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i've told this story before but my brother worked for a company that relocated their entire(?) IT division down to Charlotte from NYC. My brother had the oppty to go but declined (no interest in living in the south). His coworkers were drooling at the mcmansions they could get down there. a whole sh**load moved down. you can guess what happened within a year of moving down there - massive layoffs. so now you had all these transplants with nowhere to go, in an unfamiliar part of the country, with mortgages they couldn't afford.
i'd personally rather be with the devil I know.
i'll say this then stop this tangent: part of the reason I'm glad I wasn't in a group that's relocating is because...if i get laid off in NJ, i have literally thousands of companies that i could apply to, and seriously hundreds that would be fairly easy for me to get a job at. if i moved to Orlando, that number drops substantially....which is part of the reason why our salaries are so much higher up here...companies have to compete for employees, and there is a lot of competition.
How do NJ ppl make it? I really don't know, but if they bought a house 10 years ago, they probably got the houses at a big discount compare to now as the Gov't try very hard to keep the prices high. If the rates aren't this low, we could be looking at 2002 housing prices.
have you look at secaucus? it's not far from jersey city and you could find a town home for $350k.
How do NJ ppl make it? I really don't know, but if they bought a house 10 years ago, they probably got the houses at a big discount compare to now as the Gov't try very hard to keep the prices high. If the rates aren't this low, we could be looking at 2002 housing prices.
have you look at secaucus? it's not far from jersey city and you could find a town home for $350k.
i believe housing prices are largely back to 2004 and 2003 levels. just look at recent sales data. a few places are holding on to near 2005-2006 prices, but they are still dropping in those areas i believe.
How do NJ ppl make it? I really don't know, but if they bought a house 10 years ago, they probably got the houses at a big discount compare to now as the Gov't try very hard to keep the prices high. If the rates aren't this low, we could be looking at 2002 housing prices.
You are absolutely right: if not for the low rates, home prices will have gone to 2000 levels and earlier. I believe that low rates did not stop the decrease--they just made it slower. The reason is obvious: incomes remain stagnant, but house maintenance has gone through the roof (incl property taxes). So even if prices are lower, houses remain unaffordable.
it's all about location, I still see houses been sold at 2007-2008 prices. I don't doubt some houses are sold at 2004 levels.
I am afraid that what you see is an exception. According to Case-Shiller index for the NY/NJ area, home prices are back to November 2003 levels.
However, houses are less affordable than November 2003 as it takes more to maintain a house: utilities, insurance and property TAXES have doubled, and the few hundred dollars one saves from the low rates can't cover the increased maintenance. Prepare for more price cutting.
my company is relocating some people to outside of Orlando, FL. The folks who are looking to move are quickly realizing that what they'll save in property taxes get eaten up by HOA fees (which are almost the norm in most FL communities they are looking into) and private school (since the public schools are not great). Sales taxes on clothing and other items that are exempt here help chip away at the savings you get in income taxes. It's good for the retiree crowd, but it's not so great for the younger crowd with a family. Oh, not to mention that the salaries for people they are hiring to replace people who aren't moving are nearly 50-60% lower.
You have to watch out for HOAs and CDDs which are included in the tax bills. However, there are LOTS of communities where HOAs fees are $200~ per month. That said, I would never move to Orlando...the weather is miserable because it is not near the ocean. The locals call it the great swap in the summer time. You sweat perfusely in the summertime at 9 p.m. in the evening just standing around drinking a beer.
I can't imagine what it must cost to raise a small family in Bergen, Essex or Hudson County with property taxes (what are the avg. property taxes for a decent 3 bed in Bergen county? Has to be sickening.), income taxes, commutation expenses (tolls, monthly parking, trains passes, etc.) and the wear and tear on body, mind and spirt when it comes to the hour long one way commutes in good weather (bad weather is worse). FL has problems like many other areas, but I think it stills comes out ahead in terms of quality of life, useable weather, and ability to send your children to college. The Bright Futures Scholarship program available to FL residents is pretty sweet.
my company is relocating some people to outside of Orlando, FL. The folks who are looking to move are quickly realizing that what they'll save in property taxes get eaten up by HOA fees (which are almost the norm in most FL communities they are looking into) and private school (since the public schools are not great). Sales taxes on clothing and other items that are exempt here help chip away at the savings you get in income taxes. It's good for the retiree crowd, but it's not so great for the younger crowd with a family. Oh, not to mention that the salaries for people they are hiring to replace people who aren't moving are nearly 50-60% lower.
Flat out lie. My cousin lives in Seminole County, just north of Orlando. He has a 3,000 foot square foot house with a pool in an A rated school district 30 minutes from the beach and 30 minutes from Disney. He pays $2,500 in property taxes and his HOA fee is $100 a month, which includes lawn care. He lives comfortably on $80k, wife doesn’t have to work. It’s a great place for families.
Last edited by E-TOWN-R.I.P.; 04-05-2013 at 04:42 PM..
when's the last time you were in West Orange, and why is it declining?
I was there last month and do business there quite often. It was once an elite town, in the 1980's. I remember as a kid watching Willis Reed jog through the streets in the morning. When I say elite, I mean on par with Summit, Livingston, Chatham, etc. Would you argue that this is still the case? It went from an upper class town to a midldle class town, and the average at best schools reflect that. However, the property taxes don't. For example, your advocating the OP purchase a home built decades ago, that will likely cost him $50-$100k to fix, with property taxes listed at nearly $12,000. I understand that's your town and you're advocating for it, but I think your heart's getting in the way of the facts here.
You have to watch out for HOAs and CDDs which are included in the tax bills. However, there are LOTS of communities where HOAs fees are $200~ per month. That said, I would never move to Orlando...the weather is miserable because it is not near the ocean. The locals call it the great swap in the summer time. You sweat perfusely in the summertime at 9 p.m. in the evening just standing around drinking a beer.
I can't imagine what it must cost to raise a small family in Bergen, Essex or Hudson County with property taxes (what are the avg. property taxes for a decent 3 bed in Bergen county? Has to be sickening.), income taxes, commutation expenses (tolls, monthly parking, trains passes, etc.) and the wear and tear on body, mind and spirt when it comes to the hour long one way commutes in good weather (bad weather is worse). FL has problems like many other areas, but I think it stills comes out ahead in terms of quality of life, useable weather, and ability to send your children to college. The Bright Futures Scholarship program available to FL residents is pretty sweet.
I'm very familiar with both Central and South Florida, and I would have to say that Orlando is a far better place to raise a family than Miami. While Miami is better for singles, it doesn't offer much in the way for families. It's still insanely expensive, brutally hot in the summer, and very rough when you cross that causeway heading west. I do agree about Florida. It does have certain advantages New Jersey and other states don't have. That being said, I'm lifelong N.J., so it would be tough emotionally for me to leave.
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