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I have never been sure exactly what the purpose of a dangerous sport like high school football is. But it is a big deal in the south - and winning seems to be the most important point of the exercise. Robyn
Not just the south - ever heard of the Big 10?
I'm sure another QB got bumped. The media isn't covering that angle.
Have you seen the Concussion documentary on PBS or the new movie Concussion? Yeah, winning is part of it, but at a cost. I think the word is getting out on that, and eventually, most sports may not be school sports due to liability and costs.
I'm sure another QB got bumped. The media isn't covering that angle.
Have you seen the Concussion documentary on PBS or the new movie Concussion? Yeah, winning is part of it, but at a cost. I think the word is getting out on that, and eventually, most sports may not be school sports due to liability and costs.
You don't have to twist my arm to get me to agree with you. When I was lawyering - I used to represent Riddell - which was (and probably still is) the largest manufacturer of football helmets:
Every time a kid got hurt (and we're talking about major injuries) - Riddell was always sued. I can't say that a company like Riddell is responsible for these horrific injuries - but my experiences led me to suspect that football - especially for younger smaller kids who have visible necks - wasn't an especially appealing thing. OTOH - I have met young athletes who were terribly injured in other sports - like a young woman who became a paraplegic in a gymnastics accident. So I'm not sure where I'd draw the line in terms of any laws/rules/regulations regarding any particular sport. I do know I've almost always been wary about engaging in activities where I could break my neck* - and I'd be wary when it came to my kids (if I had kids) too. Robyn
*I had what is possibly the shortest least successful skiing career in history. It only lasted for an hour (but required several years of rehab). I don't think Florida people like me - who are used to flat and hot - are well-suited for mountains/cold/snow .
If you are insulated from the growing pains and your property taxes are flat then it shouldn't matter to you how much growth there is in SJC west of the ICW? I don't see how it impacts your quality of life? Also there are thousands of townhomes going up in the county that are well under 400k. Here's an example:
Kids living there are getting the same education as the ones behind the gates in PVB.
And 7000k in property taxes on a 450k house is peanuts IMO.
I take an interest in what is going on in my community - my metro area - my state - my country and a lot of the world. Anything wrong with that? I think it's preferable to what some people who live where I live think - people who don't care about what happens on the other side of the "ditch" - much less in Tallahassee when the Legislature is in session. I'm older - you're younger. What do you think? What do you pay attention to - and what would you like to see in terms of your immediate world?
IMO - those relatively cheap townhouses will be - at some point down the road during the next bust - prime candidates for turning into section 8 housing. Or have similar/other financial problems. Or just have maintenance issues because people won't pay the maintenance fees that are necessary as places get older. Don't mean to insult you if you live in one of them - but they don't seem like a particularly good investment to me.
Also - $7k is a lot of property taxes when it comes to a $450k house. In many/most parts of the country (including California - I think people from some states in places like the NE have been ripped off for property taxes for so long they think that $7k is cheap). Also in terms of conventional house buying wisdom. Like you shouldn't buy a house that costs more than 3x what you earn. If you earn $150k a year and buy that house - $7k is about 5% of your gross income - and a (much) larger percentage of your net income. There are perhaps people who are earning more than that $150k who are buying that $450k house. But - for every person like that - I suspect there's another who is earning less. Judging from what I see around me - I think there are a lot of younger people who really don't know what the overall costs of owning a house - and keeping it running and maintained in good condition - are. Robyn
I take an interest in what is going on in my community - my metro area - my state - my country and a lot of the world. Anything wrong with that? I think it's preferable to what some people who live where I live think - people who don't care about what happens on the other side of the "ditch" - much less in Tallahassee when the Legislature is in session. I'm older - you're younger. What do you think? What do you pay attention to - and what would you like to see in terms of your immediate world?
IMO - those relatively cheap townhouses will be - at some point down the road during the next bust - prime candidates for turning into section 8 housing. Or have similar/other financial problems. Or just have maintenance issues because people won't pay the maintenance fees that are necessary as places get older. Don't mean to insult you if you live in one of them - but they don't seem like a particularly good investment to me.
