I know that you're probably all tired of hearing me complain about the current real estate market, and quite frankly I'm tired of complaining. However, I just got through watching a story on the Atlanta news that got me all riled up again. There's this new, eco-friendly condo or loft complex in Dekalb County, which is essentially downtown Atlanta or pretty close. According to the news, these lofts are worth around $17 million, even in today's market. Guess what the powers that be in the Dekalb County Tax Office valued the building as. Oh, around $25,000. The building's residents only had to pay about $420 total in taxes, not apiece, TOTAL.Meanwhile, my house, which according to my real estate agent's cost market analysis, is currently valued at its listing price, $74,500. I paid $111,700 for it. I started out listing it at $119,900. The insurance bill that I just received today has its replaceable value as $125,900. The county in which I live--a county that is not that many miles away from Dekalb County--said that my home had a taxable value of $110,900, which means I had to pay $1155.25 in taxes.
In other words, the owners of a building worth about 230 times what my house is currently worth got away with paying about a third of the taxes. Now how is that fair?
