how about using birth control if you are in the 3%?? There are contraceptives now that last 10 years. Just getting free abortions is insane.

This is exactly what caused the CA taxpayer revolt many years ago, and Prop 13.

This depends where you live. The closer you are to fire zones, the higher it goes, or it might not be available at all. One of my friends lives in the fire zone in the Central Valley, and he can’t get fire insurance at all, for any price. Same thing happens if you are in a flood zone, you can’t get flood insurance.

If anyone is curious, earthquake insurance for a typical size home runs about $800-$1,000/yr. and that is with a $40,000 deductible.

Now consider again the ever-increasing prices for homes in CA. Really this contains the answer to the original question posed in this thread. No one is forcing people to pay a high price for a 1960s ranch home in a boring neighborhood. They pay the price because it’s worth it to them to live in CA. Otherwise, why bother? There are lots of other states in the USA to live in that are pretty darn nice, with far lower cost of living. So for all those people, it must be worth it.

A perfect example of this is my parents...they paid $120K for their house in 1974....my Dads property taxes are like $1400 a year.....the house next door just sold for $3.5M....his property taxes will be closer to $36K per year.....so in summary is my Dad paying too little ...you bet, but the neighbor is paying way too much....so yea it evens itself out....

How would you know if you are going to experience issues with pregnancy if you have never been pregnant before? Read the poster's follow up post- His post was clarifying that women's health services were part of the equation, not "free abortions". A lot of states have been trying to remove reproductive services as coverage, as sadly, it has turned political, instead of staying focused on science and health.

Like I said the whole thing read as weird- his post initially, and your post as follow-up. He clarified later what his initial statement was.

I’m sure it varies by location. I have a 1600sqft rental worth about 250k and the policy is fire only. That costs about 600/year which is about half what the full coverage policy was when I was living there.

Our our wildfire risk in this area is zero though. Areas that is a risk in might need a separate add-on for wildfire coverage, not sure? I know some areas you want earthquake insurance (expensive in SF)... some areas you need flood insurance (if determined to be in a flood plain).

Were- Due.
Deleted post.
Thread jumped the tracks beneath me.
Proceed with caution.

No way I would live there. Some good people taking up residence, but to me that state is like a wound that spreads throughout the rest of the .USA.

And that allows your dad to stay in his home that I’m sure was completely affordable when he bought it and wouldn’t necessarily be today. Such a difference is short term though as at some point your dad will want to downsize or move on and the house will be sold. Now the new owners will be paying the full amount whereas the folks who bought today will have the “cheap” tax assuming they stay. And the cycle will repeat.

Yep....he's evaluating that option as we speak....at some point it becomes too much house for someone of his age to maintain....plus it has stairs which is problematic for the elderly

But are they really Californians if they moved here 20 years ago and are now leaving to go somewhere else? I say no. We complained when they moved here years ago. And now other states are next in line. People will complain to wherever these new Idaho/Tenn/ Texas people move to in 20 years. Looking at things from other people's perspective can help.

Thats a little harsh....I get some people are jealous of the real estate price appreciation we have in California....for most people who live here it ends up being their retirement nest egg

Reasonable unless you live in a high fire hazard area. Then you get reamed.

I look at it this way. The aerospace industry attracted alot of talent to the west coast after WW2. Many midwest families moved here to help keep our country safe from Soviet aggression. Our missle industry helped keep every American safe. I know more people with midwest roots than natives. And I think I'm lucky to know these great people. They think and act like a midwesterner. Just with shorts on.

I think this is one of the bigger factors in the market over the last decade or two.

It goes like this:
- Most people shop based on a monthly payment they can afford.
- There are two factors that determine that payment: a) how much you spend on a house and b) how much your interest rate is.
- You slash the interest rate and suddenly all the buyers across the entire market can afford more, a lot more actually. Depending on where they started in the market at minimum 75k more and probably on average about 150k more while keeping the exact same monthly payment.

- If all the buyers in the market can suddenly afford to spend 150k more without impacting their original budget.... well the market will react accordingly. Is that good or bad? The money is getting spent either way: it depends on who you would rather get it... the bank and their stockholders or the property owners/sellers.