Also - $7k is a lot of property taxes when it comes to a $450k house. In many/most parts of the country (including California - I think people from some states in places like the NE have been ripped off for property taxes for so long they think that $7k is cheap). Also in terms of conventional house buying wisdom. Like you shouldn't buy a house that costs more than 3x what you earn. If you earn $150k a year and buy that house - $7k is about 5% of your gross income - and a (much) larger percentage of your net income. There are perhaps people who are earning more than that $150k who are buying that $450k house. But - for every person like that - I suspect there's another who is earning less. Judging from what I see around me - I think there are a lot of younger people who really don't know what the overall costs of owning a house - and keeping it running and maintained in good condition - are. Robyn
I take an interest in what is going on in my community - my metro area - my state - my country and a lot of the world. Anything wrong with that? I think it's preferable to what some people who live where I live think - people who don't care about what happens on the other side of the "ditch" - much less in Tallahassee when the Legislature is in session. I'm older - you're younger. What do you think? What do you pay attention to - and what would you like to see in terms of your immediate world?
IMO - those relatively cheap townhouses will be - at some point down the road during the next bust - prime candidates for turning into section 8 housing. Or have similar/other financial problems. Or just have maintenance issues because people won't pay the maintenance fees that are necessary as places get older. Don't mean to insult you if you live in one of them - but they don't seem like a particularly good investment to me.
Also - $7k is a lot of property taxes when it comes to a $450k house. In many/most parts of the country (including California - I think people from some states in places like the NE have been ripped off for property taxes for so long they think that $7k is cheap). Also in terms of conventional house buying wisdom. Like you shouldn't buy a house that costs more than 3x what you earn. If you earn $150k a year and buy that house - $7k is about 5% of your gross income - and a (much) larger percentage of your net income. There are perhaps people who are earning more than that $150k who are buying that $450k house. But - for every person like that - I suspect there's another who is earning less. Judging from what I see around me - I think there are a lot of younger people who really don't know what the overall costs of owning a house - and keeping it running and maintained in good condition - are. Robyn
Actually I think those townhouses are a great investment. You own the cheapest property in the county and you are still getting a great SJC education and all of the other services the county provides just like the folks on the other side of the ditch. Isn't the first rule of real estate to get the cheapest house in the neighborhood? Well SJC is big neighborhood! You're not stretching to live a few minutes closer to a beach you shouldn't visit very often anyway because of those dangerous UV rays. And predicting what will turn into section 8 housing is darn near impossible. Who's to say it won't happen in your backyard? Those duplexes are right on the other side of your gate, ya know?
We'll just have to disagree when it comes to property taxes. I still say 7k for a 450k house is cheap and I'm not from the NE or Cali. When it comes to purchase price with tighter lending standards in place I'd hope that the means testing is set in a way to it keep most from getting in too much in over their heads, however as neighbors its not something we can control. There are people that just over indulge and in end up falling into the "big hat no cattle" category.
I still think you should take my advice relocate out of the state to a locale that has created a better buffer zone from the middle class. Taking an interest and actually doing something about are 2 different things. What I would like to see in terms of my immediate world is exactly how things are at this moment. The day I don't want live here anymore is the day I pack up and move out. Grandma can come visit the grandkids. That's what airplanes are for.
Robyn needs to move somewhere nice, with a crappy school district. Then families won't move there. Here where I live has exploded because it's a newer, nice part of town with all good school districts. I think every city has at least 1 area like this and if you don't want to be surrounded by moms in minivans and school children, then go where the schools suck. There are definitely parts of California that fit this bill or downtowns of major metros that have gentrified. Parts of nyc would work out well, the hamptons, ext.
And Florida does not fit the bill if one is looking to go to a place of all white people. I think of it like ca, Arizona, Texas, New York, it's a giant melting pot. I can't wait to get some decent Mexican food, some Cuban food, some seafood.. anything really. The only ethnic food around here is Dutch Amish. (They do make a mean pie and hoho cake though. )
I'm not sure what the average is but in OH I paid 2% property tax on the 'taxable amount' of my house.
