4 ms·

I'm not from the US but I find some of these numbers ridiculous. $515.50 per month for property taxes? That seems soo high. What does this cover - garbage coll

I'm not from the US but I find some of these numbers ridiculous. $515.50 per month for property taxes? That seems soo high. What does this cover - garbage collection, what else? > Cut down trees that were too close to the house: $2,800 I could've likely flown to the US, cut down your trees for a few hundred and flown back home for that much money. Why so expensive? I'm beginning to question the other numbers. > Replaced leaking faucet: $185 Can't you do it for like 5-10 $ yourself? If you don't have any tools, maybe spend 20 $ for tools? The author even says he replaced his own faucet - I don't get it at all. Or are we talking about a fancy top of the line faucet? I realize repairmen cost a lot but that seems like a LOT. And I get that in the US you have to have lots of insurance and inspections and whatnot, but... it still seems high.

mtoner23 4mo ago
Cost of labor quite higher here. Especially house work. Any licensed person to work in your house you're looking at paying $200 minimum just to walk in the door. At least in the major metro areas.
- iamalizard 4mo ago
  Why would you care if they're licensed if they're doing yard work or replacing faucets or cutting down trees? I understand wanting some assurance for whoever will wire your whole house or will make major plumbing repairs but not for small jobs. Yes, trees can fall, but it's easy to make sure the person cutting them knows what they're doing - I've cut trees myself. For small repairs (light switches, blown fuses, faucets, installing water heaters, cutting down trees, cleaning gutters), before I started doing them myself, I called friends who knew what they were doing, usually 50-something year old men who were jack of all trades.
  - mtoner23 4mo ago
    yeah of course. theres no license for most of these things. just clarifying
deleted 4mo ago
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benaduggan 4mo ago
> What does this cover - garbage collection, what else? That's the fun part, it doesn't even cover garbage! Jokes aside, property tax in the US typically go towards safety net funding for your community. So a lot to schools, public safety, roads/infrastructure, etc. There are definitely some places where garbage is covered in that, but a lot of places garbage collection is privatized in the US. Sometimes hearing about how much it costs to cut down trees makes me want to quit my job. I think a lot of that is probably for liability insurance though? Both for worker injury risk and for risk of property damage. It will cost a lot to fix a house that has a tree fall through it. But also since those are market rates, it's still a very good idea to ensure they have legit insurance. You are usually SOL if they don't.
- iamalizard 4mo ago
  Interesting, I assumed most regular taxes (like another comment said - police, fire, schools) would be from income taxes or other taxes collected from businesses. > but a lot of places garbage collection is privatized in the US. Closed housing complexes, like the suburb ones with gates where you have HOAs and your own security? Or just random parts of a city? I really kind of want to move to the US to cut down your trees now. I'd be willing to yolo it without injury insurance for a while if that's allowed. If I cut the trees from top to bottom there's very little risk for the house. But I guess the clients would expect me to have such insurance? The whole thing is kind of foreign to me, as if I was incapable of cutting down my own trees I'd just hire some company, likely a small one recommended to me by someone I know, and never question what kind of insurance they have or whether they're licensed or not.
loeg 4mo ago
It's $515/mo on a $757,000 house. This comes out to 0.82%/year, which is pretty typical by US standards.
- iamalizard 4mo ago
  What kind of expenses are covered by that? I can only think of garbage collection and collapses of the street that affect your property. Where I live I pay rent on a relatively small ~150000 $ house and have no idea how much the property taxes are as the landlord pays them but if they were ~1/5th of 500 $/month, I'm sure my rent would've been higher than what it is now.
  - loeg 4mo ago
    Police, fire, schools.
aaron695 4mo ago
[dead]
brailsafe 4mo ago
> $515.50 per month for property taxes? That seems soo high. What does this cover - garbage collection, what else? I agree, but the what else is that property taxes are often the largest source of income for a city budget, if not the sole source, so everything that goes into running a city; road maintenance and police usually make the top. > Can't you do it for like 5-10 $ yourself? If you don't have any tools, maybe spend 20 $ for tools? The author even says he replaced his own faucet - I don't get it at all. Labour would be free as long as you can't spend that time earning more money or doing something you'd prefer instead of replacing a faucet, but like any other product they can be anywhere between $0 and much more than $185. I personally don't value faucets that much, but if I were replacing one, I don't see why I'd get a crappy one. > I could've likely flown to the US, cut down your trees for a few hundred and flown back home for that much money. Why so expensive? I'm beginning to question the other numbers. There's not enough information to make a coherent judgment, but assuming the tree is a rather