[Parallax]

the Mighty Mississippi

AKA "Ol' man river".
William Warfield, one of the absolute greatest singers ever, can explain it better than I:
(note the breath control at about 2:45 and again again at about 3:20)

You Tube

You Tube

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Last edited by Parallax; 06-29-2020 at 07:33 AM.

[bertwert]

Don't mind at all Bert.

There are a few issues.

We still owe about $280,000.

The payment is sucking about $4,000 a month from our combined income.

When I retire we will both be on a fixed income, and $4,000 a month doesn't leave much left over.

Presently the property taxes are about $8,000 a year, and have gone up dramatically over the last five or six years, and all indicators point to a continuing trend.

So Mrs. Racer 2.0 made a proposal a year or so back.

We could sell the place for (hopefully) 1.2 million, pay off the mortgage, buy a place in an area with lower taxes and lower property values per acre (and a lower cost of living), say for $350,000 to $400,000 cash, have money left over and be debt free.

So as much as I wanted this place to be where I spent the rest of my days, it makes more sense to go with her plan. And she is trying to work with me on my requirements, and I'm making the concession of being close to good medical care facilities and shopping. In the area we looked at yesterday there is Hood River, Oregon right across the river, with a decent sized hospital, and plenty of medical and dental care options, as well as shopping.

Here is a Google Earth view of Underwood Mountain looking West from the intersection of West Jewett Boulevard and Northwest Loop Road in White Salmon. The row of trees behind the FedEx truck are at the top of a steep hill leading down to the Lower White Salmon River, which cuts through the valley that separates Underwood Mountain from White Salmon. To the left is the Columbia, and the mountains in the left distance are in Oregon. The greater Portland/Vancouver area is about 50 miles West.




The arrow at right is where the previous screen grab is from, in White Salmon at 655 feet elevation, the arrow at right is the summit of Underwood Mountain at 2,755 feet.

Makes sense there then. Isn't annoying how things always come down to money? (Or lack thereof, I mean...)

[Racer X 69]

Makes sense there then. Isn't annoying how things always come down to money? (Or lack thereof, I mean...)

Yes.

[Racer X 69]

Question for the Aussies.

What are “council rates”?

[FantasticMrFox]

Question for the Aussies.

What are “council rates”?

Not an Aussie, but basically a local tax to fund councils and their work. The same exists in the UK.

[CharLac]

Don't mind at all Bert.

There are a few issues.

We still owe about $280,000.

The payment is sucking about $4,000 a month from our combined income.

When I retire we will both be on a fixed income, and $4,000 a month doesn't leave much left over.

Presently the property taxes are about $8,000 a year, and have gone up dramatically over the last five or six years, and all indicators point to a continuing trend.

So Mrs. Racer 2.0 made a proposal a year or so back.

We could sell the place for (hopefully) 1.2 million, pay off the mortgage, buy a place in an area with lower taxes and lower property values per acre (and a lower cost of living), say for $350,000 to $400,000 cash, have money left over and be debt free.

So as much as I wanted this place to be where I spent the rest of my days, it makes more sense to go with her plan. And she is trying to work with me on my requirements, and I'm making the concession of being close to good medical care facilities and shopping. In the area we looked at yesterday there is Hood River, Oregon right across the river, with a decent sized hospital, and plenty of medical and dental care options, as well as shopping.

Here is a Google Earth view of Underwood Mountain looking West from the intersection of West Jewett Boulevard and Northwest Loop Road in White Salmon. The row of trees behind the FedEx truck are at the top of a steep hill leading down to the Lower White Salmon River, which cuts through the valley that separates Underwood Mountain from White Salmon. To the left is the Columbia, and the mountains in the left distance are in Oregon. The greater Portland/Vancouver area is about 50 miles West.




The arrow at right is where the previous screen grab is from, in White Salmon at 655 feet elevation, the arrow at right is the summit of Underwood Mountain at 2,755 feet.

That is exactly what we did...now, no more mortgage which makes sense with a year to go till retirement.

[Racer X 69]

Recert day at The Little Shed. Within 90 days of my birthday, and all certifications that expire this year must be renewed. I have 14 due for 2020.

Just finished the 7 written tests, tomorrow I’ll do the hands on tests.

Now, afternoon break.

[Parallax]

Now, afternoon break.

I don't get breaks anymore. That's on of the downsides of being retired.
When you do nothing you cant stop and rest.

[tim60]

We have that here, but we don't call it football or soccer.
We call it MMA. Mixed Martial Arts.
The Canadians have their own variation. They do it on ice and call it hockey.

Rugby players call Aussie Rules Aerial Ping Pong. The claim is it more dangerous because of the many times players are bumped or tackled with their feet off the ground.

[tim60]

Question for the Aussies.

What are “council rates”?

The tax you pay the local authority for owning a property in their area. The amount you pay is a percentage of the property value. I was paying about 0.02% of property value per year. The rate depends on the value of the properties in the area and the budget the council is funding.

[tim60]

Not an Aussie, but basically a local tax to fund councils and their work. The same exists in the UK.

Big difference is that in UK the occupier pays, in Australia the owner pays. Makes a difference for people renting properties.

Another difference. In Australia the property value used is updated regularly to reflect the market value of the property. And discounted about 10%, to eliminate disputes the government overvalued the place to exact extra tax.

In UK they work on a banding system, so houses are grouped in bands A to H, and the tax depends on the band. But properties are banded based on their value some long time ago, I think about 1990, and newer builds have a disadvantage because they are banded according to their value when built, so are in higher bands than older places in equivalent places, which may even have a higher market value.

When buying a house in either country one of the pieces of information that is easy to find in the marketing materials is the amount of this tax. Part of buying due diligence.

Buying in England is much more complicated than in South Australia.

[tim60]

In Australia the council rates fund local services provided by the councils such as rubbish collections, minor streets build and repair, local parks, parking enforcement, local libraries and similar.

In UK they pay for those things and police, and give budget for things like buses and schools and aged care. Those extra things in Australia are paid for, and operated, at the whole state level.

[tim60]

In Australia, when buying a house, look for one in an established area, not a new build area at the edge of town. In the established area all the stuff councils build is already there, so you benefit from you predecessors investment and your taxes pay for either maintenance (which should be much less than building) or for addition of nice refinements rather than for the whole lot. So you get better services and probably pay less.

That is a reason why the houses cost more than secondhand houses in new areas, which tend to have a depreciation on the cost of buying land and building.

[MarkJerling]

Question for the Aussies.

What are “council rates”?

This is our Council. Masterton District Council | NZ's Best Little City
Another word would be "local authority". National roads etc are maintained by a government department. Local roads, water supply, sewerage disposal and rubbish removal, along with such things as Town Planning, Building Consents etc are handled by local authorities such as our council. Some places have a Council for only one place and other places have numerous small towns falling under one council. Each council has a mayor and other elected officials and a whole heap of employees. We hay their salaries with what we call our "rates", which is short for "rated valuation" because the market value of your property is used to determine the amount of rates you need to pay to the council annually for the "services" they provide.

[Racer X 69]

The tax you pay the local authority for owning a property in their area. The amount you pay is a percentage of the property value. I was paying about 0.02% of property value per year. The rate depends on the value of the properties in the area and the budget the council is funding.

Property tax.

We pay it too. For 2020 my home and property is assessed by the county assessor at $706,600, tax obligation is $8,330.78, and the rates vary depending on which

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agency is getting funded through local levies, fire district, school district, library, county road and other county stuff, state, local conservation district, surface water management, and forest fire management.

The cost of keeping the community operating.