Property taxes

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by MAXUM

Actually they are not. Most property owner end up on the loosing end, secondary properties are by far the worst.

Towns don't just take all the appreciation of a piece of property they actually take MORE than that. Example, my primary residence has a little more than doubled in value over the last 20 years. 100% increase in value means I'm a rich guy huh? Um NO! While my property value may have increased by 100% if I add up all the property taxes I have paid over the past 20 years I have forked out the equivalent of 137% meaning I am in the hole 37% JUST IN TAXES. Now if I were to sell I'd be out another about 9% off the top between RE transfer tax and real estate commission.

Secondary homes are far worse as using the same numbers... add in an additional 15% tax on cap gains. LOL yes the gains you have already paid the equivalent out to the town in the form of taxes.

Bottom line real-estate is a terrible investment to hold - in fact I wouldn't call it an investment at all - it's a way to park money that is relatively safe, and the town via property taxes gets all the interest earned and then some.

A secondary home is usually a poor financial investment but your primary home, depending on what part of the country you live in, is usually a great investment as is most rental property.
You have to live somewhere so if you rent you have to deduct that from what ever your costs are from owning. I wouldn't have what I have today without my real estate investments.
I have 3 children , 48, 37, and 33. The two youngest have had multiple homes and made money selling all of them when they moved up. They both have over 1 million dollars in net worth. My oldest who is a RN and has always had a great income but has rented all her life has a negative net worth. We tried to convince her to buy many, many years ago and now she's priced out of the market unless we help.