So I'm on a fixed income, and I buy a house for a set price, with a tax base I can afford, even though I know it goes up 2% a year. Suddenly, my neighborhood becomes a hot market, and the $250K house is now worth $1 mill (that's what happened to my first house from 1996-2006, too bad I sold in 2001).
That's a quadruple tax hit on a property that I never anticipated. (tax in LA County on a million dollar home is approximately $1000 a month)
Sure, I benefit from having equity and the ability to sell the house for more, but when I sell, the tax base readjusts. Maybe, like somebody said, they should readjust if you mine the equity. But if I'm just living in the house and not taking out HELOCs, why should I get forced out of the house by a quadruple tax increase?
Yeah, I know that's how the rest of the country works, but the rest of the country does not suffer from vastly overinflated housing that has gone up so fast nobody can buy a starter home anymore. I live way out in the burbs, and starter houses still cost $600K and up here. How many young families can get together $120K for a traditional LTV? |
