Notmuchlonger
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2007
- Messages
- 4,764
Oh yeah, GOOD idea.... better forget that flood insurance too, right?
That only happens once every 100 years right? Just wing it!
Oh yeah, GOOD idea.... better forget that flood insurance too, right?
That only happens once every 100 years right? Just wing it!
I just took another look at my taxes. The appraised value of our "land" (about the size of a postage stamp) is $35k.Last year the appraised value of my land (nearly 1/2 acre) was about $12,200. This year it's nearly $22,000.
year|assessed value|property tax
2003|$16,000|$1019
2004|$16,000|$947
2005|$11,320|$436
2006|$11,320|$404
2007|$12,390|$551
2008|$16,000|$864
.
Just think what that would be in NJ.
I lived in Baton Rouge in the early '90s. Seems like I remember the homestead exemption was $75,000 or some unreal amount.
I too dislike high property tax. Mine is around $7,000. However, you have to look at the whole package. Other fees and taxes. No income tax, No tax on food, medicine, and such, and a 6.5% sales tax. Our home would be a million or so dollars or more in most of California. Some states tax income, some investments, some sales, some estates, California seems to tax everything. So it is really the total package that counts, that and the fact the DW would not move no matter how cheap another place was.
^there is a good reason to live in Alaska.
Our sales tax (Minnesota) is increasing to almost 7%. However, clothing and grocery items are not taxed.
Yep. That's always true. Like the "traditional" description of retirement funding, state taxation is a three legged stool between income, sales and property taxes. Each individual needs to examine their own incomes, spending habits and housing needs/wants to figure out where (from a tax standpoint) they would be best off.Yeah then you need to look into cost of living. So many variables to determine which is best for each person.
Yep. That's always true. Like the "traditional" description of retirement funding, state taxation is a three legged stool between income, sales and property taxes. Each individual needs to examine their own incomes, spending habits and housing needs/wants to figure out where (from a tax standpoint) they would be best off.
A state that can be a tax haven for one household could be a tax hell for another if one was high-income and house-poor and the other was lower-income and house-rich. A high state sales tax may be a showstopper for people who consume a lot of taxable "stuff" whereas someone who is LBYM and buys little more than the (often tax-exempt) essentials wouldn't be bothered by it.
Another factor is that generally the cost of living is quite low in most of the state. At least that is our experience from traveling around the country.I agree. We live right outside of Houston and our taxes are very reasonable, IMO.
Another factor is that generally the cost of living is quite low in most of the state. At least that is our experience from traveling around the country.
Even though we don't own a home but rather stay at campgrounds, it has been pointed out to me in the past that we are still paying property taxes through our campground "rent". Well, the thing is that campground fees in Texas are still some of the lowest in the country compared to all the states we have travelled through. So somehow "high" property taxes are not affecting what campgrounds charge. There are obviously many other factors involved.
Audrey
It's important to remember everything in that regard. I've known people who have moved somewhere only because it's "cheap" and they've hated it. As a result many of their leisure-time activities include doing stuff that requires spending money -- more dining out, going to movies, more need to travel for leisure, more shopping. So when you factor that in, has your "cheap" home and cost of living necessarily saved you money?Also as many of our forum members have discovered, the satisfaction of living someplace where you want to live can compensate to a great degree for a higher cost of living.
It's important to remember everything in that regard. I've known people who have moved somewhere only because it's "cheap" and they've hated it. As a result many of their leisure-time activities include doing stuff that requires spending money -- more dining out, going to movies, more need to travel for leisure, more shopping. So when you factor that in, has your "cheap" home and cost of living necessarily saved you money?
Contrast that to a place which may be a little more expensive on the surface, but has a lot more access to the kind of free or dirt cheap leisure activities you enjoy. After factoring in the entertainment/recreation budgets, you just might come out ahead with what seems more expensive at first glance -- and likely be happier being where you want to be, too...