Are you "lucky"if you have a secure retirement?

[ultrarunner]

So 1% of what you bought it for plus a max 2% increase per year?

Yes... although the technical part is 1% of value at the time of transfer... so, if you decided to sell your nephew your home at a 50% discount... the Assessor can come back.

In practice... any home sold through the normal brokerage will be assessed at the sale price.

Since 1978 the actual tax rate has varied from 1.1% to as much as 1.8% depending on location... my friends a few minutes away live in the county and pay 1.1%... I live in a big city where 2/3 of the voters have approved about 25 special assessments from a $1 for mosquito abatement to $85 for midnight basketball and even a tax to bring back the Oakland Raiders!

My 101 year old neighbor home sold yesterday... she bought it new in 1958 and her current tax bill is $2,000 including all the special voter approved assessments...

The new couple that just bought it will be paying over 10k... and if they keep it 50 years like the previous owner that 10k will be very low if selling prices continue to increase...

 

[JDgreen227]

HEY! How dare you call TractorByNet a FRAUD!!

Spell out your acronyms when first used! We are on TBN!!

Hey, don't pick on Tom Seller and the rest of us!!! We all get our dollar's worth when we contribute to TBN (Tractor By Net) and it may not be of real cash value....but I can attest when over the years I have contributed here on TBN I have ALWAYS gotten something positive from my investments.....:laughing:

 

[Buggs67]

Yes... although the technical part is 1% of value at the time of transfer... so, if you decided to sell your nephew your home at a 50% discount... the Assessor can come back.

In practice... any home sold through the normal brokerage will be assessed at the sale price.

Since 1978 the actual tax rate has varied from 1.1% to as much as 1.8% depending on location... my friends a few minutes away live in the county and pay 1.1%... I live in a big city where 2/3 of the voters have approved about 25 special assessments from a $1 for mosquito abatement to $85 for midnight basketball and even a tax to bring back the Oakland Raiders!

My 101 year old neighbor home sold yesterday... she bought it new in 1958 and her current tax bill is $2,000 including all the special voter approved assessments...

The new couple that just bought it will be paying over 10k... and if they keep it 50 years like the previous owner that 10k will be very low if selling prices continue to increase...

These are unrealistic and unsustainable rules. Think about how much your neighbor has been under-contributing over the years. It's like rent-control. It's against the laws of economics. Besides if you don't pay by property taxes, then you'll have to pay the bill elsewhere. Or cut services. Or incurr debt through deficit spending. And then debt creates it's own drag.

All these dumb Props CA does could be why it's on the balls of it's *** financially.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

As much as I love my labradors (and I'm on my second rescue dog too), people are always more important in my mind ...

I also love the Salvation Army.

I am also a fan of the Salvation Army. In my years of activity with amateur radio, I had occasion to work with them and also the Red Cross. I still haven't gotten over how shameless the Red Cross was for a photo op. We had a local flood and, of course, the Salvation Army was right there. The Red Cross came only after the media arrived. I swear .... they drove 2 well marked vehicles through the neighborhood to get on camera and then left. The Red Cross, in my opinion, is nothing but a vehicle to raise money over every single opportunity.

Back to the point ....

I agree completely that trusted causes for humankind are worthy charities. Having worked in animal rescue for a number of years, it seems there is an ENDLESS stream of money into those human efforts - although much of it is wasted. The other of God's Creations - our pets - suffer in an endless array of underfunded shelters or are simply killed. My estate, almost all of it, is going to help one or two dedicated local animal shelters.

 

[vtsnowedin]

So 40 percent of SF homes sell for cash? If you got rid of the jumbo mortgages and removed that other 60 percent from the market what do you suppose the prices would be? And one percent taxes on a property that has an inflated value three times what it is really worth means your paying three percent of your real value. California and San Francisco are certifiably nuts. Hope your eyes wide open and ready to get out if and when that goes toes up on people.

 

[TomSeller]

These are unrealistic and unsustainable rules. Think about how much your neighbor has been under-contributing over the years. It's like rent-control. It's against the laws of economics. Besides if you don't pay by property taxes, then you'll have to pay the bill elsewhere. Or cut services. Or incurr debt through deficit spending. And then debt creates it's own drag.

All these dumb Props CA does could be why it's on the balls of it's *** financially.

I hear what you are saying, but I am all for any kind of limit on any and all taxes. I pay somewhere around $10K a year on property taxes alone.

 

[ultrarunner]

These are unrealistic and unsustainable rules. Think about how much your neighbor has been under-contributing over the years. It's like rent-control. It's against the laws of economics. Besides if you don't pay by property taxes, then you'll have to pay the bill elsewhere. Or cut services. Or incurr debt through deficit spending. And then debt creates it's own drag.

All these dumb Props CA does could be why it's on the balls of it's *** financially.

Where to begin?

You could not be more wrong... then again, people living outside of California have no idea just how much in taxes Californians pay...

By the same logic it could be said folks in Nevada and Washington are in the same boat since these States charge no Income Tax or those living in Oregon pay no Sales Tax. Californians pay Property, Sales, Income, numerous surcharges on everything from Utilities/Cell Service to buying Lumber... there are literally thousands of entities with the power to tax in this State.

