Reminder: Your massive property taxes are due

[UCGal]

bearishgurl –

I’ve come to the conclusion that I must be your worst nightmare.

I bought our house from my dad – so I benefit under prop 13/58. Strike 1. Unlike your neighbors, I paid full market price for the house (and have a mortgage) but I do get the tax break.

I also am not super fast about weeding the front yard, and our driveway has some cracks from an old tree- so the front of the house looks a bit “Clampet” style. It was worse when we were building the granny flat so we had a porta-potty in the driveway plus a concrete washout pit. Not to mention trenches for the water lines/back flow preventer… etc. So – since my house isn’t cosmetically wonderful from the front – that’s my second strike.

Truly – the cosmetic stuff you describe sounds like it would all be addressed if you lived in a strict HOA community. Like you, I’m in an older neighborhood. No HOA police to tell people to weed, mow the lawn, etc. A neighbor up the street – who bought the house from as stranger so has NO prop 13 benefit would also drive you nuts… the house is ill maintained and his kid fixes up old z-cars in the driveway – there are always at least 2 project cars in various states of disrepair in their driveway.

I happen to agree with CAR and the person in the link edna_mode posted – that 2nd homes/commercial property/etc should not necessarily get the benefit. I know a lot of rental properties are held in corps/llc’s… you can sell the corp/llc and have the prop rate get passed on to the new owner… that seems like a loophole that should be closed.

I’d even understand if they repealed the prop 58 thing – but keep in mind – not all folks who benefit from it got the house free and clear – I paid market rate in 2003 – which meant it was more than a half million… I have a mortgage. But it was a purchase mortgage (not pulling out equity to expand my lifestyle). But… feel free to get mad at me for not being more proactive about my weeds.

[briansd1]

UCGal, I expect an architect’s wife house to be a show place.

I bet your weeds are special plants that are part of the specially designed landscape. 😉

[briansd1]

UCGal, I expect an architect’s wife house to be a show place.

I bet your weeds are special plants that are part of the specially designed landscape. 😉

[briansd1]

UCGal, I expect an architect’s wife house to be a show place.

I bet your weeds are special plants that are part of the specially designed landscape. 😉

[briansd1]

UCGal, I expect an architect’s wife house to be a show place.

I bet your weeds are special plants that are part of the specially designed landscape. 😉

[briansd1]

UCGal, I expect an architect’s wife house to be a show place.

I bet your weeds are special plants that are part of the specially designed landscape. 😉

[UCGal]

[quote=briansd1]UCGal, I expect an architect’s wife house to be a show place.

I bet your weeds are special plants that are part of the specially designed landscape. ;)[/quote]

I just snorted coffee out my nose reading that. Damn you!

My husband has a good sense of aesthetics. But like mechanics who drive beater cars – he’s an architect who lives in a beater house. We’re trying to harness the kid-slave-labor thing to tackle the weeds – so far it’s been less than successful.

[UCGal]

[quote=briansd1]UCGal, I expect an architect’s wife house to be a show place.

I bet your weeds are special plants that are part of the specially designed landscape. ;)[/quote]

I just snorted coffee out my nose reading that. Damn you!

My husband has a good sense of aesthetics. But like mechanics who drive beater cars – he’s an architect who lives in a beater house. We’re trying to harness the kid-slave-labor thing to tackle the weeds – so far it’s been less than successful.

[UCGal]

[quote=briansd1]UCGal, I expect an architect’s wife house to be a show place.

I bet your weeds are special plants that are part of the specially designed landscape. ;)[/quote]

I just snorted coffee out my nose reading that. Damn you!

My husband has a good sense of aesthetics. But like mechanics who drive beater cars – he’s an architect who lives in a beater house. We’re trying to harness the kid-slave-labor thing to tackle the weeds – so far it’s been less than successful.

[UCGal]

[quote=briansd1]UCGal, I expect an architect’s wife house to be a show place.

I bet your weeds are special plants that are part of the specially designed landscape. ;)[/quote]

I just snorted coffee out my nose reading that. Damn you!

My husband has a good sense of aesthetics. But like mechanics who drive beater cars – he’s an architect who lives in a beater house. We’re trying to harness the kid-slave-labor thing to tackle the weeds – so far it’s been less than successful.

