In yesterday’s Washington Post there was the District of Columbia Notice of Real Property Tax Sale (J section). It lists the properties for which taxes or other things owed to the city have not been paid and their liens are up for auction. As you may remember the Tax auction was how Edmund A. Wilson lost his house. But he had left this earthly plane (or is it plain?) without notice and material things like houses probably meant little to him afterwards. Yes, he was the dead body, found in the bathtub, when the new owners took possession.
The tax sale is from July 10 till all the tax liens have been auctioned off. Most people, particularly in this Real Estate market, like ninety someodd percent, pay their delinquent taxes or what have you. The tiny percentage of properties where the owners don’t pay their taxes are up for foreclosure. The problem with foreclosure is that there might be a huge mortgage on the property or other liabilities, would would need to be paid by the foreclosurer. But sometimes, like the lottery, you win big, and you get a property.
Since more than likely one won’t get a property at auction the reason to participate is the interest rate. According to what I could pull out of the tax sale rules (pdf) interest accrues at 1.5% per month. My poor math skills tell me that is 18% a year. Not bad considering my credit union is offering about 4.5% on a 6 month CD. But, that is only on the taxes owed, not the amount you bid over, or that nasty $150 auction fee added to the bidding. Because the auction room includes idiots who believe they will actually get a house with the auction (no just a lien) they tend to bid the properties above an amount that would give back a decent return in interest. But not for all properties, so it is possible to make a little money on the tax sale.
I’m debating about participating this year. I have to see what extra money I have laying around that can be tied up for 6 months. Last year I bid but didn’t get anything because the bids went above a decent rate of return (is that the right term?) and I wasn’t going to bid just to bid.
Update: I noticed that the DC.Gov doesn’t have the list of properties up and there doesn’t seem to be an electronic version of it on the Post or Times websites. There are several properties owing the tax man. 1419 and 1421 3rd St are on the list, so is 206 Bates, 1504 1st St, 142 Bates, and many more. Let’s say, more than I’d rather list.
Month: June 2006
Teenage love: Ewwww
Today. On the bus. Two kids. Maybe aged 15. Let’s just say you can pick your friends and you can pick your zits…. Ewwww. Yes, I am aware that something like 80some% of women have admitted to, well, messing around with their SOs blackheads but really. Leave that for the bedroom or some place private, not a city bus. Where I can see you. And be grossed out.
Grocery stores
There are good Giants and crappy Giants. Same goes for Safeway. And Shoppers Food Warehouse. I guess the difference is age but sometimes I notice the products, the quality of the products differ too. That’s just wrong. I should find the same quality of garlic or apples or salad in one Shopper’s or Giant no different than another Shopper’s or Giant. But sometimes, crappy building, crappy produce. Is it just me? Anyone else noticing a difference ’round here?
Free Popcorn! Free Drinks! Free Outdoor Movies!
Join us on Thursday, June 29th at the corner of 17th and O Street, NW for the kickoff event of the “2nd Annual Movies by Moonlight at the First Baptist Church of Washington D.C. ” for the blockbuster “Spiderman”. Showtime will start at dusk, or at about 8:30 PM. Come early to get a great seat!
This is the first of five nights of entertainment and fun throughout the summer that will not only bring the community together but benefit some of the great organizations that serve the homeless in our area. The showing of “Spiderman” will benefit First Helping which is the street level outreach project of DC Central Kitchen that helps thousands of homeless in our neighborhood each year. All donations collected throughout the night will go directly to support the work of this great organization.
So bring a lawnchair, a blanket, and enjoy a night under the stars with your neighbors for a good movie and a great cause!
Alcohol sales and drugs
Chatting with my friend Bc I mentioned our neighborhood woes regarding the liquor stores in Truxton. Bc works for a nonprofit (in the sense that they lose money) that works with health data and apparently one of his co-workers has a couple of papers on the relationship between alcohol sales and drug activity.
So if you happen to be in or near a university or medical library check out the following:
Freisthler, B.; LaScala, E.A.; Gruenewald, P.J.; Treno, A.J., An examination of drug activity: Effects of neighborhood social organization on the development of drug distribution systems. Substance Use & Misuse, 40(5):671-686, 2005. [with P.J. Gruenewald and A.J. Treno of PRC].
Abstract: Objective: The ability to determine the geographic locations of illicit drug markets is central to the development of preventive interventions that address access to drugs and associated problems, such as violence and crime. Method: The current study examined individual self-reports of drug activities and demographic information obtained from two waves of a telephone survey of 1,704 individuals aged 15 to 29 conducted in 1999 and 2001 across 95 census tracts in a Northern California city and measures of neighborhood characteristics derived from Census 2000 measures. Results: The results of the study showed that, at the individual level, younger people and male respondents reported most drug activities. At the aggregate level, neighborhood poverty was directly related to higher rates of drug activity. Residential stability was found to moderate reports of drug activity observed by African-Americans and young people. Conclusion: Social processes reflected in neighborhood characteristics of census tracts influence rates of self-reports of individuals’ exposures to drug activities.
and
Freisthler, B.; Gruenewald, P.J.; Johnson, F.W.; Treno, A.J.; and LaScala, E.A. “An exploratory study examining the spatial dynamics of illicit drug availability and rates of drug use,” Journal of Drug Education, 35(1):15-27, 2005. [with P.J. Gruenewald, F.W. Johnson, and A.J. Treno of PRC/Berkeley]
This study examines the spatial relationship between drug availability and rates of drug use in neighborhood areas. Responses from 16,083 individuals were analyzed at the zip code level (n = 158) and analyses were conducted separately for youth and adults using spatial regression techniques. The dependent variable is the percentage of respondents using drugs in the past year. Neighborhood drug availability (the major independent variable) was measured by the percentage of non-drug users who had been approached to purchase drugs. Data were obtained as part of the Fighting Back community evaluation. For youth (aged 12 to 18), drug sales in adjacent and surrounding areas were positively associated with self-reported drug use in areas where youth were residents. For adults, drug sales within the neighborhood were negatively associated with drug use, while drug sales in immediately adjacent neighborhoods were positively related to self-reports of drug use. Findings suggest that the areas where rates of drug users are greatest are not necessarily the same area where drugs are sold. Designing strategies to reduce the supply of drugs should receive input from city and regional planners and developers, as well as law enforcement and public health professionals.