Breakwater Equity Partners, a consulting firm specializing in commercial loan workouts nationwide, has arranged a 50 percent discounted payoff on a loan secured by a nine story office building in Clearwater, Florida.

The office building, located at 400 Cleveland St. in Clearwater, Florida was originally purchased by four investors in February 2003 for $ 8.2 million. After investing an additional $ 2 million on development plans and entitlements for a high rise residential condominium development on the site, the proposed project was put on hold after the Florida condominium market collapsed in 2006. The investors hired Breakwater Equity Partners, LLC, in February 2011 to restructure the debt.

The building was more than 50 percent vacant and the owners were losing tens of thousands of dollars a month. They could not justify continuing to pour new capital into this property, explained Phil Jemmett, CEO of Breakwater Equity. At the same time, the investor group was committed to Downtown Clearwater, and wanted to hold onto the property and develop it when the market improves.

Breakwater contacted the CMBS special servicer, Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, who represented the bond holders, and presented a restructuring proposal involving the use of existing loan reserve funds to make the office space more marketable. After lengthy negotiations over project economics, potential litigation claims, and expected losses to the lender in the event of a potential bankruptcy by the borrowing entity, the parties reached an agreement in February, 2012. Berkadia sold the note to a group related to the current owners for less than half the outstanding loan balance. This enabled the investors to save the property in a tax efficient and economically viable manner.

The borrowers tried to get the lender to work with them, said Breakwater CFO Armand Nicholi, but the lender would not listen. Breakwater brought in a fresh perspective and years of experience in the workout arena. The owners probably would have lost this property, been liable for capital gains taxes, and possibly held liable on personal guarantees.

Attorney Christopher M. David of Miami provided litigation and transactional counsel to the investor group.

About Breakwater Equity Partners

Breakwater Equity Partners is a privately-owned real estate consulting firm located in San Diego, CA, providing commercial loan workout strategies and negotiation services to property owners and investors throughout the U.S. The Breakwater team, consisting of experts in finance, banking, real estate and law, has worked on over 200 commercial loan workouts throughout the US, with deep experience in a wide variety of real estate asset classes, including office, industrial, retail, multi-family, mixed use, master-planned communities, residential and land development, golf courses, and farming operations. Breakwater also specializes in Tenant-in-Common loan workouts. For more information on Breakwater Equity Partners, please call 858-490-3630 or visit http://www.breakwaterequity.com.

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Taxcut 2011 & Partners» Personal & Business Taxes

Karen Hawkins, director of the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), will be a featured speaker at the inaugural meeting of the National Association of Tax Debt Resolution Companies in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 2012.

The OPR has promised to take a “closer look” at the tax debt representation industry and the Director will detail her offices concerns and the continuing obligations of those who are authorized to appear before the IRS.

The conference will be a chance for industry colleagues to learn about the new challenges for the industry and public policy options while helping to create a unique voice for tax debt resolution businesses.

About Karen Hawkins

Karen L. Hawkins is the Director of the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility. Prior to taking this position in April, 2009, Ms. Hawkins was in private practice at the Oakland, California law firm of Taggart & Hawkins where she specialized in civil and criminal tax controversy cases for nearly 30 years.

She has been a frequent speaker and writer on a variety of diverse tax law topics including: Innocent Spouse Relief, Attorney’s Fees Awards; Collection Due Process; Civil and Criminal Tax Penalties; Tax Court Litigation; International Tax issues and Ethics in Tax Practice. Ms. Hawkins has a number of reported precedent-setting tax cases to her credit in the US Tax Court and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ms. Hawkins holds several degrees including: MBA in Taxation, J. D. and M.Ed. Among her many honors and awards are: V. Judson Kelin Award from the California Bar’s Taxation Section and the National Pro Bono Award from the ABA’s Taxation Section.

About the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility

The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) establishes and enforces consistent standards of competence, integrity and conduct for tax professionals (enrolled agents, attorneys, CPAs, and other individuals and groups covered by IRS Circular 230.

OPR supports the IRS strategy to enhance enforcement of the tax law and to ensure that attorneys, accountants and other tax practitioners adhere to professional standards and follow the law.

