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They shouldn't. They should say thank you, for now. Buyers cut out of my cloth will have parsed properties carefully before ever asking them to walk through a house. Shit, I bet if I found a place I really wanted on zillow it would take only the one tour of the house before I would pull the trigger. In yesteryear, I might have wanted to see 30 houses. Now, real estate agents could be eliminated in the future, or have their commissions gutted. But for now, they should be gathering the honey and abundant crops while they can, and be thankful for how little effort they need to expend.
Good point. 👍
 
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I’m not sure but people who I know that lived in one of these communities said they could only have visitors under 55 stay for a limited period of time. Space or not.
If my son and his family lost their home to a fire and I lived in one of those places they’d be out of luck after a week if they wanted to stay with me.
No thank you.
That is just bizarre. What 55-year old wants that life or restrictions? Talk about 55 going on 85.
 
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That is just bizarre. What 55-year old wants that life or restrictions? Talk about 55 going on 85.

I’m in a 55+ and it’s great, but you only need one full time resident over 55, with nobody under 19. My kids have lived with us in their 20’s. And anyone under 19 can be here up to 90 days a year.

We love it here, and because it’s a brand new development most people aren’t that old, and we have a lot of social events. Meanwhile, the pool is quiet and everyone keeps their homes looking great. And there is a real sense of community - everyone gets along.
 
I’m in a 55+ and it’s great, but you only need one full time resident over 55, with nobody under 19. My kids have lived with us in their 20’s. And anyone under 19 can be here up to 90 days a year.

We love it here, and because it’s a brand new development most people aren’t that old, and we have a lot of social events. Meanwhile, the pool is quiet and everyone keeps their homes looking great. And there is a real sense of community - everyone gets along.
You’re lucky.
 
I am the opposite. Here in the midwest, space is cheap. See Aardvark's post above - gross! So, give me a separate room for everything. I might feel differently if I was retired in Florida, where I had lots of time on my hands and I wouldn't mind walking around for a lot for things. But I'm not retired, and I have winter to deal with. So I want a home gym, sauna, hot tub, pool, etc.

Same. This is our retirement home and it’s something like 3500 sqft. Nearly half of that is the basement, though, so it’s a small footprint and when I’m 80’s I can live on one floor. Meanwhile the basement has lots of storage, a small workshop, a nice guest bedroom and huge guest bath with a jacuzzi tub that my wife uses a lot. Wife’s office, large family room with a TV that only gets used by the kids, workout room, a wet bar, and a jacuzzi. And my pinball machine.

What we don’t have is a pool, but the clubhouse and pool are three doors down. I like being self-contained!
 
Same. This is our retirement home and it’s something like 3500 sqft. Nearly half of that is the basement, though, so it’s a small footprint and when I’m 80’s I can live on one floor. Meanwhile the basement has lots of storage, a small workshop, a nice guest bedroom and huge guest bath with a jacuzzi tub that my wife uses a lot. Wife’s office, large family room with a TV that only gets used by the kids, workout room, a wet bar, and a jacuzzi. And my pinball machine.

What we don’t have is a pool, but the clubhouse and pool are three doors down. I like being self-contained!
GIF by MOODMAN
 
Same. This is our retirement home and it’s something like 3500 sqft. Nearly half of that is the basement, though, so it’s a small footprint and when I’m 80’s I can live on one floor. Meanwhile the basement has lots of storage, a small workshop, a nice guest bedroom and huge guest bath with a jacuzzi tub that my wife uses a lot. Wife’s office, large family room with a TV that only gets used by the kids, workout room, a wet bar, and a jacuzzi. And my pinball machine.

What we don’t have is a pool, but the clubhouse and pool are three doors down. I like being self-contained!

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We had our house built in 2002 for $140.000. Nice small house, 1900 square feet. Today its assessed value is $380,000. We live in the sweet spot for our jobs regarding taxes. Denton County/Northwest ISD (school district)/Roanoke (City Taxes) This year our taxes added up to be $3750. My friends back in Boone (where I grew up) are paying $4,000 in taxes on houses worth $200,000. Its a crying shame!!

Where I taught at (Southlake) back in 2002 houses being built were around $400,000. Today new houses in 76092 start around $1,000,000 !! Crazy !!
It’s closer to $300,000 for $4000 in property taxes. Really can’t buy a 2002 house with 1900 square feet for less than $350,000 though they come with basements.
 
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I have a contractor friend, he only builds houses that come in over $400K. I haven't talked business with him in a while, so it makes me wonder if he isn't doing Million dollar only homes nowadays. In any case, I hate that County 52 is assessing homes WAY over their real value. A money grab.

