I have reluctantly given up on La Salle Gardens as a decent neighborhood to live in. I've come across a lovely house on Parkside Street near the golf course, a street which looks like a treasure trove of architectural delights. It's a 4,200 square-foot house and appears to be in really good shape. How is this neighborhood when it comes to safety? I contacted the listing agent to find out about the property taxes, and he said they were $6,800 a year! My question to you guys who own property in Detroit is...

What kind of jobs do you have that allow you to pay such high property taxes?!

It seems that you'd have to be making at least $80,000 a year to be able to afford taxes like these. And after paying these taxes, I learned that in neighborhoods like Palmer Woods, the city doesn't even remove snow from the streets. That expense is paid by the neighborhood association, which charges residents an additional $495 a year. On top of all that, I'd still have to worry about maintaining my vintage house, and those are expenses that I know nothing about for Detroit. In Virginia, it costs me a small fortune every time I need to have something done to my house.

The agent said that the house on Parkside Street was not a homestead and that if it were, the taxes would be 30% less. I already own a house in Virginia, which I'm not planning on selling, so I don't know if I would even qualify for the lower tax rate. From what I've read on this forum, trying to get your taxes lowered is quite an ordeal and often an exercise in futility. To make matters worse, I was told that the property taxes go up every time the property has a new owner. If this is true, I might not even know what the new amount would be until AFTER I bought the house. Do I have the right information about all of this?