I got an email today from my brother about the state equalized value of his home, his tax burden in respect to that inflated number, and a question. He wanted to know (very tongue in cheek), what were the chances that he could sell his home at the state's number. Only one answer came to mind, and it was one of those answers I could hear my dad saying:
"Slim and None, and Slim slit his throat." Gee, I guess that leaves None.
I had a good laugh over that one, but when I was a kid, it was the last thing I wanted to hear in response to a request. I'm quite certain my brother didn't hear what he wanted from the tax man either. The value of homes in this state is shockingly low. When we sold my parent's home 2 years ago, I was shocked at how little we got, but in hindsight, I'm feeling blessed it sold at all. I'm convinced that the person who bought it would be unable to get a loan for it with all the money woes these days. We were blessed indeed.
The SEV (state equalized value) means nothing these days. I know ours is roughly double what we could get for our own home right now. The respective tax burden does not reflect the decreased values. Shocking, I know.
Let me tell you how it will be,
There's 1 for you, 19 for me.
Cuz I'm the taxman...
