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Honestly, I'm asking, I thought only owners paid property taxes here. Explain please?
Beg your pardon? How do you figure?
Honestly, I'm asking, I thought only owners paid property taxes here. Explain please?
You don't think that all expenses are covered by a rent in order to make a profit?
Property tax for a lessor is an expense.
If property taxes go up, rents will follow to cover the added expense to the landholder.
Come on, seriously. You think you are paying near the percentage of a property tax at an apartment then you are owning a home? That's ridiculous and a typical argument from someone renting. As a renter, you do not pay 3% of the value of an apartment or condo, that's just not how it works, you know that. The state of Texas penalizes home owners, that's all there is to it. We have to pay for education on our own while renters pay a fraction of the property taxes we do.
Lower property taxes and increase sales tax, then there won't be an argument over who's paying more for education.
Homes are larger than apartments. The property taxes are apportioned among apartments.
(shrugs)
Taxes have to be levied somehow. One can't expect fairness to all, merely that they are equitable.
If you aren't taxing capital, you are taxing labor. The alternative to ad valorum taxes are income taxes.
Would you prefer to spend time every year filling out a Texas income tax form, and all the beaurocracy THAT entails?
Yes there would be.
The fact is that education benefits all, even renters.
WHAT?
Yes there would be.
The fact is that education benefits all, even renters.
I'm not arguing the merits of education. I'm arguing that property tax payers are paying for ALL of education.
As for renters paying the full amount of property tax based on the size of their apartment. Tell that to home owners that buy a 1300 sq. foot home, which there are plenty, and then have to pay the property taxes on it. You don't know what these people pay because you don't own a house. You'll see when you get big and buy something rather then lining the pockets of a landlord or apartment owner.
Homeowners also get that nice big deduction for property tax and mortgage interest. I love that deduction.
Homeowners also get that nice big deduction for property tax and mortgage interest. I love that deduction.
That's a good one, I agree.
I filled out 4, count them FOUR income tax forms last year:
1. US
2. PA
3. IAISD
4. White Township
I truly miss Texas.
(amused)
I do the taxes for a friend or two that own houses.
As for "lining the pockets", the interest you pay bankers for your mortgage does the same.
Renting is generally cheaper than home ownership, and if you take/save the difference between the two and invest that money, one can come out much more even than you might think.
Remember that the first decade or so of house payments are primarily interest.
Bingo.
As an accountant, let me be clear: I hate tax law and wish it were simpler.
If you think that tax law is hard when you fill out your own tax returns, try taking an adnvanced tax class or two at the university level. Hardest classes I have ever taken, bar none, and I hated every second of it. (got an A and a B, btw) That was just FEDERAL tax law.
Property taxes are the lesser of two evils. If you believe nothing else I say, believe that.
Bingo.
As an accountant, let me be clear: I hate tax law and wish it were simpler.
If you think that tax law is hard when you fill out your own tax returns, try taking an adnvanced tax class or two at the university level. Hardest classes I have ever taken, bar none, and I hated every second of it. (got an A and a B, btw
Property taxes are the lesser of two evils. If you believe nothing else I say, believe that.
Again, lower property taxes, raise sales tax. That way you won't have to worry about the complexity of the issue.
"Lining the pockets of lenders", the value of both of my homes since I purchased them has gone up at least 20%. I'll make plenty off of the deal once I sell them.
I just realized I got way off the issue there, my bad. Anyway, I'm bored with this thread now, but listen to my advice, buy a house now, don't wait any longer then you have to Randomguy, you should know as well as anyone that you pretty much need nothing for a down payment if you choose to go that route, you'll be much happier in a house of your own. Maybe it was just that way for me, but so far it was one of the better decisions I've made in my life. Oh, and God bless those home builders for coming in, buying up a bunch of land, building way to many houses on said land, and selling them for dirt cheap for the first phase of each neighborhood. I could see where one could make a really good living just following Centex/Pulte/Perry/etc around and buying houses in "phase 1" of each new neighborhood.