Are you saying it has since been assessed +300k at what you bought/built it at? Could you sell it tomorrow for YOUR/assessed value asking price? The housing market is insane to me in that 2 years ago, I could had a bidding war on my house but today I could list it and sell today, or 3 months from now. it's weird.
I'll tell you this. My old house, not on the market yet, had a neighbor. Modest home. The old lady finally passed away. I would have thought that home, tops, was like 160k. It went for 325K this fall. I asked the purchaser, an llc, which family was moving in? He said they were going to gut it and make apartments in it. Then he offered to buy my home for the same selling price. My old home is walking distance from the hospital, medical and law school. Neighborhood went from residential to rental in the last 2 decades. Too bad really.
 
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Come down to Phx area and price modular and “mobil. Homes”… you will shit bricks! $150-400 k and up!
New constructions for 1800 ft ranch, $600k and up… and houses sell down here quick! I’m amazed.. all they are selling is warmer weather too.
It depends on the area where those homes are selling quickly. I’m in N. Scottsdale. Neighbor put house on the market last June (when interest rates spiked). Took almost 4 months to sell. They reduced a couple times. Their timing was awful.

When rates hovered near 6% a month or so ago, homes were selling rather quickly. We’ve been in our house since Jan. 2022 and are fortunate we got a rate of 3.125%. With current rates we couldn’t afford our house.

Prices are still up but rate of growth isn’t as high. We are probably up about 15% over what we paid. I’ll take it
 
I'll tell you this. My old house, not on the market yet, had a neighbor. Modest home. The old lady finally passed away. I would have thought that home, tops, was like 160k. It went for 325K this fall. I asked the purchaser, an llc, which family was moving in? He said they were going to gut it and make apartments in it. Then he offered to buy my home for the same selling price. My old home is walking distance from the hospital, medical and law school. Neighborhood went from residential to rental in the last 2 decades. Too bad really.
Ain’t progress somethin’? :mad:
 
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I live an hour from basically anywhere, in an area that could not pretend to offer jobs to all those that are still working age...and well....400K can get you this luxury

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Less than 1800 sq feet on an acre.

I know people attempting to buy...seems like every house they decide to put an offer in on, there is already an offer that was accepted.

 
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Son and DIL (no pics) live in Chicago and want to buy a house in the suburbs. A "decent" house is $500k+. A really nice house that you might want to buy is $650k+, and they have property taxes from $12k to $18k.

And even the really nice houses have something undesirable - maybe a tiny back yard or crappy neighborhood or it's too close to a major 4 lane highway with constant road noise.

The if you find one you want it's usually a bidding war.
 
I kind of scrolled through this thread, so I apologize if already asked and answered. I'd like to hear from a realtor on here on whether homes actually go close to the zillow price. Seems to me Zillow over values things. But I could be wrong.
It depends where you live. Zillow just uses an algorithm to compare your house to other similar houses that have been sold in the recent past.

So while it can compare square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. It doesn’t always account for how good of shape the home is in.

If you live in smalltown Iowa, it might not be very accurate. Not only are there fewer homes sold, but the best comps may be a couple cities away, or in very different condition, and often the styles of homes are quite different.

If you live in a suburban area of a large city where most of the homes are pretty similar and built in similar years… It can be quite accurate.
 
We sold our house for $815K in December and paid about $2,700 in property taxes last year.
Stay away from Chicago area if you enjoy those “nothing” property taxes!
Plus, in Chicago area, to protest and appeal your property taxes, you have to hire a lawyer and there is a certain procedure to be followed that in itself is not inexpensive.
(A few years ago my daughter volunteered their property taxes in Evanston were almost $23000 on a property assessed at slightly more than $1M.)
 
Stay away from Chicago area if you enjoy those “nothing” property taxes!
Plus, in Chicago area, to protest and appeal your property taxes, you have to hire a lawyer and there is a certain procedure to be followed that in itself is not inexpensive.
(A few years ago my daughter volunteered their property taxes in Evanston were almost $23000 on a property assessed at slightly more than $1M.)
So…their tax rate is somewhere around 2.2% or so?

In Iowa, the average is 1.5%. Google says Des Moines is over 1.66%.

That’s not all that crazy of a difference. Especially when you count for how much more tax money is needed in Chicago compared to Iowa.
 
So…their tax rate is somewhere around 2.2% or so?

In Iowa, the average is 1.5%. Google says Des Moines is over 1.66%.

