Anyone use this fence

[babsbag]

That makes it rough on the non-rich person to own land. In CA in 1978 voters passed the infamous Prop 13 which in a nutshell made all property tax 1% or appraised value. Before that taxes were going up and up and many senior home owners were loosing their homes because they could no longer afford the taxes. The fallout from that proposition and the cut in revenue for schools and gov't agencies was huge. But my mom was able to keep her home and she was considering selling it prior to that so it did what they wanted it to do for many people. As an adult now that pays taxes I am very happy for that.

Also, they used to be able to reappraise the value of your property when you did an improvement. So if the place was appraised for $75k and you added a $250.00 dollar cement driveway under permit they could come in and say that your home was now worth $200k or whatever they deemed the new appraised value to be. Thank goodness that is no longer the case either.

 

[Bossroo]

We may not pay the huge property taxes due to Prop. 13, but we sure are being dinged with new "fees", such as fire protection assesment fees.

 

[NH homesteader]

California is like a whole different country. So weird.

 

[babsbag]

Yes, it is true we have some other fees, but thankful that we don't have both. The personal property tax has me a little miffed.

 

[Bruce]

You mean CA is lower than somewhere in taxes...I'm shocked. We get an homeowners exemption, doesn't matter how much land, you even get it in they city. I pay 2300.00 a year for 5.25 acres and a 2000 sq ft house and that includes a 7000.00 personal property tax that we have to pay on the tractors and dairy trailers.

Is there a decimal point in the wrong place somewhere or is this new math? $7,000 + x = $2,300

My mother died in 2003, her CA (just south of LA) property taxes were $850/year and included trash. No idea what the new owners paid but I bet it was a HUGE increase given the increase in real estate values between 1978 and 2003. I guess in CA there isn't a "current property tax" line on a listing. Or if there is, it is just a joke if the home has been owned by the same person for a time (housing bubble/bust of 2007/8 notwithstanding).

 

[babsbag]

No decimal in the wrong place, I didn't mention the $7000 home owners exemption that gets figured in.

We bought a home for 63,000 in 1986 and in 2004 we refinanced it and it appraised for 465,000. In 2008 I couldn't give it away.

 

[Bruce]

Gee, I'd LOVE a $7K homeowners exemption

Too bad they didn't reappraise in 2008
Now that it is 2016, hopefully it has recovered.

 

[Bossroo]

Gee, I'd LOVE a $7K homeowners exemption

Too bad they didn't reappraise in 2008
Now that it is 2016, hopefully it has recovered.

Not a chance. In our area of Central Cal. the only houses in town that are selling are the old run down rental properties that are purchased by rehabers and rental property owners to fix up and rent out. The very high end homes are selling, but at lower prices. Ranch / acreage properties that are on the market are siting unsold.

 

[babsbag]

We lost that house. I had it on the market for 99,999 and not even a showing. There were homes in much nicer neighborhoods to be had for the same price. I had quit my job for a much lower paying job and we were moving; we were already buying the home where we live now.

My last day at work I got a phone call from both of my college aged sons saying that they had lost their jobs (one was an intern for a state agency and the other worked for Sac. County Parks) and from my husband saying that he was getting 3 days a month furlough. I couldn't let the kids be homeless so something had to give and I could no longer make two house payments. When I called the bank to try and make some kind of arrangements and they said "would you like to speak to someone in the United States?" I hung up the phone and lived in the house payment free for the next 8 months and walked away.

A few months later the house sold at auction for around 300,000. But I couldn't sell it for 100,000.

 

[Baymule]

That is just nuts. A lot of people got caught in that crunch. I am glad you are in your happy place now.