- Here in CA the effect is amplified because we restrict new home construction and have area where there is literally no more space to build at all (SF).

Granted oversimplified and not the only factor but I think it is a significant one that people should be conscious of whether you are a buyer or a seller.

What people don't understand that in California processing projects comes at a big price and risk. Just simply getting projects approved for construction is big money, and is almost 100% political. For example it might cost you $100K per house just to get it approved (CEQA, planning, construction docs, etc)...on top of that it could cost over $100K just in impact fees (sewar, water, schools, traffic, affordable housing, etc), and another $150K for infrastructure costs....so your $350K in the hole before you put a stick in the ground. These costs are driven by the environmental requirements, and local city costs.

Yep, there are tons of midwesterners here. My wife is from Ohio, we are running into them all the time. Lots of people from NJ here also. Even some "native Californians". There are lots of people of all kinds.

All in shorts.

Except at the dentist's office, apparently.

And flip flops.

This post and it’s upvote ratio tells you everything you need to know about pinside’s demographics. Right wingers on here whine all day about perceived political grievances when they make up 80% of pinside members. Projection.

Spoken from a true left winger....

Yes he can California Fair Plan.

https://www.cfpnet.com/

Absolutely. But it’s not really disputable that Pinside users tend to swing right, thumbs and posts show it site wide and it tracks with the demographics of the hobby as a whole. If he was bitching about it you could rightly ask what he wants anyone to do about the fact that people who play pinball tend to vote for the other party (and so what if they do?). But I think he’s just trying to taunt a few posters who seem to be convinced that they, as conservatives, are an aggrieved minority even when they’re in the majority.

I find insurance doesn't cost any more here compared to other states. For example for our primary home and rental property together we get full coverage on both for $1945 per year, that's for a full rebuild of both. The reason is the value here is in the land not the property, and the insurance company is insuring only your property. That's why when some rich person buys a house they don't care about tearing it down because the property itself isn't worth much at all. Now if you have solid gold toilets and the like then yeah you will pay more.

I don't think earthquake insurance is worth it because of the huge deductible. It only makes sense if you have the type of property that can totally collapse like a multi story property that was built in the 30s before all safety regulations or something like that, otherwise don't bother.

Finally as a general rule of thumb to specialty insurance like extra fire or flooding coverage, if it's not offered then don't buy the property. That's because the insurance company not offering any is their way of telling you that they expect the property to be destroyed at some point by fire or water.

I have it on my house. A tremor woke me up long ago. My deductible is not high, but the policy does not cover masonry.

I hate to ask, but is she a brick house?

Hey Tracelifter...this place is different then it was when you ran away like a baby floating away in a river of tears 5 years ago.

If you are gonna try to sneak in some political bullshit you have to be a little more subtle than that...

At least I think?

Right the insurance rates are ok, as long as you are not in a fire or flood zone, which I don’t think you are. Then they start going up. And of course those rates you have (which are similar to mine) don’t include any earthquake coverage as you said.

And the second thing you said is a problem. I read where sometimes house sales fall through because the buyer realizes they will have to pay very high insurance rates for fire protection.

I don’t know if the situation is the same in other states.

That's actually awesome, I love that we do that, it's yet another way California protects us. Full disclosure is required so you can't victimize others by hiding things. I don't think all states do this, when we looked at properties in Austin, TX in the late 90s there were no such protections at the time, it was buyer beware. In the Seattle area in the early 2000's they were similar to here in California where you can't hide defects and such, the realtors made is very clear it all has to be disclosed. Likewise here it gets revealed if you are in a flood or fire zone, which is perfect. The only properties that I'm not sure fall under full disclosure are those sold at auction.

You have a very narrow view of women & their reproductive issues.

-Women & girls get raped. Are you going to tell them they should have used birth control if they want to end a pregnancy?

-Women who WANT a baby sometimes have an unviable fetus that would be born dead...you gonna throw the birth control argument at them?

-Birth control fails...but, sure, tell a woman she should have used it.

