Property Value/Appraisals RANT

[MossflowerWoods]

42 acres of timber-Buy a sawmill and start building !

Now that would be FUN, but with my work schedule & skills, not likely.

In 2-7 years I will clearcut, sell, and use the cash to build... and I will replant at least 25 acres of it as the NEW forest...

David

 

[RoyJackson]

My commute (only 3-4 days per week) is 84 miles ONE WAY, my F-150 is getting 16 to 16.5 mpg... My monthly GASOLINE bill is outrageous...

But it is THOUSANDS of dollars to go buy another car, plus insurance, etc...

Excellent point.
David

You knew the drive would be long when you accepted the job...and, the way I see the route (Ladysmith VA to Washington) is a fair amount of secondary roads (not best for fuel economy...and I'd guess your F-150 is getting less then 16 MPG).
You could get a "beater" car...little 4 cylinder like a VW Rabbit or similar. That would reduce your monthly fuel costs. Leave the F-150 at home.

I know you have some tough decisions to make...I can definitely sympathize with that and I do wish you all the best!!

 

[sdkubota]

That is an interesting question. My town figures that town water and sewer are worth $10,000 per house unit and there are sewer and water bills to pay on top of that. Rural lots with a developed spring or well and a working septic are valued at $10,000 also and the owner has to stand all the maintenance costs. A new septic system to meet standard can cost $15,000 or more and wells drilled in the local Granite or blue ledge are not cheap. I honestly don't know who is getting the better deal or will have the better deal in the future.

Not only is that what they are worth...it is what they cost. Every house requires a sewer main and water main for its service connections. Those are reletively expensive to install nowdays. The monthly fees pay for the actual treatment costs whether it be water or sewer.

 

[sdkubota]

That website is questionable in my book.

What is their source of data? I just paid $365k just over two years ago, and it says my property is only worth $248. I have a Bank appraisal just done for $410K, which by the way, if they had not cut my LAND value from the $225k of August 2010, down to $150K of Jan 13, we would be UNDER CONSTRUCTION! My HOUSE went from $140k to $265K with the remodel!

I would caution ANYONE using that website. It's accuracy is suspect sir.

I think the new double wide on 13 acres just down the street from me just sold for something between $269-289K...

David

It was spot on in my area with county taxable values and recent sales.

 

[KTurner]

The property tax is a wash if both are valued at $10,000.

My county is putting a sewer system into my neighborhood. They've already the chosen the contractor to do the work, but haven't broken ground yet. During my discussions with the county, they told me that having sewer would increase my property value, but didn't give a figure. I see it as an unfunded mandate - one time fee of thousands to hookup, one time fee of thousands to run the new pipe and destroy the operational septic tank, increased property value meaning higher property taxes every year (forever) and a new monthly bill (forever) that I didn't have before. I believe this is the result of EPA regulations and the Chesapeake bay. Most of you certainly wouldn't call us rural, but we are zoned rural residential - minimum lot size of 4 acres, or 2 acres with public water or 1 acre with both public water/sewer.

Keith

 

[JimRB]

I have 4 bicycles. I do 4 different kinds of riding. I can only ride one at a time. This weekend I will ride two of the bikes. In the summer I may ride all 4 in a weeks time. The new cost of those bicycles is about the price of a nice new Suzuki WeeStrom. I know you can have a drag motorcycle, a cruising motorcycle, a twisty mountain motorcycle, a cruising motorcycle, a go to town economically motorcycle but you can only ride one at a time and with 4 months of winter most folks do not ride part of the year. I have seen prices on some Harleys high enough that you could get an economical car (used or new) for the sale price of a spare motorcycle or two.

My taxes in a rural county is about what some folks pay a month in taxes in the big city. But I drive 44 miles one way a day in my now 10 year old car that gets 47-50 mpg car with lots of airbags and ABS. Just 349,500 miles on my car.

