I knew mortgage rates made a huge difference in payments.....but.....

[tvguy]

The STATE property tax may be capped, but the county can charge whatever else they want on top of that.

No, extra taxes are capped at 2%

 

[DLgal]

No, extra taxes are capped at 2%

No they are not, they are capped at RAISES of no more than 2% per year. Kind of like DVC maintenance fees.

 

[tvguy]

No they are not, they are capped at RAISES of no more than 2% per year. Kind of like DVC maintenance fees.

You are assuming there are no city/county assessments with those figures. My property tax bill for just the general assessment is in the range you are talking about but it’s $1.7k more once I add in all the assessments.

Here is my annual property tax bill breakdown.
$505,000 estimated value, $210,708 accessed value.
1% County Wide base tax. $2,037.09
San Juan Unified school tax $368.51
Los Rios Community College District $45.43
Street lighting $17.88
Flood control $3.76
Water and Drainage studies $6.92
Total $2,479.58
$2408 I mentioned earlier was for 2019, this is for 2020

 

[dina444444]

Here is my annual property tax bill breakdown.
$505,000 estimated value, $210,708 accessed value.
1% County Wide base tax. $2,037.09
San Juan Unified school tax $368.51
Los Rios Community College District $45.43
Street lighting $17.88
Flood control $3.76
Water and Drainage studies $6.92
Total $2,479.58
$2408 I mentioned earlier was for 2019, this is for 2020

I have 4 voter indebtedness line items on mine (water district, community college, high schools - this is the largest chunk, and elementary schools) plus 10 line items of direct assessments. I live in LA county. My house is valued just slightly higher than the $505k you quoted earlier in this convo and my property tax bill for 2020 was couple dollars shy of $7k.

 

[RamblingMad]

There are no homes for sale by me. Inventory is super low right now.

 

[tvguy]

I have 4 voter indebtedness line items on mine (water district, community college, high schools - this is the largest chunk, and elementary schools) plus 10 line items of direct assessments. I live in LA county. My house is valued just slightly higher than the $505k you quoted earlier in this convo and my property tax bill for 2020 was couple dollars shy of $7k.

How long have you owned it and what is your assessed value?

 

[dina444444]

How long have you owned it and what is your assessed value?

5 years, assessed value is in the low/mid 500s. Like units in my community have recently sold for $160k more than what I paid.

 

[taaren]

I live in the bay area and when I hear of home prices and rental prices I get a little jealous. The amount of things I could do with the savings!!

I live/own in the Bay Area, too. One of my favorite things to tell people is that we moved here for the cheap real estate. They always look at me funny until I tell them I was born & raised on Maui, where we definitely can't afford property anymore.
We bought in '08 about a year after the crash. Was hoping for another slump in pricing when the pandemic hit, but too many people moved from SF to my part of the Bay.

 

[MrsPete]

Renting vs. buying may be "a wash" while you're still paying the mortgage payments, but the beauty of owning your own home comes AFTER the mortgage is gone:

- We moved into this house in 2000 (?), so we bought it in 2000 dollars. Things have gone up now, so it would cost more to buy it in 2021 dollars. Said differently, we could sell it for more than we paid.
- We haven't had a mortgage for years. If we'd been paying rent, we wouldn't have reached the end of that road -- we'd still owe rent next month.
- Yes, we pay taxes, maintenance and repairs, but those costs pale in comparison to rent or a mortgage.
- Two sets of rental condos have been built in this general area recently. They go for $1400-1700/month. Back when I had a mortgage, it was something like $800/month.

 

[daughtersrus]

Here is my annual property tax bill breakdown.
$505,000 estimated value, $210,708 accessed value.
1% County Wide base tax. $2,037.09
San Juan Unified school tax $368.51
Los Rios Community College District $45.43
Street lighting $17.88
Flood control $3.76
Water and Drainage studies $6.92
Total $2,479.58
$2408 I mentioned earlier was for 2019, this is for 2020

You're lucky. In IL, our property taxes go up every year. Our assessed value is about 1/2 of yours (we'll see what happens this year with prices skyrocketing) and our property taxes are almost 3X what you pay.
$2000 in rent for a house wouldn't cover the mortgage payment, insurance or taxes each month

 

[butterscotchcollins]

I'd rather pay more in taxes and be in the Northeast than pay lower taxes and be far from where I grew up and where I like to spend my time. That's the price I pay and I'm OK with it. My income is adjusted for cost of living here so we're probably paying a similar % of our income on housing etc.

