Text 14161, 102 rader
Skriven 2008-04-16 11:09:52 av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
  Kommentar till text 14114 av Bob Ackley (1:300/3)
Ärende: Property prices
=======================
13 Apr 08 08:46, Bob Ackley wrote to Björn Felten:

 BA> Replying to a message of Björn Felten to Ward Dossche:

 BF>>    At least you Belgians are smarter than most countries when it
 BF>> comes to this registration fee. Is it 12%? It sure as hell beats the
 BF>> stupid Swedish system where we used to pay a yearly property tax
 BF>> that was based on the sales prices in the neighbourhood -- something
 BF>> that forced a lot of senior citizens to sell their houses because
 BF>> they couldn't afford the rising property taxes.

 BA> That is happening in this country.  Property taxes in some areas are
 BA> so high that senior citizens - many of whom have paid off their
 BA> mortgages - cannot afford to keep the property.

They should move to Texas, where they give you a 10% discount for filing a
'homestead' on your property and then another 10% for reaching the ripe
old age of 65. Plus there is no state income tax.

 WD>>> In this area, "property" will become impossible. Everything
 WD>>> eventually will be owned by banks and there will only be renters
 WD>>> ...

 BA> A lot of people in this country live in 'recreational vehicles'
 BA> (motor homes and travel trailers, I think Europeans call them
 BA> 'caravans') and rent the space to park them.

Those are the retired folks who tire of paying property taxes and have
chosen to travel the country, paying particular attention to season. South
in the winter, perhaps east and west or north in the summer. We call them
'Snow-birds' here in Texas.

 BA> Communities hate these arrangements because (1) the people can unhook
 BA> and move someplace else if the community government does something
 BA> they don't like and

Well, duh...there's nothing stopping anyone from doing that if they own
property either.

 BA> (2) recreational vehicles are not subject to local property taxes
 BA> (but they are subject to state vehicle registration fees), plus the
 BA> parks for recreational vehicles are generally considered 'unimproved
 BA> property' because there are no permanent structures - and the
 BA> property tax is lower on unimproved property.

If they provide RV hookups, such as water, electricity and sewer services,
that's called 'improved' and the property taxes are commenserate with it.

 BA> I think increasing numbers of people will be doing this because of
 BA> the initial cost of housing and taxes.

In California, the property values have fallen 24% over the last year or
two. That means that the house I sold there for $485,000 in 2005, is now
worth $368,000. The buyer lost over $115k on that deal. :o)

 BA> A good example of government excess and hypocrisy is being
 BA> demonstrated by both the Nebraska and Iowa state governments.  The
 BA> price of gasoline and diesel fuel has just about doubled in just over
 BA> a year; people are driving more efficient cars and fewer miles and
 BA> therefore are buying less gasoline, which means that the state
 BA> governments are getting less tax revenue from fuels.  Both state
 BA> governments have proposals (Nebraska recently passed theirs) to raise
 BA> the tax rate on motor vehicle fuels - which, of course, will raise
 BA> the retail price of motor fuels.

Thus, lowering the sale expectations as people begin to stop driving in
all cases except out of necessity.

 BF>>    I sure as hell am glad I was fortunate enough never to take any
 BF>> loans on our property. We built/extended it at the rate that we
 BF>> could set aside the money for it. We now own every single brick of
 BF>> it and can gloat when the neighbours are forced to move, now that
 BF>> the interest rates are rising again. The same neighbours that used
 BF>> to frown on our house that never seemed to be finished (and still
 BF>> isn't).

 BA> Wish I could say that.  Fortunately my mortgage payment (and property
 BA> taxes and insurance) is all covered by my monthly military retirement
 BA> check. Since I don't 'do' adjustable-rate mortgages I have a fixed
 BA> rate and therefore a fixed monthly payment.  Presently I pay just
 BA> about $850/month, and just over $200 of that pays down the mortgage
 BA> balance; my sister is paying three times that for her one bedroom
 BA> condominium out in California and that doesn't cover the interest on
 BA> her place so she's losing ground every month.

She should get out while the getting is good.

 BA> I do have to make some significant improvements to the house in the
 BA> VERY near future - like this summer - to cut the cost of heating the
 BA> place (said cost had just about doubled between the winter of 2006-7
 BA> and 2007-8 and apparently will rise another 50% by December of this
 BA> year).  I can't afford to spend $250/week for heat in cold weather.

Maybe it's time to build that underground house you were talking about a
while back.

                R\%/itt



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