Letters to the Editor
cityspace
Published Letters: 3
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Tax deductible political contributions???
[Read the article: Obama sets another fundraising record]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Better check again before you take that deduction...
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Is the land deal as simple as the Obama's have said?
[Read the article: Some free advice for Obama]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It has been reported that the Obama's paid the appraised value of the 10 foot wide strip to Rezko's wife. I am left wondering if simply pro-rating the appraised value is just too simple.
Can the now smaller neighboring lot be built on according to the applicable zoning laws? Is it now undersized and therefore will require a variance to be built? How complicated or expensive would that process be? Will the required yard setbacks necessitate that a new home on the lot be smaller than the typical homes in that neighborhood and so the land is actually worth less than the original purchase price minus the amount the Obama's paid to Rezko?
If it has become at all difficult to build on the remaining land, do the Obama's effectively get the benefit of having bought the entire parcel (no next door neighbor) without having to actually buy the entire lot? I'd feel better if somehow, the transaction made the remaining parcel more valuable to the Rezko's and then this is simply a good investment among friends. I can't help myself in asking these questions - I used to be a real estate appraiser, which we always called more art than science...
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@atliberal - my questions start where factcheck.org leaves off
[Read the article: Some free advice for Obama]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]At your suggestion, I did go to Factcheck.org on the Rezko real estate transaction and they conclude that the Obama's paid a pro-rated price for the land they purchased. That doesn't seem to me to address the real world real estate questions at all.
Sorry - I am not a journalist and not located in Chicago where the real estate market and zoning rules would determine the answers - just felt mine were fair questions to raise.