The Grass Isn't Greener..... (Livermore, Fortuna: low income, 2015, buying a house)

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by shooting4life

Prop 13 is just rent control for homeowners with the government picking the winners and loser as usual.

Hardly can be "Government" when not a single supporter of Prop 13 could be found in government...

[Mister 7]

Originally Posted by LoriBee62

I just stumbled upon this thread on the Real Estate forum where folks from other states are complaining about losing their paid-off homes because they can't afford the annual skyrocketing property taxes. //www.city-data.com/forum/real-...h-america.html

I wonder how long it will be before the California haters come running back from Texas when they discover the grass wasn't exactly greener in other cow pastures. Don't get me wrong, I hope they leave and don't come back. The state prefers innovators, not whiners. But I sure would love to be there when reality bites these guys in the butt.

I haven't even read the thread yet, stopped here, but this is ridiculous. My mother pays $3k a year for a $400,000 house (a house that would go for 1.5-2M here) in Tennessee. If people can't afford property tax and that's the final straw leading to them losing their homes, they're clearly idiots with their finances to begin with.

Homeownership isn't a myth, it's The American Dream. I don't get why so many on here hate on it.

[AndyChrono]

Originally Posted by davidt1

The current price at time of purchase is the one that should be looked at, not some made-up future price. After the real estate crash in CA, prices went down drastically and plenty of people lost their homes.

Unfortunately that's an extremely short-sighted view. Future potential is just as if not more important than the current price since it essentially dictates whether your housing payments are an expense or an investment. Of course things like crashes could happen. But often times the best time to buy is in the depth of the crash when prices are low and you can make a killing when things rebound.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by LoriBee62

I just stumbled upon this thread on the Real Estate forum where folks from other states are complaining about losing their paid-off homes because they can't afford the annual skyrocketing property taxes. //www.city-data.com/forum/real-...h-america.html

I wonder how long it will be before the California haters come running back from Texas when they discover the grass wasn't exactly greener in other cow pastures. Don't get me wrong, I hope they leave and don't come back. The state prefers innovators, not whiners. But I sure would love to be there when reality bites these guys in the butt.

It's funny how people like to think everything is more expensive in CA.

Prop 13 changed our real estate laws, so you will always pay tax on the original purchase price, with an annual increase allowed of only 1.5% or something like that.

This was not always the case. I remember back in the 1970's when people were driven out of their paid-off homes because they couldn't afford taxes on the newly assessed values. Some people bought homes for around $20,000 for instance, that were eventually worth a million dollars. They couldn't pay taxes on the newly assessed values, and either lost their homes to the city/county, or they had to sell them and move far away.

Prop 13 protected people in CA from having to deal with that anymore.

People don't realize how valuable this is. How essential it is. I cringe when I hear people talk about how we should repeal Prop 13 so we'll have more money for this and that.

So, I'm not surprised by your OP at all. This is what happens, it happened here and it was devastating. Fortunately, being the amazing people we are here in CA, we fixed it here. I hope others will follow suit in other states.

The thing is, a city/county/state will pay in the long run if they don't fix this problem. Either they will have people leaving in droves, driving down income, or they will have a bunch of people who are now relying on city/county/state resources such as low-income housing, food stamps, etc.

As usual, others could benefit from forward thinking Californians

[Matadora]

Originally Posted by AndyChrono

The 4 main state taxes that the average joe will run into are: Income Tax, Sales Tax, Gas Tax, and Property Tax.

Wow you left out a big one! Requirement taxes in CA are the most oppressive in the entire US. Although Social Security benefits are exempt, all other forms of retirement income are fully taxed. California residents pay the highest income taxes in the U.S. The statewide sales tax is high, too. Real estate is assessed at 100% of market value.

Originally Posted by AndyChrono

Income Tax: Texas has no income tax which is undoubtedly it's biggest selling point.

Contrary to what you think it's not the biggest selling point.

