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Do You Really Own Your Home? A Tax Revolt Says No. (www.politico.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by to c/usa@midwest.social
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The argument that property taxes make Americans renters in their own houses has fueled the biggest anti-tax uprising in half a century, and local governments are scrambling.

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[–] 4 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)

did people not relize this before. It pays for your local services. what really annoying is towns have started to only allow building of complexes that then collect assesments to take care of streets and a fair amount of sewer and infrastructure but then you also pay tax.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

    Embarrassingly, it mostly seems to be homeowners who don’t understand escrow disbursements who have recently paid off their houses and are surprised they have to cut a check to cover their property taxes.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago (4 children)

    Not in my experience. I have known a lot of folks who have only rented who think if they can get a house they are golden. Like first they don't realize until its paid off they essentially don't really own it and then second they think once the mortgage is paid off they will have zero housing expenses. Maybe they get they will need to do repairs. Most people who have gone through the process I know seek to get rid of pmi and are well aware of the taxes because you get a statement about your excrow regularly. What I really find with most folks is they don't understand affordability. Like if their mortgage depends on two incomes and in the future requires more income. Your really taking a gamble. You get people buying more house than they can really afford when there are other affordable options. Often falling for the buy as much house as you can trap. My thing is whatever you buy you should be able to get with a 15 year fixed mortgage and when you buy it get a 30 year fixed.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

    Buying a house makes you "golden" in the sense that you're not at the mercy of a landlord who can raise your rent ever year or evict you so a family member can have your place.

    If we had renter's rights in this country buying would make a lot less sense.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    If housing prices drop and you are underwater its not so golden and if you pay more than the equivalent rent then you got your price rise in advance. Further if you hold on the mortgage is tenous and interest rates go up then your monthly payment can rise to. Its why I put my guidelines at the end on what is an affordable place to buy. In that scenario your golden but if you buy with a ballon loan on two incomes you may find that its fools gold your relying on.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Housing prices going down only matter if you want to sell.

    Sure rents might be cheaper than owning, usually not though. Landloards are greedy as fuck. Buying my home was a good move because rents have gone up a lot since I bought it in my area. And of course rents could go down but... haha I joke.

    Regarding mortgages going up after you buy: that's only going to happen if you have an adjustable. I have a standard fixed mortgage it will never go up.

    Certainly my taxes may go up, but that only reflects rising home value and I'd get that out if I sell.

    If we had reasonable renter's protections it would make less sense to buy, but outside of Mamdani's New York, renter protections are absolutely horrible in this country and buying is the only way to "opt out" of the exploitative landlord system.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago

    yeah so one of my things I had in my comments is criteria for buying a house and not being in trouble. Your sorta gotta take that with the rest of my comments. Its main thing was not being an adjustable. I get the housing going down is only bad if you want to sell. As a matter of fact it cracks me up because I will get neighbors who are so obsessed with housing prices going up but that just raised your tax. I mean I don't exactly want them going down or stagnating as its an indication things are bad but I also don't want them skyrocketing. I want them slowly appreciating like an asset like that should so that it basically keeps up with inflation. Its not really suppose to be a big money maker its suppose to be a good money store.

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