housing wow....

[TAB]

my old house in fair oaks( sacramento area)   just sold for almost 400k more then I sold  it for 3 years ago when I bailed from CA.


it was built in 68 and had nothing done other than maintance items and central heat and air.



looking at the pics, it still has the 10+ year old carpet and the same paint it had when we sold it.  still has the specaled olive white and green tile back counter top/back splash and  dark stained pine cabinets. 

there are no words other then wow.  if I had only known.

[MikeBjerum]

You should understand as well as anyone that carpet, other flooring, counter tops, and even cabinets are not money making or even maintaining investments.  Most serious buyers want their own choices in these, so they plan to rip them all out and replace them anyway, regardless of how new or up to date they are.

[TAB]

I know they are break even at best items.   I just find it funny that a 384k change in 3 years.    whats more shocking it was only on the MLS for 2 days.


it was a POS when I bought, it was a POS when I sold it.   I bought it for the location and the long side yard so I could park 3 boats there   

it was the dog of the hood no doubt.


reduing the small galley kitchen is not that expesnive. doing what should be done was.    I always wanted to tear it out, put a beam on the load baring wall between the kitchen and the living room, expand the kitchen 6', triple the cabinet and 4x the counter top... never did it as the materials alone were 40k.   

[billt]

The California real estate market is completely insane. In L.A. 60 year old, 1,200 sq. ft. 2 bedroom, 1 bath frame homes are selling for over $500K. I can't see how this market can possibly sustain itself much longer over there.

Tech companies in Silicone Valley, as well as the aircraft industry in the southern California area, are all tanking. Companies in the Bay Area are laying off in droves. There are no longer ANY aircraft being built in southern California. The Boeing C-17 program was the last, and they recently closed that down, and laid off thousands of workers. None of those people will be able to find other jobs as lucrative as what they had.

Add the never ending influx of illegal invaders that is draining that state dry financially, and something has got to give, and give soon. This could very well end in a real estate crash even worse than the real estate crash of 2008, and send prices plummeting as a result. TAB, you were smart to get out when you did. 

[TAB]

Should have done it 10years before... wouod have never met sarah, but my life would have been so much better.   I stayed until my grandfather passed.

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

That's really nice that you stayed for your grandfather TAB. Both mine died before I was born so I can only imagine what it's like.

And I recently found out my property taxes are going up $4 this year. At first I was wondering what the point was in raising it such a small amount, then I figured out it should raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue since there are some houses in the $500,000 - $1,000,000 range just a mile or so away from here.

[billt]

......And I recently found out my property taxes are going up $4 this year. At first I was wondering what the point was in raising it such a small amount, then I figured out it should raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue since there are some houses in the $500,000 - $1,000,000 range just a mile or so away from here.

You bring up another good point why we're ripe for another housing crash. Property taxes in many areas of the country are going completely off the chart. Especially in most all of the Democratic nanny states. Because they're quickly running out of money trying to support all of their give away programs, and expensive, unsustainable pensions for all of their teachers unions and city workers.

When my wife and I built our home in Lake County, Illinois, (right next to Cook County, and about 25 miles from downtown Chicago), It was a 4 bedroom, 3 bath 2 story. When it was completed in 1985 the property taxes were $2,600.00 a year. And the house was worth just north of $200K, when we sold and left in 1991, 6 years later. The taxes had grown to $4,000.00 a year by then, in that short 6 year span. High, but still somewhat affordable.

We just checked and last year, (2016), the property taxes had climbed to $10,400.00 A YEAR! That's $866.00 a month. The current value of the home shows to be around $348K on Zillow. Less than a $150K increase in value in the last 26 years. And with that $866.00 a month for taxes, you haven't paid for any utilities or insurance. Not to mention a mortgage, groceries, gasoline, car insurance, health care, and all the other day to day expenses. What working middle class family can possibly afford that? Let alone someone who is retired. They simply can't. And mind you this home was nice, but nothing special. A bit like the house Beaver Cleaver grew up in with Wally, Ward, and June.

The homes in these highly taxed areas are becoming very difficult to sell because of this. People are being forced to move out and find cheaper living. Many like myself, have moved out of state. My current property taxes here in Arizona are just over $1K a year. And I have all the same schools and services available to me I had back there. Many are even better.

This is all going to come crashing down. It's only a matter of time. I'm actually surprised it hasn't already. And it's worse in many other areas of the country like New York, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and some areas of Michigan. All of which have had property taxes spiral out of control. This is yet another example of out of control spending by Democratic liberals, who have come up with everything.... Except a way to pay for it all. 

[PegLeg45]

Crap, Bill....... I guess we got it OK here in south Georgia.

Property taxes on 35 acres (with a conservation covenant) is only $500 and change. Our younger son has a house on 3 acres and his runs around $1500 per year.

[Big Frank]

I had to look up conservation covenant. I never heard of that before.

[PegLeg45]

I had to look up conservation covenant. I never heard of that before.

Ours is under an agricultural and wetlands agreement. We have to renew every ten years, and agree that part of the land will be used for cultivated agricultural use, and that the part that is considered wetlands (our property runs into bottom land and a creek system) remains such. It cuts our property taxes by 60% and we actually make enough to cover that in a lease agreement with a neighbor that leases 15 acres to plant cotton on each year.