large one, why would you? If someone said to me "I'll give you $400 to fly to Europe and cut down a large tree that's too close to someone's house without causing any damage and you must bring your own equipment, dispose of the tree, etc.." I sure as hell would not take that offer, especially if I knew how. The surprising amounts are the point of the article; home ownership is excessively expensive, and if you don't value these things highly enough to either DIY or hire someone to take care of it, it's probably not worth buying one. That's why I'm happy to rent, I don't give a damn shit about any of that and would rather light my hair on fire than volunteer for these burdens, unless I was rich enough to not need to be concerned at all. The same could be said about the house itself; in my city, a house like this would cost around $2m USD just for the privilege of doing all this other bullshit for eons. That said, your line of reasoning seems akin to the old "why spend thousands on a macbook, I could build a PC for half (which isn't true anymore)" or stubbornly using some ancient piece of trash for your whole career even though you can afford something good. Quality work and good/better tools are worth investing in if you value them or their output. I could use a garden hose and a bucket to shower everyday and live in a cave too. Luxuries are when you get into pointless spending territory, where you're just spending wild amounts more than necessary to achieve the outcomes you want in the timeframe you want.
- iamalizard 4mo ago
  > property taxes are often the largest source of income for a city budget Hadn't considered that, thanks. :) > I personally don't value faucets that much, but if I were replacing one, I don't see why I'd get a crappy one. I realize I don't know how faucets cost in the US so 185 could be close to what one would pay even to DIY it. > If someone said to me "I'll give you $400 to fly to Europe and cut down a large tree that's too close to someone's house without causing any damage and you must bring your own equipment, dispose of the tree, etc.." I sure as hell would not take that offer, especially if I knew how. I'm not sure I'd literally fly over with equipment to cut down one tree, but from what I've seen (admittedly, not a lot), damage occurs when people are careless (want to do it quickly, don't secure bigger branches properly or are negligent in general) or try to cut from the base like a lumberjack in the movies. Of course anything could happen no matter how careful one is - I've broken lots of cups and plates - but it doesn't seem especially risky compared to other jobs. But again, I'm not a professional tree cutter - I've cut a few trees. I took my time to do it and was careful but they weren't huge trees right over someone's mansion. > Quality work and good/better tools are worth investing in if you value them or their output. Definitely. I regularly pay experts lots of money, like a week's salary, for a few hours of their time, and it's worth it. And when I'm looking to buy a new tool, I almost always select one with good specs from a reputable brand. Unless it's for a one-time job where I just buy whatever's cheapest (within reason). Not surprisingly, I have had to use such tools multiple times shortly after that "first and only" job was done. Yet surprisingly, the cheap tool usually does the job. But there's a big difference between using a tool 10 times a year and 10 times a day.
skirmish 4mo ago
Contractor costs are insane, our recent experience. Gas heater wouldn't start: -- diagnosis: $180 flat fee -- quote for replacing a failed igniter: plus $300, one week waiting for parts -- I found the part on eBay and replaced it myself for $20, delivered in 2 days Trimming an (admittedly large) tree in the backyard: $2,500. One guy in the tree with a chainsaw, 3 guys carrying branches to a wood chipper truck.
QuiEgo 4mo ago
>$515.50 per month for property taxes? That seems soo high. Where I live (Texas), there is no state income tax. They make it up by having high property taxes. It's something like $20,000/year per $1MM of property value. $515.50 would be so nice... > What does this cover - garbage collection, what else? Here, none of that (Garbage is billed by use as a utility, like electricity. You're charged by how big of a bin you get). It funds all the things the state and local government does - schools, roads, parks, police, fire, social services, anything tax would normally fund.
- iamalizard 4mo ago
  > Where I live (Texas), there is no state income tax. They make it up by having high property taxes. I guess that makes some calculations quite different, like what rent should be, how much you can view a property as an investment, what types of businesses you can start there, and so on, compared to other states? > You're charged by how big of a bin you get). Are there no communal bins? Or is that for a closed community as opposed to a city? What would you do if you had to throw something out while you were walking around? I've never been to the US so it's a bit of a culture shock.
  - QuiEgo 4mo ago
    In general, rent in Texas is higher than some places but lower than say, the Bay Area in California, because there is much more supply. I live in a neighborhood of single family homes that are on big lots and spaced out (perhaps 20-30 meters between homes). There is no community trash bins. There also is very little foot traffic, aside from people who live in the neighborhood. In more urban areas, there would be public trash cans.

