Dallas Vs. Austin

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-29-2003
Dallas Vs. Austin
27
Tue, 02-20-2007 - 3:21pm

Dallas Vs. Austin Texas


Avatar Image"The Small Peanu

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-17-2002
Wed, 12-12-2007 - 4:47pm

Hehehe - it's FLOWER Mound, not Flour Mound!

131.gif image by y_baros th5K.gif image by jade_simo

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-29-2003
Wed, 12-12-2007 - 4:58pm

Yes, I wasn’t sure, LOL Flower Mound, thanks!

Avatar Image"The Small Peanu
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-17-2002
Wed, 12-12-2007 - 5:16pm

Yes, Flower Mound is a little prettier name!


Exactly - renters make out like bandits with no property or income tax.

131.gif image by y_baros th5K.gif image by jade_simo

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-29-2003
Wed, 12-12-2007 - 5:22pm

I tell you what, next time the Presidential candidates come to your town, ask them what they are going to do about the property taxes in Dallas (joke)!

Avatar Image"The Small Peanu
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-28-2006
Thu, 12-13-2007 - 1:44am
Exactly - renters make out like bandits with no property or income tax.


This is a really common misconception. Think about it for just a second... those renters are living in apartments (or condos or even renting houses sometimes)... and those apartments (or condos or houses) are property... and there's property taxes... and those buildings (especially apartment buildings) are often valued much, much higher than a single-family house...


Guess what? SOMEONE is paying those property taxes, and you can bet that it's not like the property owner is saying "aw, okay, I'll just pay the taxes and leave the rent lower!"


Renters pay property taxes. Oh, they might not pay them directly to the city or county or state or whatever that's collecting them, but the landlord is paying them with money they get from the renter, just like the landlord pays for all the other costs the same way.


I'm going to Dallas myself on Friday, but only staying overnight. It's a fundraising party for my union's previous president- he's getting sued for defamation by a nitwit... anyway, SEA-DFW-SEA in a day. Wheeeee! ;)
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-29-2003
Thu, 12-13-2007 - 12:38pm

Avatar Image"The Small Peanu
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-28-2006
Fri, 12-14-2007 - 3:40am

Well, it is a tradeoff- rent usually isn't as much as a mortgage payment, but the landlord is also gaining in equity. Still, my point is the same- SOMEONE is paying those taxes. It's not like they pay themselves! :)

The landlord has to pay them and they're a recurring deal. Costs like that aren't usually treated (to my knowledge) as a long-term capital expense (like fixing the roof would be); they're part of the regular cash flow of the place. And guess where that cash flow comes from?

The rent money.

Also, even if your mortgage company collects your real estate taxes and puts 'em in escrow and pays it for you, it's still YOU that pays it. They just hold it for you, and it's not really part of your mortgage (even though it all goes in one payment).

The end result of all of this is simple- someone's got to pay the taxes, and believe me, the landlord is including the real estate taxes as part of his/her costs that he has to cover somehow. They cover those costs with the rent money. So the renter is, in the end, paying the taxes.

Those taxes aren't free from property tax. That money has to come from somewhere. Where does the landlord get their money? From the renters. Hence, in a roundabout way, the renters pay the taxes. Sure, some landlords are "getting" their money in the longer run through the appreciation of the property, but they've still got to get rent money coming in during the meanwhile to cover their costs- and a big part of those costs is the property taxes.

As far as those taxes being high... we gotta pay for that governmental stuff somehow. Here in Washington we don't have income tax... so we have higher property taxes. It's not like the teachers work for less since there's no income tax! :)

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