In NY it was over 3.5%!- because of the school district. In FL it is around 1.9%. Of course this changes within states due to several reasons but my thought is anything under 2% is reasonable- on the 'taxable amount' of the property.
Actually I think those townhouses are a great investment. You own the cheapest property in the county and you are still getting a great SJC education and all of the other services the county provides just like the folks on the other side of the ditch. Isn't the first rule of real estate to get the cheapest house in the neighborhood? Well SJC is big neighborhood! You're not stretching to live a few minutes closer to a beach you shouldn't visit very often anyway because of those dangerous UV rays. And predicting what will turn into section 8 housing is darn near impossible. Who's to say it won't happen in your backyard? Those duplexes are right on the other side of your gate, ya know?
We'll just have to disagree when it comes to property taxes. I still say 7k for a 450k house is cheap and I'm not from the NE or Cali. When it comes to purchase price with tighter lending standards in place I'd hope that the means testing is set in a way to it keep most from getting in too much in over their heads, however as neighbors its not something we can control. There are people that just over indulge and in end up falling into the "big hat no cattle" category.
I still think you should take my advice relocate out of the state to a locale that has created a better buffer zone from the middle class. Taking an interest and actually doing something about are 2 different things. What I would like to see in terms of my immediate world is exactly how things are at this moment. The day I don't want live here anymore is the day I pack up and move out. Grandma can come visit the grandkids. That's what airplanes are for.
I agree with your thinking about not having the most expensive house on the block/in the neighborhood. But you also want to make sure you're in a neighborhood/have neighbors who are financially stable for the most part. Especially if you're in a townhouse/condo type of situation where neighbors have to depend on one another to pay their fair share of maintenance/repair costs.
I don't know if you were around here or elsewhere in Florida during the most recent real estate bust (or - if you weren't - what your local experience was). But it was at best a minor mess just about everywhere. And - in the communities that were hurt the worst - it was pretty awful. Because - when even 10% of homeowners aren't paying their fair share - there's a strain on community finances. When 50% aren't paying - it's a disaster.
Note that attached townhouses can get a bit difficult to analyze. Because they don't all work the same in terms of who owns what. And who is responsible for this/that/the other thing in terms of maintenance/repairs - the condo association or the homeowner. Insurance - who has to insure what - is a big issue too.
Having good schools won't make your day if your roof is leaking and your condo association - which you think is responsible for the roof - decides it's your problem and/or doesn't have the reserves to fix it.
I think the demographics of an area - the parents/students - has a larger influence than the overall nature of the school district in making "good schools" (at least in terms of official ratings). We do have some lower rated schools in SJC - and they tend to be in lower-priced parts of the county. So - to the extent that one is moving to a lower-priced part of the county - one is more likely to wind up in lower rated schools.
Finally - I agree that nothing in life is certain. Especially when it comes to Florida real estate. People just have to do their homework - and choose the options that are more likely to have good outcomes than others. Robyn
I'm not sure what the average is but in OH I paid 2% property tax on the 'taxable amount' of my house.
In NY it was over 3.5%!- because of the school district. In FL it is around 1.9%. Of course this changes within states due to several reasons but my thought is anything under 2% is reasonable- on the 'taxable amount' of the property.
The % in Florida also varies as a result of the Save Our Homes amendment - especially if you've owned a place in Florida for a long time. Ditto when it comes to states like California which have similar laws.
Here's a property tax calculator (a little out of date) where one can do comparisons:
SJC seems to be above the national median both in terms of absolute property taxes paid - and the % of income people spend on them.
I know my late inlaws paid peanuts in property taxes in North Carolina. The rates were about 1/2 of what we pay here. OTOH - income taxes there were fairly high (and the income tax structure was fairly regressive). So these things are obviously pretty variable from state to state. Robyn
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