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Keeping Austin Weird, Condos, T rex and neon signs


crash_davis

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3 minutes ago, Kyle said:

The issue is not with the developers but our property tax system it seems. I agree that ridiculous property taxes should never force anyone out of their homes.

california has an answer which makes a ton of sense.  for over a certain age, prop tax is grandfathered at last sale.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/How-older-CA-homeowners-can-get-property-tax-6778070.php

but we don't have a state income tax.  state needs to generate income somehow so other taxes will increase or state will find new ways of taxing.  in the end, the state is going to get their money.  just depends on who pays and at what %.

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38 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

california has an answer which makes a ton of sense.  for over a certain age, prop tax is grandfathered at last sale.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/How-older-CA-homeowners-can-get-property-tax-6778070.php

but we don't have a state income tax.  state needs to generate income somehow so other taxes will increase or state will find new ways of taxing.  in the end, the state is going to get their money.  just depends on who pays and at what %.

Netting all or part of the balance out of a sale might be an option as well, or states could learn to be more efficient ... but no need to derail to Cloak Room.

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1 hour ago, crash_davis said:

california has an answer which makes a ton of sense.  for over a certain age, prop tax is grandfathered at last sale.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/How-older-CA-homeowners-can-get-property-tax-6778070.php

but we don't have a state income tax.  state needs to generate income somehow so other taxes will increase or state will find new ways of taxing.  in the end, the state is going to get their money.  just depends on who pays and at what %.

The argument that seniors are getting pushed out due to property taxes is basically a lie.  Most of the taxes freeze at what you paid at 65.

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It's not a popular opinion, but we really need to just scrap the entire property tax scheme and implement an income tax.  People freak out at that, but most people would likely benefit from it.  As an example of how screwed our system is:

My best year in NYC, I made about 50% more than my best year I've had since moving back.  I paid less in combined state income taxes, city income taxes and property taxes that year than I have paid in property taxes each of the three years I've been back.  And New York is considered a 'high' income tax state.

Just look at how fucked up it is.  Live in something like Circle C, and you have a house in the half million dollar range and pay about $10k in property taxes per year, even if you only make $100k.  That's literally a 10% tax rate.  Conversely, someone who lives in a different part of the state, where property values are lower and harder to get accurate estimate due to lower turnover and you may have a property on the tax rolls at $150k and only pay $3k in property taxes, even if you make $250k, $500k, etc.  

Obviously most people aren't making $250k, $500k, etc., but it illustrates how the system is upside down.  The middle class basically gets screwed in our system. 

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4 hours ago, crash_davis said:

this is what i referenced in my op.  drug dealers wouldn't be a problem if there weren't people using and buying their product.  

developers aren't drug dealers but the idea is the same. these new builds are selling as quickly as they are built.  there are a shitton of people looking to buy nice new homes in austin proper  the burbs suck.  i'm one of those people.  i love my new house.  all the develop did was cut out the work and hassle for me. 

i wouldn't feel too sorry for these people being "pushed" out.  their old run down $100k home they bought decades ago is now selling for $400k+.  they can buy a new home in the burbs for cash and not have to worry about a house payment for the rest of their lives.

austin was never going to stay a sleepy jewel that no one knew about.  people want to move here.  higher demand means higher prices.  simple economics.  this is happening everywhere.  it's not unique to austin.

 

This is all very triggering.  

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It's not a popular opinion, but we really need to just scrap the entire property tax scheme and implement an income tax.  People freak out at that, but most people would likely benefit from it.  As an example of how screwed our system is:
My best year in NYC, I made about 50% more than my best year I've had since moving back.  I paid less in combined state income taxes, city income taxes and property taxes that year than I have paid in property taxes each of the three years I've been back.  And New York is considered a 'high' income tax state.
Just look at how fucked up it is.  Live in something like Circle C, and you have a house in the half million dollar range and pay about $10k in property taxes per year, even if you only make $100k.  That's literally a 10% tax rate.  Conversely, someone who lives in a different part of the state, where property values are lower and harder to get accurate estimate due to lower turnover and you may have a property on the tax rolls at $150k and only pay $3k in property taxes, even if you make $250k, $500k, etc.  
Obviously most people aren't making $250k, $500k, etc., but it illustrates how the system is upside down.  The middle class basically gets screwed in our system. 
I've actually come around to this point even as I approach my highest earning years. Our property tax scheme in Texas is unsustainable.
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I think if people in Texas knew how much they still pay in property tax as a pass thru on business prices and as renters, they'd have a much bigger issue with it than they already do (and that's saying something considering where things are headed).  Renters and consumers are led to believe that property taxes are something paid for by other people in some room somewhere after they've already zeroed out their books for the year.  

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11 minutes ago, Lobo said:

I think if people in Texas knew how much they still pay in property tax as a pass thru on business prices and as renters, they'd have a much bigger issue with it than they already do (and that's saying something considering where things are headed).  Renters and consumers are led to believe that property taxes are something paid for by other people in some room somewhere after they've already zeroed out their books for the year.  

