5 ms·

The numbers are very inflated against buying. 10% closing cost, 1.35% property taxes, utilities only if you buy, another 1.35% annually on maintenance/renos/ins

by nahname 13y ago

The numbers are very inflated against buying. 10% closing cost, 1.35% property taxes, utilities only if you buy, another 1.35% annually on maintenance/renos/insurance. Who is paying 2.6% of their property value each year on those things? Who gets utilities for free with their rent. That calculator is very dishonest.

skorgu 13y ago
Those numbers are configurable. Click the "Advanced settings" button.
ceras 13y ago
If you're buying in a typical American market (ie, homes selling for $200k) 2.6% annually on taxes/maintenance/renos/insurance does not seem absurd at all to me. I've heard others argue it's too low.
pmorici 13y ago
In Baltimore property taxes run close to 2% a year on appraisals that are usually 10% higher than what you actually purchased the property for. Those numbers are pessimistic so they don't mis lead people who don't bother to pay attention to the details. The property taxes in CA are lower than they might otherwise be if the home values weren't all so high. The government is going to get it's money one way or another.
chimeracoder 13y ago
> Who gets utilities for free with their rent. Depends on what you mean by 'utilities', but in New York City, landlords are required to provide heat and hot water to all tenants. Technically they are allowed to itemize this as a recurring surcharge on top of the rent, but in practice I have never seen this done. Electricity is not included in most modern buildings, though it sometimes is for older buildings which cannot separate the meters per unit easily.
drone 13y ago
My property taxes are (before homestead exemption, which reduces the taxed value at about 20% before calculating taxes) are 2.57%. Mind you, I have no state/city/county income taxes, so that money has to come from somewhere. Insurance runs about 1%. I've yet to know a landlord that didn't include the cost of taxes and insurance in rent. (In commercial deals, this is often broken out in double or triple-net.)
VLM 13y ago
"Who is paying 2.6% of their property value each year on those things?" Nationwide the figure of a couple grand per acre is remarkably constant. Although property costs may vary two orders of magnitude or more, a firefighter gets paid "about" the same everywhere, ditto a new police car costs about constant, etc. So I would guess someone living where an acre costs about $200K would pay about 2.6%. I would imagine in Detroit you could buy 50 houses for $100K but have to pay $100K/yr prop tax on them if the surface area adds up to enough acres. The only utility bill I paid in my apartment was electric and it averaged about $10 over the course of a year. In a house you'll find its another order of magnitude plus of course all the other utilities.
- maxerickson 13y ago
  In Michigan property taxes are on the assessed value of the house and property (the assessed value is not necessarily reset to the transaction price of a sale). In general, acreage is cheap. The millions of small lots with $X00,000 houses on them tend to make up for all the acres with nothing on them.
matwood 13y ago
It depends on the location. When I rented I never had utilities paid for. I own now, and my properties taxes this year were .38% of the appraised value of the house when I bought it a few years ago. From what I understand, property taxes in the north east are very very high though.
- TarpitCarnivore 13y ago
  Where I am in NJ property tax on 4 bed, 3 bath, 2300 square foot home is $13,400/year or about 1.7% of the assessed value.
  - matwood 13y ago
    I live in a vacation area with a lot of second homes. The way property taxes work is the local government says they need $X and then work backwards. Residents get a huge discount and pay about 1/3 what non-residents pay. The only hassle is proving your a resident every few years.
DanBC 13y ago
In the UK some people get some or all utilities "free". It'd be interesting to see a UK version of the calculator that took into account the local housing agreement rent prices, which are the maximum prices that can be paid for properties within an area by benefits.
epic9x 13y ago
It's actually not uncommon in some larger cities to get utilities completely paid. I'm just outside of DC and only pay rent and cable.

by nahname 13y ago

skorgu 13y ago

Those numbers are configurable. Click the "Advanced settings" button.

ceras 13y ago

If you're buying in a typical American market (ie, homes selling for $200k) 2.6% annually on taxes/maintenance/renos/insurance does not seem absurd at all to me. I've heard others argue it's too low.

pmorici 13y ago

In Baltimore property taxes run close to 2% a year on appraisals that are usually 10% higher than what you actually purchased the property for. Those numbers are pessimistic so they don't mis lead people who don't bother to pay attention to the details. The property taxes in CA are lower than they might otherwise be if the home values weren't all so high. The government is going to get it's money one way or another.

chimeracoder 13y ago

> Who gets utilities for free with their rent. Depends on what you mean by 'utilities', but in New York City, landlords are required to provide heat and hot water to all tenants. Technically they are allowed to itemize this as a recurring surcharge on top of the rent, but in practice I have never seen this done. Electricity is not included in most modern buildings, though it sometimes is for older buildings which cannot separate the meters per unit easily.

drone 13y ago

My property taxes are (before homestead exemption, which reduces the taxed value at about 20% before calculating taxes) are 2.57%. Mind you, I have no state/city/county income taxes, so that money has to come from somewhere. Insurance runs about 1%. I've yet to know a landlord that didn't include the cost of taxes and insurance in rent. (In commercial deals, this is often broken out in double or triple-net.)

VLM 13y ago

"Who is paying 2.6% of their property value each year on those things?" Nationwide the figure of a couple grand per acre is remarkably constant. Although property costs may vary two orders of magnitude or more, a firefighter gets paid "about" the same everywhere, ditto a new police car costs about constant, etc. So I would guess someone living where an acre costs about $200K would pay about 2.6%. I would imagine in Detroit you could buy 50 houses for $100K but have to pay $100K/yr prop tax on them if the surface area adds up to enough acres. The only utility bill I paid in my apartment was electric and it averaged about $10 over the course of a year. In a house you'll find its another order of magnitude plus of course all the other utilities.

maxerickson 13y ago
In Michigan property taxes are on the assessed value of the house and property (the assessed value is not necessarily reset to the transaction price of a sale). In general, acreage is cheap. The millions of small lots with $X00,000 houses on them tend to make up for all the acres with nothing on them.

matwood 13y ago

It depends on the location. When I rented I never had utilities paid for. I own now, and my properties taxes this year were .38% of the appraised value of the house when I bought it a few years ago. From what I understand, property taxes in the north east are very very high though.

TarpitCarnivore 13y ago
Where I am in NJ property tax on 4 bed, 3 bath, 2300 square foot home is $13,400/year or about 1.7% of the assessed value.
- matwood 13y ago
  I live in a vacation area with a lot of second homes. The way property taxes work is the local government says they need $X and then work backwards. Residents get a huge discount and pay about 1/3 what non-residents pay. The only hassle is proving your a resident every few years.

DanBC 13y ago

In the UK some people get some or all utilities "free". It'd be interesting to see a UK version of the calculator that took into account the local housing agreement rent prices, which are the maximum prices that can be paid for properties within an area by benefits.

epic9x 13y ago

It's actually not uncommon in some larger cities to get utilities completely paid. I'm just outside of DC and only pay rent and cable.