The Office of Professional Responsibility provides education and outreach to the tax professional community and administers the enrolled agent exam. To support the IRS’ strategic priorities, OPR ensures the integrity and credibility of the American tax system by working through tax professionals and with IRS operating divisions and functions. Circular 230 changes have created a need to increase awareness among tax professionals regarding the consequences of non-compliance.

Additional Conference Sessions

New Federal Regulation Targeting Tax Debt Resolution Companies: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Financial Fraud Enforcement Taskforce

On June 23, 2011 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) issued its Federal Register Notice for defining “larger” non-depository industry participants. The Notice outlined the industries that the Bureau will immediately seek to regulate.

One of the industries to be regulated is “debt relief services” which includes providers of services that “offer to reduce medical or tax debt.”

The newly created Consumer Protection Working Group of the federal Financial Fraud Enforcement Taskforce has stated that it will work across federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies, and with state and local partners, to strengthen efforts to address consumer issues, including schemes targeting vulnerable populations, such as the unemployed, those in need of payday loans, and those suffering from the burden of high credit card and other debt.

The Future of Deferred Enforcement of the Federal Trade Commissions Telemarketing Sales Rule

On October 17, 2010 the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) became effective thus regulating “debt relief services” which included individual or companies that negotiate or settle “tax debts owed to the government.”

The same day the TSR became effective, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a policy statement that it was unclear if tax debts are “unsecured” one of the triggering elements of the TSR. In this session you will learn the history and current status of the treatment of tax debt in the TSR and the FTCs work to regulate the industry.

Continuing Education Requirements and Compliance Solutions

Enrolled agents, certified public accountants, attorneys, registered tax return preparers all have differing requirements for continuing education and compliance. This session will review the current “what” you have to do as well as provide the “how” to remain compliant to represent taxpayers before the IRS.

View of the Industry from the U.S. Senate

The Congressional football of jurisdiction over tax debt resolution companies and their IRS approved employees is being bounced around from Committee to Committee with each claiming some part of the industry but not the industry as a whole. Learn the perspective of the Senates view of the issue in comparison to that of the House of Representatives.

Referrals, Lead Generators and Marketing on the Internet

The increasing use of a “person that, in the regular course of business, supplies a provider with the name of a potential customer, directs a communication of an individual to a provider, or otherwise refers a customer to a provider” brings a host of opportunity and a wide variety of legal challenges. In this session you will learn how the laws of deceptive advertising, unfair and deceptive trade practices and liability for “down-stream” users of referrals can impact your business.

View of the Industry from the U.S. House of Representatives

In this session you will be briefed on the House of Representatives perspective of the FTCs efforts to regulate tax debt resolution service providers, current efforts to protect consumers and the prospects for the introduction of legislation that will regulate the industry.

Federal and State Legislative and Regulatory Briefing

Mark Guimond, the state and federal lobbyist for the TPRSC, will brief you on the current status of recent proposals to regulate the industry including the still-deferred Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), California Senate bill 708, legislation proposed to Congress, the state Attorneys General proposal and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Registration Information

Registration fees are not refundable and do not include transportation, parking, lodging, meals, incidentals or other expenses except where otherwise noted.
All fees are per person.
All speakers and subjects may change without notice.
Early registration rates are only valid until March 31, 2012. After this date, registration rates will increase.

A specially priced block of rooms only for conference participants is available on a first-come-first-served basis. Reservations may be made by calling the Madison Hotel directly at 1-800-424-8577 and indicating group code 3u44vm or online at:

https://gc.synxis.com/rez.aspx?Hotel=51922&Chain=5156&arrive=5/18/2012&depart=5/22/2012&adult=1&child=0&group=3u44vm

Early Registration is only $ 459 for the first person and $ 399 for each additional person from the same company.

Early registration rates are only valid until March 31, 2012. After this date, registration rates will increase to the standard rate.

A full conference program may be requested from: Info (at) NationalPolicyGroup (dot) com

Conference registration information may be found at:

http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=lwwevocab&oeidk=a07e5ind7zl74c3b309

Taxcut 2011 & Partners» Personal & Business Taxes

The Lexington, Ky. office of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC has moved to a new location to better serve clients and support its growth in the region.

