Property taxes - anyone being priced out of your home? (Newark: sale, house)
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But you are comparing taxes between a 3200 sq foot house and 1600 sq foot house. Taxes on 1600 sq ft house in NJ would probably be anywhere between 8k and 10K depending on the town. But what is the quality of schools in your school district? How is access to employers?
Schools are much better than where we came from based on Trulia scores, here 9-10 where we came from 5-6. Jobs here are great we are a suburb of Philly a 30 min train ride, old home no train service and 2 hours to Philly or NYC. Our sales tax is 6%, but your gas is cheaper and they pump it for you, BUT we are 20 mins from Delaware which is cheaper than NJ gas, and no sales tax in DE so major shopping gets done in DE.
Bought 6 months ago. Taxes went from 23k to 24k w updated millage rate. Then town told me they discovered interior improvements per the MLS photos, and we will be at 27k next year. Off to a great start.
unless those improvements increased your square footage, or added sinks, it shouldn't have affected the prop. tax assessment...?
I went through some nearby 2015 sales on Zillow that sold for high PSF (meaning they likely renovated). Most that were under assessed showed a material uptick in assessed value in the following tax year. Not sure how the homeowners were approached, or what reasoning they were given, but obviously they went through something similar. The assessed value as a % of purchase price puts you on the radar. and there are no secrets, as the MLS listings provide a "virtual inspection" which is public record.
I am working at that. Part of my New Year goals.
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Bought 6 months ago. Taxes went from 23k to 24k w updated millage rate. Then town told me they discovered interior improvements per the MLS photos, and we will be at 27k next year. Off to a great start.
3200 SF on .22 acres Essex County
If there were unpermitted improvements done that would raise the value of the property, this is legal.
Bought 6 months ago. Taxes went from 23k to 24k w updated millage rate. Then town told me they discovered interior improvements per the MLS photos, and we will be at 27k next year. Off to a great start.
Bought 6 months ago. Taxes went from 23k to 24k w updated millage rate. Then town told me they discovered interior improvements per the MLS photos, and we will be at 27k next year. Off to a great start.
3200 SF on .22 acres Essex County
Essex County taxes are a killer. My wife and I said hell no to every house we considered in that area once then property taxes came to light. Nothing we saw was below $24k. Montclair and West Orange were among the worst. Only Essex can make Bergen County taxes actually seem cheap by comparison.
There are also those of us who don't have a desire to live elsewhere, and who have invested wisely over a 30 year period, so that we don't really have to worry about higher-than-average living expenses in NJ.
If you like where you are now living, then...more power to you. I also like where I am living, and I intend to stay.
However, I can well understand moving to a "cheaper" state if poor investment decisions did not leave you with the option of staying in NJ.
Yup.
I don't blame retirees for wanting to move out, especially if they've already sent now grown kids through the school system. But here we see plenty of younger people complaining bitterly about how it is too expensive here, and often their posts and what they hint at lead me to infer that perhaps they don't have the best job or a great education and maybe haven't made the best financial decisions... anyone who's been on this forum for years probably knows some examples of people I'm talking about. Maybe not off the top of your head but you've likely seen them before.
We all know it's expensive here. Despite this, NJ is the most densely populated state. Clearly something draws people here. Complaining that it's expensive as if one didn't know when I highly doubt that's the case is just useless. If you can't afford it, move out or shut up.
And no, it's not just NJ that is expensive. It's basically the NY metro area. LI and Westchester are also expensive. LI taxes are also ridiculous. Venture out south and west into NJ and it's not quite as bad. There's a price to living where many of us live. Perhaps we don't realize how lucky we are, in a sense, to live in such a major metro area. If you don't like it, you don't have to stay.
Last edited by JerseyGirl415; 01-14-2017 at 03:55 AM..
Within NYC metro, NJ is cheap! And has been know as the cheap alternative for people looking to be close to the city. Have you shopped around other areas within a 15 miles radius of midtown?
Glen Ridge. 27k for top schools and 35-40 min direct train. And a house that is 300 PSF, not 400-600 PSF
Top schools short direct train. That puts you where in comparison? Scarsdale, Larchmont, Rye, Garden City LI
3200 SF turn key in a good town in lower Westchester is 1.75MM with 40k in taxes. Garden City, 1.5MM with 25k taxes. People in Westchester are tearing down 3000 SF 1.5mm houses on quarter plots and building 800 PSF homes with taxes pushing 60k!
Is 27k high? Yes. But housing market is still affordable in comparison. By comparison, I mean a town with great schools and a DIRECT quick train to the city. As for other area in NJ, the housing stock is just more. Millburn Summit etc it all nets out to the same equilibrium of taxes and home prices. And areas in Westchester and LI are simply just more
Bottom line is, if you have a job that couldn't be found outside of NYC for similar comp, then you're a bit stuck. But for anyone NOT tied to Manhattan, paying these taxes and premiums makes very little sense.
Last edited by JaRuss01; 01-14-2017 at 06:15 AM..
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Part of my New Year goals. 
