Jessica Tripp

I've been noticing in my area that the huge variation in property taxes from town to town is drastically reducing the potential sale price of certain properties.

If a house is for sale for 180k (that would have sold for that in 180 in 2007) and the property taxes are 3600 (300/mo), that's not so bad, but when the market and other conditions force the saleable price down to 140k, people in that price range aren't willing to pay that much in taxes. This forces the sale price down even lower.

If your taxes are $1200 more, that means you can afford 20k less in house.

Since taxes were increased after the Real Estate boom, this also put home owners in a predicament. Many had purchased the max they could afford, then their property taxes went up $50-100/ month.

Just a small piece of the puzzle... but property taxes contribute to the decline in the real estate market, along with the other factors.

Of course, the cities had the larges increase in taxes, which could be why it appears that sale prices in the cities have fallen faster than rural locations.

People actually have a voice. Because of the quick communication over the internet etc. the general public can communicate and get things done.

I'm surprised at the Fox News view. They keep saying you won't be able to get a credit card. Which you shouldn't have anyway and businesses won't be able to finance operations.

When did it come about that you couldn't live without borrowing money?

I think the American people want the banks to say, "no" you can't have more money. We know we're living paycheck to paycheck because of our debt.

As long as people with good credit can get a mortgage, isn't that all we need.

My first thought is that people and corporations took too much risk and deserve the repercussions. Even as a Real Estate agent, I'd rather let capitalism work out the kinks than the government.

If we lived in a socialist country, it would be ok to take money from the responsible people and give it to the irresponsible. Isn't that what this is?

It was bad when corporations started owning local Real Estate because they have so many rules, it's hard to get a house sold that's been foreclosed on.

If the government owns the foreclosures, might it not take 6 months to get a property to the closing table after we follow all of their regulations? This means they'll have to take less for the property because only investors will be willing to put up with that.

I could be wrong about all of this.... What do you think??

www.diamondteamhomes.com

In Maine, a lot of towns have been reevaluating properties after the Real Estate Boom of the past few years and adjusting mill rates. If your town has recently reevaluated your property, make sure it's fair. I've stumbled across quite a few properties that towns have overvalued. This means that as the homeowner you will be paying more property tax.

Towns have different processes for challenging the town evaluation, but there usually is one. If they won't cooperate, the State of Maine has a process.