[meadandale]

We all know that these people aren’t smart enough to be banking their mortgage payments in lieu of making the payments so I’d say that this assessment is pretty much spot on.

I think that we are in the eye of the storm. There’s a big front coming. Consider that home values are storming upwards again in San Diego with absolutely nothing to support them. Once rates rise (as they must) this will come to an end. And it’s going to be a long time until the economy truly recovers. We aren’t even close–I think that it’s going to get alot worse before it gets better, especially considering the dire state of US debt and our huge deficit spending binge.

[meadandale]

We all know that these people aren’t smart enough to be banking their mortgage payments in lieu of making the payments so I’d say that this assessment is pretty much spot on.

I think that we are in the eye of the storm. There’s a big front coming. Consider that home values are storming upwards again in San Diego with absolutely nothing to support them. Once rates rise (as they must) this will come to an end. And it’s going to be a long time until the economy truly recovers. We aren’t even close–I think that it’s going to get alot worse before it gets better, especially considering the dire state of US debt and our huge deficit spending binge.

[meadandale]

We all know that these people aren’t smart enough to be banking their mortgage payments in lieu of making the payments so I’d say that this assessment is pretty much spot on.

I think that we are in the eye of the storm. There’s a big front coming. Consider that home values are storming upwards again in San Diego with absolutely nothing to support them. Once rates rise (as they must) this will come to an end. And it’s going to be a long time until the economy truly recovers. We aren’t even close–I think that it’s going to get alot worse before it gets better, especially considering the dire state of US debt and our huge deficit spending binge.

[meadandale]

We all know that these people aren’t smart enough to be banking their mortgage payments in lieu of making the payments so I’d say that this assessment is pretty much spot on.

I think that we are in the eye of the storm. There’s a big front coming. Consider that home values are storming upwards again in San Diego with absolutely nothing to support them. Once rates rise (as they must) this will come to an end. And it’s going to be a long time until the economy truly recovers. We aren’t even close–I think that it’s going to get alot worse before it gets better, especially considering the dire state of US debt and our huge deficit spending binge.

[meadandale]

[quote=Hatfield]
This doesn’t help you. You generally can’t spend your Benjamins abroad, and the moneychangers charge exorbitant rates to convert that to local currency.

By FAR the best bet is to use an ATM card, and withdraw as much local currency per transaction as your bank allows. You get the overnight exchange rate, plus a flat fee – generally 5 or 6 bucks – which when amortized over the 300 or 400 you withdraw, is a FAR lower vig than what you’d pay trying to change a $100 at Thomas Cook.[/quote]

Yep, when I was in Australia last year they won’t take US dollars anywhere. However, it was easy enough to walk up to any ATM and withdraw AUS dollars…$300-400 at a time. I made sure to discuss the costs for currency conversion if I did this with my credit union before I left the US.

[meadandale]

[quote=Hatfield]
This doesn’t help you. You generally can’t spend your Benjamins abroad, and the moneychangers charge exorbitant rates to convert that to local currency.

By FAR the best bet is to use an ATM card, and withdraw as much local currency per transaction as your bank allows. You get the overnight exchange rate, plus a flat fee – generally 5 or 6 bucks – which when amortized over the 300 or 400 you withdraw, is a FAR lower vig than what you’d pay trying to change a $100 at Thomas Cook.[/quote]

Yep, when I was in Australia last year they won’t take US dollars anywhere. However, it was easy enough to walk up to any ATM and withdraw AUS dollars…$300-400 at a time. I made sure to discuss the costs for currency conversion if I did this with my credit union before I left the US.

[meadandale]

[quote=Hatfield]
This doesn’t help you. You generally can’t spend your Benjamins abroad, and the moneychangers charge exorbitant rates to convert that to local currency.

By FAR the best bet is to use an ATM card, and withdraw as much local currency per transaction as your bank allows. You get the overnight exchange rate, plus a flat fee – generally 5 or 6 bucks – which when amortized over the 300 or 400 you withdraw, is a FAR lower vig than what you’d pay trying to change a $100 at Thomas Cook.[/quote]

Yep, when I was in Australia last year they won’t take US dollars anywhere. However, it was easy enough to walk up to any ATM and withdraw AUS dollars…$300-400 at a time. I made sure to discuss the costs for currency conversion if I did this with my credit union before I left the US.

[meadandale]

[quote=Hatfield]
This doesn’t help you. You generally can’t spend your Benjamins abroad, and the moneychangers charge exorbitant rates to convert that to local currency.

By FAR the best bet is to use an ATM card, and withdraw as much local currency per transaction as your bank allows. You get the overnight exchange rate, plus a flat fee – generally 5 or 6 bucks – which when amortized over the 300 or 400 you withdraw, is a FAR lower vig than what you’d pay trying to change a $100 at Thomas Cook.[/quote]

Yep, when I was in Australia last year they won’t take US dollars anywhere. However, it was easy enough to walk up to any ATM and withdraw AUS dollars…$300-400 at a time. I made sure to discuss the costs for currency conversion if I did this with my credit union before I left the US.

[meadandale]

[quote=Hatfield]
This doesn’t help you. You generally can’t spend your Benjamins abroad, and the moneychangers charge exorbitant rates to convert that to local currency.

