Moving to San Antonio? Better bring lots of cash for property Taxes! (Houston: for sale, big house)

[ktulu7]

Property taxes seem a bit communistic too, which just seems so anti-Texan. It basically means the government owns all the land, and you're just paying rent. If it were a really small tax, it'd be at least more understandable, but that high property tax is nuts. It totally screws someone on a fixed income or NO income.

It's still cheaper than up here in high-tax Iowa though, where we have similarly awful property taxes, and some of the highest income taxes in the USA. I'll be glad to at least be rid of THAT part once I move back to Texas.

[MenardMQ]

Everyone neglects to take into account state income taxes in the equation when they look at their property taxes.

Many of you in Texas who have tasted the sweet nectar of not filing a state tax return don't realize what you are missing...

[TexasRedneck]

And vehicle taxes.....some states charge upwards of 30% of a cars worth in annual taxes. Or "commuter tax", etc.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by smitty12

Yea you have to also factor in the MA income tax. I would much rather have a higher property tax rate than a lower property tax rate and an income tax. You do have some control over your property taxes in that you always have the option to live below you means for housing and pay less tax. That doesn't work as well with an income tax, decreasing your income to decrease your tax bill isn't an advantage.

That is assuming the value of your house doesn't change. The value of our house went from less than $100K to almost $500K. We did some significant improvements, but not $400K worth. We fought it to bring it down substantially. Many in the urban core are folks living on fixed incomes or low incomes who have been in their homes for 40+ years and have seen the value of their homes triple or more. Not all of us want to sell - for what? to move to another neighborhood miles away? Away from the schools which are our community, the people who are our community?

I've lived in multiple other states with an income tax and would much rather pay a tax on what I actually earn - and therefore have - than on a home where the only way I can pay for the tax is to uproot our lives.

The idea that a high property value is good is only relevant to investors that want to flip. For families who want to create a life in their homes and community, it's a killer.

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by Chaka

The idea that a high property value is good is only relevant to investors that want to flip. For families who want to create a life in their homes and community, it's a killer.

The key there is planning, and fighting the appraisals tooth and nail until you hit 65 and can freeze them. Ours will freeze next year, and at about the value we had planned for. Thankfully, my dad had hammered watching property taxes - and fighting them - into my head at an early age. But your point IS valid - there are many who are watching the train coming at them and not doing anything about it, unfortunately. That was one of the primary reasons we left SA - we knew property taxes would continue to escalate...and they have. I just checked - the old 1 1/2 story, 1800 sq ft 3/2/2 house we were in appraised at about 164k this year, with taxes at $4,100 The current house is a single story, 2900 sq ft 4/2/3 with a 360 sq ft finished workshop in the back yard that appraised at about 252k with $4,900 In taxes. With the new over 65 exemptions, next years taxes should drop to about $3,300. School taxes slam ALL of us - it's the other taxes that can make a difference.

[ktulu7]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

And vehicle taxes.....some states charge upwards of 30% of a cars worth in annual taxes. Or "commuter tax", etc.

Yep! Iowa taxes us a percentage of what they have believe is the vehicle's original MSRP or new market value, every year. It takes quite a few years before that percentage goes down. They also then add fees on per 100 pounds of weight over a certain amount, so something like my pickup truck gets pretty hefty registration taxes. It is annoying for sure!

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

The key there is planning, and fighting the appraisals tooth and nail until you hit 65 and can freeze them. Ours will freeze next year, and at about the value we had planned for. Thankfully, my dad had hammered watching property taxes - and fighting them - into my head at an early age. But your point IS valid - there are many who are watching the train coming at them and not doing anything about it, unfortunately. .

A working class family who has lived in Lone Star since the 1950s could hardly have planned for the insane property boom in the 2010s. While many have paid off their homes, others have had second mortgages, dealt with inheritance fees and more, all on earning less than $30K per year. Property taxes of more than $5k per year are a huge hit. Heck, even a family who purchased in the urban core in 2000 could not have prepared for what has happened in the past 5 years. At the time, houses were available for less than $50K. Factor in that the vast majority of these people lack the education to simply know how to fight this. Our local council people have put in more effort lately to teach people how to do this, but for folks who fear simply going to a city office [I had one older resident (who was born in that house) ask me 'Is this just for white people? or can anyone go?'], not to mention lacking the free time to go when working multiple jobs, it is extremely hard. In one case, when a neighbor who had lived in their house for 50+ years, whose family had been in the neighborhood since the 1930s, did go to fight her taxes, she was told "just sell and move somewhere else."

[Kthnry]

I don't understand why there wasn't more resistance in TX to the changes in the tax code limiting the deductibility of SALT taxes (state and local taxes). There are plenty of people in TX who pay more than $10,000/year in property taxes.

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by Chaka

In one case, when a neighbor who had lived in their house for 50+ years, whose family had been in the neighborhood since the 1930s, did go to fight her taxes, she was told "just sell and move somewhere else."

That neighbor had to be old enough to be eligible for a tax freeze. As to those not understanding it, neither did I - but I learned. There's something to be said for some self-reliability.

[smitty12]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

That neighbor had to be old enough to be eligible for a tax freeze. As to those not understanding it, neither did I - but I learned. There's something to be said for some self-reliability.

I would assume they lived there from birth, since it was their family home. So that would put them in their 50s, and not eligible for the tax freeze for quite a few more years.