Prop 13 was a groundswell taxpayer revolt at a time double digit tax increases were rampant and the legislature chose not to act... simply indexing the homeowner exemption would have stopped Prop 13... by the way, Jerry Brown was governor then and again now...

Also... several tax Assessors pre-prop 13 were sent to prison and others committed suicide when their sweetheart tax deals were uncovered for those of influence and power... it was just too easy to manipulate property values when based on estimates of value.

I would NEVER want to go back to the old system where some bureaucrat estimates my taxes based on a guess using what some fool happened to pay for a property in my area... I've experienced this in Washington State when my taxes increased 80% one year to the next because some fool with money paid an outlandish price for a parcel of land... only to go bankrupt when the market tanked...

Prop 13 replaced volumes of Tax Code with a few short paragraphs... anyone can understand it and reduced Assessor staff dramatically...

Why should a home be treated differently than any other purchase... I have a 1962 Corvette that sits in the garage... as Corvette values rise... using your logic so should my registration.

The Supreme Court has ruled Prop 13 does not violate the equal protection clause... Prop 13 is simply a tax based on the price paid between a willing seller and buyer...

Prop 13 is not cast in stone... voter approval is all that is required to increase taxes... in my city, the voters have been very generous... only 55% voter approval is required for school infrastructure...

Californians pay some of the highest taxes in the Nation... so pray tell why adding some stability to property taxes is a bad thing?

I was much too young to have voted for Prop 13 when it became law... I am thankful and grateful for those that did...

PS... Why shouldn't my 101 year old neighbor widow lady living on savings and a modest Social Security check be forced from her home because some think she should pay more in property tax... she paid her dues, paid the assessments for the road and utilities that I get to enjoy...

She and others like her deserve a secure retirement... we do not work for the government...

 

[ultrarunner]

So 40 percent of SF homes sell for cash? If you got rid of the jumbo mortgages and removed that other 60 percent from the market what do you suppose the prices would be? And one percent taxes on a property that has an inflated value three times what it is really worth means your paying three percent of your real value. California and San Francisco are certifiably nuts. Hope your eyes wide open and ready to get out if and when that goes toes up on people.

Well... my backup plan has not worked out so well... I bought a home in Washington State and in one year my taxes increased 80%!!! I was told it was because land value had nearly doubled based on a single sale to a developer at a record price... well, the Developer went bust and now the land is open space... didn't matter the damage had been done...

The 40% cash sales is just that... others put down 20, 30 or even 50% on top of the all cash sales...

I guess the rest of the nation has a love/hate relationship with California... just remember California is a donor state and sends much more to Washington than it receives... also, the economy is always in the top 10 of the world...

Unemployment is very low around here and wages quite good... this is what drives the market. SF minimum wage is set to reach $15 and Oakland is $12.25 with mandatory sick pay...

More patents are filed from California than all the other states combined... it got to the point where a West Coast Patent office was opened just to deal with the volume.

Then there is California AG... a wonder of the world...

Sure, there is lots to gripe about and I certainly do... my point is anyone thinking California is going away or will diminish in standing is not being rational....

Living and working in California has single handedly provided secure retirement for many I know... after decades of working here they leave... taking their California money with them... a paid for typical Bay Area home will net about 600k...

 

[Jim Nelson]

Well... my backup plan has not worked out so well... I bought a home in Washington State and in one year my taxes increased 80%!!! I was told it was because land value had nearly doubled based on a single sale to a developer at a record price... well, the Developer went bust and now the land is open space... didn't matter the damage had been done...

The 40% cash sales is just that... others put down 20, 30 or even 50% on top of the all cash sales...

I guess the rest of the nation has a love/hate relationship with California... just remember California is a donor state and sends much more to Washington than it receives... also, the economy is always in the top 10 of the world...

Unemployment is very low around here and wages quite good... this is what drives the market. SF minimum wage is set to reach $15 and Oakland is $12.25 with mandatory sick pay...

More patents are filed from California than all the other states combined... it got to the point where a West Coast Patent office was opened just to deal with the volume.

Then there is California AG... a wonder of the world...

Sure, there is lots to gripe about and I certainly do... my point is anyone thinking California is going away or will diminish in standing is not being rational....

Living and working in California has single handedly provided secure retirement for many I know... after decades of working here they leave... taking their California money with them... a paid for typical Bay Area home will net about 600k...

Well said, I moved from Colorado to Southern Ca. in 1986 for a chance at better pay and it worked for me. I was in the construction industry and got tired of making a living 8 or 9 months of the year then barely getting by. Most people from the rest of the country think the goofy stories they hear are the way it is but nothing could be farther from the truth. I met a lot of people who came out here like I did and couldn't cut it so went back to poverty flats and bad mouthed the "left coast" or" land of fruits and nuts" or whatever excuse they could dream up. California has plenty of problems but the rest of the country has just as many and we have the weather which to me is well worth the "sunshine tax" we pay.

 

[Parkanzky]

I love California. We've talked about moving out there a few times, but we both have great jobs that keep us here. They call it the "golden handcuffs" around the office.