When a Chinese woman in California received her property tax bill at the end of the year, she lamented that it was too expensive, so why not rent a house?

Southern California A female homeowner in Yihua recently received a letter to pay property tax. Her property tax was already high, but she didn’t expect this year’s figure to trouble her more: 14,916.28 yuan for the whole year, an increase of more than 2,800 yuan from before. He said he once again realized that it costs a lot of money to maintain a house in Southern California.

Guo Kairong has settled in Donggu City, Hebin County for nearly three years. He purchased his current residence in January 2025 for 1.05 million yuan. He said the county government’s listed home assessed value in 2026 is $1,068,960, with annual property taxes amounting to about $15,000.

He said that last year he received an annual property tax bill of 12,114 yuan, and this year it suddenly increased by more than 2,800 yuan. It is related to the revaluation and tax year of newly purchased property. In the first year after purchasing a house, the tax amount is still in the process of adjustment, and this year’s tax bill reflects the full annual tax amount after revaluation. In other words, negotiating the price and taking a loan while buying a home does not mean that the holding cost will be fixed every year thereafter. The real test of family financial planning comes when the property tax bill comes every year.

Guo Kairong usually likes to write and often writes down his thoughts, hoping to publish them in a book. He said Chinese people need to “put down roots” in a foreign country. What many people are most concerned about when looking at homeshouse price Pay special attention to the down payment and monthly repayments of the mortgage, the interest rate, as this often directly determines whether you can afford it or not. However, once you actually get down to business, you’ll find that the mortgage loan is just one of the expenses of buying a home. If your mortgage uses a bank escrow account to collect property taxes and homeowner’s insurance, these two fees may already be included in your monthly mortgage bill. If not, the homeowner will have to arrange for additional funds and make payments on time.

He said that based on this year’s new property tax, an average of 1,243 yuan needs to be set aside every month. Even if you don’t take into account the principal and interest on the mortgage, this amount is not a small amount. Apart from this, daily expenses like home insurance, community management fees (HOA), water, electricity and gas, garbage removal, gardening maintenance etc. are also inevitable. Summers are hot in Southern California, and air conditioning is almost essential to family life. Once the air conditioner breaks down, or the roof needs repair, the water heater suddenly gets damaged, or there is a problem with the pipes, it can lead to big additional expenses. He explained that these expenses do not necessarily have to be incurred every month, but just because they are not available at the moment, they cannot be removed from the family budget. The longer you live in your home, the more wear and tear it will experience and the associated costs to take into account.

Guo Kairong said that many people think that renting a house is to pay the mortgage for others, while buying a house is to accumulate one’s own property. This idea is meaningful. A self-occupied home can accumulate equity over time and provide a relatively stable living environment. However, after owning a home, you may find that its holding costs are high. A portion of the mortgage principal will be converted into home equity, but interest, property taxes, insurance premiums, community management fees and maintenance fees are the real holding costs. Whether the value of the home will increase in the future is also subject to market risks, and there is no guarantee that all expenses will be recovered through the sale of the home.

He said if children grow up and leave home, family size shrinks, or income after retirement is no longer as stable as working, it’s worth reconsidering whether you still need to live in a larger home. It may not be cost effective if some rooms remain vacant for a long time and the cost of moving them is still high. Therefore, some elderly people are willing to replace their big houses with smaller houses.

Of course, rents will also increase, as will issues like relocation and housing stability. What is really important is to choose the appropriate housing pattern based on income, family needs, length of residence and retirement planning.

Guo Kairong said that whenever he receives a tax bill in the future, he may have to remind himself again: being able to buy a house and being able to maintain a house are two different things.