To pay $11,000 a year in property taxes in PA, you'd have to own a house worth $750,000 in a median PA town...
https://taxfoundation.org/how-high-a...es-your-state/
To pay $11,000 a year in property taxes in PA, you'd have to own a house worth $750,000 in a median PA town...
https://taxfoundation.org/how-high-a...es-your-state/
Hope is the denial of reality
You don't think states are designated net-contributors or net-users of federal tax dollars? Pretty sure we went over this in another thread some time ago, most likely after a disaster.
Reset: the answer mostly depends on your age, and education. If you're under 35-40 yrs old, with a 'profession' in the STEM fields, a scheme like this might be more attractive than conventional mortgages. Especially in high-cost RE markets, where transitions in income/wealth can be pretty difficult to maneuver.
It's a risk, but taking risks before 40 is a good niche group to be in, historically. It might even create much-needed competition in the mortgage industry, without the disastrous results of the sub-prime crisis?
Sorry, I didn't see your post until after my computer made some updates. And sorry again, but I did indeed pay $11,000/yr in property taxes (7k for the school district alone, which doubled since I bought the place in 2002) for a home that was assessed at $370,000 and sold for $333,000.
There's no such thing as a "median" PA town when all RE is local. Some PA counties/municipalities haven't done comprehensive tax re-assessments for several decades. Even tho a property could be sold multiple times, or have major upgrades, and increase in market value, the taxation didn't. The mil rate algorithms are specific to each municipality, and mine went to a 100% market valuation (with a paltry Homestead exemption for owner/occupiers).
When rural areas got swept up in suburban sprawl, and schools budgets went bust, some town managers voted to do re-assessments and change the calculus. People who'd been paying 1960 tax rates in the 21st century balked at the rate hike. It's a big honking controversial issue in the state. Look it up if you don't believe me
edit: and here's the kicker. The guy that bought my house for 333 will still be paying taxes based on the 370 assessment. He might get a small tax deduction as a senior citizen, but that won't change what the the municipality taxes: location, acreage, finished square footage, basements, toilets, fireplaces. He'd be a fool to add a swimming pool, a fish pond, another driveway, or any outbuilding (even a tool shed) since those are taxable improvements.
Last edited by GGT; 02-07-2018 at 09:51 AM.