real estate in north pole (Fairbanks, Delta Junction: house, property tax, live in)

[Marty Van Diest]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

And you are 100% correct about that. One must not only look at the house, but have an engineer look at it, too, just before committing to a purchase. One of numerous reasons for doing this is that at the moment and lot of home owners are trying to make their homes more energy efficient. Alaska is following Canada in the area of home construction. It means that older houses may not meet current insulation codes. These codes aren't mandatory, but to buy a home that isn't energy efficient in the interior of Alaska can turn into a very expensive proposition. To bring a home to the new specs may take from $20K to $50K depending on how much work must be done, from adding more blue-foam insulation to the foundation, to installing new vapor barriers and adding more insulation all around, including the attic.

Also, buying a house during the winter means that the yards (back and front) are covered with snow, and one never knows how the yard looks until summer arrives. Other things to worry about are permafrost, drainage, gutters, air leakage of the home, heating system, well, and septic. One must carefully inspect all of these before buying, and that's why it's a good idea to pay and inspector or construction engineer to do the work.

Actually, there are some good things about buying a home in the winter. The biggest one is that it is much easier to tell where the energy leaks are.

BTW, anyone who ownes and energy hog of a home needs to become intimately familiar with the Alaska Housing Weatherization Incentives. If you work it right, you can upgrade your home for free.

[starlite9]

If you move out of the Borough's, you won't have a property tax for now. That is a savings of a couple thousand a year on most homes, course the jobs aren't as easy to get, but the lifestyle is much more Alaskan.

Just a thought...

I haven't lived in one for over twenty years and rather enjoy the lifestyle without all the regulations to boot...

[dieselperformanceidaho]

Originally Posted by starlite9

If you move out of the Borough's, you won't have a property tax for now. That is a savings of a couple thousand a year on most homes, course the jobs aren't as easy to get, but the lifestyle is much more Alaskan.

Just a thought...

I haven't lived in one for over twenty years and rather enjoy the lifestyle without all the regulations to boot...

can you give me a example of the borough with no tax ?? everything we have looked at is 4k to 6k per year in property tax plus i told today that homeowner ins is 3k a year ?? seems super high to me

[Marty Van Diest]

Originally Posted by dieselperformanceidaho

can you give me a example of the borough with no tax ?? everything we have looked at is 4k to 6k per year in property tax plus i told today that homeowner ins is 3k a year ?? seems super high to me

$3k per year for ins is very high. You must have flood insurance on that. I think some of North Pole is in a flood plain and you may need flood insurance which is expensive.

If you are outside a borough there is no property tax. But there is not a lot of other things either. Like jobs.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Marty Van Diest

Actually, there are some good things about buying a home in the winter. The biggest one is that it is much easier to tell where the energy leaks are.

BTW, anyone who ownes and energy hog of a home needs to become intimately familiar with the Alaska Housing Weatherization Incentives. If you work it right, you can upgrade your home for free.

Be aware that the rebates are minimal in relation to how much you have to spend. All depends on the condition of the home. If it's in good shape but would benefit from a little more insulation, not enough points can be attained to make a big difference. For example, I would have received around $5K after spending over $25K on improvements, since most of these could only get me fractions of a point each. Now, a home that is already in bad shape would be another matter.

I coworker of mine spent $28K to improve the house his family and him live at, and he was refunded $8K. He paid out of his pocket since getting an AK Housing loan to pay for over $20K would have meant paying for interest on the loan, therefore reducing the amount of the refund by quite a lot.

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by dieselperformanceidaho

can you give me a example of the borough with no tax ?? everything we have looked at is 4k to 6k per year in property tax plus i told today that homeowner ins is 3k a year ?? seems super high to me

It is not so much the Borough with no taxes, but there are some that don't have a property tax like Denali Borough, but the areas that aren't incorporated into a Borough like the Nenana and Delta areas are the best. No major government regulations on a local area to bleed you of your money, just State Regulations which aren't that imposing in the big picture.

I get no services I don't pay for, fire, electricity and phone are all taxed or a service I pay for. When I drive on the road system, I am paying though the nose in road tax for each gallon of gas I buy.

The School system is based on per child that the State and Feds pay for, the city of Nenana pays a small amount from tobacco taxes, which is about a $60,000 kick. All the in State Schools are paid from the Oil money, no matter what the area status is. It is what the local borough/cities do on top with the extra tax money that makes it a make of break more than anything else.

[Marty Van Diest]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

Be aware that the rebates are minimal in relation to how much you have to spend. All depends on the condition of the home. If it's in good shape but would benefit from a little more insulation, not enough points can be attained to make a big difference. For example, I would have received around $5K after spending over $25K on improvements, since most of these could only get me fractions of a point each. Now, a home that is already in bad shape would be another matter.

I coworker of mine spent $28K to improve the house his family and him live at, and he was refunded $8K. He paid out of his pocket since getting an AK Housing loan to pay for over $20K would have meant paying for interest on the loan, therefore reducing the amount of the refund by quite a lot.

If you get an energy audit before you start the energy rater will tell you what will give you the most improvement for the money. Most people want to do things like replace thier windows or something else that improves appearance. But often the most return on investment is insulation in the attic or around the foundation. Those types of things will often be completely paid for by the program.

In addtion, I had a client get a new furnace completely paid for. They installed it themselves but the cost of the furnace was reimbursed. Get the audit first and then you can make an intelligent decision.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Marty Van Diest

If you get an energy audit before you start the energy rater will tell you what will give you the most improvement for the money. Most people want to do things like replace thier windows or something else that improves appearance. But often the most return on investment is insulation in the attic or around the foundation. Those types of things will often be completely paid for by the program.

In addtion, I had a client get a new furnace completely paid for. They installed it themselves but the cost of the furnace was reimbursed. Get the audit first and then you can make an intelligent decision.

I did all of that already. That's how I found out how much I would get back for improving my home. To me it was a losing proposition to invest over $20K to recover some of it 20 years from now. I decided to do some of the improvements myself (out of my own pockets), since the house will be paid for in seven years. Since the heating system is fairly new, I could not replace it. But I can still get small rebates by buying a front-load washer, and a new refrigerator.

[Marty Van Diest]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

I did all of that already. That's how I found out how much I would get back for improving my home. To me it was a losing proposition to invest over $20K to recover some of it 20 years from now. I decided to do some of the improvements myself (out of my own pockets), since the house will be paid for in seven years. Since the heating system is fairly new, I could not replace it. But I can still get small rebates by buying a front-load washer, and a new refrigerator.

Yep, sounds like your house must have been in pretty good shape already. Did you get it rated? Was it a 4 star or what?

I'm in a 5 star house right now, but I'm pretty sure that although it tested out at 5 star when it was new it wouldn't now. This last cold spell showed up a lot of weaknesses to me. Under the doors, through the outlets and switches, around the windows etc.

[dieselperformanceidaho]

thanks for all the info i will have to check and see if the house my wife loves is in that flood plain