Comparison (Charlotte: sales, homeowners insurance, house)

[LHBR702]

Has anyone moved from NY/NJ to Charlotte? If so, can you offer a cost of living comparison? I've researched home prices and see that homes seem to be much more affordable, but how about property taxes, auto insurance, home owner's insurance, sales tax, etc. From time to time I see posts that warn that the savings in cost of living may not be what "we" think. Any information you can share would be really helpful to those of us trying to make the decision to relocate. THANKS!

[south.charlotte&union]

Property taxes are much lower than I was used to in NY -- even when I lived in Mecklenburg (which has one of the higher tax rates in the area) my taxes were about 30% of what they were in NY, and my house was 30% larger. Now I am in Union County -- we have a 3000 sq. ft. home and pay about $1700 a year. Car insurance is also less. We insure 3 cars (with maximum insurance -- so this can be lower if you want lower levels of insurance) for about $150 a month. Sales tax I think is about the same. The only bill that is higher is my water bill, which is about $50 a month when our irrigation system is not running. Hope this was helpful

[saralee]

Huge savings on purchase of our home, property taxes and homeowners insurance. Food and gas is higher here. Childcare is comparable, which equals to quite expensive.

SL

[mmdj43]

Originally Posted by LHBR702

Has anyone moved from NY/NJ to Charlotte? If so, can you offer a cost of living comparison? I've researched home prices and see that homes seem to be much more affordable, but how about property taxes, auto insurance, home owner's insurance, sales tax, etc. From time to time I see posts that warn that the savings in cost of living may not be what "we" think. Any information you can share would be really helpful to those of us trying to make the decision to relocate. THANKS!

It's not easy to give a true cost of living comparison. In terms of employment, you will either find companies (and very good ones) offering low paying salaries or you'll find companies (other good ones) that will pay close to what you were probably getting paid in the past. We figured the difference in salary was going to be between 15 and 20 percent. Home prices are on the rise here because of the booming population, but it will never catch up to what the northeast has in terms of the market. So a 350-370k house may sound like a lot, but not if the house is twice the size of your former house. So you figure a house that is ~350k here for a 3,000 to a 3,500 sq ft home will cost ~700k and more up north. Property taxes are much higher in Mecklenberg county than it is in Union County and many (including myself and my family) have moved to Union County. Property taxes in Union County are ~.67 cents per $100 dollars. So for example, a 3,500 sq ft home will probably cost about $2,400 or so a year. Gas and electric is much cheaper here but the water is not. Formerly living on Long Island, NY our water bill used to be ~$80 per quarter but you can easily be paying ~70 per month down here. But with the other utilities being so much less, it really evens out. Car insurance....well let me just say that I laughed on the phone with my Geico rep when he gave me the quotes. We were paying ~$1,600 every six months for 2 cars. Now we're going to be paying ~$600 every six months for the 2 cars. However, the first time you register your vehicles here, you have to pay some sort of state highway tax (I registered our vehicles down here already and I still don't understand it). It's a one time tax that has a forumla to calculate the depreciated value of your car against the percentage tax. You can check NC's DMV website; it explains it in there. And you have to register your vehicle annually as opposed to every 2 years as we did in NY. Sales tax....not 100% sure but it is still less than what we paid up north. Home owner's insurance is costing us ~one third of what we were paying. Cable/phone/internet will be about the same. Groceries are a little more expensive down here that what I was used to, but you also need to know where to shop and spend more for things that you feel justify the higher cost (meat, etc.). But if you do a lot of your grocery shopping at one of the Super Walmarts, then your cost can actually turn out to be less (with the exception of meat, milk, OJ). Not sure what else you would like to know, but we'll try and answer as much as we can. Do you have any examples of what you were told in terms of the cost of living? Perhaps that would help us to clear up any misconceptions. Best of luck to you.

[mm34b]

The 2006-2007 Mecklenburg County property tax rate is 0.8189 per $100 of value. This does not include any additional taxing districts, such as residents who live within various city limits. Those folks will have a higher overall tax rate, since they will be taxed by both the county and the city.