By FAR the best bet is to use an ATM card, and withdraw as much local currency per transaction as your bank allows. You get the overnight exchange rate, plus a flat fee – generally 5 or 6 bucks – which when amortized over the 300 or 400 you withdraw, is a FAR lower vig than what you’d pay trying to change a $100 at Thomas Cook.[/quote]

Yep, when I was in Australia last year they won’t take US dollars anywhere. However, it was easy enough to walk up to any ATM and withdraw AUS dollars…$300-400 at a time. I made sure to discuss the costs for currency conversion if I did this with my credit union before I left the US.

[meadandale]

[quote=flu]Even if the home is free and clear/with no estate taxes,
if the beneficiary really needs to cash at that point when they get the home, they would most likely sell the home right there and then. Very seldomly does someone take the home because they think theuy are getting a killer deal on property taxes, pay say an estate tax on it, and then turn it around and ATM the home to death.[/quote]

I don’t know…a friend of mine is a realtor over here in Allied Gardens. He knows personally of a case where the kids did just this–they inherited a house free and clear and mortgaged it to the hilt, pulling out more and more equity to buy toys and take trips until they ended up under water and finally got foreclosed on.

[meadandale]

[quote=flu]Even if the home is free and clear/with no estate taxes,
if the beneficiary really needs to cash at that point when they get the home, they would most likely sell the home right there and then. Very seldomly does someone take the home because they think theuy are getting a killer deal on property taxes, pay say an estate tax on it, and then turn it around and ATM the home to death.[/quote]

I don’t know…a friend of mine is a realtor over here in Allied Gardens. He knows personally of a case where the kids did just this–they inherited a house free and clear and mortgaged it to the hilt, pulling out more and more equity to buy toys and take trips until they ended up under water and finally got foreclosed on.

[meadandale]

[quote=flu]Even if the home is free and clear/with no estate taxes,
if the beneficiary really needs to cash at that point when they get the home, they would most likely sell the home right there and then. Very seldomly does someone take the home because they think theuy are getting a killer deal on property taxes, pay say an estate tax on it, and then turn it around and ATM the home to death.[/quote]

I don’t know…a friend of mine is a realtor over here in Allied Gardens. He knows personally of a case where the kids did just this–they inherited a house free and clear and mortgaged it to the hilt, pulling out more and more equity to buy toys and take trips until they ended up under water and finally got foreclosed on.

[meadandale]

[quote=flu]Even if the home is free and clear/with no estate taxes,
if the beneficiary really needs to cash at that point when they get the home, they would most likely sell the home right there and then. Very seldomly does someone take the home because they think theuy are getting a killer deal on property taxes, pay say an estate tax on it, and then turn it around and ATM the home to death.[/quote]

I don’t know…a friend of mine is a realtor over here in Allied Gardens. He knows personally of a case where the kids did just this–they inherited a house free and clear and mortgaged it to the hilt, pulling out more and more equity to buy toys and take trips until they ended up under water and finally got foreclosed on.

[meadandale]

[quote=flu]Even if the home is free and clear/with no estate taxes,
if the beneficiary really needs to cash at that point when they get the home, they would most likely sell the home right there and then. Very seldomly does someone take the home because they think theuy are getting a killer deal on property taxes, pay say an estate tax on it, and then turn it around and ATM the home to death.[/quote]

I don’t know…a friend of mine is a realtor over here in Allied Gardens. He knows personally of a case where the kids did just this–they inherited a house free and clear and mortgaged it to the hilt, pulling out more and more equity to buy toys and take trips until they ended up under water and finally got foreclosed on.

[meadandale]

[quote=captcha][quote=CA renter][quote=captcha][quote=meadandale]
My neighbor, who is in his 80’s, bought his house when it was brand new….in 1954. He paid $10k for it.

Would it be fair for him to pay over $4k/year (what I pay)…or almost half the price he paid for the house, every year in property taxes? Does that make sense?

He’s living on a fixed income. I can guarantee that he does not have the money to pay that property tax bill. Should we just kick him out of the house?

Spending in this state has exceeded population growth and inflation in every way imaginable. There is NO revenue problem in CA…there is a SPENDING problem.[/quote]

Your neighbor uses the communal facilities the same way your other neighbor who bought last year does. Yet the new neighbor could be contributing many times more.

If the goal is to lessen the cost for the low income people then the criterion needs to be the income, not the purchase date.[/quote]

Not necessarily. Most of the Prop 13 money goes to schools (53% of it in 2006-2007…don’t have more current info). Unless granny is still sending her kids to school, it’s much more likely the new family is using a greater portion of the Prop 13 money.

———————–

The property tax raised more than $43.2 billion for local government during 2006-07. These funds were allocated as follows: counties 17 percent, cities 11 percent, schools (school districts and community colleges) 53 percent, and special districts 19 percent.

http://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/pdf/pub29.pdf%5B/quote%5D

The issue of uneven consumption is different issue. There are young people with no kids, older people with aged-out kids, people with kids, but no need for other services, like lifeguards, libraries or dog beaches.

If we want to factor in the consumption the property tax formula should include the number of school-age residents, proximity to the local beach, miles driven and vehicle tonnage and few other things.

It just feels like another instance of group of people offloading the cost onto another group of people just because they can. The first group still has the same level of access to the communal facilities as the second group.[/quote]

I have a small house (1100 sq ft) am single and have no kids and pay north of $4k/year in property taxes. Are you saying that I should be paying even more money in property taxes to educate other peoples kids?

I think that I pay more than my fair share…and this doesn’t even include the tens of thousands I pay in state and federal income taxes.

[Author]

Posts