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A thread to discuss Central Texas real estate


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On 4/23/2021 at 10:42 AM, AntonioGG said:

I'm not old enough to be a true hippie, but I wear Birkenstocks.  Will you let me into your neighborhood? 🙂

I used to always want to protest, and I'd always ask my realtor what he thought, and he'd always come back with, "I can sell it for more than that as it sits right now".  One year I actually went through with it.  The grass was all dead, lots of wood rot in the deck and fence, etc.  I took pictures.  They knocked $1200 off.  I haven't tried since.

 

OK when will you make it to the R&I?  We gotta talk.  We're also in the process of adding a screened-in porch.  Not for discussion here, but I want to ask about GC, design options, etc.  We don't use our expansive deck b/c if it's not mosquitoes then it's worms and oak flowers when the weather is nice.

It's all a scam. Ignore the current crazy up cycle. But in any normal year the CAD equation is a circular one built on a handful of data points that they attempt to make fit the larger dataset. But it end ups a circular argument because they tell me my house is based on the value of the neighbor, and they tell my neighbor that his house is based on the value of his neighbor (me). Self fulfilling valuation. 

I basically gave up on fighting CAD. the guy next door with a bigger house, a little newer, 3 car garage (vs 2), and not on the corner (not much sf diff), was valued 15% lower than me. all of that in the improvement (all our lots are the same dirt value). Makes zero sense. And when I pointed it out they ignored it and told me I was in line with other neighbors. 

My tax scheme is to lock a house into its valuation when transacted. Maybe set a 2% inflation COL adjustment to it, but otherwise no revaluation without remodel or transaction. The city/ISD will have to find revenue someplace else, but it makes the whole buying a house something more available to people when they can more reasonably anticipate tax obligations. 

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21 hours ago, Mattlikesbikes said:

My tax scheme is to lock a house into its valuation when transacted. Maybe set a 2% inflation COL adjustment to it, but otherwise no revaluation without remodel or transaction. The city/ISD will have to find revenue someplace else, but it makes the whole buying a house something more available to people when they can more reasonably anticipate tax obligations. 

This is the one thing California got right as it sets property tax values at purchase price and can go up only 2% per year (or less based on inflation) - Local Real Property Is Assessed at Acquisition Value and Adjusted Upward Each Year. The process that county assessors use to determine the value of real property was established by Proposition 13. Under this system, when real property is purchased, the county assessor assigns it an assessed value that is equal to its purchase price, or “acquisition value.” Each year thereafter, the property’s assessed value increases by 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. This process continues until the property is sold, at which point the county assessor again assigns it an assessed value equal to its most recent purchase price. In other words, a property’s assessed value resets to market value (what a willing buyer would pay for it) when it is sold. (As shown in Figure 2, voters have approved various constitutional amendments that exclude certain property transfers from triggering this reassessment.)

and this happened under Jerry Brown in the 70's.

Edited by gdog-1992
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Got the escrow & taxes sorted with my mortgage company and my monthly payment went down 5% for 2021!  They're mailing me a check for the difference which is funny since I just sent them a check for nearly the same amount due to a shortage.

Never thought that would go through considering prices here in CTX. I'll take it whit it lasts.  

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The world is crazy.  My Dad is looking to move out here in the next year or so.  I went and looked at a house for him on Thursday after work.  It had gone on the market that morning.  By the time I looked at it the house had 3 all cash offers.  My realtor couldn't believe it.  I couldn't believe it.  This was a $400k house.  I know that is peanuts compared to Austin, but in Kerrville that is a lot of money for a house.  Crazy.  

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On 4/30/2021 at 12:14 PM, notyal said:

I received this unsolicited “market analysis” in the mail today. I just found it funny. Two data points. Nice graph.

Looks like Brenda has sold just two homes, per her own graph.

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8 hours ago, sherpaxc said:

The world is crazy.  My Dad is looking to move out here in the next year or so.  I went and looked at a house for him on Thursday after work.  It had gone on the market that morning.  By the time I looked at it the house had 3 all cash offers.  My realtor couldn't believe it.  I couldn't believe it.  This was a $400k house.  I know that is peanuts compared to Austin, but in Kerrville that is a lot of money for a house.  Crazy.  

We've been casually looking at some possible landing spots for a potential move from Austin.  What you are describing is happening all over TX for the most part....Waco, Temple, Salado, less urban areas around College Station, etc..