Learn more about women’s issues before using anti-choice propaganda to discuss them. Or maybe just zip it since you’re not a woman & never have to experience their issues & choices.

Yeah, but I figure for the $50 a year or whatever maybe it would help with other stuff.

left/right,conservative/liberal Who gives a flying F.

Each situation should be given a true/honest evaluation....

I didn't know you could think.
The difference between you and I is nobody would miss you if you left.

Yes! Thank you for the compliment. Affirmation of my belief in science, facts, and reality. Continue to dwell on people shitting on sidewalks or canceling goodyear tires or whatever today’s right wing grievance happens to be.

California is great by the way. Forest fires suck, air in Denver is worse than CA and most of China thanks to the smoke.

You left here crying like a baby and now you are back, super ironically posting cartoons about rivers of tears. You are back Just like everybody else who pulls that lame “stupid goodbye post” act and realizes they need us a lot more then we need them. You even dragged it over to RGP which made a sad scene even more Pathetic just like every time someone goes over to that sleepy wasteland to trash Pinside.

And nobody gave a shit when you left. So post your dumb political cartoons about “tears” somewhere else, we’ve all seen your cartoonish tears already and had our laughs.

Really? Come on... I haven't been around here a long time but I've been around long enough to know Pinside is absolutely anything but a liberal enclave. That doesn't make pinside bad and it doesn't make its membership bad either, it's just a fact. Trying to argue otherwise is intellectually dishonest at best.

Some of the themes in this thread are appalling and have absolutely zero fucking place on this forum. Period. I'd love to say more but I won't, this isn't the time or place and I wish some of you took that into consideration before you started typing.

Jeff

That's interesting, I guess that's a state thing then? I kind of assumed it was the same everywhere. For sure, in CA they are very tight about all disclosures during a real estate sale. That includes not only things like flood zone, fire zones, etc, but also any condition issues with the house, such as foundation cracks, non-permitted add-ons, etc. From what I have heard, you as a seller and possibly the realtor also can be sued to hell if it is shown something that was known was hidden from the buyer.

Sooo...how about them Lakers?

Hey I'm not the one who brought up politics....it was the other guy

SacTown is nothing special, but living one minute from the American River Parkway ain't to bad. Yes, my wife got us in in right after the floods

Terrible team.

So what is the tax on a new pinball machine in California?

Depends on county/city the sale is made in (assuming a california dealer) because locality adds their own sales tax. If bought from an out of state dealer you self report based on your local city/county.

I would count on about 9%

Depends on the county, I live in Ventura county where sales tax is 7.25%.

Well we pay 13% on all goods and services pinball, clothes, groceries included, approx 1% assessed value of home in property tax and up to 52% combined prov and fed income tax. If you are in the top tax bracket and own a decent home, you can potentially pay over 70% of your income on all the different taxes. Not sure how that compares to California but I doubt it can beat that. But we have free healthcare.

Hey Crazy, nice to see you are the same small minded bitter little man that you have always been and I am so glad I was able to get so far under your skin.
Don't ever change.
Just to show you there are no hard feelings let me buy you lunch.

bagodicks (resized).jpg

Owned-Womb to the Tomb!

What about paranormal activity (Ghosts)?
What about deaths in the house (natural or otherwise)?

Yes to deaths (within criteria, not sure the details).

Yeah you probably have us beat but maybe we can get close...

Before even getting my paycheck the following istaken out:

State Income tax for median income about 10%

Federal income tax is 10-40% depending on income.

There is state disability insurance, social security and medicare taken out.

My net check is about 65% of my gross.

Then we have sales tax on goods and services which does range but can be as high as 10.5% in some locations (8.5% where I live).

Then there are the hidden taxes. Fees added to almost every service/utility on top of sales tax.... Licensing fees, public utility fees, registration fees, permitting, zoning, surveying, gas tax (in addition to sales tax), recycling fees, electronics fees, etc. These all get added into the costs of our goods whether we see them itemized out or not.

It’s really hard to say, and it will vary by individual circumstances. Having it all over though does make you feel like you are being nickle and dimed to death, I would prefer a tax that is clear, known and up front.