The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Friday, September 26, 2008 - 7A
HOUSING
From Page 1A
be a buyer for a two- to four-year
horizon today."
The sale price of a Washtenaw
County home declined from a
median of $235,000 in 2007 to a
median $190,000 so far this year,
according to the Ann Arbor Area
Board of Realtors.
Holding property for at least
five to 10 years - or until the mar-
ket improves - is the more logical
move, Capozza said, adding that
selling a home after only a few
years is only a sound move in a
booming housing market.
Despite the weak housing mar-
ket, Mikulski said if his plans for
next year don't involve gradu-
ate school at the University,
his parents will likely sell their
condo, which is valued at around
$200,000 according to the esti-
mate of one realtor.
Though the current market
doesn't favor sellers, Mikulski,
who has two older brothers who
also attended the University, said
the decision to purchase the prop-
erty in 2004 was a logical invest-
ment for his parents.
"I guess for my parents it was an
easier choice, because it's putting
money into something, so why
not do an investment and actu-
ally buy something?" Mikulski
said. "Especially when you know
t'hree of your kids are going to be
up here for a pretty long period of
time."
Despite the worsening market,
a 20-percent drop in the price of
Washtenaw County homes over
the past year is tempting for par-
ents new to the college real estate
market. And savvy parents with
knowledge of real estate tax codes
are getting better deals and tak-
ing substantial tax write-offs for
their kids' college lodging, accord-
ing Chad Hill, head realtor for the
Ann Arbor office of Keller Wil-
liams Realty.
Hill said parents who buy a
property for their college students
often classify it as an "investment
property" when they file taxes
with the Internal Revenue Ser-
vice. Under this classification, Hill
said, parents can qualify for up
to a $25,000 real estate investors
tax deduction. The tax code also
allows parents to make their child
the "property manager" of the
home, which allows them to write
off an additional $1,000 in "oper-
ating expenses," which translates
to a monthly paycheck for their
kids.
For a certain niche of parents,
Hill, said, these benefits are what
make buying a run-down house
more attractive than paying rent
for one.
"If you're renting, you don't
have the tax deductions and you're
Pakistani president condemns attacks
Sec. of State Rice in
talks to assist
struggling gov't
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -
AngeredbyU.S. raidsintoPakistan
in search of terrorists, Pakistan's
new president warned yesterday
that his country cannot allow its
territory to "be violated by our
friends."
After placing a picture of his
assassinated wife, former Prime
Minister Benazir Bhutto, on the
podium, President Asif Ali Zard-
ari told world leaders that such
attacks strengthen the extremists
the U.S. and others are trying to
destroy.
His speech at the U.N. General
Assembly, which often emotion-
ally described Pakistan's battle
against terrorists, comes at a tense
moment in U.S.-Pakistan rela-
tions.
Pakistani soldiers fired at U.S.
reconnaissance helicopters along
the Pakistan-Afghan border
Thursday, officials said, sparking
a ground battle between American
and Pakistani soldiers.
"Just as we will not let Paki-
stan's territory to be used by ter-
rorists .for attacks against our
people and our neighbors, we can-
not allow our territory and our
sovereignty to be violated by our
friends," Zardari said.
"Unilateral actions of great
RESTAURANTS
From Page 1A
grub for similar prices, many places
seek to expand or adopt a niche.
BTB opened its cantina last year
serving margaritas and Mexican
GRANHOLM
From Page 1A
step, both for Michigan and at the
federal level, is to provide an incen-
tive for the utility companies to
focus on energy efficiency.
"Rightnowwhenyouflipaswitch,
the more energy you use, the more
the University of Michigan has to
pay on their energy bill," she said.
"What if the energy companies were
powers should not inflame the
passions of allies," he said.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is
deemed crucial to U.S.-led efforts
to battle extremists in South Asia.
The United States has pushed Pak-
istan to crack down on extrem-
ists using the border region with
Afghanistan as a safe haven, and
has stepped up attacks on suspect-
ed militants in Pakistan's frontier
area, mostly by missiles fired from
unmanned drones operating from
Afghanistan.
But the unilateral incursions -
especially a ground raid into South
Waziristan by American com-
mandos Sept. 3 - have infuriated
Pakistanis already wary of their
country's ties to the U.S. and have
strained ties between Washington
and Zardari's new government.
Zardari, in his speech, called on
the world to "take notice" that Paki-
stan is not the cause of terrorism.
Referring to last week's deadly
hotel bombing in the Pakistani
capital, Zardari said that, "once
again, Pakistan. is the great vic-
tim in the war on terror. And once
again our people wonder whether
we stand alone."
Pakistan's military has won
American praise for a recent
offensive against militants. Many
in Washington, however, say Paki-
stan has not done enough with the
billions in aid the U.S. has provid-
ed to fight terrorists.