[UCGal]

[quote=briansd1]UCGal, I expect an architect’s wife house to be a show place.

I bet your weeds are special plants that are part of the specially designed landscape. ;)[/quote]

I just snorted coffee out my nose reading that. Damn you!

My husband has a good sense of aesthetics. But like mechanics who drive beater cars – he’s an architect who lives in a beater house. We’re trying to harness the kid-slave-labor thing to tackle the weeds – so far it’s been less than successful.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=UCGal]I’d even understand if they repealed the prop 58 thing – but keep in mind – not all folks who benefit from it got the house free and clear – I paid market rate in 2003 – which meant it was more than a half million…[/quote]

UCGal, just feel fortunate you own a Prop 13-eligible property. I’m currently BROKE again after paying the county assessor and my place is worth nowhere near a “half million.” Those days are gone.

Yes, an HOA would help with keeping the ‘hood more “orderly,” but I simply CANNOT pay dues, street bonds or MR in addition to PROPERTY TAXES and still LIVE. It just seems like monthly HOA dues, even for SFR communities, have gone outta sight in recent years. I could purchase a A LOT of concrete/Ortho products/bricks/paint/topsoil etc. EVERY SINGLE MONTH for what HOA dues would cost if I chose to do so and could afford it. I go the YMCA (w/full amenities) 4 nights a week for only $38 mo. I can’t even heat up a backyard jacuzzi in the winter 4x a month for that, much less have circuit training and free classes! I think the “amenities” of HOA’s are very overpriced.

The main shocker that it’s taken me to get used to in the last few years is that people on FIXED incomes simply CANNOT afford to keep up their properties. Improvements/repairs are their LAST priority after food, utilities and gas (if they still drive). I wasn’t used to living with that before I purchased the property and didn’t fully realize the “demographic” until I had already settled in. I love the quiet of no obnoxious kids, though, so I guess you can’t have it both ways.

Aaaargh, I looked at my favorite S. Lake Tahoe blog over the weekend and 57% of the property sales there since the beginning of the year have been “distress” sales. OMG, you wouldn’t believe what you can buy there now (SFR) for $200K to $375K, WITHIN A MILE OF HEAVENLY GONDOLA or blocks from the CA lifts – on the free bus line! Life can be short so I’m going to retire there with my pets and turn into a ski bum. Wish I could do so NOW!!!! No more driving over the passes with chains and checking into overpriced rooms & condos. FABULOUS!!

[bearishgurl]

[quote=UCGal]I’d even understand if they repealed the prop 58 thing – but keep in mind – not all folks who benefit from it got the house free and clear – I paid market rate in 2003 – which meant it was more than a half million…[/quote]

UCGal, just feel fortunate you own a Prop 13-eligible property. I’m currently BROKE again after paying the county assessor and my place is worth nowhere near a “half million.” Those days are gone.

Yes, an HOA would help with keeping the ‘hood more “orderly,” but I simply CANNOT pay dues, street bonds or MR in addition to PROPERTY TAXES and still LIVE. It just seems like monthly HOA dues, even for SFR communities, have gone outta sight in recent years. I could purchase a A LOT of concrete/Ortho products/bricks/paint/topsoil etc. EVERY SINGLE MONTH for what HOA dues would cost if I chose to do so and could afford it. I go the YMCA (w/full amenities) 4 nights a week for only $38 mo. I can’t even heat up a backyard jacuzzi in the winter 4x a month for that, much less have circuit training and free classes! I think the “amenities” of HOA’s are very overpriced.

The main shocker that it’s taken me to get used to in the last few years is that people on FIXED incomes simply CANNOT afford to keep up their properties. Improvements/repairs are their LAST priority after food, utilities and gas (if they still drive). I wasn’t used to living with that before I purchased the property and didn’t fully realize the “demographic” until I had already settled in. I love the quiet of no obnoxious kids, though, so I guess you can’t have it both ways.

Aaaargh, I looked at my favorite S. Lake Tahoe blog over the weekend and 57% of the property sales there since the beginning of the year have been “distress” sales. OMG, you wouldn’t believe what you can buy there now (SFR) for $200K to $375K, WITHIN A MILE OF HEAVENLY GONDOLA or blocks from the CA lifts – on the free bus line! Life can be short so I’m going to retire there with my pets and turn into a ski bum. Wish I could do so NOW!!!! No more driving over the passes with chains and checking into overpriced rooms & condos. FABULOUS!!