The law firm moved to its new location at One Paragon Centre on Harrodsburg Road on March 8, 2012. The new office doubles the space of the previous location and will accommodate the firms expanding presence in Kentucky. Steptoe & Johnson opened its first Kentucky office in 2009.

We are very excited about the new location. It should improve our employees’ work experience and be more convenient for clients, said Managing Member Jeffrey Phillips. Our expanding presence in Kentucky, coupled with the addition of attorneys in the MSHA, litigation and bond practices, made the move from our prior location a necessity.

The firms Lexington office houses seven attorneys practicing in areas including: taxation, complex litigation, campaign and election law, energy, labor and employment and public finance.

About Steptoe & Johnson

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC is a regional, business-focused firm with particular strengths in energy, labor, employment, and litigation. It comprises over 230 lawyers resident in eleven locations throughout West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Texas. Visit http://www.steptoe-johnson.com.

For more information, contact Betsy Spellman, Chief Marketing Officer, at (304) 933-8000 or by email: betsy.spellman@steptoe-johnson.com.

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Taxcut 2011 & Partners» Personal & Business Taxes

Dean Anthony J. Bajdek, Chairman of the Foundations International Advisory Board, Founder/President of the American Association of the Friends of Kosciuszko at West Point, and National Vice-President for American Affairs of the Polish American Congress, stated: The Foundation to Illuminate Americas Heroes is working to produce a major Hollywood film via a real-life story that ties together Tadeusz Kosciuszko, the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1919-1921, and the American volunteer fighter pilot, Merian C. Cooper and his American fellow pilots who created the Kosciuszko Squadron to fightand in some casesdie alongside Polands fighter pilots of the Second Republic in its struggle against communist Bolshevism of Russia in a war that not only saved Poland but also a World War I weakened Europe from Russian conquest. Think of it, he said, An American decorated by Jozef Pilsudski with Polands Virtuti Militari for his service. This story should be told in a major Hollywood film!

I urge all Polish Americans and all patriotic Americans to consider becoming Supporting Partners and ‘Friends’ of this great project and mission of the Foundation, Mr. Bajdek continued, This is truly the Greatest Story Not Yet Told, a story to inspire current and future generations. It is a story that links two great nations, Poland and the United States, all the way back to the Revolutionary War, when two Polish officers, Tadeusz Kosciuszko and Kazimierz Pulaski, came to the Americas aid during its ‘Glorious Cause’, and that debt was partially repaid when Merian C. Cooper and his fellow American fighter pilots joined Polands pilots to form the famed Kosciuszko Squadron during Poland’s war against the Bolshevik communists of Russia in 1919-1921.

We need the Polish American community to get behind this film project, Mr. Bajdek said, We are looking for additional members for the Foundations International Advisory Board to oversee the project. We are also looking for members of the Polish community in the U.S. to join our fund-raising team for this important project. And, most importantly, we need the members of the Polish American and Polish media to get behind this project that will mean so much to both America and Poland.

The Foundations achievements in establishing a tax exempt charitable entity, creating and launching a website and embedded YouTube feature film treatment, becoming known and naming Merian C. Cooper as the Greatest American Hero of the Twentieth Century and his involvement with the Kosciuszko Squadron as the Greatest Story Not Yet Told, are hallmark achievements. Both the work of the Foundation and this Merian C. Cooper/Kosciuszko Squadron feature film project have become known internationally.

These remarkable achievements have been funded by a small group who have a passion for the mission of the Foundation to seek out and illuminate the lives of true American heroes, past and present, and they share a vision of illuminating the inspirational story of Cooper and the Kosciuszko Squadron through a Hollywood feature film so that present and future generations can be inspired, said David C. Jamison, executive director of the Foundation. The Foundation is now looking for broad support to get this story told, he said. The Foundation has set an initial goal of The Campaign to Honor the Heroes of the Kosciuszko Squadron of raising $ 1 million dollars which will take us through Step Two, securing a Hollywood screen writer and Director for the feature film, plus the necessary expenses to take us to the next level. We are appealing especially to those in the Polish American community to take the lead in helping and supporting the Foundation to tell this inspirational story that links two great nations, the United States and Poland.

