Prop 13 (megatopic) (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento: suite, cottage, health)

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by lvmensch

What on the earth are you talking about? What gives you the idea that I want to move back to CA?

And I could easily have bought my old house back the first decade after leaving. Even now I can easily afford CA...I would just have to downsize which I may shortly need to do where ever I stay.

Actually I have considered keeping a boat there again as I did the first 4 or 5 years after I left but otherwise I have not the least interest in living in CA. Basically my wife and I believe the place sucks other than for nice week in the coves of Catalina. And the real reason we have not done the boat bit already is because I am no longer able. Twenty years ago I could single handle a 50 or 60 footer. Now a days I am in trouble in a dinghy. Actually my skills are still good but no legs.

We came to LV with a pact to leave if either of us was not happy. But we both liked it fine and stayed by choice. In hindsight it was a bad financial decision but a very happy life decision.

So you are worried about the poor older guys having to cash out their million from their house? This destroys them how? The normal progression is the elderly move into more suitable housing or with their children. They do not stay in the mid life 3000sf home. But now we basically force them to.

I don't think there are very many elderly in California in 3k sq ft homes who have lived in those homes long enough to have significantly benefited from prop 13. And not elderly person in California lives in a million dollar home either. A friend of mine in Sacramento has lived in his home since it was built in 1960, he bought that home on the GI bill. He's now 84 and in good health for his age but his only income is a small Social Security check. The value of his house today is somewhere between 330 and 360k and you think he can 'cash out' and move into 'more suitable housing', or move in with his non-existent children?

[JJonesIII]

Originally Posted by CaliRestoration

We'll see what happens with the Split roll next year.

I'll make sure to resurrect this thread so people can revisit their claims (just like with the California High Speed rail thread, where everyone who thought it was a great project suddenly disappeared, never to be seen again).

I encourage you to. I'm not the least bit concerned and am confident I am right.

[JJonesIII]

Originally Posted by CaliRestoration

It's about who is being targeted.

Renters aren't "admired" or "envied". Renters are part of the peasant class in California. They generally attract more sympathy, and anyone who has read the first 10 pages of any basic economics knows how rent control would ravage the supply of rentals in the market and actually hurt renters. That's why Prop 10 failed.

Home owners are a juicier "privileged" target. People won't think about the lower income retirees who own an old 3/2 fixer in Sacramento. When they vote down Prop 13, they'll be thinking of the Marin County tech millionaire who lives in a neighborhood that they actually covet but could never afford.

Their vote will in effect be a "stab" of envy towards a rich privileged class that they can blame for an unfair system.

Not quite sure what you're talking about here. Any vote to repeal Prop 13 is certainly not a stab at the rich privileged. More like a stab at the Middle Class. If anything, it is the rich privileged trying to evict the Middle Class. In addition, none of this impacts my comment. The renters will be the first to be hit by this, so not sure how that attracts more sympathy.

[JGC97]

Originally Posted by JJonesIII

Not quite sure what you're talking about here. Any vote to repeal Prop 13 is certainly not a stab at the rich privileged. More like a stab at the Middle Class. If anything, it is the rich privileged trying to evict the Middle Class. In addition, none of this impacts my comment. The renters will be the first to be hit by this, so not sure how that attracts more sympathy.

That's the feeling I'm getting from this. Not only from comments here on CD but other places and forums, too. And it's not that I don't understand or have sympathy with the amount of taxes new homeowners are paying, either. It's the outrageous amounts of money people are spending on homes, these days. With that comes the higher taxes but you won't hear nary a peep out of Sacramento because lawmakers know that with higher home prices comes higher tax revenue and they're all about that money.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by HereOnMars

That's the feeling I'm getting from this. Not only from comments here on CD but other places and forums, too. And it's not that I don't understand or have sympathy with the amount of taxes new homeowners are paying, either. It's the outrageous amounts of money people are spending on homes, these days. With that comes the higher taxes but you won't hear nary a peep out of Sacramento because lawmakers know that with higher home prices comes higher tax revenue and they're all about that money.

In other words they want the middle class out sand the rich in, for more taxes and the poor can stay to get the goodies that make them vote for those wanting the rich in.

[NewbieHere]

Originally Posted by JJonesIII

Not quite sure what you're talking about here. Any vote to repeal Prop 13 is certainly not a stab at the rich privileged. More like a stab at the Middle Class. If anything, it is the rich privileged trying to evict the Middle Class. In addition, none of this impacts my comment. The renters will be the first to be hit by this, so not sure how that attracts more sympathy.

This is what I’m afraid of. My kid is solidly middle class income and lives in LA County.

[JGC97]

Originally Posted by expatCA

In other words they want the middle class out sand the rich in, for more taxes and the poor can stay to get the goodies that make them vote for those wanting the rich in.

No, I don't that's it, exactly. I have my thoughts on it but I know many would disagree and it serves no purpose to state them here so I'll just leave it alone.

As for Prop 13, I can certainly understand the need for reform on commercial properties and perhaps on inherited properties but it would be devastating for those who are too old to work and don't have a considerable amount of money sitting in a bank. Besides, most of those who are living in a home they bought before the height of the market are getting up there in years. Until a person reaches that age and understands the added cost that old age brings, they are completely clueless. Not everyone is traveling the world after retirement. They may not be dead broke but they still tend to watch their pennies. It's those people that would be the hardest hit if Prop 13 went away and local government started setting prices again.

[NewbieHere]

I watch my dollars, not pennies. Lol

[JGC97]

Originally Posted by NewbieHere

I watch my dollars, not pennies. Lol

Well yeah, that's true. For some reason today, my head is filled with a lot of old jokes and sayings.

[CaliRestoration]

Originally Posted by JJonesIII

Not quite sure what you're talking about here. Any vote to repeal Prop 13 is certainly not a stab at the rich privileged. More like a stab at the Middle Class. If anything, it is the rich privileged trying to evict the Middle Class. In addition, none of this impacts my comment. The renters will be the first to be hit by this, so not sure how that attracts more sympathy.

I'm talking about perception. PERCEPTION.

Of course rent control hurts renters. Did that stop Los Angeles, Santa Monica, San Francisco and numerous other cities that have implemented it? Santa Monica has a MAR for crying out loud.

Poor voters would not hesitate to throw privileged home owners under the bus to get "free" health care.