On the money tonight lowering home taxes

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2007
On the money tonight lowering home taxes
3
Thu, 12-18-2008 - 2:16am

On the money tonight they were talking about the value of homes falling which a lot of ours have


Lower interest rates they were talking about the FED's going down to 0 and the refinance hitting 4.5 maybe even 3.9


But something interesting about property taxes

Community Leader
Registered: 07-26-1999
Thu, 12-18-2008 - 9:44am
That is interesting Mary Ann.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2006
Thu, 12-18-2008 - 11:29am

That is interesting. As a side note, I'm concerned about the health of our local budgets (schools and counties) as a result of lower assessments and defaulting on property taxes. Let's face it; if you are having trouble making ends meet and you do not have the property taxes kept in escrow along with their mortgage, or worse you are behind on your mortgage, ignoring the property taxes is probably going to hurt less than ignoring other bills. Here in the San Francisco area, I have a relatively low (for this area) property tax burden at $5800 per year (gulp). So are the schools going to suffer because of this? I fear that is true.

I have been following mortgage rates pretty closely and recently tried to refinance. The appraisal came in a few thousand less than required for me to say that I own 20%. I can't find any other homes similar to mine for the appraised value anywhere near here, but evidently there was a low bank sale in my neighborhood that was the best comparable for my property. UGH! The lender I was going with required 20% ownership and a credit score above 760. In this market, that isn't going to help many people. I really *wanted* to go with a mortgage I found that requires 30% ownership. With the appraisal as it is, that can't happen. What a disappointment!

Recreating Myself

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2007
Thu, 12-18-2008 - 1:09pm

maybe you can go to the tax office and have your taxes lowered. might come up to same amount as having the house refinanced.


I know I have already lost half my downpayment in this house.


Mary Ann