S Folinsky

Sally: Although you say you are in "Los Angeles" -- I assume you are not under DWP?

N1cky

[QUOTE=AmerLisa;8820239] What upkeep costs do you pay that a renter doesn't pay other than repairs when things go wrong? Most rental properties haven't been repainted, updated or been properly cleaned for years, if you don't do it yourself the landlords certainly aren't going to do it. We pay the costs of upkeep because we want to live in a nice home rather than a hovel.

I understand the HOA costs, but thats a choice to move into a HOA.

N1cky

I thought her's was cheap too, are yours more in line with mine then?

Michael

Yes both property taxes and interest on mortgage are 100% deductible. However, you have to exceed the standard deduction ($11,500 for married filing jointly) with your total deductions before you would see any benefit. If you are in a state and/or city with income tax, you can also deduct those taxes as well as personal property taxes (car, etc.) from your income when filing your federal tax return. If your state doesn't have an income tax, you can deduct your sales tax.

N1cky

So possibly you could be better off paying $1k a month property tax than a lower rate that wouldn't meet the $11.5k threshold.

As a rentor it is highly unlikely you would ever meet the $11.5k so overall you pay more out throughout the year when you include taxes.

Sorry, I know that's worded really crap, I know what I mean

AdobePinon

Some scary numbers back there.

~1,500 square feet, 2 people:
Water-sewage-garbage-recycling: $50
Electricity: ~$60 (A/C not needed in northern NM)
Gas: ~$10 in the summer, up to ~$150 in the winter.

When I owned a place here (similar size), property taxes were $1,450 for the year.

Michael

Unless your income is fairly large and you live in a high income tax state (eg. California), it is usually difficult to exceed the standard deduction if you are renting to take advantage of itemized deductions on your federal tax return.

I had previously paid off my mortgage and only had property taxes and state income tax as deductions on a fairly large salary so I was able to itemize to pay less taxes. Since I retired, my state income taxes were very low (due to the fact that social security benefits are only taxed on part of the benefits - could be as little as none of the benefits are taxed if your total income is below about $35,000) so usually itemizing is not beneficial.

In my case, the standard deduction is only $8,400 (single) but I only have about $3,500 in property taxes (about 1/2 what it should be due to California prop 13 and prop 90).

Englishtart

Some of the monthly utility bills on this thread seem pretty low compared to ours

2,400 sq ft house, 3 people living in it
water=$50
elec=$300 (only paid summer bills so far, hoping it goes down next month)
Gas=$50 (will go up a little in Winter, but not much)
Internet-$45
cable=$90 (dropped this service this month, so no more cable )
renters ins', 2 autos=$100
rent= $1600
garbage=$45 every 3 months

On our house in IL, we pay $150 for HOA, will go up next year.
Property taxes=$3,700 per yr, also going up next year.
property agent fees=$80 pm
home warranty=$50 pm

ChocolateBabz

[QUOTE=N1cky;8820211] It is tax deductable which is a break and Texas has no state tax on income so we make up some there as well but still writing those cheques in January makes me cry .

AmerLisa

[QUOTE=N1cky;8820290] I think I was pointing out what a owner pays....and somehow it all got lost in the translation and at this early in the morning I have no idea what I meant....

Duncan Roberts

My wifes uncle and aunt own a rental place and they take very good care of the tenants. If something breaks, they fix it and when people move out they always do one or two major rejuvenations, new carpet, new appliances, new bathroom, painting, etc. They are not large places and not high end by any stretch of the imagination either. Not all people in the rental game are hands off!

TimberHut

People pay 2 grand a month property tax?

Here for a nice house in a nice neighborhood it is around $700 a YEAR.

Surely it can't be $24,000 a year?

Well praps it is and some people just earn a lot of money. Fair play.

Glad to see a summer electric AC bill of around $150 a month is common. This is about what it is here. Money well spent - having AC rules. Just makes the summer so much more enjoyable. You can go out in the heat but know you can get out of it by going indoors. Bliss.

N1cky

No but most are. Lots of places around here look like they have been on the rental market for the last 10 years and neither the owner or tennant has done any kind of upkeep. This on $3k a month homes, not a shabby apartment.

Bill_S

Property tax is one of the most varied expenses across the country. They are high where I live. I just did a quick lookup of houses for sale in my area... check out number 16300 South Park Blvd., Shaker Heights, OH. MLS number 3105469. Nice looking place, taxes are $28,770.

Duncan Roberts

If there is no state/local tax then it might not as bad as it sounds overall. For us it varies wildly depending on the county and city. For us, $360 a month, if we moved 1/2 a mile down the road into a different county it would almost double, which is a prime reason why we didn't move there!

EDIT: Above house is in the "different county"