The Foundations website at http://www.iluminateamericasheroes.com contains the story of Merian C. Cooper and the Kosciuszko Squadron, told through an embedded YouTube video, entitled: The Greatest Story Not Yet Told! The Foundation has named great American and Polish Hero, Merian C. Cooper, The Greatest American Hero of the Twentieth Century. The written film treatment, Honor To You can be clicked and read within the website. The website also contains a donation link which allows everyone who supports this great story and mission to make tax exempt donations of any amount. All donations will greatly help the Foundation to illuminate this heroic story to the whole world.

I urge you to personally contact me about joining the Campaign to Honor the Heroes of the Kosciuszko Squadron, Jamison said, You can email me at davidj(at)illuminateamericasheroes(dot)com or call me at (334) 718-9501. As a Supporting Partner, Member or Friend of the Foundation you can help make this the first Hollywood feature film financed by tax deductible donations to a charitable Foundation.

Contact information: David C. Jamison, Executive Director

????????????The Foundation to Illuminate Americas Heroes, Inc.

????????????http://www.illuminateamericasheroes.com

????????????davidj(at)illuminateamericasheroes(dot)com

????????????(334) 718-950l

Taxcut 2011 & Partners» Personal & Business Taxes

StrikeIron will be demonstrating its real-time email verification, lead enhancement solutions, and SMS mobile marketing at LeadsCon Las Vegas at Booth 524.

We are excited about attending at LeadsCon Las Vegas, said Chris Atkinson, Vice President of Sales at StrikeIron. We feel our product portfolio of lead enhancement solutions can add significant value for affiliate marketers.

StrikeIrons real-time email verification solution ensures email addresses are valid and can accept messages. Like StrikeIrons other data cleansing solutions, email verification is delivered from IronCloud, the most reliable and scalable Data-as-a-Service delivery platform. This means the solution can easily be integrated into any web form, website, and lead management system.

StrikeIrons other lead enhancement solutions include address verification, phone validation, reverse phone and address append. In addition to these products, StrikeIron will demonstrate its SMS Text Message Solution at LeadsCon Las Vegas. This solution allows you to communicate and engage with customers anytime and anywhere. It enables businesses to easily and instantly send text messages to virtually any cell phone in the world.

If you are interested in meeting a StrikeIron representative at LeadsCon Las Vegas, please go to: http://offers.strikeiron.com/leadscon/.

About StrikeIron:

StrikeIron is the leader in Data-as-a-Service (DaaS), delivering data quality and communications solutions via our cloud platform IronCloud. We provide address verification, email verification, phone validation, phone append, SMS text messaging, and sales tax solutions to customers in a variety of markets. Our solutions are delivered as Web services that can be easily integrated into any application or system. Additionally, our solutions are pre-integrated into leading platforms like: Magento, Eloqua, Salesforce.com, Informatica, Oracle CRM On-Demand and more. Visit us on the web at http://www.strikeiron.com.

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Taxcut 2011 & Partners» Personal & Business Taxes

Management consultancy ANKH has set up its head office in Singapore via company registration specialists Rikvin.

ANKH is a global partnering company specializing in management advisory services and brings with it over 25 years of bespoke strategic support aimed at raising the bar for organizational excellence. It also offers a spectrum of talent alignment and search services geared at improving professional lives. ANKH has served some of the worlds best-known brands such as UBS, Bank of New York, NAB, Westpac, Deloitte, IBM, Adidas, Pepsi, EDS and Temenos.

ANKHs current network extends to over 35 countries in five continents. Prior to its Singapore incorporation, the consultancy has established hubs in Switzerland, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Australia and Thailand all with extensive partner coverage. Commenting on the decision to set up its headquarters in Singapore, Mr. Ahmet Adam Aldikacti, Managing Director of ANKH Pte Ltd said, ANKHs coverage is both extensive and at the highest levels of organizations. For this, the ANKH head office needed a secure, global, ethical and convenient hub with solid business-protecting laws. Singapore therefore posed an ideal choice.