 

[tvguy]

You're lucky. In IL, our property taxes go up every year. Our assessed value is about 1/2 of yours (we'll see what happens this year with prices skyrocketing) and our property taxes are almost 3X what you pay.
$2000 in rent for a house wouldn't cover the mortgage payment, insurance or taxes each month

We had a Property Tax revolt here in California in 1978. Voters passed Proposition 13 that limited Property taxes to 1% of what you paid for the house. The amount of that tax can go up no more than 2% per year. Voters can approve specific levies on top of that for things like schools, roads, etc, but 2/3 of the voters have to approve it.
I was just started in TV news in 1978 and the driving force behind the ballot measure was that senior citizens who were long time (talking 30-40 years) were being taxed out of their homes. We interviewed a lady whose property taxes per year were exact what she and her late husband paid for the house, $4,000. She pointed out that both she and her husband needed 30 years to pay off the $4,000 mortgage while they were working and had money coming in. No way now that her husband was deceased and she was living on Social Security that she could pay $4,000 a year in taxes.

 

[Lilsia]

We had a Property Tax revolt here in California in 1978. Voters passed Proposition 13 that limited Property taxes to 1% of what you paid for the house. The amount of that tax can go up no more than 2% per year. Voters can approve specific levies on top of that for things like schools, roads, etc, but 2/3 of the voters have to approve it.
I was just started in TV news in 1978 and the driving force behind the ballot measure was that senior citizens who were long time (talking 30-40 years) were being taxed out of their homes. We interviewed a lady whose property taxes per year were exact what she and her late husband paid for the house, $4,000. She pointed out that both she and her husband needed 30 years to pay off the $4,000 mortgage while they were working and had money coming in. No way now that her husband was deceased and she was living on Social Security that she could pay $4,000 a year in taxes.

Many states have a "homestead" exemption where low income senior no longer have to pay property taxes. Does California not have that? I guess the really don't need it if the taxes are so low. But you guys pay very little property tax compared to many states.

 

[Chickinvic]

As a Canadian, I can't even imagine 30 year fixed rate mortgages. Here, you can get 5 year fixed rate (common), but anything beyond that isn't really done. I would think it would be so nice to have the security of knowing what your payments will be for a whole 30 years.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

You're lucky. In IL, our property taxes go up every year. Our assessed value is about 1/2 of yours (we'll see what happens this year with prices skyrocketing) and our property taxes are almost 3X what you pay.
$2000 in rent for a house wouldn't cover the mortgage payment, insurance or taxes each month

Illinois is one of the worst locations regarding property taxes so that is not surprising.
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-highest-and-lowest-property-taxes/11585

 

[Chickinvic]

Depends on landlord. My wife's best friend works for a guy who owns 400 apartments, they have been paid off for 40 years. If a tenant at least pays half the rent, he isn't going to evict them because his expenses are low, he is still making money.

I worked for a doctor who owned around 300 rental apartments (several buildings), and believe me he was a heartless bastard. If anyone was short on their rent they'd be out on their asses - regardless of how many millions he was worth/making. I think he is far more typical than the situation you are describing.

 

[tvguy]

Many states have a "homestead" exemption where low income senior no longer have to pay property taxes. Does California not have that? I guess the really don't need it if the taxes are so low. But you guys pay very little property tax compared to many states.

Homestead act in California allows you to protect capital gains when you sell a home. It has no impact on your property taxes. But I have heard of states that exempt seniors from property taxes. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/2021-say-hello-to-california-s-new-13281/

 

[Lilsia]

Homestead act in California allows you to protect capital gains when you sell a home. It has no impact on your property taxes. But I have heard of states that exempt seniors from property taxes. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/2021-say-hello-to-california-s-new-13281/

The state where I live does not have seniors pay property tax if they are under a certain income level. Also not tax on selling your house if you have lived in it 2 of the last 5 years.

 

[DCLMP]

We refied our primary home at 2.2% and bought a vacation home at 2.85%. It’s like they’re giving mortgages away. That low rate certainly makes a difference in how much house is affordable

This all sounds familiar. Hopefully, there’s not another housing crash.

 

[afan]

This all sounds familiar. Hopefully, there’s not another housing crash.

The low rates aren't why it crashed last tim. Being able to get a mortgage without proving income did. People getting loans with a variable rate did. People buying houses with low fixed interest rates that have proved their income aren't going to cause a housing crash. It's like the total opposite of what a lot of the issue was back then.