4 ms·

Considering property taxes, do you really ever own your house?

pdonis 4y ago
Paying taxes on something you own in order to support services provided by a municipality is not the same as renting something you don't own. Not to mention that the cost of property tax on a typical home is much less than the rental of an equivalent home would be.
- ajsnigrutin 4y ago
  Well sure, but if you fall in a coma for a year, you might wake up homeless (i might be exaggerating the timeframe a bit, but the case stands).
  - scythe 4y ago
    A lot of the time this is simply handled by placing a lien on the property due at sale or transfer. Your kids might not be able to inherit it, but inheritance is another question altogether.
  - pdonis 4y ago
    > if you fall in a coma for a year, you might wake up homeless No, you would wake up, as scythe has already pointed out, with a tax lien on your property--which you could of course remove by paying the taxes owed. If you own your home, you can't be evicted from it the way a renter can. The only way to force you out of your home would be to take away your title to it. I'm not aware of any jurisdictions where this is actually done for non-payment of taxes, though. A much better case can be made that you don't fully own your home if you have a mortgage on it, since the lender has the right to foreclose, which means they take title to the property, if you don't make your mortgage payments for some period of time. (Ironically, your property taxes if you have a mortgage are being paid out of an escrow account, so your mortgage lender will see the consequences of non-payment well before your municipality will.)
    - dahfizz 4y ago
      I'm sure every state is different, but there are places where the state can enforce their tax lein by foreclosing and taking ownership of your property.
    - oyashirochama 4y ago
      It takes years to decades for a tax situation to reach the level of fourclosure on reasons of property tax and if a reasonable issue for health or otherwise the state could even waive it due to non-use.
    - asdff 4y ago
      If your coma is 5 years long then in CA they will auction the property to whoever will pay for it plus the tax burden
MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
Not really and depending on where you live, definitely not. But you have a lot more and very different from rights and responsibilities when you own vs rent.
pxeboot 4y ago
It is still possible to buy property in the US that is untaxed, usually in very rural areas.
- jjav 4y ago
  In which state(s)?
  - pxeboot 4y ago
    Most of the "Unorganized Borough" in Alaska has zero property taxes.
jjav 4y ago
> Considering property taxes, do you really ever own your house? Your basic point is correct. But, consider that a renter is also paying the property tax on behalf of the owner (+ some percentage profit), so you're always better off being the owner instead of paying it for someone else.
imtringued 4y ago
In theory you are hiring the government to protect your home.

Paying taxes on something you own in order to support services provided by a municipality is not the same as renting something you don't own. Not to mention that the cost of property tax on a typical home is much less than the rental of an equivalent home would be.

ajsnigrutin 4y ago
Well sure, but if you fall in a coma for a year, you might wake up homeless (i might be exaggerating the timeframe a bit, but the case stands).
- scythe 4y ago
  A lot of the time this is simply handled by placing a lien on the property due at sale or transfer. Your kids might not be able to inherit it, but inheritance is another question altogether.
- pdonis 4y ago
  > if you fall in a coma for a year, you might wake up homeless No, you would wake up, as scythe has already pointed out, with a tax lien on your property--which you could of course remove by paying the taxes owed. If you own your home, you can't be evicted from it the way a renter can. The only way to force you out of your home would be to take away your title to it. I'm not aware of any jurisdictions where this is actually done for non-payment of taxes, though. A much better case can be made that you don't fully own your home if you have a mortgage on it, since the lender has the right to foreclose, which means they take title to the property, if you don't make your mortgage payments for some period of time. (Ironically, your property taxes if you have a mortgage are being paid out of an escrow account, so your mortgage lender will see the consequences of non-payment well before your municipality will.)
  - dahfizz 4y ago
    I'm sure every state is different, but there are places where the state can enforce their tax lein by foreclosing and taking ownership of your property.
  - oyashirochama 4y ago
    It takes years to decades for a tax situation to reach the level of fourclosure on reasons of property tax and if a reasonable issue for health or otherwise the state could even waive it due to non-use.
  - asdff 4y ago
    If your coma is 5 years long then in CA they will auction the property to whoever will pay for it plus the tax burden

MonkeyMalarky 4y ago

Not really and depending on where you live, definitely not. But you have a lot more and very different from rights and responsibilities when you own vs rent.

pxeboot 4y ago

It is still possible to buy property in the US that is untaxed, usually in very rural areas.

jjav 4y ago
In which state(s)?
- pxeboot 4y ago
  Most of the "Unorganized Borough" in Alaska has zero property taxes.

jjav 4y ago

> Considering property taxes, do you really ever own your house? Your basic point is correct. But, consider that a renter is also paying the property tax on behalf of the owner (+ some percentage profit), so you're always better off being the owner instead of paying it for someone else.

imtringued 4y ago

In theory you are hiring the government to protect your home.