[FuriouslyFast]

Originally Posted by unluky

I think the PPT on the farm ran about $1,700 last year, which is about what my house here on 5 acres (assessed about the same as yours) was as well. Farm has a kind of hunting cabin on it with elec and water, but appraises at like $50K of the value of the farm.

By comparison - she paid over $4K in taxes last year. For a house that I would guess to be a $150K-$160K class house? Mostly because it is in a good neighborhood with good schools and has nice upgrades inside. The things she pays to live there are insane.

She can't wait to get out. They will never be able to outvote CHI and everyone fleeing are leaving non-CHI areas, so it only makes it worse faster.

I have a buddy that moved to CT for a good job. It petered out after a few years and he landed another job there, but he wished he had not. He says many of the same things - terrible taxes and terrible policies. He said they are not talking about how to tax people that USED to live there or some such nonsense. LOL

Sounds like my area. Taxes in 99% of the good areas are at least $4k per year. I paid over $4k a yr in taxes when I owned a house in NJ.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

I have no words. Other than I am glad I don't live there.

Quite cheap by Toronto standards (not close to downtown and it's apparently 1981 in this condo, that's why) but $1800 a year in taxes and near $1K month on maintenance.

https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/2...toronto-mimico

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Quite cheap by Toronto standards (not close to downtown and it's apparently 1981 in this condo, that's why) but $1800 a year in taxes and near $1K month on maintenance.

https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/2...toronto-mimico

The taxes aren't too bad - the monthly fee is beyond comprehension. I own 2 homes here locally and 3 more condos elsewhere for investments.

Of the 3 condos, I pay R&M levies (HOA or maint. fees) each month in the amount of $40, $18, and $62 respectively. Two of these are oceanfront.

The quality of life in Toronto must absolutely freaking suck.

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Quite cheap by Toronto standards (not close to downtown and it's apparently 1981 in this condo, that's why) but $1800 a year in taxes and near $1K month on maintenance.

https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/2...toronto-mimico

FWIW - here are some photos of my most recent purchase. I paid $134,200 for it. 3 bedrooms with an ocean view.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

The taxes aren't too bad - the monthly fee is beyond comprehension. I own 2 homes here locally and 3 more condos elsewhere for investments.

Of the 3 condos, I pay R&M levies (HOA or maint. fees) each month in the amount of $40, $18, and $62 respectively. Two of these are oceanfront.

The quality of life in Toronto must absolutely freaking suck.

See as an aussie i find the house/land taxes incomprehensibly high. It's outrageous that we pay the income tax we do, and 13% sales tax then get slugged that hard by municipalities. It's criminal.

Toronto keeps being highly rated on these world scores for quality of life. It's super expensive, the weather is atrocious, it's dull as dishwater ....i don't get it.

[Kelse92]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

A month? A freaking month?

I only have 1 home with an HOA. It is a lovely community.

The HOA fees are $250. Per year.

I cannot fathom spending over $4,200 in HOA expenses each year. That is just mind blowing. All that money gone, down the toilet. Hmm...wonder how much that compounds to....I am 42. Gonna retire at 65. Assuming a reasonable RoR based on an S&P500 index fund of 7.9%

$296,489.34

The HOA is taking nearly a third of a million dollars from you over the course of 23 years.

Uh...that's a no for me, dog.

Its a condo, what are your typical bills at your house?? The HOA are covers all of mine except my electric bill. There's a pool here, elevator, porter who mows/gardens/etc daily and capital improvements (eg 100k+ this year spent on roofing/gutters/stucco damage). It's expensive but ultimately not much different when comparing the expenses involved in owning a home if I was paying for all of those services separately

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by Kelse92

Its a condo, what are your typical bills at your house?? The HOA are covers all of mine except my electric bill. There's a pool here, elevator, porter who mows/gardens/etc daily and capital improvements (eg 100k+ this year spent on roofing/gutters/stucco damage). It's expensive but ultimately not much different when comparing the expenses involved in owning a home if I was paying for all of those services separately

Please refer to my above post regarding the revision if it was a condo. I still don't average $3,000/year (accounting for a back out of utility bills you aren't paying) for upkeep and maintenance, but it's not nearly as dramatic as if it were a free standing home.

I don't pay HOA style fees anywhere close to that on any of my rental property condos - but they are overseas, so not really an apples to apples comparison.

[dtla1]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

I just finished a new home on a mountaintop with a stellar view. 7acres. 3,750sf. All in, it came to $345K, including the land.



Pics below:

This is my goal, but in the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains. Still a 1 Hr commute to the Silicon Valley area though for work.

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by dtla1

This is my goal, but in the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains. Still a 1 Hr commute to the Silicon Valley area though for work.

7 acres on a mountain top with a 3,750sf home - an hour outside of silicon valley?

You, my dear sir, are apparently much more wealthy than I!

More power to ya!

What's that gotta run, $7-8mil?

[dtla1]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

7 acres on a mountain top with a 3,750sf home - an hour outside of silicon valley?

You, my dear sir, are apparently much more wealthy than I!

More power to ya!

What's that gotta run, $7-8mil?

I'm still researching, but I've recently found a decently situated 8.5 Acres in Los Gatos for $200K. Near other plots that have been developed. Power at the road (still pretty far from the ideal house location but its a start), well for water on site, some soil investigations done.

I don't think I would aim for a 3,750 SF home though, something around 2k sf is ok with me, maybe get up to 3,750 with my ideal garage/workshop/machine shop/empire of dirt.

