Skagit Valley, Washington (Vancouver, Bellingham: low income, appointed, real estate market)

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by mayfair

It's still up in Whatcom County.

Where is Whatcom Co.?

[mayfair]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

Where is Whatcom Co.?

It's one county north of Skagit County. Custer is near Bellingham. So you'll have better luck asking on a Bellingham thread.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by mayfair

It's one county north of Skagit County. Custer is near Bellingham. So you'll have better luck asking on a Bellingham thread.

[ukiyo-e]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

From .From $800/yr to $14,700/yr!? That's insane

That situation is not at all usual. Read the posts where the type of property involved is described.

I've lived in western WA for 12 years and never had an unreasonable property tax increase. But I live in "normal" single family homes on "normal" land.

My current house purchased in 2019 cost about the same as a home I bought in CA in 2002 and my property taxes are lower than what I was paying there at the time, plus, I have no state income tax here. My brother lives in a house that cost the same as mine, but his is in Pennsylvania, and his property taxes are twice mine (he has a larger lot, though). I don't consider our property taxes at all onerous, esp. considering the lack of state income tax. Sales taxes are a bit steep, but I'm retired and I don't need to buy much taxable goods.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by ukiyo-e

That situation is not at all usual. Read the posts where the type of property involved is described.

I've lived in western WA for 12 years and never had an unreasonable property tax increase. But I live in "normal" single family homes on "normal" land.

My current house purchased in 2019 cost about the same as a home I bought in CA in 2002 and my property taxes are lower than what I was paying there at the time, plus, I have no state income tax here. My brother lives in a house that cost the same as mine, but his is in Pennsylvania, and his property taxes are twice mine (he has a larger lot, though). I don't consider our property taxes at all onerous, esp. considering the lack of state income tax. Sales taxes are a bit steep, but I'm retired and I don't need to buy much taxable goods.

I getting near retirement but in the 90's I would have loved to live in northern Washington near the Canadian Border in the rural area north of Bellingham. Now the times have changed and there is no cap on property taxes like Prop. 13 in CA. I have heard lots of people in Wash. loose their properties because of the very high increase of property tax that can happen in one year.

[rkcarguy]

Taxes have gone up a lot due to the massive hikes in market prices and tax evaluations. In the mid 90's a relative had a new home built in Bellingham for $190K, new furniture and all. Their taxes were $2,400 a year. Now, homes in the area are now selling in the $800K -$1.1M+ range, which at ~1.3% property taxes due annually,= $10,400 - $14,300 a year. This same home is now outdated and in need of some TLC, but still demands $8,520 a year in taxes/fee's. Additionally, Bellingham imposed an impervious surfaces fee/tax, that taxes you on SQ/FT basis for your house, garage, driveway, decks, patios, and the like. That's an additional $130/month for a fairly small lot with a 3-bed two bath two car garage home.
Figure if you are shopping for a home, you'll be looking at an average list price of $650K or more, and be prepared to spend about $10K a year on up for property taxes and fees if in Bellingham.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

Taxes have gone up a lot due to the massive hikes in market prices and tax evaluations. In the mid 90's a relative had a new home built in Bellingham for $190K, new furniture and all. Their taxes were $2,400 a year. Now, homes in the area are now selling in the $800K -$1.1M+ range, which at ~1.3% property taxes due annually,= $10,400 - $14,300 a year. This same home is now outdated and in need of some TLC, but still demands $8,520 a year in taxes/fee's. Additionally, Bellingham imposed an impervious surfaces fee/tax, that taxes you on SQ/FT basis for your house, garage, driveway, decks, patios, and the like. That's an additional $130/month for a fairly small lot with a 3-bed two bath two car garage home.
Figure if you are shopping for a home, you'll be looking at an average list price of $650K or more, and be prepared to spend about $10K a year on up for property taxes and fees if in Bellingham.

That is terrible. One was able to get in and afford to get the house then only years later prices go up so high that can cause you to loose what you had invested. You can't get ahead with that kind of property tax against you. It will get to the point where one cannot afford to pay. The longer you are there the more taxes will cost you as the taxes go up with the value of the home. At least here we have a cap limit of how much a home can go up at any one time. (Prop. 13) though we do pay the highest prices for cost of living items. But the property tax isn't that BAD as what happened to Wash. It was probably ok before in WA but when Bellingham imposed those tax fees that changed everything. I mean more people will lose the house they bought a long time ago.

[xPlorer48]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

Taxes have gone up a lot due to the massive hikes in market prices and tax evaluations. In the mid 90's a relative had a new home built in Bellingham for $190K, new furniture and all. Their taxes were $2,400 a year. Now, homes in the area are now selling in the $800K -$1.1M+ range, which at ~1.3% property taxes due annually,= $10,400 - $14,300 a year. This same home is now outdated and in need of some TLC, but still demands $8,520 a year in taxes/fee's. Additionally, Bellingham imposed an impervious surfaces fee/tax, that taxes you on SQ/FT basis for your house, garage, driveway, decks, patios, and the like. That's an additional $130/month for a fairly small lot with a 3-bed two bath two car garage home.
Figure if you are shopping for a home, you'll be looking at an average list price of $650K or more, and be prepared to spend about $10K a year on up for property taxes and fees if in Bellingham.

Yes, in my neighborhood, which not too long ago was middle class white/blue collar, there are a few properties with $14,000 a year property taxes for 2021. Their valuation is $1,000,000+ but the market value is more. There is a big jump in valuations for 2022 so we will see what increases will be when we get our Valentine’s Day cards from the county assessor.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by xPlorer48

Yes, in my neighborhood, which not too long ago was middle class white/blue collar, there are a few properties with $14,000 a year property taxes for 2021. Their valuation is $1,000,000+ but the market value is more. There is a big jump in valuations for 2022 so we will see what increases will be when we get our Valentine’s Day cards from the county assessor.

So correct me if I am wrong. If I bought a home above Bellingham, near the Vancouver Border in 1991, I can't remember what rural neighborhood it was probably in Whatcom County or Skagit?
I will be paying much more property tax than I did in 1991 in comparison to 2022 which could be well above $10,000+ and continuing to go up in leaps and bounds Maybe even not being able to pay those taxes and losing the home?

To do that same thing today will only cost more because everything is at a much higher value assessment.

[mayfair]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

So correct me if I am wrong. If I bought a home above Bellingham, near the Vancouver Border in 1991, I can't remember what rural neighborhood it was probably in Whatcom County or Skagit?
I will be paying much more property tax than I did in 1991 in comparison to 2022 which could be well above $10,000+ and continuing to go up in leaps and bounds Maybe even not being able to pay those taxes and losing the home?

To do that same thing today will only cost more because everything is at a much higher value assessment.

Yes, the valuation and property taxes go up even if you don't sell and bought cheap a long time ago. WA has no income tax, so property and sales taxes are high.