My wife wants to add on, actually make the garage another room of the house. That means a new garage which I "need" to get things out of the weather. Things have been in the weather 13 years so far. How many square feet of finished house do two people need? 1,700 is plenty now as I only live in a thousand of it. Technically I could afford a note to do that finish project and new garage but my immediate goal is to pay off the house in 3 more years, pay off the used truck (bought after a teenager smashed into my old truck my wife was driving), and some other stupid debt. The rat race of notes is getting old as am I.

Choices.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

You knew the drive would be long when you accepted the job...and, the way I see the route (Ladysmith VA to Washington) is a fair amount of secondary roads (not best for fuel economy...and I'd guess your F-150 is getting less then 16 MPG).
You could get a "beater" car...little 4 cylinder like a VW Rabbit or similar. That would reduce your monthly fuel costs. Leave the F-150 at home.

I know you have some tough decisions to make...I can definitely sympathize with that and I do wish you all the best!!

Roy,

Not complaining, just stating the facts. I drive to Reston, I buy gas EVERY DAY and I do the math as I buy it. I'm getting 16.5 on the mixed I-95 & secondary roads I drive.

A beater/commuter is IN THE PLANS, but there are a couple of my OTHER Threads on this topic, and the math does not add up YET... Therefore I am staying the course for now.

Tough decisions seems to come with the territory... I appreciate the support sir.

David

 

[MossflowerWoods]

I have 4 bicycles. I do 4 different kinds of riding. I can only ride one at a time. ... I know you can have a drag motorcycle, a cruising motorcycle, a twisty mountain motorcycle, a cruising motorcycle, a go to town economically motorcycle but you can only ride one at a time and with 4 months of winter most folks do not ride part of the year. I have seen prices on some Harleys high enough that you could get an economical car (used or new) for the sale price of a spare motorcycle or two.

I have not bought a motorcycle since March 2004 back in California. I did not even DREAM I would be here today... I own a race bike, a touring bike, and a normal bike, and my wife's bike. But as assets they are not that easily converted. I hate to part with them for pennies on the dollar, so I am trying to maximize their rate of return. I AM looking to convert one into a 7.3 psd F-350, and another into a 30' gooseneck. I will thn convert the F-150 into a beater/commuter.

TIME. It all takes TIME and I cannot control that...

You make excellent points.
David

 

[vtsnowedin]

This is HUGE and much worse than we expected. My wife was driving well less than the 15K miles per year average. We put less than 80K miles on her car from July 05 to July 11. Her new car has 39K miles on it just since July 11. My commute (only 3-4 days per week) is 84 miles ONE WAY, my F-150 is getting 16 to 16.5 mpg... My monthly GASOLINE bill is outrageous...

But it is THOUSANDS of dollars to go buy another car, plus insurance, etc...

Excellent point.
David

84 miles one way!!! my word. I'd park the F-150 and pick up a used Toyota Corolla or something similar. My middle daughter gets 39 MPG with hers with her foot pressed right to the fire wall. It would save you $20 bucks a work day and would not be that much to insure for liability as a third car. If you wait until gas goes back up to past $4.00 then you will have a hard time finding one.
No way to car pool I suppose?

 

[kenmac]

Debt is a TOOL, if you do not manage it and use it correctly it makes you into a FOOL

Yes, from where you are sitting I amy NOT look like a fiscal conservative, but I am VERY good at Stewarding over the resources God has bless me with, and there is much more to the pictue than you can see.

Don't take this the wrong way ,but Proverbs 22:7 tells us that the rich (lenders)rule over the poor and the borrower is servent to the lender. You talk about not wanting to loose $$ on the motorcycles. There's not many things that hold value unless, you keep it around for 100 yrs.You must make very good $$ or you wouldn't be able to afford all that you have.I have owned things (a drag car once) that I needed to sell & I knew I was going to take a hugh loss,but there came a time where I was like the rat caught in the trap and I had to say **** the cheese I just need out of the trap