[bearishgurl]

[quote=UCGal]I’d even understand if they repealed the prop 58 thing – but keep in mind – not all folks who benefit from it got the house free and clear – I paid market rate in 2003 – which meant it was more than a half million…[/quote]

UCGal, just feel fortunate you own a Prop 13-eligible property. I’m currently BROKE again after paying the county assessor and my place is worth nowhere near a “half million.” Those days are gone.

Yes, an HOA would help with keeping the ‘hood more “orderly,” but I simply CANNOT pay dues, street bonds or MR in addition to PROPERTY TAXES and still LIVE. It just seems like monthly HOA dues, even for SFR communities, have gone outta sight in recent years. I could purchase a A LOT of concrete/Ortho products/bricks/paint/topsoil etc. EVERY SINGLE MONTH for what HOA dues would cost if I chose to do so and could afford it. I go the YMCA (w/full amenities) 4 nights a week for only $38 mo. I can’t even heat up a backyard jacuzzi in the winter 4x a month for that, much less have circuit training and free classes! I think the “amenities” of HOA’s are very overpriced.

The main shocker that it’s taken me to get used to in the last few years is that people on FIXED incomes simply CANNOT afford to keep up their properties. Improvements/repairs are their LAST priority after food, utilities and gas (if they still drive). I wasn’t used to living with that before I purchased the property and didn’t fully realize the “demographic” until I had already settled in. I love the quiet of no obnoxious kids, though, so I guess you can’t have it both ways.

Aaaargh, I looked at my favorite S. Lake Tahoe blog over the weekend and 57% of the property sales there since the beginning of the year have been “distress” sales. OMG, you wouldn’t believe what you can buy there now (SFR) for $200K to $375K, WITHIN A MILE OF HEAVENLY GONDOLA or blocks from the CA lifts – on the free bus line! Life can be short so I’m going to retire there with my pets and turn into a ski bum. Wish I could do so NOW!!!! No more driving over the passes with chains and checking into overpriced rooms & condos. FABULOUS!!

[bearishgurl]

[quote=UCGal]I’d even understand if they repealed the prop 58 thing – but keep in mind – not all folks who benefit from it got the house free and clear – I paid market rate in 2003 – which meant it was more than a half million…[/quote]

UCGal, just feel fortunate you own a Prop 13-eligible property. I’m currently BROKE again after paying the county assessor and my place is worth nowhere near a “half million.” Those days are gone.

Yes, an HOA would help with keeping the ‘hood more “orderly,” but I simply CANNOT pay dues, street bonds or MR in addition to PROPERTY TAXES and still LIVE. It just seems like monthly HOA dues, even for SFR communities, have gone outta sight in recent years. I could purchase a A LOT of concrete/Ortho products/bricks/paint/topsoil etc. EVERY SINGLE MONTH for what HOA dues would cost if I chose to do so and could afford it. I go the YMCA (w/full amenities) 4 nights a week for only $38 mo. I can’t even heat up a backyard jacuzzi in the winter 4x a month for that, much less have circuit training and free classes! I think the “amenities” of HOA’s are very overpriced.

The main shocker that it’s taken me to get used to in the last few years is that people on FIXED incomes simply CANNOT afford to keep up their properties. Improvements/repairs are their LAST priority after food, utilities and gas (if they still drive). I wasn’t used to living with that before I purchased the property and didn’t fully realize the “demographic” until I had already settled in. I love the quiet of no obnoxious kids, though, so I guess you can’t have it both ways.

Aaaargh, I looked at my favorite S. Lake Tahoe blog over the weekend and 57% of the property sales there since the beginning of the year have been “distress” sales. OMG, you wouldn’t believe what you can buy there now (SFR) for $200K to $375K, WITHIN A MILE OF HEAVENLY GONDOLA or blocks from the CA lifts – on the free bus line! Life can be short so I’m going to retire there with my pets and turn into a ski bum. Wish I could do so NOW!!!! No more driving over the passes with chains and checking into overpriced rooms & condos. FABULOUS!!

[Author]

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