| << Until I Find You | 2006 > December | House-shopping, episode 1 >> |
Home, sweet... <pop> ::
I’ve spent some hours browsing Bay Area real estate over the last week. Slowly, my own version of the American Dream has unfolded like clouds, changing shapes... a giant place in the mountains on a big lot? Or someplace close to work? (I’ve learned over the last year, driving 50 miles a day roundtrip not only bothers my ecological conscience, but it’s such a time-sink).
At dinner the other night, I mentioned the research project, and Ray said that there was a house in his neighborhood for sale. He walked over to check it out yesterday. He remarked on how prices had become astronomical.
The white puffy clouds in my reverie were interrupted by a huge ominous dark one when I found a house that appealed to me in Sunnyvale—with the current annual property taxes on the listing: $9448. That’s $787/month just for property taxes.
After my first Google search found an article in yesterday’s SF Chronicle (Bay Area housing market keeps sliding), I stayed up all night immersing myself in reality...
Under Proposition 13, the real estate tax on a parcel of residential property is limited to 1% of its assessed value, until the property is resold. This “assessed value”, however, may only be increased by a maximum of 2% per year. If the property’s market value increases rapidly (values of many detached dwellings in California have appreciated at annual rates averaging more than 10% over the course of several years) or if inflation exceeds 2% (common), the differential between the owner’s taxes and the taxes a new owner would have to pay can become quite large.
Then there was this graph of historical estimated value on that house in Sunnyvale:
Which lined up a little uncomfortably with this ( Prediction: 43.5% drop in prices by 2011):
Speaking of watching a slow-motion train wreck in fascination:
The housing bubble’s poster boy of fraud, Casey Serin, ponders whether or not he should file for bankruptcy.
and spent over an hour here (lots of comments!).
Then I spent another half an hour browsing burbed.com, perhaps to be sure I get a sick feeling in my stomach if I ever start to contemplate buying a house in this market again. The site is proof that the joke about $500,000 shacks in Silicon Valley is funny because it is true. But for something a bit more upscale, how about this gem located conveniently to work?
– $1mil for a bad acid trip in Cupertino
Check out the full post; it gets better.
| << Until I Find You | 2006 > December | House-shopping, episode 1 >> |