Originally Posted by AndyChrono

Sales Tax: California has 7.5% state sales tax vs Texas which has 6.25% state sales tax. Not much to say here - it's a 1.25% edge to Texas.

Wrong

The California (CA) state sales tax rate is currently 6.5%. However, California adds a mandatory local rate of 1% that increases the total state sales and use tax base to 7.5%. Depending on local municipalities, the total tax rate can be as high at 10.0%. State and local taxes can reach 9.25% in many cities.

Where I live it's 9.25%

Originally Posted by AndyChrono

Gas Tax: Texas has a 20c/gal gas tax vs California which has 42c/gal gas tax.

Wrong again: California gas taxes: Higher than advertised - Watchdog.org

• Texas Gas Tax per gallon: 38.40 c/gal On top of that we pay much less at the pump for a gallon of gas then you do here in CA.
• Ca Gas Tax per gallon: 60.75 c/gal

Originally Posted by AndyChrono

Property Tax: This is California's biggest advantage - California's property taxes are half that of Texas and Prop 13 caps the increases so even if your home explodes in value you won't get screwed by property taxes.

Not an advantage when you figure in the cost of comparable houses that you can purchase in each state and then you factor in CA's state income tax. Those in CA who are not paying much into the state income tax do not represent those buying houses in CA. Most here cannot afford to purchase a home. This can't be said for most in Texas.

Originally Posted by AndyChrono

So in the end, the guy in Texas probably ekes out a small edge on day-to-day, month-to-month, and even year-to-year taxes. After all, he saves nearly 1k a year on taxes! Over 10 years he would save about 10k in taxes!

This is a crock. Your fuzzy math does not represent reality.

[Matadora]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

14730 Big Oak Bay Road, Tyler, TX 75707

Just as I suspected. They paid 10K in property taxes eh?

Tax History

YEAR PROPERTY TAXES

2014 $6,551
2013 $6,459
2012 $7,705
2011 $7,705
2010 $7,715
2008 $333

14730 Big Oak Bay Rd, Tyler, TX 75707 | Zillow

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by opossum_

I think the complaint in the article was mostly about property taxes.....sure, Cali owners sitting on overpriced house paying nothing due to Prop 13 and expecting others to pick up the tab and pay their way for schools, roads, etc can have entitled laugh at dumb home owners now and sneer if these go back to the growing American class of rental serfs....till Prop 13 is repealed

"Paying nothing"? They paid their property taxes for several decades. Please, not another thread merge about Prop 13....there are dozens of them on this forum. Here's one; post your complaints there:
//www.city-data.com/forum/calif...ange-prop.html

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

I already know people who did. They had a $500k house in Tyler, TX. Property tax was $10K the FIRST YEAR. They looked at their future and moved back to CA.

In CA it would take decades for a $500k house's tax to get that high.

That's a huge freakin house!

[semispherical]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Very true. There is one from Illinois and one who lives in Kentucky, I don't believe either one has even visited CA.

The one from Illinois should worry more about his own backyard, it's the most corrupt state in the nation.

In another thread he says he is 18 yo and never has been in CA:

"I've never been there [CA] but I have distant family that lives there. I'm also 18 years old, not necessarily that young. "

Seems to have a lot of time on his hands. Complains that other posters are "judgmental" and "stalk" him.

I wonder whether there is just ONE rabid anti-CA troll with a lot of aliases?

[LoriBee62]

Originally Posted by Matadora

Wow you left out a big one! Requirement taxes in CA are the most oppressive in the entire US. Although Social Security benefits are exempt, all other forms of retirement income are fully taxed. California residents pay the highest income taxes in the U.S. The statewide sales tax is high, too. Real estate is assessed at 100% of market value.

Um, actually, no. There are LOTS of forms of retirement income that are tax free. California also has no estate tax, which is something you can NOT say for the Pacific Northwest.

And really, "most oppressive in the entire US"? For an individual earning $250,000 do you know what state charges the highest income tax? OREGON

On that list, California is #8.

Gee, exaggerate often?