Comments on: Democrats and Republicans see different solutions to California housing crisis

By: Queeg

Queeg — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 16:53:33 +0000

In reply to Johnny G.

Comrade G

Expecting Plutocrats and their favorite Publicans to provide cheaper energy, housing, food, drugs, health care for the exploited masses is laughable. History of Obamacare, for example.

Kali is rotting from the inside out due to ripping off the poor-

By: Hcat

Hcat — Tue, 08 Aug 2017 02:03:09 +0000

In reply to NormanB. Good point. Capital gains taxes should be lower on houses up to $1 million. Capital gains over $1 million should be taxed as ordinary income.

By: gkl

gkl — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 18:42:45 +0000

In reply to NormanB. An important exception to the capital gains tax on real estate kicks in when you are selling your home. You can exclude $250,000 of your profit from the sale of your home if you are single and $500,000 of the profit if you’re filing taxes jointly as a married couple. However, you do have to meet specific requirements to claim this exclusion:

By: Johnny G

Johnny G — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 17:23:30 +0000

In reply to Think Outside the box.

I agree that housing prices in the Bay Area are absolutely insane. (as is the cost of living in general) I wasn’t aware of this, but New York has mandated rent control. It’s a pretty old idea there too, dating back to 1920. Their current rent control program was officially introduced in 1943 in which cities could either opt in or out of participating in rent control. Not surprisingly, New York City opted in and currently enforces rent control within the city’s jurisdiction. Despite this New York City still has some of the highest rent in the country, third only to San Francisco and San Jose. (see this article from July 2017 https://www.apartmentlist.com/rentonomics/national-rent-data/) So California could potentially try something similar but it doesn’t seem like it makes that big of a difference. This is partly due to the fact that location, cost of maintenance, and real estate taxes in that area are all factored into the formula for how much land lords are allowed to charge. This is a complicated issue that is a function of several variables that include cost of living, market value of property, and state taxes. Getting this issue under control will likely require much reform on all three of those areas, not just in the housing sector.

By: Queeg

Queeg — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 17:04:21 +0000

In reply to Think Outside the box.

Comrade

Greed is good…..ask your Plutocrats…….

Just a thought….without high real estate values and a well oiled refi business propping up values State tax collections stagnate and the kids, government workers and immigrants suffer….

By: Think Outside the box

Think Outside the box — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 14:22:11 +0000

How about we consider stopping house flipping. Low priced houses are snatched off the market with cash offers that a normal family can’t compete with… only to be put back on the market 30-90 days later at unaffordable prices. OR Perhaps we put a moratorium on how long one must keep a house before they can sell it for a profit or how much profit a house can make over a certain period of time. While we’re at it, a cap on rental prices vs morgage would be good. It’s ridiculous that a house with a morgage of $1200 is being rented for $2800. Greed is pushing good people out of California.

By: S Douglas 47

S Douglas 47 — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 16:08:17 +0000

In reply to NormanB. What kinda house you got? I wish I had your problem. The first $250,000 of gains is excluded ($500,000 for a couple). That's gains, not sales price.

By: NormanB

NormanB — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 06:14:21 +0000

Many of us older people with only 1 or 2 people living in a highly price appreciated house would gladly move into smaller quarters if capital gains taxes wouldn’t eat up 25% to 39% of our home’s value which we could avoid through death. So, cut the tax rate to 5% and many, many homes would become available. The state and country aren’t getting those taxes any way as we will hold on until we die.

By: Dude

Dude — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 01:52:29 +0000

In reply to Hcat. I'll be fine... I do my own lawn. We'll be far better off without illegal aliens taking up space on our roads and businesses, not to mention our school systems.

By: Hcat

Hcat — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 00:02:28 +0000

In reply to LB1. We're all "trust fund babies" to God.