That’s not all that crazy of a difference. Especially when you count for how much more tax money is needed in Chicago compared to Iowa.
DSM is HIGH!
Personally, it may not sound like much but when you see you tax bill, it is.
I pay right at $5k annually… if I lived in DSM proper, it would be 10% more , minimal. That is substantial. And it is hurting DSM a lot in lost revenues…plus there us a lot of “tax exempt” properties in DSM the ‘burbs don’t have…(hospitals, church properties, govt bldgs, etc)
 
You will not win on cook county real estate unless you're willing to buy in a gentrifying neighborhood at the onset of gentrification
 
But that ISD is highly desired and people will continue to pay to live in Southlake.
Texas property taxes and insurance rates are high compared to some states. Along with high utility rates and local sales taxes the issue of no income tax is offset by those other costs.
The state does do a better job of keeping up with roads but they’re funded with oil money - people outside TX aren’t aware that the state road department has its own oil fields.
I also appreciated the amenities that municipalities funded with my property taxes too.
Schools were very good, sidewalks, street lights, underground utilities and libraries/parks/community centers with pools and sports fields in my far North Dallas neighborhood was very much a positive thing for my kids growing up.
Carroll ISD is going through some money issues as is a lot of other ISDs because of Abbott's desire to give $$ for private schooling. Carroll has these issues going on:

a declining school enrollment, ( The boomers are not moving out from their houses..kids are gone...but the parents are staying).

Carroll is currrently selling land to help it situation. In face they just sold their central office and will turn around and lease it from the buyer.

Austin this past session(even though they have a $350 billion dollar surplus) refuesed to address the school finance issue. They would not even raise the basic student allotment to help pay for the inflation that has affected everything that it takes to run a school. The last raise I believe was like 4 years ago. Many school districts are going through finance issues. Many Schools are bring closed because of the lack of school funding.

But thank goodness we have a brand spanking new $4.5 million dollar pickleball complex ! We can't replace a way to small library, but by george we can build a $4.5 million dollar picklenball complex !! We'll show merica how to roll !!!

 
Live in Marion and it's been pretty crazy. Bought our house in 2020 and the value is up 20%. I didn't believe it until my neighbor sold their house last summer and it went for well above what I thought it would and it is smaller then ours with less upgrades.

The shitty thing is our property taxes have also gone up over $600 in those 4 years.
Over 600 dollars? I wish. Mine went up 3k.
 
Carroll ISD is going through some money issues as is a lot of other ISDs because of Abbott's desire to give $$ for private schooling. Carroll has these issues going on:

a declining school enrollment, ( The boomers are not moving out from their houses..kids are gone...but the parents are staying).

Carroll is currrently selling land to help it situation. In face they just sold their central office and will turn around and lease it from the buyer.

Austin this past session(even though they have a $350 billion dollar surplus) refuesed to address the school finance issue. They would not even raise the basic student allotment to help pay for the inflation that has affected everything that it takes to run a school. The last raise I believe was like 4 years ago. Many school districts are going through finance issues. Many Schools are bring closed because of the lack of school funding.

But thank goodness we have a brand spanking new $4.5 million dollar pickleball complex ! We can't replace a way to small library, but by george we can build a $4.5 million dollar picklenball complex !! We'll show merica how to roll !!!

Austins problems have nothing to do with abbott.
 
My homeowners policy just sent my renewal notice and it’s now at $3200 but my hurricane deductible just doubled.
I’m relieved that they didn’t require me to get a new roof just to retain my policy.
 
I live on the border of N. Liberty/C. Ville. The Johnson County assessor is coming to my joint next week to "reassess." I am going to keep my home like a pig stye so the price will go down. As such, it has gone up nearly 300K since I built it. Insane.
But when the taxman come to the door
Lord, the house lookin' like a rummage sale, yeah
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no millionaire's son, no, no
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one, no

 
My homeowners policy just sent my renewal notice and it’s now at $3200 but my hurricane deductible just doubled.
I’m relieved that they didn’t require me to get a new roof just to retain my policy.
$3200/year? What's the hurricane deductible?
 
$3200/year?
You can thank DeSantis for that.

 
You can thank DeSantis for that.

Oh, and what did the experts on home insurance at the Teacher's Union specifically cite as the policy instituted by DeSantis to cause this?
 