Rikvin assisted ANKH with its Singapore company incorporation, business license application, website design and Singapore work visa application. Rikvin is also ANKHs corporate secretarial services partner. Commenting on his experience with Rikvin, Mr. Aldikacti added, Ive had prior experience with Rikvin and I found that they are consistently flexible, informative and cost-effective. Rikvins specialists offer help in any way that they can to an organization setting up in Singapore. This in turn reduces the stress level and helps a company manage finite time more productively.

Mr. Satish Bakhda, Head of Operations, Rikvin, said, Throughout 2011, management consultancies and head offices have consistently been one of three sectors seeing the most incorporation activity in Singapore. Therefore, we look forward to ANKHs continued growth in Singapore.

ANKH aims to be a differentiating global partnering firm that drives relationships through value-add and quality. Moving forward, ANKH also has plans to catalyze more synergistic partnerships between the banking, technology, professional services and IT sectors by hosting networking sessions for related professionals and organizations.

About ANKH

ANKH is a global partnering company providing strategic support as well as bespoke advisory services to organizations that wish to enhance their performance and bottom line. ANKH also offers talent alignment and search targeted to improve the professional life of an organizations most important assets – its people.

About RIKVIN

Rikvin is a Singapore-based consultancy that offers business solutions for both local and foreign professionals, investors and entrepreneurs. Rikvins areas of expertise include Singapore company registration, incorporation, offshore company setup, accounting, taxation and other related corporate services. Rikvin also provides Singapore work visa and immigration services for foreign professionals wishing to relocate to Singapore.

Rikvin Pte Ltd

20 Cecil Street, #14-01, Equity Plaza, Singapore 049705

(65) 6438 8887

http://www.rikvin.com/

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Taxcut 2011 & Partners» Personal & Business Taxes

The Heart Link Network?, winner of the 2012 Women Entrepreneur Business Award of Excellence, in the womens networking category, is known for its intimate and welcoming networking environment.

Women’s networking chapter leader Myrna Coward is the co-owner of The Cowardly Gardeners Landscape Consulting and Design. Myrna is also a Tax Professional with Myrna’s Tax Service and an entrepreneur with a home-based business with SendOutCards.

Women that attend The Heart Link Womens Network? events are given 3 full minutes to showcase their business, allowing other attendees to get to know the woman behind the name tag, versus other networking groups who only allow their attendees to share for 30 seconds to a minute.

As a personality expert, creator of the Primary Colors Personality test, and with my background in psychology, I understand the importance of the female endocrine system. I used that knowledge to create a networking model that I believed would help women connect, bond and grow personally and professionally. Women are stronger when they are connected. Women give one another great encouragement and support. I am so excited after every Heart Link meeting I attend because I watch with excitement as new relationships grow that I know will help women succeed. says Dawn Billings, Founder of The Heart Link Network.

The nominal $ 25.00 networking fee includes a light meal and reserves the attendees business-exclusive spot at the women-only networking event. To check availability for your business at The Heart Link Network? event in Battle Creek, go to http://www.49014.theheartlinknetwork.com to register to network with other amazing women in your community.

The Heart Link Womens Network? was founded by author Dawn L. Billings, architect of the Primary Colors Personality Test, the patent-pending parent tool, CAPABLES Parent Tool, and Charitable Heart.Org, a 501 3 C non profit organization to benefit important women and childrens causes. Dawn was selected as one of 15 Women of Achievement by the YWCA in Cobb County, GA., and one of the nations 80 emerging women leaders by Oprah magazine and The White House Project.

To submit an application to lead a chapter of The Heart Link Network?, or see a full list of women networking locations available for you to attend, visit http://www.theheartlinknetwork.com

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Taxcut 2011 & Partners» Personal & Business Taxes

Adriel Tam and Marcus Dusenbury announced the acquisition of Warren Financial Services on December 1st, 2011. The new combined firm will retain staff and offices in both Snohomish and Seattle.