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by dtla1

I'm still researching, but I've recently found a decently situated 8.5 Acres in Los Gatos for $200K. Near other plots that have been developed. Power at the road (still pretty far from the ideal house location but its a start), well for water on site, some soil investigations done.

I don't think I would aim for a 3,750 SF home though, something around 2k sf is ok with me, maybe get up to 3,750 with my ideal garage/workshop/machine shop/empire of dirt.

Man - I must be searching wrong - I looked up 5+ acres in Los Gatos and can't find any homes selling for less than $6mil.

Why did they name the town "The Cat's"? That's almost as odd as a town I lived at in Florida for a while, called Boca Raton - translates to "Mouth of the Rat".

[AlpineWhite_SJ]

Originally Posted by dtla1

This is my goal, but in the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains. Still a 1 Hr commute to the Silicon Valley area though for work.

17 ain't no joke, especially in the winter, but the views are awesome. I don't know if I could handle the seasonal worries about mud/flood in the winter and fires in the summer/fall though.

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

Why did they name the town "The Cat's"? That's almost as odd as a town I lived at in Florida for a while, called Boca Raton - translates to "Mouth of the Rat".

Because Ox Nard was already taken - SMH

[dtla1]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

Because Ox Nard was already taken - SMH

Funny thing is I grew up in Oxnard haha. Those damn Oxnard brothers and their sugar beets.

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by dtla1

Funny thing is I grew up in Oxnard haha. Those damn Oxnard brothers and their sugar beets.

OHS, class of 84. Dad still lives on Patricia st. I moved to Nyeland Acres (aka the other El Rio)

[kscarrol]

Originally Posted by IllSic_Design

Pretty sure the poster is female...

Indeed, my apologies! I quickly scanned her post and did not notice the #ladydriven in her signature...

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

FWIW - here are some photos of my most recent purchase. I paid $134,200 for it. 3 bedrooms with an ocean view.

Sweet. Where is that? Seems like a steal for 3 bedrooms that close to the ocean.

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Sweet. Where is that? Seems like a steal for 3 bedrooms that close to the ocean.

Uvongo, Margate, KZN South Africa

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

Uvongo, Margate, KZN South Africa

Ah. I figure for that price it wasn't the U.S. SA has some pretty sweet cycling areas. Hell of a long trip from here, though.

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Ah. I figure for that price it wasn't the U.S. SA has some pretty sweet cycling areas. Hell of a long trip from here, though.

I'm there at least once a year - usually quite a bit more. We have 3 rental properties there. My wife is from there and we have tons of family in the area. If not familiar with Uvongo, here is a blurb from wiki:

Uvongo is a seaside resort south of Port Shepstone at the mouth of the Vungu River in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Uvongo is the largest upmarket residential area on the lower South Coast. The Vungu River has a waterfall that flows into a small gorge near the mouth. The town is named after the Vungu River,[2] which is derived from the Zulu word that describes the sound of a waterfall or the wind in a gorge.

Uvongo beach lost its "Blue Flag" title due to storms damaging it in April 2007 but has managed to regain a clean and prestigious beach front. Uvongo still remains the playground of the rich, with multimillion rand properties in the area. Uvongo is one of South Africas favourite holiday destinations and attracts local and foreign tourist.

The village of Uvongo still has its village-like charm, mainly thanks to building restrictions

[kscarrol]

Never been to SA, it's on the list...

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by AlpineWhite_SJ

There is? Does it have decent surf? Is there a part that doesn’t involve sink holes, humidity, hurricanes, an over abundance of retired people, northwesterners trying to thaw out, theme park and cruise boat tourists, and every other headline from the smokinggun.com?

Recent, relatively clean example - https://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster...entence-365912

That said, outside of Southern California, California doesn’t really have what I would call "beaches". Up here we have "coastline" and outside of a crazy heat wave, I agree, the water and weather is too damn cold to lounge on the coast.

Food is really world class - half the produce is local so it’s fresher. Diversity of options really can’t be beat.

Not sure where you were, so can’t speak to the specifics of why you might not understand why people pay a premium (or camp on the streets) to live here, but consensus says otherwise. Now if we could just stop passing some ridiculous policies that unnecessarily inflate the cost of living, that’d be great

I have no idea about surf as I don't surf. The only beaches I care for are the ones with warm water and bar service. I would say if you just want beautiful coast with ice water I preferred OR and WA. You don't like skin holes, humidity and old people I don't like earthquakes, fires and taxes so potatoe potato.

It's funny you bring up thesmokingun and in general the better than thou attitude you see in CA (and other big cities like NY etc). I have come across plenty of creepy hick towns all over CA especially northern CA. My friend with the $500k fixer upper thinks he's so evolved living in CA. I'm like dude, I've been to your house, I know where you live. There's nothing around except farms and the Mexicans who farm them. The center of town is basically Walmart.

As for food, we had some good food in CA but I find the food on all our trips west kinda boring. A WHOLE lot of Mexican food and that's about it. I found the food up the east coast much better.

We were all over CA but spent the most time around Sacramento/SF/Napa, Monterey, Santa Barbara and San Diego (BTW what was suppose to be a like 3 hour drive from Santa Barbara to San Diego ended up taking 7-8 hours with traffic). I've been to LA before, didn't really spend anymore time there this go around as it's not my thing.

I'm not saying everything in CA is a horrible pos. What I am saying is value for money wise there's just sooooo many other places I would rather live. If I was forced to live in CA I would probably choose the outskirts around San Diego. That was probably our favorite area.