Thousands of soldiers and civil-
ians, Zardari said, have died fight-
beers in addition to burritos. The
Burrito Joint, known to many as Mr.
Pizza, stays competitive by offering
a wider variety of options - a deliv-
ering. While the freshly-grilled
tortillas at Panchero's, on South
University Avenue, have helped the
joint build a following of its own.
rewardedbyusingless energy?
Granholm concluded her hour-
long address by challenging the
University's law students.
'You can make money, you can
serve yourself," she said. "But real-
ly the noblest thing to do is to give
it back and serve others."
First-year law student Mathew
Crowe said he agreed with Gra-
nholm's desire to decrease the
state's dependence on foreign fuel,
but was skeptical of her plan for.
ing terrorists. "We have lost more
soldiers than all 37 countries that
have forces in Afghanistan put
together," he said. "We have fought
this battle largely alone."
He urged world leaders to
"stand with us, just as we stand for
the entire, civilized world on the
front lines of this epic struggle."
Zardari is president of a demo-
cratic, civilian government that
replaced Pervez Musharraf, a
strong U.S. ally and former general
who took power in a 1999 coup.
The Bush administration once
championed Musharraf as "indis-
pensable." But the U.S. began
distancing itself from Musharraf
after the election of the civilian
government in February and has
been careful to signal support for
Zardari's rise to power.
Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice said that she and Zardari talk-
ed yesterday "about how we might
assist Pakistan in doing what it
needs to do, but I think there's a
very strong commitment" to fight
a shared enemy.
Earlier Thursday, Zimbabwe's
president lashed out at Western
powers in his speech to the Gen-
eral Assembly, accusing them
of genocide and calling for the
removal of U.S. sanctions.
Robert Mugabe also slammed
Western-led efforts earlier this
year at the U.N. to step up punitive
measures against his government,
and he praised Russia and China
for blocking them.
Ashewasbusypreparingforthe
upcoming opening with a handful
of other employees, Brad Sadler,
the general manager of the new
Chipotle, said he was eager for the
restaurant to open its doors.
"We're expanding as a company,
and it's a great location," Sadler said.
implementing her polices.
"You needa sound political poli-
cy in order to get people on board,"
he said. "And what's going to dis-
tinguish a good overall policy from
just something that was sold well
is going to be what lies beneath it.
What are the facts?"
The conference continues today
and will host panels on sustainabil-
ity and climate change featuring
many University professors- and
national experts.
Bob Gartland stands in front of his townhouse, which his parents bought. The
investment may take longer to pay off than they originally hoped.
just kind of throwing money away
every month," Hill said. "This
way, you're making a payment on
the house and you're building up
some equity."
But with property prices that
can run upwards of $400,000,
AndyPiper, a Keller Williams real-
tor who specializes in the down-
town Ann.Arbor market, said that
in most cases, parents who can
afford to usually pay a lump sum
rather than deal with mortgages.
"I would say in about 50 percent
of instances, the people who buy
them pay cash for them," he said.
Piper said properties like Lib-
erty Lofts and Loft 322, two pre-
mium condo locations near Main
Street, sell for about $350,000 a
unit, or about $300 per square
foot. Capozza said rent in Ann
Arbor runs about $1 per square
foot.
In the current market, Capozza
said, most parents would be better
off renting depending on how long
their kids are in school.
"Almost every place in the
country is experiencing declining
prices," Capozza said. "There is a
handful of places that are goingup
a little bit, but they're few and far
between and almost any college
town in the country is probably
not a good place to be a buyer."
Hill disagreed with Capozza,
saying the declining inventory of
available housing in Washtenaw
County was a good indication that
if housing prices would bottom
out soon if they haven't already
done so.
In August 2007, 1,062 residen-
tial properties were listed for sale
in Washtenaw County compared
to 677 in August 2008, according
to the Ann Arbor Area Board of
Realtors.
For Business senior Bob Gart-
land, whose parents bought a two-
bedroom townhouse for $420,000
in April 2004, the current market
means the downtown Ann Arbor
property is now worth about
$100,000 less than when he was
a freshman - something that has
Gartland's parents considering a
change of plans.
"I think they were going to sell
it as soon as I graduated," Gartland
said. "But with the current state of
the real estate markets, they may
hold it for a while."
Hill said Gartland's parents'
strategy is the type that will even-
tually pay dividends.
"With Ann Arbor you have
one of the best universities in the
county, you have one of the best
hospitals in the country and you
have a lot of high tech and bio-
tech research jobs coming into the
area," Hill said. "So really, if the
rest of the country went into the
dumper, Ann Arbor is still going
to have many reasons why people
will need to live here."
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