Announced this morning on News 12 NJ, the state will be buying foreclosures from the banks and making them into low income housing. What could go bad with that idea? I wonder why local contractors are not buying them? Maybe it's because we have the highest property tax in the country? Has this been done in your state? What were the results?

You can add OR and WA, too.

Those government supported, taxpayer funded deals always fail. A few bureaucrats score a big payday. A couple of contractors do also.

Then the entitled tenants trash the place, don't pay rent, and they turn into drug houses.

For a period from 1990 through 2005 I purchased apartment properties and made many of them "low-income" housing. I competed against my City who also did the same thing. I was asked to speak at the opening of a City Housing Project where the City purchased a apartment property, paid the tenants re-location money, tore down the property and re-built it as low income housing. The rent for a 2 bedroom then became $1,750 a month. The City's cost to build (excluding the purchase and demo of the property) was $250,000 per unit.

When I spoke to the crowd I was asked how much did my units cost and what was the rent I was asking. I explained the the purchase of the property and the remodeling to HUD standards cost me about $60,000 per unit and I was renting the 2 bedroom for around $995 a month. I was escorted off the stage and my microphone was turned off. My costs were 24% of the City's an my rent was 60% of theirs.

TahoeGal,

Prop 13 has lost it's edge long ago in my area...the state, counties and cities found and invented dozens of other ways to suck it (I mean to raise money) to middle class.

Sales tax? One of the highest in the country.

Gas tax? The highest.

School tax on new construction? high.