I think TX in general is experiencing a rising of the tide regarding the influx of people, business and opportunity.

-CJB

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We're looking in BC and costs are even more insane than here. At least it's warm(er) though for canada.

A 1700 sqft 2/2/2 1970s condo behind me was just listed for $359k, and sold two days later for $440k. Bring it awn!

Edited by ATXZJ
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  • 2 weeks later...

I've not had a formal hearing with TCAD, only informal and formal with HCAD when I lived in Houston. 

We have an apartment that my SIL lives in. It's EXACTLY the same as the unit next door. The TCAD value on the place next door is 8k lower. So I petitioned our price and proposed the same as the neighbor. I got a settlement offer for $0 lower than current. 

How is the temperament of the TCAD formal review panel? Just roll in with photos of the two units and the TCAD value page for both units? Any advice?

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I've not had a formal hearing with TCAD, only informal and formal with HCAD when I lived in Houston. 
We have an apartment that my SIL lives in. It's EXACTLY the same as the unit next door. The TCAD value on the place next door is 8k lower. So I petitioned our price and proposed the same as the neighbor. I got a settlement offer for $0 lower than current. 
How is the temperament of the TCAD formal review panel? Just roll in with photos of the two units and the TCAD value page for both units? Any advice?

So there may be a legit reason that the other house is $8k lower. They may have damage or additional depreciation you don’t know about. State law requires that most house that get a reduction in the prior year lasts for another year but that doesn’t mean you get to glom onto that.

If your home is higher than several other same floor plans and you haven’t improved yours then maybe you have a case but if only one floor plan is less than yours but several are similar to your value, you don’t get to go to the lowest. It’s a beating but even after a 30% increase, I’m still below what I’d sell my house for.

Find several similar floor plans that are on the roll for less and you may have a case but otherwise, if you can get a few present off that may be the best you can do.
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32 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

I could see TCAD saying "thanks for bringing up the fact that the identical property is lower, we'll take care of that." And not in your favor.

That's exactly what happened with a group of properties along Lake Austin. I forget the details, but one guy bitched about not being exempt, "like my neighbors." They swooped in and started charging all of them. 

Pretty sure that guy wasn't invited to anymore neighborhood parties!

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51 minutes ago, The Tip said:

That's exactly what happened with a group of properties along Lake Austin. I forget the details, but one guy bitched about not being exempt, "like my neighbors." They swooped in and started charging all of them. 

Pretty sure that guy wasn't invited to anymore neighborhood parties!

If I remember correctly, several properties on Lake Austin were taking advantage of an oooold exemption from Austin taxes because they were not getting some services from the city due to their location. that has changed, obviously, so they are having their cake and eating it too, while the rest of us schmucks are paying taxes for services they enjoy for free. it looks like they have good lawyers and  know how to grease some palms, because they're getting their way. https://patch.com/texas/downtownaustin/senate-oks-bill-allowing-lake-austin-owners-avoid-city-taxes

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14 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

build the wall! (around Lake Austin snobs)

Preaching to the choir, but the argument that they have delayed police/fire response justifies no COA tax is some strong BS. A wall wouldn't be enough. They enjoy LOTS AND LOTS of other COA funded stuff, which likely is way more of their tax dollars than police/fire. If they don't want to pay COA taxes, perhaps some kind of toll tag that logs and charges them for all the miles on COA roads. Or a parks pass that nails them for every time they use a park, or take their boat on a Lake Austin. 

 

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I was downtown Saturday and the city offices already have a wall of hobos around them. 

My place is now being estimated at almost $400k more than I paid for it less than 3 years ago. Clearly real estate here has a substance abuse problem and needs an intervention.

Edited by ATXZJ
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13 minutes ago, Mattlikesbikes said:

Preaching to the choir, but the argument that they have delayed police/fire response justifies no COA tax is some strong BS. A wall wouldn't be enough. They enjoy LOTS AND LOTS of other COA funded stuff, which likely is way more of their tax dollars than police/fire. If they don't want to pay COA taxes, perhaps some kind of toll tag that logs and charges them for all the miles on COA roads. Or a parks pass that nails them for every time they use a park, or take their boat on a Lake Austin.

We all know that will never work. they just need to give the right person a handjob and they get all the benefits of living in Austin without paying for it.

I'm not sure what they have there, but I think it would be fair if they had to fund their own police and fire, manage their own wastewater, etc. if you want to be an island, don't half-ass it.

Edited by mack_turtle
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