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The biggest issue right now in Florida is home insurance fraud, driven by fraudulent roofing claims. A proclamation from the office of Governor Ron DeSantis notes that, although Florida only accounts for 9 percent of the country’s home insurance claims, it is home to 79 percent of the country’s home insurance lawsuits. Many of these lawsuits are fraudulent. ICA Carter explains how the scams generally work:

  1. First, roofers canvas neighborhoods and offer inspections to unsuspecting homeowners. These contractors inevitably “find damage” on the roof and often promise a “free roof” to the homeowner, claiming they can have the home insurance deductible waived.
  2. Homeowners are pressured to sign an assignment of benefits form, giving contractors the right to file an insurance claim on their behalf.
  3. A claims adjuster from the insurance company inspects the alleged damage. The adjuster either finds no damage or far more minimal damage than the contractor found, and the claim payout is less than what the contractor demanded.
  4. The contractor brings legal action against the insurance company, demanding a claim payout for the contractor’s original quote. Remember, the homeowner signed the benefits of the policy to the contractor, so the contractor doesn’t need the homeowner’s permission to do this.
  5. The insurance company now has a choice: it can pay the legal costs to fight the lawsuit or pay the costs to settle out of court. Either way, the insurance company loses money due to the legal action.
ICA Carter notes that “these schemes are real and are happening more frequently,” which puts more and more financial pressure on insurance companies, especially in a state with high claims costs due to weather-related events.

According to Mark Friedlander, Director of Corporate Communications at the Insurance Information Institute, “Florida property insurers are projected to post a cumulative underwriting loss of $1.7 billion for 2021” due to these runaway litigation costs. The governor’s office reports that, for two consecutive years, net underwriting losses have exceeded $1 billion. It’s no wonder that so many companies are going insolvent or leaving the state before they reach that point.

On top of that, Florida also previously had a “one-way attorney fee” system. This meant that, when a court ruled in favor of the plaintiff (in this case, a home insurance policyholder or the third-party contractor who filed the claim), the defendant (in this case, the insurance company) was responsible for paying the plaintiff’s attorney fees. So not only were insurers paying for fraudulent lawsuits, they were also paying for the fraudster’s legal costs. Friedlander notes that the insurance reform bill passed in December 2022 “addresses the two root causes of Florida’s residential insurance crisis — litigation abuse and assignment of benefits (AOB) abuse…Eliminating both is necessary to slow down the mass volume of lawsuits being filed against Florida insurers.” Going forward, assignment of benefits forms are banned for home insurance losses and Florida will no longer operate a one-way attorney fee system.
 
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The biggest issue right now in Florida is home insurance fraud, driven by fraudulent roofing claims. A proclamation from the office of Governor Ron DeSantis notes that, although Florida only accounts for 9 percent of the country’s home insurance claims, it is home to 79 percent of the country’s home insurance lawsuits. Many of these lawsuits are fraudulent. ICA Carter explains how the scams generally work:

  1. First, roofers canvas neighborhoods and offer inspections to unsuspecting homeowners. These contractors inevitably “find damage” on the roof and often promise a “free roof” to the homeowner, claiming they can have the home insurance deductible waived.
  2. Homeowners are pressured to sign an assignment of benefits form, giving contractors the right to file an insurance claim on their behalf.
  3. A claims adjuster from the insurance company inspects the alleged damage. The adjuster either finds no damage or far more minimal damage than the contractor found, and the claim payout is less than what the contractor demanded.
  4. The contractor brings legal action against the insurance company, demanding a claim payout for the contractor’s original quote. Remember, the homeowner signed the benefits of the policy to the contractor, so the contractor doesn’t need the homeowner’s permission to do this.
  5. The insurance company now has a choice: it can pay the legal costs to fight the lawsuit or pay the costs to settle out of court. Either way, the insurance company loses money due to the legal action.
ICA Carter notes that “these schemes are real and are happening more frequently,” which puts more and more financial pressure on insurance companies, especially in a state with high claims costs due to weather-related events.

According to Mark Friedlander, Director of Corporate Communications at the Insurance Information Institute, “Florida property insurers are projected to post a cumulative underwriting loss of $1.7 billion for 2021” due to these runaway litigation costs. The governor’s office reports that, for two consecutive years, net underwriting losses have exceeded $1 billion. It’s no wonder that so many companies are going insolvent or leaving the state before they reach that point.

On top of that, Florida also previously had a “one-way attorney fee” system. This meant that, when a court ruled in favor of the plaintiff (in this case, a home insurance policyholder or the third-party contractor who filed the claim), the defendant (in this case, the insurance company) was responsible for paying the plaintiff’s attorney fees. So not only were insurers paying for fraudulent lawsuits, they were also paying for the fraudster’s legal costs. Friedlander notes that the insurance reform bill passed in December 2022 “addresses the two root causes of Florida’s residential insurance crisis — litigation abuse and assignment of benefits (AOB) abuse…Eliminating both is necessary to slow down the mass volume of lawsuits being filed against Florida insurers.” Going forward, assignment of benefits forms are banned for home insurance losses and Florida will no longer operate a one-way attorney fee system.
The other scary thing - not limited to Florida - is that unscrupulous roofers can get roofing supplies and not pay for them. The roofing supply company can then legally file a supply lien on the house.
 
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