You lie, Murica!

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7 hours ago, crash_davis said:

i wouldn't feel too sorry for these people being "pushed" out.  their old run down $100k home they bought decades ago is now selling for $400k+.  they can buy a new home in the burbs for cash and not have to worry about a house payment for the rest of their lives.

 

I'm sure you're a good guy in general but this statement screams "I'm a fucking asshole. And fuck anyone who isn't me"  

In the paragraph right above it you straight up said the 'burbs suck and that you'd never want to live there.  But fuck everyone else who made these sound investments years ago... they can go live in these undesirable places because it's my time now.  Yay me!

I grew up part of my childhood in Crestview, playing and swimming at Brentwood and walking to the Minimax to buy Dr Peppers for my dad.  Team neon and T-rex.

 

Edited by Your Mom
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1 hour ago, Clintonaldo said:

I laugh envisioning someone telling me I can move my shit from my front yard to my back yard. Get fucked. 

and get ready for the new round of shit I hadn't planned on putting in the front yard, but definitely am now.

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40 minutes ago, RPM said:

and get ready for the new round of shit I hadn't planned on putting in the front yard, but definitely am now.

Same. Previous homeowner was a "master gardener" and created a built-up, jungle-y type of area with a foot-tall stone retention wall of sorts in the front yard and planted all sorts of tropical-ish looking plants that remain pretty well shaded underneath a canopy comprised of a neighbor's grand live oak and my three shitty (I think) cedar oaks. Many of the tropicals were decimated by the 2011 drought, but placing a nice large T-Rex in there would do the trick to bring back that ambiance.

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3 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

Good luck getting elected in Texas on a let's implement a state income tax platform.

Yup.  Hopefully, we'll get some elected officials that are open to the idea, even if they aren't campaigning on it.  My new rep, Vikki Goodwin is like that.  She won't say it outright, but read between the lines and its there.


Of course, we'll just get fucked most likely and have a state income tax AND high property taxes.

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On 12/7/2018 at 2:01 PM, Hellraiser97 said:

It's not a popular opinion, but we really need to just scrap the entire property tax scheme and implement an income tax.  People freak out at that, but most people would likely benefit from it.  As an example of how screwed our system is:

My best year in NYC, I made about 50% more than my best year I've had since moving back.  I paid less in combined state income taxes, city income taxes and property taxes that year than I have paid in property taxes each of the three years I've been back.  And New York is considered a 'high' income tax state.

Just look at how fucked up it is.  Live in something like Circle C, and you have a house in the half million dollar range and pay about $10k in property taxes per year, even if you only make $100k.  That's literally a 10% tax rate.  Conversely, someone who lives in a different part of the state, where property values are lower and harder to get accurate estimate due to lower turnover and you may have a property on the tax rolls at $150k and only pay $3k in property taxes, even if you make $250k, $500k, etc.  

Obviously most people aren't making $250k, $500k, etc., but it illustrates how the system is upside down.  The middle class basically gets screwed in our system. 

I've argued this for years, but Texans will never agree to it.  The best argument I've heard against instituting a state income tax here is we wouldn't really eliminate the property tax.  Then, like most states, we'd have both.  Regardless, our property tax system here is inequitable and regarded.  

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On 12/7/2018 at 5:07 PM, Your Mom said:

I'm sure you're a good guy in general but this statement screams "I'm a fucking asshole. And fuck anyone who isn't me"  

In the paragraph right above it you straight up said the 'burbs suck and that you'd never want to live there.  But fuck everyone else who made these sound investments years ago... they can go live in these undesirable places because it's my time now.  Yay me!

I grew up part of my childhood in Crestview, playing and swimming at Brentwood and walking to the Minimax to buy Dr Peppers for my dad.  Team neon and T-rex.

 

If developers didn’t have the government helping them get rid of the poors and families (under 65), gentrification would slow tremendously. 

 

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If developers didn’t have the government helping them get rid of the poors and families (under 65), gentrification would slow tremendously. 
 
Hahahahaha

Have the government helping us?!? Shit with friends like that, who needs enemies? There government could barely be hindering us more if they tried! They already add between$25k and $50k in costs per project with a ridiculous number of fees, inspections, etc. Then they make it so that at most you can build a duplex on most lits, and not even that on many, so there's no way to reduce land cost per unit.



I do not like OU

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8 hours ago, Zepol87 said:

What a thread that was

My crazy neighbor! He finally got tired of everyone calling the cops on him so he moved to Utah. I heard he owed his ex wife a shit ton of back child support so she paid to put lipstick on that pig, realizing this was her only chance to get her money back. I think the house just sold. Hopefully the new neighbors aren't bi-polar schizophrenic meth heads. 

Edited by irishtexan
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