rentals (Columbia, North: sales, real estate, apartments)

[lam0land]

Hi! I hope I did this right--We now live in North Carolina, and were thinking about moving to SC next year. My daughter was there and liked it a lot. She was in Columbia and a town(which I can't remember the name of) but it was'nt too far away from Columbia. Anyway , she felt the people were nicer than many of those here in NC. --My question is are there many rentals down there?? and are the utilities real high?? hows food prices?? and is it really true that there isn't any car tax??

[waccamatt]

I'll assume you're asking about Columbia and not the town nearby. There are plenty of rentals...apartments, houses, etc. I'd say utility and food costs are about average. The sales tax on cars is capped at $300, but you pay an annual property tax on cars, which varies by the value of the car and somewhat on where you live. Real Estate property taxes are very low, however.

[Brandon Hoffman]

Originally Posted by lam0land

Hi! I hope I did this right--We now live in North Carolina, and were thinking about moving to SC next year. My daughter was there and liked it a lot. She was in Columbia and a town(which I can't remember the name of) but it was'nt too far away from Columbia. Anyway , she felt the people were nicer than many of those here in NC. --My question is are there many rentals down there?? and are the utilities real high?? hows food prices?? and is it really true that there isn't any car tax??

Plenty of rentals.
Not sure how our utility or food prices compare to NC.
There is a car tax. It's not very much. FL has no car tax.

[ShanaP]

An annual property tax on cars? I've never heard of that.

The real estate taxes are really low though. We're in the process of buying a home now and the taxes are a fraction of what they are in Houston.

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by ShanaP

An annual property tax on cars? I've never heard of that.

The real estate taxes are really low though. We're in the process of buying a home now and the taxes are a fraction of what they are in Houston.

Yes, it ends up being roughly $200-$250 a year for every $10,000 or so that your car is worth. When you buy your car initially, though, the sales tax is capped at $300, so there is a trade off.

[ranger17]

i'd like to sneak in a side question if I may ( trying to add more info to our "file" on SC ), in the same area though: how are the personal property taxes handled on 'leased' vehicles? In those cases you don't own the vehicle, really are only renting it. At least in our state, when a vehicle is leased the sales tax paid is not on the car iteslf, rather it's on the monthly payment ( "useage" ). So on the property tax portion for cars, just wasn't sure if the %'s change, or how it worked. thx

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by ranger17

i'd like to sneak in a side question if I may ( trying to add more info to our "file" on SC ), in the same area though: how are the personal property taxes handled on 'leased' vehicles? In those cases you don't own the vehicle, really are only renting it. At least in our state, when a vehicle is leased the sales tax paid is not on the car iteslf, rather it's on the monthly payment ( "useage" ). So on the property tax portion for cars, just wasn't sure if the %'s change, or how it worked. thx

My vehicle is leased and the property taxes are handled identically to owned vehicles. The sales tax is not paid unless you "purchase" the leased vehicle at the end of the term.

[ranger17]

^^
sounds good, thx again