How is everyone doing it? (Hackensack: home, income, property tax)

[newjerseybt]

Originally Posted by stmaarten

Why are property taxes so high in New Jersey? BECAUSE THE CROOKED POLITICIANS IN NEW JERSEY ARE FLEECING THE GOOD PEOPLE OF THAT GREAT STATE!!!
We left the state of New Jersey, not because we hated living there, but we were SICK AND TIRED of being cheated by that state's politicians!
Jersey $uck$ not because of it's location, but because the politicians there are thieves!
Why is it that other states are able to manage on much less property tax income? It's a damn tradgedy!

Who allows these people so much power? We do.

[Diane Giam]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Bear in mind that alot of the people who bought those $500k houses can't afford them- they've got interest-only ARM loans that have come due now, or are coming due shortly, and many of these folks are now facing foreclosure. That's why the mortgage companies have tightened the lending requirements again, and you're starting to see "normal" loans and interest rates again.

For the people who "sorta" can afford them, they spend an excessive percentage of their net incomes on their mortgage payments and property taxes, and have very little money left over for savings, 401k's, or anything else. It's truly a sad state of affairs that many people in this area have put themselves in.

Bob

Bob if I had sold my house a year earlier I would have gotten $535k but I paid $235,000 for it 13 years before. I also sold 2 houses before that one which I sold for more than double.
I've purchased a house in the Mid $400,000 in Nashville, but it would be over a mil in NJ. Taxes? In the $3000 range.Much cheaper to live here. This is where we will eventially retire. Right now I have a daughter starting college and have lived here long enought to Qualify for the State Lottery Schlorship. Byw, Georgia has that also, called the Hope. Just obtain a 3.0 overall, and you qualify and she had to graduate from a Tn High School, She was here from Day 1 of her senior year

[NJTina]

Originally Posted by Diane Giam

Bob if I had sold my house a year earlier I would have gotten $535k but I paid $235,000 for it 13 years before. I also sold 2 houses before that one which I sold for more than double.
I've purchased a house in the Mid $400,000 in Nashville, but it would be over a mil in NJ. Taxes? In the $3000 range.Much cheaper to live here. This is where we will eventially retire. Right now I have a daughter starting college and have lived here long enought to Qualify for the State Lottery Schlorship. Byw, Georgia has that also, called the Hope. Just obtain a 3.0 overall, and you qualify and she had to graduate from a Tn High School, She was here from Day 1 of her senior year

NJ has the STARS program for High School Seniors, as well. Maintain a 3.5, I believe and receive 2 years FREE tuition at community than 2 FREE years at Rutgers. It's a wonderful program. My daughter was offered it, but turned it down for almost a full ride at Monmouth University. Back to the original post..I am baffled as well as to where people are getting the money to live so affluently here in NJ. McMansions, cars, vacations, Abercrombie , along with MASSIVE car insurance and the mother of all mothers in PROPERTY TAXES. Some of us are lucky in that we bought our homes at a low price and can cash in eventually. That doesen't mean we can ever buy UP. It just means that we can hopefully maintain the home we have or be forced to leave the state.

[bdpop]

If you are a first time home buyer, it seems next to impossible to get a house these days.

[VINMEGA]

Ok, I am guilty, we own a big house in Bergen county.
Yes my taxes are 23k a year (we live in hackensack, the county seat so it is a bit more urban, so the taxes are slightly lower)

My wife runs her own business, and I sell specialty lines of insurance for a major european insurance co.

We generate alot of income from working smart and hard.
We are both in our early 30's

Not a stretch though, cars are paid for, and then you have the usual, cable, electric, insurance, cell phones...etc.
most people get all screwed up with trying to finance everything, how about saving for your purchase?!!

Our car insurance is only 2400 a year for 2 cars. Not so bad!

Our house is a 1920's construction with lots of detail, 6000 sqft, center hall, circular driveway, and has been updated lovingly by me and the wife with all the modern stuff, and being a guy, I like my toys and all (I am a big home theater buff).

We have a nice little piece of land (1/4 acre) with the pool and cabana house out back.

Purchased in apr 06 for 900k.

Plain vanilla 30 year fixed for us at 5k per month.
Down payment of 180k equaled 3 deals for me to close. I close 28 per year.