My wife and I manage our small apartment complex. Our rent is paid for by what is essentially a part-time, stay-at-home job.
Renting and using that particular cash flow to pay off the mountain of debt my family is in (student loans, an uninsured stay in the hospital, and credit cards racked up during unemployment/education) makes MUCH more sense than home ownership for the next 5 years.
I have run the numbers, honest.
When it comes to it, I will have both the GI home loan guarantee, and a Texas Veterans Land Board loan, so I am not too worried about that step when it comes.
Any vets out there that don't know about the TVLB should check it out. Lenders are falling all over themselves to loan you (technically the TVLB) money for a house.
Hopefully by next spring...........
Moving into a new house using creative financing because 'it makes you feel good' makes a lot of sense. Old timers would gasp to learn that people can buy a 200k home with nothing down and even roll-over the closing costs. Its a roadmap to disaster for many people, and the banks won't really care, they'll fore-close on these families and find some other sucker to pick up the mortagage until there are no more suckers left. When these vulture-capitalist have increased home prices in SA enough that they can't make a profit anymore they'll move on to the next city and increase their cost of living, meanwhile the locals will be left buying homes having to use creative financing because they won't be able to afford a home with traditional financing and pay taxes and insurance at the same time.
It's the same thing that went on in every coastal city, wash-rinse-repeat, and the worst part is you can't sell your house and 'walk away with a tidy profit', at least, not unless you plan on moving out of the best parts of San Antonio. Everyone has to live somewhere and you'll have to pay inflated prices too.
The slumping housing market, a catalyst for the Bush43 WH economic policy, is now starting to have its effect on stocks...
BloombergSept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks declined for a second day on mounting evidence that a housing slump is putting the brakes on the economy.
Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, led financial shares lower after KB Home and Beazer Homes USA Inc. said earnings will be below their forecasts and an industry group said home prices may drop for the first time since 1993.
``Housing has fallen more dramatically than anyone would have thought,'' said Linda Duessel, an equity strategist who helps manage $218 billion at Federated Investors in Pittsburgh. Investors are ``worried about an economy that is slowing more than expected.''
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Janet Yellen, who said inflation may decelerate ``faster than many forecasters expect,'' gave the market no support. Yellen also said policy makers ``must have a bias'' toward higher borrowing costs even though the pace of growth is waning.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 6.24, or 0.5 percent, to 1294.02. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 74.76, or 0.7 percent, to 11,331.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 12.55, or 0.6 percent, to 2155.29.
The S&P 500 has declined 0.8 percent this month on signs of weakness in the housing market and accelerating inflation. A report yesterday showing rising labor costs added to investor concern.
I saw that too.
The good thing about this is that by the time I pay down a good chunk of my debt, and put together a decent downpayment in about 5 years, I expect the market to be more favorable to buyers.
I should be able to snap up a nice house from foreclosure.
LOL at selling your home for a tidy profit is somehow OK but doing it for a living isn't.
If you buy and sell a house every ten years and move on, your just as much as a vulture preying on younger, poorer families as a guy doing it for a living. Profit ALWAYS has to come from somewhere, is it allright if you don't do it as OFTEN as the next guy?
Kind of a holier than thou at ude. I'm not saying its wrong but its still the same thing.
Who said that?
Just as american farmers are preying on poor farmers in the developing world by accepting government agricultural subsidies...
Heh, just poking your sensibilities with a stick.
Seriously tho',
Rolling over your house every few years is far from "preying" on younger couples.
It simply provides a supply of housing for what is demanded by the market.
You would prefer that younger couples NOT be allowed to buy houses? (confused)
AgreedJust as american farmers are preying on poor farmers in the developing world by accepting government agricultural subsidies...
Heh, just poking your sensibilities with a stick.
Seriously tho',
Rolling over your house every few years is far from "preying" on younger couples.
It simply provides a supply of housing for what is demanded by the market.
You would prefer that younger couples NOT be allowed to buy houses? (confused)
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