[sportutegrl]

I wonder what the effect these higher property taxes have on the ‘Depression Era housing depreciation’, as reported by the media. It seems to me that a home with an 8000+ tax bill has to be worth a lot less than the identical home with a lower tax bill. Has anyone looked into this? How much house can you afford after you pay 500 to 600 per month in property taxes?

[Codeflier]

I used to think the same thing. I lived in a county with higher property taxes than adjacent counties. Over time I started to notice some benefits to the higher property taxes.

1. Property values stayed higher because only people with good money would buy in the area partially because of the taxes.
2. Many of the people were more desirable as neighbors as other counties would get people that would over extend themselves on their houses based on the theory that lower property taxes meant they could get more house.
3. I eventually moved to a county with lower property taxes and I can confirm what I thought. The upkeep for the houses is not done very well in my lower property tax county compared to my higher property tax county.
4. Home values have suffered much more in the lower property tax counties than my higher property tax county where I used to live.