Who here owns 5 or more acres?

[punk-a-doodle]

1. Who here owns five or more acres?
We have 11 acres
2. Did you inherit the land or purchase it?
I bought it twice. First time with my ex through a bank- second time to buy from him via divorce, my parents loaned me the money... it was worth it, I now have a home built on it.
3. If purchased, how did you finance it?
Bank financed.

Buying land once is so stressful to me right now that the idea of having to buy it twice brings on a cold sweat. I'm so glad you were able to keep your land and keep building a life on it!

 

[cassie]

Well one thing that Calif. has right is property taxes.

Only because of prop 13. Before that property taxes were rising by leaps and bounds. We bought some property in Watsonville in the early 70's and before we knew it the property taxes were more than our mortgage payment. People were losing their homes because they couldn't pay the taxes. Prop 13 was passed and it changed all that. The counties had a fit, but if they hadn't been so greedy, Prop 13 would never have even been on the ballot.

 

[bgelber]

They each went up about 500% over last year's tax bills.

My husband did get a detailed, though completely unsatisfactory, explanation from the main county appraiser. They took lots with homes on them, valued the structure, then removed that value and came up with a value for the land the home sat on.

There was absolutely NO reason to do that, none whatsoever, with unimproved land sales all over the place. The reason they did that? She flat-out lied and said there were no comps so they had to do it that way. We easily, easily found plenty of unimproved land lot sales all around us on the county website that were sold within the last year. We filed our appeal, complete with documentation, and a letter of explanation two weeks before the deadline.

Next thing we knew, the county assessor was asking for tax money on timber they thought was missing off those two lots. We squared that away and then received a letter in regard to our appeal, saying they determined no change in value on the lots and there would be written notice of a meeting of the Board of Equalization, so they kicked it up the chain of command.

We realize that these tax bills sound low to some in other parts of the country, but remember, our taxes were less than $300 when we moved here and now, if the appeal does no good, we are looking at about $900. Our income is from a military pension. My DH is a disabled veteran whose health insurance was raised this year as well. Eventually, something will have to give. I just hope my land isn't one of those some developer buys for a $500 tax lien on the courthouse steps to build a rental cabin. Anyone want a beautiful piece of mountain property with gorgeous view that is chicken-friendly??? LOL.

My younger son lost his townhouse in a short sale. He paid $145K for it. It sold for $43K. And he still owes about $29K from a home equity line that creditors are clamoring for, even as he is over in South Korea teaching school. We are the ones picking up his mail. I know it happens, but our credit is A-1, always has been. It will devastate us if we lose that.

SpeckledHen,
I can't remember how Georgia taxes work but see if you can get it declared a timber farm for tax purposes. We did that for our farm land here it cut the tax bill in half.

edited because I was an idiot.

 

[hemet dennis]

Only because of prop 13. Before that property taxes were rising by leaps and bounds. We bought some property in Watsonville in the early 70's and before we knew it the property taxes were more than our mortgage payment. People were losing their homes because they couldn't pay the taxes. Prop 13 was passed and it changed all that. The counties had a fit, but if they hadn't been so greedy, Prop 13 would never have even been on the ballot.

It's called having a problem and fixing it.

 

[speckledhen]

No I'm not kidding. The rate maybe high but we don't have the surprise of one year they double or more. Property taxes don't even keep up with inflation here. I don't know if there's i perfect system but ours sounds better then yours.

I got some more info on that and I get what you meant, Dennis. Wasn't sure before. They are certainly way high there, but the way they are raised makes more sense, you're right.

 

[hemet dennis]

I got some more info on that and I get what you meant, Dennis. Wasn't sure before. They are certainly way high there, but the way they are raised makes more sense, you're right.

It depends on what part of the state you live in.

"In California, the property tax rate is set at 1%. This rate is constant as guaranteed under Proposition 13 passed in 1978. What this means is that a $1 tax is imposed for every $100 of assessed value of the property. In addition, under the provisions of Proposition 13, any taxes levied by any governmental agency on top of the 1% must be approved by 66 2/3% of the voters. However, in the case of the school bonds, only 55% majority is required as provided for under Proposition 39. Therefore, any rate you will see in your tax bill added to the 1%, represents a debt or debts approved by the voters."

So if you live in an area that has approved bonds to build stuff then you could end up with a high tax rate. And if it was passed by 2/3 of the voters then it was probably something that was badly needed.
Also a average house in Calif. cost more then an average house in most other states. So Calif. taxes will always be higher. I think in So. Calif. we pay for the weather.

LOL

 

[chickened]

It depends on what part of the state you live in.

"In California, the property tax rate is set at 1%. This rate is constant as guaranteed under Proposition 13 passed in 1978. What this means is that a $1 tax is imposed for every $100 of assessed value of the property. In addition, under the provisions of Proposition 13, any taxes levied by any governmental agency on top of the 1% must be approved by 66 2/3% of the voters. However, in the case of the school bonds, only 55% majority is required as provided for under Proposition 39. Therefore, any rate you will see in your tax bill added to the 1%, represents a debt or debts approved by the voters."

So if you live in an area that has approved bonds to build stuff then you could end up with a high tax rate. And if it was passed by 2/3 of the voters then it was probably something that was badly needed.
Also a average house in Calif. cost more then an average house in most other states. So Calif. taxes will always be higher. I think in So. Calif. we pay for the weather.

LOL

If Cynthia were to move it may pay to research the area and find a place to live where resident vote down the the bonds and levies. There are counties in Oregon that offer that.

 

[speckledhen]

I won't be going anywhere that taxes DH's military pension if we leave here. That alone will save us $$$. Most likely, we will move up into Tennessee, which meets that requirement, where we planned to settle in the first place and did own land once, as long as we can find something that is at least as decent as what we own now and the mortgage is not higher, after our down payment (which should be in excess of $100K). Would be best to be mortgage-free, but that's a tough one, even in less expensive areas of TN.

We got our notice of the hearing with the Board of Equalization on Nov. 26 at 9 a.m. We will be going with documentation to prove our case.


There is an amendment on the ballot today for GA that will likely raise property taxes in addition to what they are already trying to raise them, a charter school amendment. If that passes and taxes are bumped up yet again, we may have no choice but to go.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

If you stay away from resort towns an big cities there is some good land for good prices in TN. Cant say anything bad about the TN tax code ether. Land taxes are slightly higher on average but no income tax an a ok sales tax.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

TN is attractive to me. Gorgeous land, friendly people, successful small scale farmers, okay exotic laws....it's the dang ticks and humidity I'm not sure I could handle!