mtoner23 4mo ago

Cost of labor quite higher here. Especially house work. Any licensed person to work in your house you're looking at paying $200 minimum just to walk in the door. At least in the major metro areas.

iamalizard 4mo ago
Why would you care if they're licensed if they're doing yard work or replacing faucets or cutting down trees? I understand wanting some assurance for whoever will wire your whole house or will make major plumbing repairs but not for small jobs. Yes, trees can fall, but it's easy to make sure the person cutting them knows what they're doing - I've cut trees myself. For small repairs (light switches, blown fuses, faucets, installing water heaters, cutting down trees, cleaning gutters), before I started doing them myself, I called friends who knew what they were doing, usually 50-something year old men who were jack of all trades.
- mtoner23 4mo ago
  yeah of course. theres no license for most of these things. just clarifying

deleted 4mo ago

[deleted]

benaduggan 4mo ago

> What does this cover - garbage collection, what else? That's the fun part, it doesn't even cover garbage! Jokes aside, property tax in the US typically go towards safety net funding for your community. So a lot to schools, public safety, roads/infrastructure, etc. There are definitely some places where garbage is covered in that, but a lot of places garbage collection is privatized in the US. Sometimes hearing about how much it costs to cut down trees makes me want to quit my job. I think a lot of that is probably for liability insurance though? Both for worker injury risk and for risk of property damage. It will cost a lot to fix a house that has a tree fall through it. But also since those are market rates, it's still a very good idea to ensure they have legit insurance. You are usually SOL if they don't.

iamalizard 4mo ago
Interesting, I assumed most regular taxes (like another comment said - police, fire, schools) would be from income taxes or other taxes collected from businesses. > but a lot of places garbage collection is privatized in the US. Closed housing complexes, like the suburb ones with gates where you have HOAs and your own security? Or just random parts of a city? I really kind of want to move to the US to cut down your trees now. I'd be willing to yolo it without injury insurance for a while if that's allowed. If I cut the trees from top to bottom there's very little risk for the house. But I guess the clients would expect me to have such insurance? The whole thing is kind of foreign to me, as if I was incapable of cutting down my own trees I'd just hire some company, likely a small one recommended to me by someone I know, and never question what kind of insurance they have or whether they're licensed or not.

loeg 4mo ago

It's $515/mo on a $757,000 house. This comes out to 0.82%/year, which is pretty typical by US standards.

iamalizard 4mo ago
What kind of expenses are covered by that? I can only think of garbage collection and collapses of the street that affect your property. Where I live I pay rent on a relatively small ~150000 $ house and have no idea how much the property taxes are as the landlord pays them but if they were ~1/5th of 500 $/month, I'm sure my rent would've been higher than what it is now.
- loeg 4mo ago
  Police, fire, schools.

aaron695 4mo ago

[dead]

brailsafe 4mo ago

> $515.50 per month for property taxes? That seems soo high. What does this cover - garbage collection, what else? I agree, but the what else is that property taxes are often the largest source of income for a city budget, if not the sole source, so everything that goes into running a city; road maintenance and police usually make the top. > Can't you do it for like 5-10 $ yourself? If you don't have any tools, maybe spend 20 $ for tools? The author even says he replaced his own faucet - I don't get it at all. Labour would be free as long as you can't spend that time earning more money or doing something you'd prefer instead of replacing a faucet, but like any other product they can be anywhere between $0 and much more than $185. I personally don't value faucets that much, but if I were replacing one, I don't see why I'd get a crappy one. > I could've likely flown to the US, cut down your trees for a few hundred and flown back home for that much money. Why so expensive? I'm beginning to question the other numbers. There's not enough information to make a coherent judgment, but assuming the tree is a rather large one, why would you? If someone said to me "I'll give you $400 to fly to Europe and cut down a large tree that's too close to someone's house without causing any damage and you must bring your own equipment, dispose of the tree, etc.." I sure as hell would not take that offer, especially if I knew how. The surprising amounts are the point of the article; home ownership is excessively expensive, and if you don't value these things highly enough to either DIY or hire someone to take care of it, it's probably not worth buying one. That's why I'm happy to rent, I don't give a damn shit about any of that and would rather light my hair on fire than volunteer for these burdens, unless I was rich enough to not need to be concerned at all. The same could be said about the house itself; in my city, a house like this would cost around $2m USD just for the privilege of doing all this other bullshit for eons. That said, your line of reasoning seems akin to the old "why spend thousands on a macbook, I could build a PC for half (which isn't true anymore)" or stubbornly using some ancient piece of trash for your whole career even though you can afford something good. Quality work and good/better tools are worth investing in if you value them or their output. I could use a garden hose and a bucket to shower everyday and live in a cave too. Luxuries are when you get into pointless spending territory, where you're just spending wild amounts more than necessary to achieve the outcomes you want in the timeframe you want.

