Property Tax

Buy a home and you pay this.

In some states, the amount is set. Like...in California, if you buy a home, you'll pay 1.25% of the purchase price each year as your taxes, and that amount will go up with national inflation. In other states (think: Texas), you'll pay closer to 1.5% or more, and that amount will get reassessed each year or two or three as the county dictates.

It's the amounts that are the big swing here. A top 20th percentile home in the core of Silicon Valley will set you back $20 million. So the 1.25% figure is a big nut. That same home in Austin, TX is like $5 million...so yes, the tax as a percentage is higher by a bit, but the aggregate cost is so much lower, it's...digestible.

Now let's talk Des Moines...