We are delighted with the expansion and the additional services we will be able to provide to our expanded client base. Warren Financial Services is one of the longest standing firms here in the Snohomish area with almost half a century in business and one of the highest reputations in the area. We could not be more excited with the integration and opportunity. Co-President, Adriel Tam

Leading the new team is Wally Croasdill who has over twenty-five years in public and private accounting and taxation. He graduated from Central Washington University and began his public accounting career with one of the oldest locally owned CPA firms in Seattle. He has managed several accounting and tax departments, which have been involved with large regional corporations, and for the last ten years has worked closely with small business clients and their personal tax situations. He is a Certified Public Accountant, and is a member of the Washington Society of CPAs (WSCPA), and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He has also served as a guest host of a local call-in radio show dealing with Federal and State Taxation.

Viridian Tax and Accounting is an independent firm providing comprehensive tax and accounting services to closely held businesses, families, and individuals.

If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Adriel Tam or Marcus Dusenbury, please email Jenn(dot)Doucette(at)viridiantaxandaccounting(dot)com

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Taxcut 2011 & Partners» Personal & Business Taxes

The stock market, with all it peculiarities and defects, is still the single best opportunity for most of us to jump tax brackets, upwards, in our lifetime. That is the gospel according to Robert Appel, the author of The InnerCircle Guide to Mastering Stocks [and ETFs] in 20 Minutes or Less, a brand-new Kindle release, published by InnerCircle Press.

The author of the book is a self-described grumpy market stock market guru who, as he explains in the work, has spent multiple decades ghosting other peoples financial books and advice columns.

Its an interesting tale. Robert Appel started out in the 1970s as a lawyer, but ended up as a professional ghost, writing mainly investment and financial books, ultimately moving into newsletters and advisories.

A professional ghost is discouraged from revealing the names of past clients, explains the curmudgeonly author. However, since one of my original employers has long since gone on to his greater reward, I will state that for several years I was the ghost for the late Charles J. Givens, author of multiple #1 New York Times bestsellers. In that capacity I wrote one entire book for him on personal investing, which became a bestseller in its own right, and also numerous newsletters and advisories on personal money management.

According to Appel, who has appeared on GOOD MORNING AMERICA and used to regularly contribute to the L.A. Times and Working Mother, it was a calling he simply could not shake; and even today in semi-retirement, dealing with assorted personal health issues, he is still ghosting a major advisory that covers US and Canadian markets on a 24/7 basis.

Appels delivery is straight-forward and laconic, and gets right to the point. He casually observes that the advisory he is currently ghosting which, he says, boasts one of the best performance records in the sector, during a very trying period for the markets in general charges so much for my words of wisdom that, under different circumstances, I myself would be reluctant to pay those rates just to hear what I had to say!

Indeed, the author tends to snipe at the various topics covered in his new ebook with the same passion and zeal a professional marksman might reserve for trying out a new scope. For example, in the Lesson dealing with whether to use a full service or a discount broker, Appel observes dryly that failure to go the cheaper route simply means you are resistant to change. Get help!

Which seems to be a repeating theme in Appels book. Getting advice that is worth having in the first place.

This is now a stock market with no boundaries, no ground rules, Appel says in an interview. In the last few years the average holding period for a stock purchase has gone from 36 months to 22 seconds. That is not a misprint. You may want to stop the recorder and listen again to those numbers. All this is a direct result of the computers and AI software programs that our so-called government protectors have allowed, have permitted, to impose their will on markets. Todays stock market is more like a video game than a place of dignified commerce. Anything can happen. And often does.

Emphasizing once again that you get the advice you pay for Appel is very very negative on mass-media commentators and anchors, claiming they try to come up with sensible explanations for things that have already happened, ex post facto, and often fail even at that the reader is teased with the notion that, for a few dollars on Amazon, this Kindle product will tear the shutters off stock investing like no other.

I basically put out there every single strategy and trick I had ever learned in my career. For example, when you pick up a smallcap on the hope that someday it will become a large-cap, what determines its valuation while you are waiting patiently for the financials, the day to day earnings, to catch up with the promise, the potential? The answer is the story indeed, every stock has a story in its junior or startup phase, and one of the secrets I share is that you should always pick a stock with a story that one 8-year-old can tell another in less than 5 minutes. That secret alone has made millionaires.