iamalizard 4mo ago
> property taxes are often the largest source of income for a city budget Hadn't considered that, thanks. :) > I personally don't value faucets that much, but if I were replacing one, I don't see why I'd get a crappy one. I realize I don't know how faucets cost in the US so 185 could be close to what one would pay even to DIY it. > If someone said to me "I'll give you $400 to fly to Europe and cut down a large tree that's too close to someone's house without causing any damage and you must bring your own equipment, dispose of the tree, etc.." I sure as hell would not take that offer, especially if I knew how. I'm not sure I'd literally fly over with equipment to cut down one tree, but from what I've seen (admittedly, not a lot), damage occurs when people are careless (want to do it quickly, don't secure bigger branches properly or are negligent in general) or try to cut from the base like a lumberjack in the movies. Of course anything could happen no matter how careful one is - I've broken lots of cups and plates - but it doesn't seem especially risky compared to other jobs. But again, I'm not a professional tree cutter - I've cut a few trees. I took my time to do it and was careful but they weren't huge trees right over someone's mansion. > Quality work and good/better tools are worth investing in if you value them or their output. Definitely. I regularly pay experts lots of money, like a week's salary, for a few hours of their time, and it's worth it. And when I'm looking to buy a new tool, I almost always select one with good specs from a reputable brand. Unless it's for a one-time job where I just buy whatever's cheapest (within reason). Not surprisingly, I have had to use such tools multiple times shortly after that "first and only" job was done. Yet surprisingly, the cheap tool usually does the job. But there's a big difference between using a tool 10 times a year and 10 times a day.

skirmish 4mo ago

Contractor costs are insane, our recent experience. Gas heater wouldn't start: -- diagnosis: $180 flat fee -- quote for replacing a failed igniter: plus $300, one week waiting for parts -- I found the part on eBay and replaced it myself for $20, delivered in 2 days Trimming an (admittedly large) tree in the backyard: $2,500. One guy in the tree with a chainsaw, 3 guys carrying branches to a wood chipper truck.

QuiEgo 4mo ago

>$515.50 per month for property taxes? That seems soo high. Where I live (Texas), there is no state income tax. They make it up by having high property taxes. It's something like $20,000/year per $1MM of property value. $515.50 would be so nice... > What does this cover - garbage collection, what else? Here, none of that (Garbage is billed by use as a utility, like electricity. You're charged by how big of a bin you get). It funds all the things the state and local government does - schools, roads, parks, police, fire, social services, anything tax would normally fund.

iamalizard 4mo ago
> Where I live (Texas), there is no state income tax. They make it up by having high property taxes. I guess that makes some calculations quite different, like what rent should be, how much you can view a property as an investment, what types of businesses you can start there, and so on, compared to other states? > You're charged by how big of a bin you get). Are there no communal bins? Or is that for a closed community as opposed to a city? What would you do if you had to throw something out while you were walking around? I've never been to the US so it's a bit of a culture shock.
- QuiEgo 4mo ago
  In general, rent in Texas is higher than some places but lower than say, the Bay Area in California, because there is much more supply. I live in a neighborhood of single family homes that are on big lots and spaced out (perhaps 20-30 meters between homes). There is no community trash bins. There also is very little foot traffic, aside from people who live in the neighborhood. In more urban areas, there would be public trash cans.