@Bess Barber How wonderful that your parents are still alive. That is awesome! @Lon Tanner I own and used to do everything myself but major projects. Those days are fading fast and in a hurry. When Zek moves next spring, I am considering selling and then renting in an independent living retirement community..I once owned, no mortgage, but after serious illness and no income for a few years, I spent all the equity, so had to refinance. Taxes and monthly bills have doubled and appliances are getting of the age where repairs are inevitable. I haven't rented since I was 21.
That is really a reasonable increase. In Florida, they had to cap some retirement communities, especially mobile homes, to keep lot rent from having such high annual increases. Even at the cap, it's WAY over 3%. More like 10-15%. This is really hard on people who have a spouse pass away and don't have the double social security. In some places, the lot rent can be as high as $800 a month!!
Well, for one the maintenance/upkeep costs of the property. And then, there are those that hardly make any kind of profit from the house when it's sold. Then there are those that can't afford to buy a home. Buying a home does cost money.
Same here. I think they assess the value of your home for property tax purposes here, at least partly, by looking at the most recent selling prices of similar houses in the neighborhood. Several houses sold here in the last couple of years, way overpriced, imo.
I haven't ever moved, but my parents did several times and every time they did, they made a nice profit. When I rented I was always afraid the buildings would be changed to condos, or sold and demolished, or the rent would go unreasonably high and I'd be forced to move on too short a notice. And too many restrictions. I like to tinker around with things, and get them just the way I want them too much (i.e. remodeling). However, if a person doesn't care or worry about those things, it might be a close call in some situations, if you instead invested the money you spent on repairs and upkeep. To me renting just wasn't an option.
Our real estate market has been going up for years and, in some regions, is now deemed to be at bubble risk. The value of homes is still based on assessments made in the 1930s (east) or 60s(west) and, thus, does not reflect the market value in any way. The thing is that each federal state has got some leeway in reassessing the value of homes making it hard to predict which houses will be more heavily taxed. No one likes paying bills, for sure, but the new taxation is way overdue and will also be fairer if you like.
I wish they would abolish property tax. No one truly owns property as long as the government has an unending lien on it. Get tax money from sales or whatever so retired people can truly retire without fear of losing their property.
Like we still have now, noise problems, we THOUGHT we'd get rid of that problem when we bought a house. Well, that didn't happen! Next door neighbors two dogs barking in the middle of the night. The husband worked the night shift as Security patrolling schools grounds and told his wife to put their dogs in the garage when she went to bed, when she didn't do. We had to tell him about the barking and he was stunned that his wife didn't put them in the garage. Then, there was the two big woods owls that would sit on the roof of the house behind ours and "hoot" in the middle of the night. I had to get up Mon thru Fri at 5:15AM for work! But, I solved the problem with our boat spot light, shining the light directly on one and it flew off. The other followed.
It kind of chaps me that we still have to pay school taxes; we haven't had children in school for a few years now. But you know the saying about "death and taxes."
They ARE overpriced at this time!! Sometimes, it's just ridiculous. Hopefully, when I get ready to buy, it will be during a bubble breaking down turn. Then, I'll get a fair deal. I may just keep my parent's house, but the upkeep on a house that size may be more than I want to dive into.
@Bess Barber Yes, the upkeep and I would worry about you unless you are a handy girl with tools. Lots of cleaning also in a larger home.
I don't mind paying property taxes. A good public school system benefits everybody. Even if you don't have children at all, let alone just being retired. What bothers me is when the taxes get so high you can't afford them and have to move. This happens sometimes when districts are rezoned, as in... from single family to business. But that's another topic.
I would enjoy the cleaning. It's the high property taxes, all that manicured lawn and expensive extras built into the house. They even have mosquito spray misters on the back veranda. (Plus, with that much room....one of the kids might want to move in with me. ) I would really rather have a smaller condo on the beach.
Mine will be the same in February as January $ 7,117.00 USD. I sold my home and car seven years ago and have been renting since.