If yo're that opposed to illegal immigrants......

Right. Having the right kind of tenants has a direct bearing on the value of a property.

Interesting. Since my post started this hijack…in my area property tax is based on the value of the land and improvements*. All of the houses on my street that are like mine have the same basic value** whether they are occupied or not and whether they are lived in by the owner or rented out. Occupancy is not factored in to property taxes other than taking into consideration the type of occupancy a property is zoned for–residential, commercial, agriculture, industrial, etc. Changes in land use or zoning can change your property tax, but if a property is vacant, the county doesn’t lower the property taxes.

*what I call buildings
**my property has a slightly lower value than my neighbors’ because the county records show a smaller lot; somebody somewher fucked up 20 years ago when they did the short platting and my property is actually 10 feet wider than the county thinks.

Ok, let me explain. If we are talking about a SFR that just happens to be rented, then yes, you are correct. However, when we are talking about multi-unit apartment complexes, the sale value of that property is heavily dependant upon the amount of rents collected over the last period- usualy a year. The sale value will often by used by the Tax Assessor as the basis for the Assessed Value. Thus, if we have two identical buildings, a mile apart, and one is rented out 99% with rents 10% higher than it’s twin with only 75% occupancy- then when those buildings are sold, the one which has had 35% more income (lower vacancies plus higher rents) will generally sell for quite a bit more, and thus be *assessed * for quite a bit more. Now, generally- *between sales * a increase in vacancy rates or an increase in rents won’t have an immediate effect on the Assessed Value- generally only when sold, but sometimes when re-assessed.