Granted its a big house for a young married couple with no kids, but no need to worry about it when we do have kids.

I love my work, my wife loves what she does. We are very thankful to god each day we wake up.

We both come from lower middle class fams (garden apartment dwellers) who did not want to do that again, and had the right ideas, skills, timing, luck, etc or whatever it was.

We like what we have so it is not hard to maintain what we have. We dont consider ourselves rich by any means. We just work smart. There are people on our block who spent 1.3m and up for their house. We dont fly first class (well not all the time!) and we shop at the farmers market instead of a fancy whole foods. We max out our investments each year, and dont spend like lunatics.

My wife loves cooking in our kitchen, and we love watching movies in the theater...we could go out and spend 2000 for a night out in the city, but if we did that too often we would be in the same boat as 95% of everyone else here.
I bought a big house so I'd save money in other areas.

Property taxes in NJ are a fact of life..get used to it or move.

Its just sensable living.

I will never leave NJ, leaving this area is like entering a foriegn country, people are struggling and bitter in America because there is not much going on, and most people buy into the BS!

We live 15mins outside of NYC, 1 hour from the shore, 1 1/2 hr from Philly, 1 hour to country side, upstate NY...any food, restaurant, language being spoken, we have it all!!

Making the bigbucks here is not too hard if you can find your angle. Most people struggle with this, and that is why Martha Stewart and Oprah are so damn rich!!!

Most places dont add up moneywise for us and the people are kind of strange and uptight. We love it here. I will freely admit that NJ is expensive, but not everyone is struggling!

[Diane Giam]

Originally Posted by nsa162

I am often amazed at all these big houses that people in NJ are building and buying. If you are one of these people, can i ask what exactly you do for a living to be able to afford a 500k house.Maybe i will get into that field

I sold a house in NJ last there that I would have received over $500k for in 2005, when the real estate market was good.

I bought it in 1991 for $235,000, but I sold a house for $185,000 that I paid $66,000 for and only had $15,000 left on mtg. I also owned a home before that that I paid $33,000 and sold for $65,000. The first 2 homes I owned were on LI and the last in Manalapan, NJ.
I ended up selling that house in 2006 for $462,000 but we made the deal for $482,000 and those people tried to find things wrong, because I doubt they had the money. They took 2 mtgs to buy it, $430,000 in loans.
I don't think a $500k house in NJ is that big, but I guess that depends where its bought.
Bottom line is that most First time buyers can not afford a house at that price with the taxes in NJ. They got a huge hike in taxes , from $7200 to $12,000. Looks like they will be renting rooms illegally.

[Diane Giam]

Originally Posted by INeedAChange

a better question is why would anyone pay that much to live in a place like the Garbage State

I agree!!!

[66nexus]

Originally Posted by Diane Giam

I agree!!!

Ask the millions that live here

[JerseyG]

Purchased in apr 06 for 900k.

Plain vanilla 30 year fixed for us at 5k per month.
Down payment of 180k equaled 3 deals for me to close. I close 28 per year.

Really? You make over $1.5 million per year on your own, and only put 20% down? Just curious to your reasoning behind that given how frugal you say you are? 5K per month is 60K per year...you could pay your property taxes out of that and still have 40K to stick in a little money market or make some conservative investment and make 4-5% off of it.

Given your background (garden apartment dweller) I would think you would have more sympathy toward the struggling middle class. Are you as hard on your parents and in-laws as you are on people here?

Property taxes in NJ are a fact of life..get used to it or move.

You say this with a straight face? If you really make what you say you do understand this: you only pay $5-$12K more a year in property taxes than people who make 1/14 or LESS than what you say do. How do you justify telling those people to shut up, pay up and get over it? Your mortgage and property taxes alone are some people's salaries.

I don't get how you don't get that?

But what I want to REALLY know is how does a sprawling 6000 square foot home with a circular driveway (which means you have to have some semblance of a front yard), pool and cabana fit on .25 acres?

[j1n]

What I'm hearing here is that NJ is only for the rich?
Maybe it shouldn't stop there. Maybe someone should step up and tell all the insert specific loathesome undesirables here where they can and can't live.
I have plenty of friends here that don't make six figures, yet somehow manage to be happy and contribute to NJ's society in a positive way. Boy, are they going to be upset when they find out they aren't wanted here anymore...