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The elephant in the room is the amount of housing supply being held by banks and private equity in an effort to shore up housing prices. They can afford high pr

The elephant in the room is the amount of housing supply being held by banks and private equity in an effort to shore up housing prices. They can afford high property taxes. Your elderly parents might not be able to. Obama should have let the bankers twist in the wind when the citizenry was out for blood in 2008. They repaid him by channeling money to Republicans. Put them all in jail.

jfim 4y ago
> They can afford high property taxes. Your elderly parents might not be able to. Texas has an interesting solution to this. Homeowners over 65 can elect to defer the payment of their property taxes indefinitely, although the taxes eventually get paid when the house changes owners.
- CorpOverreach 4y ago
  So it's basically taking an interest-free home equity loan against the property, in a round-about way? You're basically de-valuing the property since whoever buys it next will have to pay a lump sum in taxes to take ownership. I guess that doesn't matter to you if you're dead. What happens if the deferred taxes exceed the cost of the house?
  - jfim 4y ago
    The estate has to pay the taxes, so they can pay the taxes and keep the property, or sell it and pay the taxes using the proceeds. I believe that interest also accrues during the deferral. I'm not sure what happens in the case where the accrued taxes exceed the value of the house, though.
    - jfim 4y ago
      Just looked it up actually: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.33.htm#33.06 https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.33.htm#33.... Basically they put a tax lien on the property, they just don't collect on it while the original homeowner is occupying the property. I'm not a lawyer, but my basic understanding of this is that if it exceeds the value of the property, the estate can just let the city/county seize the house. Otherwise, they'd need to pay the deferred taxes in order to transfer the title to the heirs. Obviously this is not legal advice.
- trentnix 4y ago
  Homeowners over 65 in Texas (along with certain widower situations and disabled veterans) are also eligible for exemptions that “freeze” the amount of tax they are required to pay (if the property is their homestead) irrespective of the appraised value of the property.
chmod600 4y ago
"They repaid him by channeling money to Republicans." I'm uncomfortable with this phrasing. Are you implying that the bailouts were some kind of quid pro quo?
pas 4y ago
Banks/investors don't let property to just sit there if the cost of renting out is small. (Ie. if the risk of getting into an long eviction fight is low, then they will not let it sit empty.)

jfim 4y ago

> They can afford high property taxes. Your elderly parents might not be able to. Texas has an interesting solution to this. Homeowners over 65 can elect to defer the payment of their property taxes indefinitely, although the taxes eventually get paid when the house changes owners.

CorpOverreach 4y ago
So it's basically taking an interest-free home equity loan against the property, in a round-about way? You're basically de-valuing the property since whoever buys it next will have to pay a lump sum in taxes to take ownership. I guess that doesn't matter to you if you're dead. What happens if the deferred taxes exceed the cost of the house?
- jfim 4y ago
  The estate has to pay the taxes, so they can pay the taxes and keep the property, or sell it and pay the taxes using the proceeds. I believe that interest also accrues during the deferral. I'm not sure what happens in the case where the accrued taxes exceed the value of the house, though.
  - jfim 4y ago
    Just looked it up actually: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.33.htm#33.06 https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.33.htm#33.... Basically they put a tax lien on the property, they just don't collect on it while the original homeowner is occupying the property. I'm not a lawyer, but my basic understanding of this is that if it exceeds the value of the property, the estate can just let the city/county seize the house. Otherwise, they'd need to pay the deferred taxes in order to transfer the title to the heirs. Obviously this is not legal advice.
trentnix 4y ago
Homeowners over 65 in Texas (along with certain widower situations and disabled veterans) are also eligible for exemptions that “freeze” the amount of tax they are required to pay (if the property is their homestead) irrespective of the appraised value of the property.

chmod600 4y ago

"They repaid him by channeling money to Republicans." I'm uncomfortable with this phrasing. Are you implying that the bailouts were some kind of quid pro quo?

pas 4y ago

Banks/investors don't let property to just sit there if the cost of renting out is small. (Ie. if the risk of getting into an long eviction fight is low, then they will not let it sit empty.)