonder, why does it take an investigative report to uncover some ethical violations by a politician? Shouldn't the politician's employer, the government, scrutinize itself? That should not be too much to ask, in my opinion.
Apparently he broke the law by not disclosing financial details related to a trip he took to the Caribbean. Big deal.
]]>Surprising? Absolutely. Although I trust my source, I can't verify the authenticity.
I imagine that this tax structure resulted in some dark dining rooms!
]]>From what I've read, it sounds like the situation is pretty creepy - the landowners hide behind offshore tax havens, legally dodge taxes, and even receive grants for land maintenance. It reminds me of the farming subsidies here in the US - people think the money is going to independent farmers, but based upon what I've read, a lot of the funds actually goes to people and companies that have absolutely nothing to do with farming!
Scotland landownership is interesting topic, and these are the best websites I found about it:
I've heard that Ted Turner owns more land than any other American - I wonder if there are any landowners of Scotland that own more land than he does? Apparently, there are several royal families / individuals with ownership of greater acreage.
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The apartments and condos in DC really do have cool names and entrances.
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This building is in DC near U Street. Nice building and a nice location, too!
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This picture doesn't show the full building, but its a nice one, and the location can't be beat. If I had an extra $8 million handy, I'd consider buying it!
]]>Huh? Oh well, I guess its not a big deal - I'm just convinced that there is not very much that can be done about this - short of tearing apart all the walls and trying to secure the pipes better. If that's true, I doubt the condo owners would decide to move forward with that plan.
Anyway, I'm just posting this as a reminder to myself to call them back to schedule their access to my unit. 301-493-5031
UPDATE: Well, what do you know? I learned something today! The maintenance guys came by to check it out and explained that its a toilet float that creaks as it gets raised and lowered. They also pointed out the noise to me - its not that loud in my place, but I guess it would be annoying on the floor below.
]]>Questions about the possible arrangements:
I found this interesting site in my searches:
]]>Its not a realistic plan, at least at the moment, but I still have fun scouting out land prices.
The cheapest land for sale I've found is in Alaska. The site where I found the listings is a US government site:
http://dnr.alaska.gov/mlw/landsale/index.htm
As of September 2009, it has land listed at around $4,000 for a few (3-5) acres.
There are other, less remote areas, like the southwest: Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. I've seen listings for around $5,000 for one acre.
I also read that there is cheap real estate available in the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania. Its true - there is! New Kensington doesn't seem like a bad place, but the downtown seemed a little vacant when I took a quick tour via Google maps street level view. There is one location on 5th Avenue in New Kensington advertised as 2 Buildings for sale for the price of 1 for $59,000. Not a bad price, huh?
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