State 29 has some generally good points about property taxes today. But this story is a little outrageous:
This past weekend I spoke with an old friend who has lived in the suburban San Francisco region for about 8 years. When he bought his brand-new, middle-class house in 1997, it cost $250,000 – an amount which was for him a budget-buster back then even with a 40-year mortgage. Back in 1997 it was either this or a one bedroom apartment in a crappy part of San Jose for $1300 a month. Today, he says, his home has been appraised at about $750,000. He and his neighbors can’t sell unless they want to move out of the area because all the new homes nearby have waiting lists and are usually bid over a million dollars. They could barely afford what they bought in the late 1990s, and there’s no way they could afford anything in the area today. They are stuck.
So, if I have this right, they can sell their house today and walk away with more than $500,000 in cash? Hmm, doesn’t sound very stuck to me. Sounds like a smart investment. They could move to Iowa, buy a house, and live for 3-4 years without having to find a job – that’s what I would do.
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I agree that it is their choice to sit on their $500,000 nest egg rather than living in an area with a lower cost of living. Personally, I’d move if I thought the house price had topped out. It sounds like they could sell quickly.
The only time I read 29’s stuff is when someone else quotes him, ever since I saw him calling women the c word when he happens to disagree with their opinions. That ain’t cool.
That being said, I do agree with you on that issue. They can choose to bitch about the “bad” situation they are in, OR they can simply look at what a great boon the housing market has done to their net worth.
Stefanie,
I agree State 29 is vugar at times, and I try as much as possible to ignore his posts that degrade to that level. His analysis of Iowa politics and issues is usually right on with no favoritism in who he targets, except himself of course.
In the end, many bloggers will suffer from the same level of arrogance and lack of introspection that the MSM suffers from.
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