Real estate General topic

[ultrarunner]

Yeiks…. That makes my measly $1300 per year tax burden seam ok.

Could be why more leaving WA for Idaho…

Thurston County property tax nearly quadrupole in 20 years where California “Only” doubled…

 

[ultrarunner]

It's not uncommon around here for the tax and insurance escrows to be more then the mortgage payment. And that is completely screwed up and over taxed.
I get a $50,000 deduct on my property tax for being a Vietnam vet, but it doesn't apply to any other taxes. It takes a bit over $500 per month to cover my homes taxes.

Almost 2k now a month in WA state to cover taxes…

 

[riptides]

one of the reasons I moved from NJ, property tax increases $1000/year for many years.
Started at $10,000, when I left 9 years ago was up to $17,000.
The only reason it didn't go up more is I successfully fought my taxes twice.
Then they changed the rules and made it almost impossible to fight.

We moved 15 minutes away from our original property, crossing county
lines just because of the ridiculous tax assessments. Now, we are "squeezed" by neighboring counties and their changes to zoning and taxes. Puts a lot of pressure on our current county to hold the line.

 

[tradosaurus]

Property taxes should be outlawed once the house is paid or the owner(s) turn 60.

 

[LouNY]

Almost 2k now a month in WA state to cover taxes…

Pure ridiculous, My nephews school tax alone on the main farm is over $20,000 this year

 

[kenmbz]

as one infamous NJ politician said (before getting reelected ).

"We don't have a spending problem, we have a revenue problem"

Can't fix corrupt and spend politicians by reelecting them I guess.

 

[thclimer]

Pure ridiculous, My nephews school tax alone on the main farm is over $20,000 this year

Wow, that takes a cut out of the profit!

 

[paulsharvey]

Property taxes should be outlawed once the house is paid or the owner(s) turn 60.

Not to be political at all; but last year, or maybe the voting cycle before; there were several proposed amendments, adding a $50k additional deduction for first responders, teachers, and vets. Im not gonna lie, I voted against them. Someone is going to pay, and I dont want to pay more to make up for them. You are free to disagree or not, but I vote (as we all should) for MYwallet, not others.

 

[ultrarunner]

Pure ridiculous, My nephews school tax alone on the main farm is over $20,000 this year

The bulk of my WA tax is also school related…

At the time of purchase property tax in WA was regulated by voter approved I-747 which limited increases.

I did my due diligence based on the facts in play at that time.

I failed to considered a single judge could at a later date gut the in play voter approved and implemented property tax framework.

 

[paulsharvey]

Ours is basically two parts or three if in a city limits. Board of Couny commission can do upto 10 mils (1%), school board upto 10 mils; all based on appraised value, minus deductions (homestead, window, disabled, ect), and then flat fees, per property, like a small fire department fee, a trash collection fee, ect.

So, in theory, a property owner could easy be paying 3% of value per year, and if its a second/third, ect; it's not limited to 3.5% increase in appraised value per year; its market rate.

Nobody likes taxes, but I do understand the need. I just question some of the stuff; like completely rebuilding functional, but older schools. Repairs, updates, expansion, yes; but the building itself isn't really that related to the quality of education.

Edit: that value is rated on highest and best use; unless its ag exempt. So, if you have 80 acres, zoned intensive commercial, or dense res, the value per acre is higher, regardless of if it's a hunting woods.

 

[kenmbz]

I am more concerned over how much of the school tax goes to administration and third parties (standard testing, books and web apps).

Example from Princeton NJ schools:

• Administration: $9,278,000, or 8% of the budget.
• Student and Staff Support: $16,773,000, or 15% of the budget.

So this is not for teachers, education, physical school maintenance etc.

 

[ultrarunner]

Bought my first property, a fixer cottage on a 50x50 city lot and over the years have tracked the sales price at each turnover…

I bought it for 20k in 1982 and spent 20k in materials for new kitchen, roof, electrical, etc…

Sold it years later for 255k and a year after I sold it sold again for 350k in 2008.

In 2009 it sold foreclosure for 80k

2 years ago it was 450k but did not sell…

With every reversal, Real Estate comes back stronger is my experience in the SF Bay Area…

Right now values here are down about 30% from 2 years ago.

I don’t have a crystal ball into the future but homes held for the longterm seem to be a good inflation hedge.

This small 2 bedroom home sold new for $2700 in 1929… just before the crash.

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

When we bought the house we just moved into I read through the inspection report and didn't see anything alarming and that I couldn't quickly fix myself later. When I told my realtor I didn't need anything corrected by the seller he said, "I always have them fix at least one thing." Seems petty to me. So for our house that will hopefully be listed next week I left one outlet cover off in the shop and moved the garage door sensors higher than the 6" inspectors look for. I figured I should leave some low hanging fruit that I could agree to correct for the buyer.

 

[paulsharvey]

When we bought the house we just moved into I read through the inspection report and didn't see anything alarming and that I couldn't quickly fix myself later. When I told my realtor I didn't need anything corrected by the seller he said, "I always have them fix at least one thing." Seems petty to me. So for our house that will hopefully be listed next week I left one outlet cover off in the shop and moved the garage door sensors higher than the 6" inspectors look for. I figured I should leave some low hanging fruit that I could agree to correct for the buyer.

I could easily see an inspector keeping looking until they find something, just to prove they did their job.

 

[WinterDeere]

"I always have them fix at least one thing." Seems petty to me.

Our inspector/realtor tried to convince us of the same, so we asked to have some rotten window sills repaired. The seller rightfully told us, "go pound sand, it's a 300 year old house!"

I'm sure I'll be telling some young buyer the same thing, 20 years from now.

 

[paulsharvey]

We didn't ask for any repairs; we originally wanted the seller to do the survey; but had to back off that to make it work out.

Selling the old house, the first buyer demanded water heater upgrade and foundation jacks, which we did before deal fell through. Final buyer just wanted to meet, and discuss breakers, were the water lines were, ect.

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

One of the reasons I didn't want anything fixed is I just wanted the deal done and over. Now selling my old house I realize what a pain even the smallest fix can be if you've moved a long way away. You either need to find someone trustworthy, which isn't easy for small handyman size jobs, or drive a long way to do it yourself. And, of course, you get there and you didn't think to bring that one critical tool. A simple screw can stop you dead. All my tools, hardware, etc, are at the new house so it's been a real pain prepping the old house for sale. I've been known to drive to a store near the old house and buy something I know I already own but it's easier to spend the money and just get the job done rather than having to come back the next day.

 

[ultrarunner]

Sold a nice little house a few years back…

The buyer had a list of items and a cost totaling $3200.

I spent a day and completed all… no big deal and spent $200, mostly for new casement windows cranks…

All existing worked but she presented quote to replace with note saying the cranks are obselete.

She was disappointed every item on her list was completed.

She really wanted new windows… not the old ones with new crank regulators…

I told her I would have been ok with a $1600 credit but $3200 was too steep for a days worked.

 

[riptides]

As is has been our position on all real estate dealings. Leaves no doubt and may open talks on price only.

 

[ultrarunner]

I buy as-is but my but my buyers typically depend on loans which come with strings attached.