Possibly relocating to Greensboro area (Thomasville, Davidson: sales, vehicle registration, insurance)

[katrinaschex]

My husband may have an opportunity to relocate to the Greensboro area. We have many concerns. First being the weather. We currently live in Florida and love having warm "winters". We grew up in the North and don't miss the snow. So what are the winters like? Does the area get much snow?

Cost of living..... Florida does not have a state income tax, nor do we pay city taxes. We only pay county property taxes. What is it like in the area? Are we going to get hit with a ton of taxes?

Where to live? We want an area close to shopping, dining, entertainment. I also want to be close to the airport and Interstate. Any suggestions? I work for a custom home builder so I'm also looking for a quality built home, but not pricey. Any suggestions?

Thanks so much

[cny2cnc]

I live in Thomasville and work in Greensboro. I've been here four years (moved from northern NY) and we've had about 3 inches of snow each winter. It's gotten cold (by NC standards) a few times, maybe into the high teens, low 20s, but it's generally pretty warm in comparison to a "northern" winter. Can't help with areas to live in, or with property taxes. Davidson County, where I live, has relatively cheap taxes and is a primarily rural county but Greensboro is very urban in comparison and I believe taxes are higher. You would have to come here and check it out and see for yourself.

[Carolina Texan]

North Carolina is one of the 10 worst states in the country in terms of the tax burden on its citizens. State income tax topped at 6%, and that was before the recently enacted 2-3 point "temporary" surcharge. State sale tax rates just got bumped another point, too.

It's one of the reasons we started looking to leave, and will be moving to TN soon.

[akwebb81]

Yes, the tax burden is starting to poke us. I grew up in OH, moved to TX and then here. I noticed a big hit in the paycheck when I transferred from tx to nc. The property taxes aren't terrible, I live in Winston Salem and we pay around 1.1%. The thing that really shocked me though was the person property tax on cars, boats, rv's, motorcycle, atv, etc... That's a yearly tax that you will have to consider and I think it's at 1.5%? Not to scare you, but just to be fully aware before you move of all the ways they milk you of their...I mean... your money.

Personally, if you like where you are, Florida is one of the top 3-4 state's I'd consider moving to if I had to choose at this moment.

To address your other questions, the winters here are definitely more tolerable than up north. We don't seem to have the 6 months of grey sky's, just some spurts of real winter here and there. They are calling for a wetter, colder winter here this year so I guess that means more snow. It seems the past few years we have gotten our snows later in the season, Feb-Mar.

Others here can address location to live better than I, but areas that have good shopping are 1-Friendly Center 2-Spring Garden...Should be able to find newer builds in that area.

Definitely do your research. I love living in this state, but looking at it now, I think I may have stayed in TX a little longer, or found a more income friendly state.

[WFW&P]

NC taxes are the cost of playing catch up. Since NC decided it wanted to be a player in the business world they discovered infrastructure would have to be updated to compete with established transportation & utility infrastructure. So with that being said NC just nickel & dimes you to death. Rather than paying 5k for license plates you pay $48 & pay a property tax on your vehicle. Naturally your taxes will be higher in the city limits due to taxes imposed by the city & county in which you live. The best thing to do is crunch some numbers for comparison and see where they stand.
The best way to sum up the weather is 'up the middle'. You will be far enough south that the summers will be hot & far enough up north there will be winter. You will literally be in between the extremes. The mountains shred most of the winter storms that come out of the west.
One thing FL can't compete with NC is this state can't be completely run over by a hurricane.

[arbyunc]

Look folks, about the taxes...state and local governments are about the same everywhere you go. There are fire departments, police departments, schools, roads, etc. that must be paid for. The money has to come from somewhere. So just because Florida has no income tax--well, don't fool yourself that Floridians aren't paying for it one way or the other. Whether it's vehicle registration fees, toll roads, special use taxes, higher business taxes (which are passed on to the consumer), etc., you can bet the government still gets its share. I don't think NC is any worse than other states in that regard.

[akwebb81]

Look folks, about the taxes...state and local governments are about the same everywhere you go.

Not really. Yes, governments do get their money one way or another, but the way they prioritize and spend that money is VERY different from state to state.

This isn't the most recent data, but a good reference.

TAX BURDEN BY STATE

[arbyunc]

^ Good link, akwebb. In general it seems to support the point I was trying to make...Florida, with no income tax, is listed with a tax burden of 9.7% (percentage of income). NC, with income tax, is listed at 10.5%. Not much of a difference, really.

There are some obvious outliers--like Alaska with its oil revenues (lowest tax burden) and Maine with the highest tax burden (not sure why, maybe because its population density is low?). But in general, most states' tax burdens are clustered within 9-11%, indicating there is not a significant difference.


Edit to add: Carolina Texan, you are wrong about NC being among the 10 worst for tax burden. The site referenced above puts us at 23, right in the middle of the pack.

[katrinaschex]

Originally Posted by akwebb81

Yes, the tax burden is starting to poke us. I grew up in OH, moved to TX and then here. I noticed a big hit in the paycheck when I transferred from tx to nc. The property taxes aren't terrible, I live in Winston Salem and we pay around 1.1%. The thing that really shocked me though was the person property tax on cars, boats, rv's, motorcycle, atv, etc... That's a yearly tax that you will have to consider and I think it's at 1.5%? Not to scare you, but just to be fully aware before you move of all the ways they milk you of their...I mean... your money.

Personally, if you like where you are, Florida is one of the top 3-4 state's I'd consider moving to if I had to choose at this moment.

To address your other questions, the winters here are definitely more tolerable than up north. We don't seem to have the 6 months of grey sky's, just some spurts of real winter here and there. They are calling for a wetter, colder winter here this year so I guess that means more snow. It seems the past few years we have gotten our snows later in the season, Feb-Mar.

Others here can address location to live better than I, but areas that have good shopping are 1-Friendly Center 2-Spring Garden...Should be able to find newer builds in that area.

Definitely do your research. I love living in this state, but looking at it now, I think I may have stayed in TX a little longer, or found a more income friendly state.

Ahhh....the lure of Florida. Be careful. We do not have a state income tax...YET! Our state's income is based on tourism, which has taken a major hit. Thanks to the hurricanes a few years ago, a lot of major insurers are dropping customers left and right and/or their premiums have skyrocketed. I had a customer who had a yearly insurance premium in the tens of thousands because they were on the coast and in a "high risk" area. What's a "high risk" area? Well, that depends on the insurer and how many claims they've had in that particular area.

In the past few years there are more moving OUT of the state, than into the state. There are many reasons for that. Do your homework BEFORE you consider moving to Florida. It's not all sunshine....

[WFW&P]

This is getting off topic but the wife's dad used to live in Ok which does not have sales tax, problem being license plate fees were base on the value of your car, which could amount to a few thousand dollars.
Like arbyunc said, you're going to pay for it one way or another.