[MarkJ]

I pay the taxes on my largest properties by leasing some of the land to farmers, hunting clubs, plus selling timber, firewood, sand, building lots, spec homes etc.

Most of my property taxes are paid by tenants, plus some of our commercial property taxes are buffered by tax exempt status for XX years.

Land taxes on large tracts of semi-rural and rural acreage are dirt cheap compared to urban residential and commercial taxes on modest homes, modest commercial structures or small vacant lots.

[Roy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'c')are to estimate what they could grow and sell from their property to pay the taxes?

[jdumars]

I believe government and especially taxation will be one of the very last entities to break down. I see this is as the single biggest threat to anyone who owns land and plans a subsistence lifestyle. In my case, I own 5 acres of very remote land at the farthest outpost of the county where they do absolutely nothing in terms of services. One of my neighbors house caught on fire and it burned to the ground because the fire department was too far away to respond. The county police are also nowhere to be seen.

My property tax is very low because the land is zoned as "unimproved" -- which I anticipate will change as I begin building it up to be sustainable. They can relatively arbitrarily decide what value it has, and their valuation is still based on the hyperinflated appraisals of 3 years ago. They never drop taxes down once they've been shot up, so we're stuck with a completely unrealistic model for tax collection basically forever.

My plan long term is to have a transition period of say 10-15 years worth of taxes saved, based on some formulation of it increasing (maybe 15% YOY). I want to be very conservative with how much is saved because as others have posted, this risk is a certainty. How to save that money is another tricky issue, as banks don't seem to be the best solution.

I can only hope by the time my savings is depleted that I have a revenue-generating portion of my homestead, or that the system has buckled under the weight of its own un-sustainability.

In terms of some of the other posters on here, I think you should really think hard about making long-term financial arrangements with other people leasing the land. There are a few major risks:

- The lease-holder may be planning to use or take over the land in the event of a crash
- The lease-holder may abuse the land and destroy it's habitability through deforestation, the use of chemicals, or simply abandoning garbage there
- The lease-holder may not be financially solvent, and you have absolutely no view into their stability until it may be far too late
- Hunting clubs and similar organizations are inviting complete strangers, heavily armed, onto your land
- Hunters in general (in my experience) rarely give a damn about your property line or warning signs

All I have to say is, be very cautious of what you think will work long-term. Every economic law and force in place is geared toward the acquisition of high-priced commodities and real estate at drastically-reduced prices. Buy low and sell high are enforced by the government and corporations sometimes with a knife at your throat.

[timmac]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jdumars', '
')My plan long term is to have a transition period of say 10-15 years worth of taxes saved, based on some formulation of it increasing (maybe 15% YOY). I want to be very conservative with how much is saved because as others have posted, this risk is a certainty. How to save that money is another tricky issue, as banks don't seem to be the best solution.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', 'N')ope, unless misanthropy equates with a low tolerance for Expletive deleted.. & stupidity. Oops that is what the human race is full of.

[Pretorian]

Imperfect people have to have a high tolerane for stupid Expletive deleted..?

[Ludi]

Stupid Expletive deleted.. is an aspect of humanity. If you can't tolerate it, you must certainly be a misanthropist! However imperfect.

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', '
')I've actual seen a pretty good argument that the only tax we should have is a property tax. End All Taxes—Except One

It would force people to make the most productive use out of their land. People in dense urban areas would pay less tax than people taking up huge plots of land in the suburbs.

There would have to be some kind of discount for farmers otherwise we'd drive them out of business.

[MarkJ]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('timmac', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hope_full', 'P')roperty taxes here in Hampton Roads are OUT of control. We're scooting up close to New England for having wholly outrageous real estate taxes. For our modest abode (three blocks from the druggies in the 'hood), we pay $4,400 a year. My neighbor a few blocks away (better area and a crick behind her little house) pays $7,000 a year.

[rangerone314]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', '
')Nope, unless misanthropy equates with a low tolerance for bulls*1t & stupidity. Oops that is what the human race is full of.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', '
')Nope, unless misanthropy equates with a low tolerance for bulls*1t & stupidity. Oops that is what the human race is full of.

[rangerone314]

Depends on the community.

Some people live in HOAs where they dictate what color your living room curtains can be.

I can't wait to see when BAU breaks down how people in those kind of anal-retentive HOAs fare.

[hope_full]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'P')roperty taxes here in Hampton Roads are OUT of control. We're scooting up close to New England for having wholly outrageous real estate taxes. For our modest abode (three blocks from the druggies in the 'hood), we pay $4,400 a year. My neighbor a few blocks away (better area and a crick behind her little house) pays $7,000 a year.

[JJ]

I asked the lady at the utilities office why they jacked up our wastewater so high, and she said "standard increase. sucks, huh?" she didn't care.

[MarkJ]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hope_full', 'I')t boggles the mind to think of paying $400 a month just for property taxes. Where is all this money going? And how do average joes come up with this kind of cash? And how do unemployed people find this kind of cash?

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'I')t would force people to make the most productive use out of their land. People in dense urban areas would pay less tax than people taking up huge plots of land in the suburbs.

There would have to be some kind of discount for farmers otherwise we'd drive them out of business.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', '
')The productive part sounds like the Land value Tax or LVT.

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hope_full', 'P')roperty taxes here in Hampton Roads are OUT of control.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', '
')The productive part sounds like the Land value Tax or LVT.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Keith_McClary', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hope_full', 'P')roperty taxes here in Hampton Roads are OUT of control.