All Forum Posts by: Jay Thomas

@Deepak Kumar I think you should come to chicago and check out the neighborhoods for yourself before investing in them. Some part of Austin are great (Galewood area and some parts around Oak Park) while majority of remaining part are very rough.

@Wesley W. Exactly!!! I say invest in a home security system if you have a vacant property. 

@Fas McO'nen I can't believe what I am reading with everyone telling you to bed over for the squatter... You have to be proactive in situation like this. I would call police to report a suspicious person or burglary. As some people suggested, wait for the squatter to leave then change the locks. I would start the battle that way, then lawyer-up if necessary... Going forward, invest in home security system, you would have been able to treat this as a home-robbery/trespasser from day 1.

Originally posted by @Jack B.:

Property taxes have nearly doubled in King County WA, Seattle area over the last few years as well. Sadly the idiotic government can only figure out how to tax and spend, not spend less. I say this as a former government employee. I've seen the waste first hand. 

State of Illinois never seem to have enough money in their pension fund. They are always raising taxes to catch up with pension fund. I wonder if this catch up game is ever gonna stop.

Originally posted by @Jon Holdman:

Originally posted by @Jay Thomas:

Worst part is that tenant just renewed their lease i kept rent the same. I didn't know know taxes will skyrocket as I would have increased rent accordingly.

 Your expenses are irrelevant for determining rent.  They can affect your cash flow, but market set rent, not your expenses.

It is very common around here for rent to go up when property taxes go up. Apart from that, my rent is aggressively priced, so, I can raise rent and still stay within market rate.

Originally posted by @George Skidis:

Thank you so much for your detailed response. I am going to start the tax appeal process.

@Brie Schmidt Please note that MACK properties fraudulently used tenants names and signature to claim homeowner exemption. The poster was not talking about fraudulently using tenant names. He suggested that tenant actually pay the property tax. 

@Aaron Taylor I estimated that the tax would go up based on past history. I was hoping it wont increase more than $1000 based on past assessments. Taxes on this property has historically gone up only by couple $100s. This $2000 increase is very unexpected.

@Brie Schmidt Take a look a this forum https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/664/topics/368227-homeowner-exemption-for-property-taxes.  I am referring to what @Daniel Benoit was talking about. 

@Brie Schmidt there wasnt any exemption on the property when I bought it. The increase is as a result of the new property assessment conducted last year. They literally doubled my property value. even more than I paid for it. I initailly appealed it, they lowered it but new tax billed is still doubled previous tax bill. I am currently learning that landlords can apply for homeowner exemption if they add a clause to the lease saying tenant is responsible for property tax and their liability is included in the rent. Are you familiar with this loophole?