OUCH - property taxes

[pennywise]

Oh my!! said Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. These are some outrageous taxes. Can you contest your taxes. Once a year you can go before the Board and tell them why you think your property is overvalued. All usually win. Sound like it may be worth it to some of you. A notice should come out with the property taxes to tell you when this occurs in your community, or call your community for information.

[Fern]

Bluezy, are you sure being a renter is better? While many of us have complained about high property taxes, myself included, paying a mortgage has definite advantages.
1. It's like forced savings, and unlike an apt you will never have ownership of, the house is (at least partly) yours and you can do with it what you like, to suit your lifestyle, in terms of renovation, etc.

2. these days with the stock market uncertain, many former market investors have gone into real estate, which as you know has appreciated exponentially. My home's market value has doubled in 10 years. How many investments can do that?

3. With all the above, of course, you also benefit by having your "investment" also serve to provide a roof over your head.

[pennywise]

I agree with Fern. Home ownership has it benefits. When you rent you are accumulating an asset for another person. That person bought the property and charges you rent that is equal to his payment, interest, taxes, and a markup for repairs. Thus, you are paying for the asset without ownership. Lastly, once you sell the home, you get the paying price back and maybe some interest and expenses, essentially allowing you to have lived in the home for only the price of the taxes, of which a small portion benefitted you in tax write off. Owning is the best way. Did you know there are FHA loans that a family can qualify for if a first time homeowner. This loan charges something like 3% interest and a fee. Check into that if you have not owned a home before. You want a house on its own property not in an association that tells you what to do, how, and when, and then bumps the fees every year.

[altyfc]

Originally Posted by jmjj215

I'm still renting so I don't get hit with Property taxes. We're moving to Texas though, where I hear they're pretty high. Anyone here from Texas paying pretty big property taxes?

In the UK, you get hit by property tax (well, council tax) even if you're just renting...

Aaron