I/e own a 2nd home we use on weekends and summer vacation, we don't rent it out so there is no possible way of us ever using the school district, yet we pay about 50% of or $3,000 property tax towards the school district.
It's gotten to the point we're thinking about listing the house and spending that 6K on a summer rental for 6 weeks, we'd still save thousands over the course of a year and not have the headache of homeownership.
I hear you. Here was my situation;
I owned four rental homes (which I sold a few years ago) and here's why;
They were located in a very "working class" part of town. Not in the ghetto, but not far from it. All were small three bedroom, one bath ranch style homes with a one cart garage.
I bought them each at various tax sales cheap. Fixed them up. That was a nice tax write-off. So for a while it was a good deal.
Rented each for around $650 per month.
My property taxes were almost $200 per month. (second highest in the nation).
I paid almost 30% federal income taxes on my profit, around $125 per month.
State tax was about 7%, so about $50 per month.
All other fees, like landlord permits, inspections, building permits, etc. ran another $25 per month average.
After deducting my other costs; cleaning, repairs, remodeling, legal fees, etc. I was clearing about $150-200 per month on each home., after paying all my various taxes and expenses.
However, the government was clearing about $275-400 per month on each home. It's like I had a silent partner who did nothing but collect their checks each month. I finally said screw it and sold the homes.
I got out of paying capital gains. But that's a different story. They will tax the hell out of ya'....