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The joys of homeownership!

Next on the list is replacing the tatami mats with solid wood flooring. Looking at some French sourced pine, but in the mean time, getting the support framework in place. These get screwed and glued in place, with insulating foam in between.

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One of the cool things here, is the hardware shops have free rental trucks, so I can go on my motorbike, buy a bunch of stuff and get it home.

edit/ this is a math sanity check, where I realise I calculated the number of pieces needed based on 4m lengths, but went and bought 3m lengths because they were straighter...and forgot to recalculate...d'oh!
 
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I am reminded of this joy twice a year in the USA -- Virginia -- and once per year in France, when I am remitting my HOME USE FEE aka property tax(es). And, in 2026, I will start paying an annual Land Use (no schyyt) fee on my apartment in Nairobi.
 
Mystic said:
I am reminded of this joy twice a year in the USA -- Virginia -- and once per year in France, when I am remitting my HOME USE FEE aka property tax(es). And, in 2026, I will start paying an annual Land Use (no schyyt) fee on my apartment in Nairobi.
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I just paid my newly reduced property tax for 2026... our Governor pushed through some legislation to help disabled Veterans (more liked kicked some serious arse on our lazy legislature that only meets for 30 days a year) so I ended up having my property tax reduced from $3300 a year to $241.00, and got free auto license plates too. Luv the Guv, Michelle Lujan Grisham !
 
At my current property I pay the equivalent of about 30 USD and at my old property I paid about 500 USD per year. In the country where I live I dislike the car tax, calculated according to the engine displacement.
 
krautmaster said:
I just paid my newly reduced property tax for 2026... our Governor pushed through some legislation to help disabled Veterans (more liked kicked some serious arse on our lazy legislature that only meets for 30 days a year) so I ended up having my property tax reduced from $3300 a year to $241.00, and got free auto license plates too. Luv the Guv, Michelle Lujan Grisham !
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Wow! What a nice retirement present!
 
Mr Boochie said:
Wow! What a nice retirement present!
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I was so pleasantly surprised when I took all my paperwork down the County Assessors Office and found out how little it was going to be, plus the free Disabled Veteran liscense plates that are good until I croak... I also got lifetime passes to all the State Parks. All in all it amounted to nearly $4K a year... vacation money !
 
krautmaster said:
I just paid my newly reduced property tax for 2026... our Governor pushed through some legislation to help disabled Veterans (more liked kicked some serious arse on our lazy legislature that only meets for 30 days a year) so I ended up having my property tax reduced from $3300 a year to $241.00, and got free auto license plates too. Luv the Guv, Michelle Lujan Grisham !
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You have a house in a "good" state. I do not. Heck, my property tax in France is way cheap compared to Viginny. The Land Fee in Kenya is about the same as one of those fancy-a$$ drinks -- the cold ones -- @ any StarF*c|< in America and beyond.
 
Mystic said:
You have a house in a "good" state. I do not. Heck, my property tax in France is way cheap compared to Viginny. The Land Fee in Kenya is about the same as one of those fancy-a$$ drinks -- the cold ones -- @ any StarF*c|< in America and beyond.
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I lived in VA -about 10 minutes south of Williamsburg (stationed at Langley AFB) from 1992 to 1997... they taxed everything. We had to pay "personal property " tax every 6 months, had to have county and city stickers for the cars to prove we paid the yearly taxes on them (about $150 per car), there was a "Save The Bay" tax (to clean up Chesapeake Bay). We had natural gas to our house, so we had to pay a "gas adjustment" tax so that our natural gas bill was the same as a comparable size houses electric bill (basically doubled the price), then there was state and city sales tax... it never ended... I do not recommend living in a "Commonwealth" state.
 
krautmaster said:
I lived in VA -about 10 minutes south of Williamsburg (stationed at Langley AFB) from 1992 to 1997... they taxed everything. We had to pay "personal property " tax every 6 months, had to have county and city stickers for the cars to prove we paid the yearly taxes on them (about $150 per car), there was a "Save The Bay" tax (to clean up Chesapeake Bay). We had natural gas to our house, so we had to pay a "gas adjustment" tax so that our natural gas bill was the same as a comparable size houses electric bill (basically doubled the price), then there was state and city sales tax... it never ended... I do not recommend living in a "Commonwealth" state.
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You're not wrong.
 
I'd been contemplating this weekend about spending $45Gs on a new vehicle. I was ready to sign on the line Friday but then I started thinking beyond the already high purchase price. Meaning additional property taxes for several years. It should be an interesting discussion at the dealership later today when I tell them they've lost a sale mostly because of the tax man's greed.
 
motorstereo said:
I'd been contemplating this weekend about spending $45Gs on a new vehicle. I was ready to sign on the line Friday but then I started thinking beyond the already high purchase price. Meaning additional property taxes for several years. It should be an interesting discussion at the dealership later today when I tell them they've lost a sale mostly because of the tax man's greed.
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I bought a new Subaru Impreza. 26k. Seems crazy.
 
The joys of car taxation. Be happy that you're not in the Netherlands.

(Expensive) example to make the gap painfully clear: The same new Porsche 911 costs me $ 100K+ more that it would cost you in the USA.

Price Breakdown
NL price
Porsche 911 Carrera GTS (2026); Grand total € 243.725 (= $ 285.158 in USD)
~
Factory price including VAT: € 181.726 (VAT=€ 31.838)
Emissions taxation € 60.276
Factory recommended options: € 1.723

USA Price
If I look up the same model in the USA configurator it costs $183,350 (MRSP).
(this is without the factory recommended options that my local configurator adds and I am not sure if the $2,350 handling & delivery fee that the USA configurator mentions is included)
 
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Back to the joys of home ownership:

It's taken 6 separate visits by craftspeople so far to fix a leak in my living room ceiling. Two more (painters) are planned..
Paid for by insurance, so can't complain in that regard. But it's pretty annoying planning wise.
 
P.s. Thinking more and more about moving to rural Spain or Italy to join in a 'property for free' initiative (if you can secure funds for- and commit to renovation). Properties are virtually worthless, so;
A. The taxman will leave me alone until your sleepy village turns into a desirable location again after a few decades. At which time you can sell at a handsome profit.
B. I spend the money to make the place livable, be left alone by the taxman and live out a peaceful, if somewhat solitary rural life.

Note: There are assumptions in the above scenarios.
 
Apreggiator said:
The joys of car taxation. Be happy that you're not in the Netherlands.

(Expensive) example to make the gap painfully clear: The same new Porsche 911 costs me $ 100K+ more that it would cost you in the USA.

Price Breakdown
NL price
Porsche 911 Carrera GTS (2026); Grand total € 243.725 (= $ 285.158 in USD)
~
Factory price including VAT: € 181.726 (VAT=€ 31.838)
Emissions taxation € 60.276
Factory recommended options: € 1.723

USA Price
If I look up the same model on the USA configurator it costs $183,350 (MRSP).
(this is without the factory recommended options that my local configurator adds and I am not sure if the $2,350 handling & delivery fee that the USA configurator mentions is included)
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Similar HIGHER PRICE in France (than USA) for same specimen vehicle ... BASE PRICE is higher and then add the taxes (France~EU) and ugh.
 
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