Every large cap was at one time a smallcap, Appel adds. But the reverse is not true. And therein lies the challenge.

My guarantee is that 20 minutes with this book will change your interaction, your relationship, with the stock market forever. Hopefully, Appel adds with a grin, for the better.

The InnerCircle Guide to Mastering Stocks [and ETFs] in 20 Minutes or Less by Robert Appel is an Amazon Kindle title and available only from the monster e-retailer in e-book form. It is priced below $ 8.

The ASIN number of the book is: B0076QH310

The direct link to the book is http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0076QH310.

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Taxcut 2011 & Partners» Personal & Business Taxes

The mission of a U.S. diplomat in the Foreign Service, as defined by the U.S Department of State, is to promote peace, support prosperity, and protect American citizens while advancing the interests of the U.S. abroad. Moving ones entire life to a foreign country to serve the United States is a noble task that presents many challenges. One such challenge is making sure that your property at home is well managed. The Foreign Service Institutes Transition Center held their annual Managing Your Rental Property from Overseas Seminar on January 11, 2012 to address this challenge by hosting property management and accounting professionals.

The panel of experts at the seminar included Donna Courtney, a property management consultant for McEnearney & Associates, Tim McGrath, owner and Associate Broker at McGrath Real Estate Services, Brian Ridgway, owner and Principal Broker of Executive Housing Consultants, and Jon Nichols, CPA at Huey & Associates.

The seminar began with a survey that revealed that the majority of attendants were single-family homeowners who lived in Virginia and are leaving the country for their assignment in the next six months. The majority had never rented out or managed their property and most feared damage to their property by future tenants.

From this poll, the panelists tailored their topics which included Courtneys, Preparing Your Property for Rent, McGraths Questions to Ask a Property Manager, Ridgways Regional Legalities of Renting, and Nichols Tax Implications of Owning Rental Real Estate.

Courtney, who traveled as a Foreign Service Officers wife, began her discussion by urging attendants to refinance before they leave for their assignments due to the low interest rates. She highlighted three main ways to properly prepare rental property for the open market: conducting preventative maintenance, avoiding liability by getting proper landlord insurance, and presenting your property well so that you attract the best tenants. She also recommended maintaining a maintenance fund of 1-3% the market value of the property.

Next, McGrath reacted to attendants responses in the opening survey by stating, Im starting a coalition to make this more interesting for you! He spoke about his assigned topic, Questions to Ask a Property Manager, as well as how to determine rent. McGrath reminded the audience that having a rental property is a business venture and decisions should be made accordingly. He directly addressed the audiences comments about fearing tenant damage by reassuring them that their greatest risk is vacancy time. His advice to the Foreign Service Officers in attendance culminated in three tips for working with property managers: have trust, have shared expectations, and find a tenant of integrity.

Ridgways topic, Regional Legalities of Renting, focused primarily on Landlord-Tenant laws and hazards for properties. He stressed that it is key to understand the point of view of laws and to always have a good lease onto which you can fall back. In regards to home hazards, Ridgway mentioned lead-based paint and mold/mildew concerns as particular hazards of which to be aware.

Finally, Nichols addressed the financial concerns of the Foreign Service Officers throughout his discussion of Tax Implications of Owning Rental Real Estate. A major component of his presentation included an extensive list of items that can be deducted from a landlords taxes, the difference between cash flow and taxable income, and passive income.

After a brief question and answer session, attendants were able to speak directly with the panelists in regards to their personal questions. While renting out a home is a business decision, every situation is different and needs special attention. Each panelist strongly recommended hiring a professional property manager to handle their property while overseas on assignment.

ABOUT:

McGrath Real Estate Services has served the Northern Virginia region since 1976 as an expert in property management and real estate sales. There has been a concerted effort on the part of on the McGrath Real Estate team to combat the consistent poor news coming from the real estate market. McGrath continues to combat the shaky Northern Virginia housing market providing a feeling of hope to future home sellers and buyers. For more information please visit http://www.McGrathRealEstate.com.

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Taxcut 2011 & Partners» Personal & Business Taxes