Mortgage foreclosures at 30-year high !

Lansing State Journal ^ | 11/30/2002 | Christine MacDonald

[FITZ]

were = weren't.

[FITZ]

They should do that every time they raise property taxes. Or they should not be allowed to raise property taxes each and every year.

[FITZ]

However foreclosures are at record levels here as well.

In regions where house prices are falling, it might make more sense just to walk away from the mortgage because it costs money just to sell a house. People who lose their homes in foreclosures seem to be able to get credit again pretty quickly enough.

[Texas Eagle]

That's only true if property taxes were going sky high like they are here. Someone could afford a house quite easily but with property taxes going up $200-300 a year or more, they could within a couple years not afford it.

Excuses, excuses. All they have to do is cancel their cable TV subscription or (ahem!) their internet service and that will save them 300 to 500 a year right there.

[FITZ]

I guess they have to cancel those once they lose their homes ---I wouldn't assume all people foreclosing on their homes have cable TV. There are probably some who deserved to lose their homes but not all ---I would think it'd be pretty tough to go through --I sure hope I never would but since I'm in an area where houses aren't selling I guess if I lose my jobs I could.

[Texas Eagle]

There are probably some who deserved to lose their homes but not all ---

I never said they "all" deserve to lose their homes.

[Nubbin]

Sorry...I misread the statement in the article and got the meaning bass-ackwards.

[Texas Eagle]

No prob.

[Dianna]

The govm't does. Retired people that don't have enough to pay property taxes have to borrow, or lose what they rent from the govm't. WI is generous, they offer 18% interest to retired folks in the jam of not having enough cash to stay in their house.

That is outrageous!

[Baklava]

Why are property taxes going up like they are? I live in an area where the price of houses isn't all that high, but it's not at all unusual for people to pay more for property taxes than they do on the mortgage. I often hear of property taxes of $3000 or more on what I think of as quite modest homes. I don't know how folks on the coasts where they have sky-high real estate prices PLUS high property taxes do it.

[spunkets]

"Excuses, excuses. All they have to do is cancel their cable TV subscription or (ahem!) their internet service and that will save them 300 to 500 a year right there."

Priorities right, govm't gets fist pick on how to spend other peoples money.

[Texas Eagle]

Hey, taxes are a fact of life. If you don't want to pay them, you should be willing to take the consequences. In this case the consequence is losing your home.

[FITZ]

I know why property taxes are extreme here ---and $4000 a year for a modest home isn't unusual, it's over $3000 a year for a modest home and even simple little homes are about $2000 a year. Here it's high immigration which makes a heavy burden on school and county hospital taxes and the rest but I don't know why taxes are so high in other places. The government seems to add on as it pleases to the cost of owning a home and it's causing many to lose their homes, even people who didn't live extravagantly. There's a lot of homes sitting empty in several parts of the town and they're now trying to get government money to induce people to move into them. The government takes...and the government gives....

[tom paine 2]

I live in Wisconsin where people are paying 300+ dollars a month in property taxes. We are essentially renting our home from the government.

[Robert A Cook PE]

D*mn that's a lot.

Just a little under 1200.00/year here in Cobb County (Northwest of Atlanta...)

5% sales tax though on everything but food. Guess that adds probably another 2500.00 a year in taxes.

All total, two years ago, if you add everything together (including the "hidden" taxes inside your phone bill, water bill, electric bill, and DSL and cable bills; and add the 2% "fees" for battery and oil disposal, and add the 30.00 per year pollution "inspection fee" required by the PEPA in Atlanta, and add the GA income taxes and state park "user fees" ...

Our total household tax bill was 43% of our income.

[nanny]

[First off this is all wrong, do you know anywhere that a tax payment isn't paid monthly with your house payment, so the lender can pay them when due. The same goes for insurance.[

I want to be sure I understand what you are saying. You are speaking of what is called an 'escrow account' - where part of the payment you make to lender goes, and taxes and insurance are then paid when due?

Well, I am assuming I read you right - but in 35 years of home ownership and many of them paying on homes - I have never paid taxes and insurance with payment. If more people had to write checks for their taxes, both property and income tax, maybe this country would wake up and see how much they are actually paying.

But a lot of peole pay their taxes themselves - at least here in Texas - don't know where you live.

Could some of the problems be increased property taxes to pay for education, law enforcement, city services, etc. for illegals. I know that is much of the problem here - and of course, the mishandling of funds.

[nanny]

[Just a little under 1200.00/year here in Cobb County (Northwest of Atlanta...)]

May I say you have a bargain there.

[ 5% sales tax though on everything but food. Guess that adds probably another 2500.00 a year in taxes.]

8.25% in our part of Texas - that is state, city and county.

All total, two years ago, if you add everything together (including the "hidden" taxes inside your phone bill, water bill, electric bill, and DSL and cable bills; and add the 2% "fees" for battery and oil disposal, and add the 30.00 per year pollution "inspection fee" required by the PEPA in Atlanta, and add the GA income taxes and state park "user fees" ...]

Have you ever really looked at how much of your phone bill is taxes? Outrageous. We don't have a pollution inspection out here in the boonies yet, but major cities do, but guess what $6 of that fee is going into a fund for those who 'can't' afford to get their car into condition to meet the requirments!!

Another thing here in Texas, everytime the state doesn't want to raise taxes - they just add things that are subject to sales tax.

But as was said, here in Texas, it is the cost of illegal immigration - their special needs education, their medical costs, the burden to law enforcement and other social services.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Want to guess what "professional fees" are?

Under Ann Richards, the Texas democrats hiked the tax (excuse me, fee) for pro. engineer registration to 200.00 "fee" and 30.00 "registration" PER YEAR - but GA left their total fee at 30.00 for two years. (Bush, however, did not reduce that tax either though.)

But lawyer registration under Richards was left at 30.00 (approx) per year, total fee.

[lonestar]

County Treasurers are obsolete. We don't even have a state treas. anymore.

We're going to try to get a Repub to run for county treas. with a pledge of doing away with the job.

[Centurion2000]

bump ... the big question though... will the housing bubble collapse with the interest rates so low ?