Downtown Austin's first supertall! (Round Rock, Georgetown: mortgages, neighborhoods, taxes)

[JJG]

Saw this last week... jealous.

[Swizzle Stick]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

someone built a home in the 1930s on chichón and 7th. They paid it off in the 50s. It’s been in the family for generations. But now, property taxes are ridiculous and they can’t pay them. They get letters from developers weekly asking them to sell. Then one year, the property taxes are tooooo much.

Translation: someone bought a house for around $5,000 and sold it for around $750,000 - probably haven't paid a mortgage payment in 70 years and instead could have invested that mortgage payment somewhere else, and should be a millionaire by now, AND living in a $750K house.

They didn't want a reverse mortgage to pay the taxes, they want the entire amount when they sell (probably $700,000 after Realtor fees.) Their taxes were probably frozen at 1990's rates with the over-65 exemption, too.

It sounds like someone needs to "check their privilege"

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Swizzle Stick

Translation: someone bought a house for around $5,000 and sold it for around $750,000 - probably haven't paid a mortgage payment in 70 years and instead could have invested that mortgage payment somewhere else, and should be a millionaire by now, AND living in a $750K house.

They didn't want a reverse mortgage to pay the taxes, they want the entire amount when they sell (probably $700,000 after Realtor fees.) Their taxes were probably frozen at 1990's rates with the over-65 exemption, too.

It sounds like someone needs to "check their privilege"

Ummm. Okay. Not the mention their family home, culture and history is now in the hands of Wall Street? But I won’t derail this into a gentrification thread.

[Swizzle Stick]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

Ummm. Okay. Not the mention their family home, culture and history is now in the hands of Wall Street? But I won’t derail this into a gentrification thread.

I can't afford to live where I grew up either. I'm Anglo, so the "woke" considerations don't protect people like me.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Swizzle Stick

I can't afford to live where I grew up either. I'm Anglo, so the "woke" considerations don't protect people like me.

But, had you lost your home for this reason it would still be an unpleasant situation, no matter your ethnicity. I never brought up ethnicity.

[Swizzle Stick]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

But, had you lost your home for this reason it would still be an unpleasant situation, no matter your ethnicity. I never brought up ethnicity.

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

their family home, culture and history is now in the hands of Wall Street? But I won’t derail this into a gentrification thread.

Oh please. Whose "culture and history" are you referring to?

[Need4Camaro]

Meh, I just personally want to see if they’re voluntarily selling out after seeing those large checks or if in some way these large businesses have made their financial atmosphere inhospitable to continue operating here.

[Swizzle Stick]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Meh, I just personally want to see if they’re voluntarily selling out after seeing those large checks or if in some way these large businesses have made their financial atmosphere inhospitable to continue operating here.

It's voluntary. There is no "imminent domain" or forced selling going on here, it's happening on the free market. The free market has also provided a way for these homeowners to remain in their neighborhoods, but most are not choosing that path. They are either unaware that they have 30-40 years of tax money available to them in home equity, or they choose to go the victim route, and suck tax dollars from other taxpayers courtesy of the council.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Swizzle Stick

Oh please. Whose "culture and history" are you referring to?

The culture of the Austin community. Everyone and every place in the world has culture. If you don't know the culture of the Austin community I implore you to do some googling of the history of the city.

[Swizzle Stick]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

The culture of the Austin community. Everyone and every place in the world has culture. If you don't know the culture of the Austin community I implore you to do some googling of the history of the city.

Austin's culture changes every 20 years with each successive layer of arrivals. It's not up to us to choose which year we want to freeze in time, and preserve that time with other peoples tax dollars by paying people mortgages or their taxes for them.