Are Floridians fleeing to the Carolinas? (Plantation, Homestead: HOA fees, insurance, how much)

[ShellyR]

The closer I get to my move something else comes up. I was told my a hotel owner in Amelia Island that Floridians are fleeing to the Carolinas due to the high property taxes. Does anyone know how true that is? I thought there was some truth to his comment because of my house hunting visit in January to St. Johns County. I looked at about 20 homes and only three of them were occupied. Where is everyone going and why? I must say the property taxes are high and then add the CDD and HOA fees, it can be frightening.

[Erin1264]

People from all over the country are fleeing to the Carolinas! Check out the North Carolina forum, especially the Triangle forum and you'll see.

We fled there from Florida and after a year, realized our mistake and fled again. It definitely is not the "answer" for everyone. Do your homework and check out the NC forum - it's eye opening.

[riveree]

I don't know anyone moving to the Carolinas from Jax.

I know a few coastal Carolinians considering moving to Florida, and I know of many NYers moving to the Carolinas, but at least locally here in NE FL, there is no exodus to the Carolinas.

Home values have gone up and the property tax followed. Insurance companies are in self-protection mode and they have become difficult to deal with. The outrageous CCD and HOA fees are only in these huge new developments, the ones that have their own theme parks.

You can control the amount of property tax you pay by limiting how much you spend on a house (the biggest factor in determining how much tax you pay). As for the big CCD fees, that's a personal choice. You can still have a new or newer house in a more simple neighborhood where there are no CCDs and the HOA is just a few hundred dollars a year. You could also purchase a home in an older neighborhood where there is no HOA at all.

[gcd01]

I fled from S. Florida to Raleigh, NC and never looked back. The quality of life is much better and friendlier people. Yes, it has its problems (doesnt every place?) but not as serious and as many as a lot of South Florida. Much CHEAPER also!

Quite a few people we knew moved to NC also. Never knew anyone that fled to SC....had a friend that was from the area and said it was backwards compared to NC, more crime, not as good of schools, etc.

[daisies76]

Ive read through a lot of the other Florida Cities Forums on here and have heard of a bunch of people moving to the Carolinas, but I havent heard it so much from N Florida Jax area residents. A lot of people mentioned it was because of the cost of living increases, home prices, and insurance issues due to the hurricanes, but I would tend to think they would also have these same hurricane-related price increases, so Im not sure.

A lot of the new neighborhoods have the high CDD fees, like over 1500.00 a year Ive heard. That's a lot to add to your property taxes every year. We are in Julington Creek Plantation and pay 498.00 for the CDD fee and 360.00 for the HOA per year. It's not too bad.

[INeedAChange]

Erin, would mind elaborating why you realized it was a mistake to move from FL to NC? I want to move south -- somewhere in Florida is my first choice, but I'm wondering if I should be considering NC as well? Thanks!

[ShellyR]

Daisies76, can you give me an idea of what property insurance is like in Julington Creek?
ShellyR

Originally Posted by daisies76

Ive read through a lot of the other Florida Cities Forums on here and have heard of a bunch of people moving to the Carolinas, but I havent heard it so much from N Florida Jax area residents. A lot of people mentioned it was because of the cost of living increases, home prices, and insurance issues due to the hurricanes, but I would tend to think they would also have these same hurricane-related price increases, so Im not sure.

A lot of the new neighborhoods have the high CDD fees, like over 1500.00 a year Ive heard. That's a lot to add to your property taxes every year. We are in Julington Creek Plantation and pay 498.00 for the CDD fee and 360.00 for the HOA per year. It's not too bad.

[daisies76]

Well JCP has a wide range in housing prices so depending on the size/price of house, I would say about 1200.00 maybe for about a 300k house? My mom lives here too and she is paying about 1050.00 per year and ours just renewed where it was about 1000.00 but it went up to 1500.00, but most people I have talked to around here is paying a lot less. We need to change companies, right now we are going with some off-name company, I have heard the rates are cheaper with a well-known company.

We were with one that went bankrupt after the S FL hurricanes and then some other insurance bought out their policies or something like that, so we ended up with one we never heard of, then our rates just increased, so we need to shop around.

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by riveree

I don't know anyone moving to the Carolinas from Jax.

I know a few coastal Carolinians considering moving to Florida, and I know of many NYers moving to the Carolinas, but at least locally here in NE FL, there is no exodus to the Carolinas.

Home values have gone up and the property tax followed. Insurance companies are in self-protection mode and they have become difficult to deal with. The outrageous CCD and HOA fees are only in these huge new developments, the ones that have their own theme parks.

You can control the amount of property tax you pay by limiting how much you spend on a house (the biggest factor in determining how much tax you pay). As for the big CCD fees, that's a personal choice. You can still have a new or newer house in a more simple neighborhood where there are no CCDs and the HOA is just a few hundred dollars a year. You could also purchase a home in an older neighborhood where there is no HOA at all.

Could someone explain exactly how the "Save our Homes" thing works on taxes? Do I understand this correctly that you deduct $25,000 from the price of the home and the remainer is what you pay taxes on? Or do they go by the appraisal amount the county has on it? Would someone just use an example so we could all understand it? Oh and does each county have a different amount per thousand that they use for figuring the tax?

[riveree]

Here's an example I've posted before:

You buy a house for $250,000

Your homestead deductible is $25,000

You are left with a taxable value of $225,000

In Duval, the millage rate is 18.18 per $1000

So, 225 x 18.18 = $4090 property tax per year

On coj.net, under Property Appraiser, there is a calculator where you can plug in a home price and it will do the above for you (estimate your taxes).

There are a number of factors that can affect your taxable value, but the price you pay for the home is the basic starting point for the city's property appraiser.

Once you are in the home - as long as it is your PRIMARY residence, and as long as you HOMESTEAD it - the city cannot raise your property taxes by more than 3% per year.

To Homestead, you fill out a simple form and mail it in...you'd be suprised at the number of people who forget to do this.

Yes, each county in Florida has their own millage rate. Duval (Jax) has a very low millage rate - one of the lowest, if not THE lowest, in NE FL.