Why people don't keep older equipment running

[Industrial Toys]

Sure. INVEST in LAND, so you can be TAXED to death!

 

[k0ua]

Sure. INVEST in LAND, so you can be TAXED to death!

I bought the 3 lots around me and left them wooded, so no one could build near me. taxes are a few dollars a year, not enough to even mention.. Course I don't live where you do either.

 

[5030]

Here in Michigan tillable land is considered Public Act 51 and as such is taxed at a very reduced rate.

 

[Hay Dude]

Sure. INVEST in LAND, so you can be TAXED to death!

When you look at your property tax assessment, usually land is taxed at a lower amount than the improvements built upon them. Also, AG land is very minimally taxed in MOST areas.
One of my customers has a 19 acre parcel of PRIME land. His tax bill is $90/year.
Once it sells and a large estate home is built on it, that will go up to about $25,000/year.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I hear what people with large expenses houses pay. It's INSANE! And most derive virtually no services from that.

IF, I had oodles of money, I too would buy adjacent land to ensure privacy. Known wealthy folks that bought all land around them whenever it came on the market. No point at all, trying to make offers if it's not on the market.

 

[grsthegreat]

Well i purchased the 10 acres across from me 5 years ago so no one would build there. Its kept in hay, so i only pay $160 per year in taxes. Worth it to keep the privacy...and i paid $69,000 for it and its worth over $105,000 now, so win win

 

[BrokenTrack]

Mark Twain was rather silly because land value's do not work that way.

There is plenty of land that is unused in the world, it is just having land that is in demand that can be the problem.

Where the world population is blessed is, we have technology now that can make formerly useless land for cultivating crops, into ones that do grow crops. Never in my life did I think it would be possible for Maine to grow tomatoes all year long, but that is indeed happening now. Plastic greenhouses have evolved to the point where the cost of creating an environment year around for tomatoes is possible on a commercial farming scale in Maine.

Amazing.

But it can also work in reverse too. A lot of large tracks of land are up for sale near me because the cost of property taxes has increased in time to the value of a forest being reduced. Here in Maine, we average 1 cord of wood produced per year, per acre. With an average value of $18 a cord for stumpage, it costs more to pay property taxes for a given acre, then what the land produces for wood. So, people are selling off large tracks of land.

That tax burden does not sound high ($26 an acre), until you start adding up all the acres owned. My Grandfather has a tax burden of over $15,000 a year, and my Uncle, over $30,000 a year. My next door neighbor owns 3200 acres, and he cannot sell land fast enough because he cannot pay his property taxes any longer.

But it becomes a catch22. As more people in Maine leave because of high taxes, it leaves less people to shoulder the tax burden, so the tax burden gets higher...and round and round we go.

 

[5030]

Well i purchased the 10 acres across from me 5 years ago so no one would build there. Its kept in hay, so i only pay $160 per year in taxes. Worth it to keep the privacy...and i paid $69,000 for it and its worth over $105,000 now, so win win

However, if you decide to sell it (at least here in Michigan), and you sell it for any other use but ag, the back taxes become liable and must be paid in full before the title will come out of escrow. If it stays ag, no issue, but changing use causes that to happen here. Not sure about where you live, but worth a look.

 

[5030]

Mark Twain was rather silly because land value's do not work that way.

There is plenty of land that is unused in the world, it is just having land that is in demand that can be the problem.

Where the world population is blessed is, we have technology now that can make formerly useless land for cultivating crops, into ones that do grow crops. Never in my life did I think it would be possible for Maine to grow tomatoes all year long, but that is indeed happening now. Plastic greenhouses have evolved to the point where the cost of creating an environment year around for tomatoes is possible on a commercial farming scale in Maine.

Amazing.

But it can also work in reverse too. A lot of large tracks of land are up for sale near me because the cost of property taxes has increased in time to the value of a forest being reduced. Here in Maine, we average 1 cord of wood produced per year, per acre. With an average value of $18 a cord for stumpage, it costs more to pay property taxes for a given acre, then what the land produces for wood. So, people are selling off large tracks of land.

That tax burden does not sound high ($26 an acre), until you start adding up all the acres owned. My Grandfather has a tax burden of over $15,000 a year, and my Uncle, over $30,000 a year. My next door neighbor owns 3200 acres, and he cannot sell land fast enough because he cannot pay his property taxes any longer.

But it becomes a catch22. As more people in Maine leave because of high taxes, it leaves less people to shoulder the tax burden, so the tax burden gets higher...and round and round we go.

My best friend in Stockton Springs pays a bundle in real estate taxes and gets little return on investment, but the government must be financed at all cost (to the individual) because government (local or not) is 100% overhead.

 

[Hay Dude]

My best friend in Stockton Springs pays a bundle in real estate taxes and gets little return on investment, but the government must be financed at all cost (to the individual) because government (local or not) is 100% overhead.

It’s about to get a LOT worse.
In PA, they will be looking for new sources of revenue to make up for lost tax revenues in the last 3 months and probably into the future. One of my biggest customers runs a land conservancy. He was saying they just had meetings and the state is trying to reduce funding for environmental conservation.