How much $$ per year on Property Tax and House Insurance? (Fairfax: rent, condo)

[cdmurphy]

I'm in Loudoun. In 2010 our property taxes were ~$6500 and insurance was $820.

[Tiger Beer]

Pretty interesting....so far...these were actual payments people make:

$5700/yr
$4000
$6500

Then theoretical if you had a $300,000 house....which seemed to be $3900 for Loudon and $3360 for Fairfax.

Interesting the person who moved to PA and it was $2500.

Looks like insurance is consistenly the same throughout. I can also see the argument for renting, as it seems like no matter what, you have that additional ~$550/month or so just in taxes and insurance.

[jacmadhel]

You misunderstood. I moved FROM Pennsylvania to Virginia and now pay $2500 on a $340K house as oppossed to $3500 on a $170K hoouse in Pa.

Owning a home is a far better long term investment vs. the cash saved monthly by renting.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by jacmadhel

You misunderstood. I moved FROM Pennsylvania to Virginia and now pay $2500 on a $340K house as oppossed to $3500 on a $170K hoouse in Pa.

Owning a home is a far better long term investment vs. the cash saved monthly by renting.

Damn, didn't realize that VA was that much better than PA.!

I always had the impression that people were moving into PA from MD to avoid high property taxes...

[michgc]

Pennsylvania is a funny state for property taxes. It is different from Virginia in that home values are not reassessed each year. Usually a sale of a house triggers a new assessment. So you can live in the exact same house as someone in the same neighborhood and pay a lot higher in taxes than the other person.

Also, taxes in PA vary across townships. Some townships might have very high taxes and some might have very low taxes.

Where PA beats Northern Virginia is that housing values aren't usually as high. Even in the Philadelphia area, which I believe would have the highest housing values in the state, the cost of housing is less.

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Damn, didn't realize that VA was that much better than PA.!

I always had the impression that people were moving into PA from MD to avoid high property taxes...

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by jacmadhel

Owning a home is a far better long term investment vs. the cash saved monthly by renting.

That's a very common misconception. The real answer is "it depends". If you are certain you will be in one home for 20 years, it's probably not a bad idea to buy. But these days...I don't know how you can be certain of that. Is it still a good investment if a job with a 50% pay raise comes calling from another city and you can't sell your house? It's not a black and white answer, and everyone needs to crunch numbers and make calculations themselves based on their interest rates, their savings ability, the difference in rent vs. mortgage payments, etc.

Bottom line is, a house is not always the most financially savvy investment. Most people buy because of the intangibles--they want to paint walls any color, have a feeling of stability, give their kids a permanent residence, etc. You can't put a price on those things. But talk to a financial mogul and they'll often tell you you're better off renting something cheap and throwing the savings in the market long term if you're looking to make money.

[DC Oldtimer]

Our property taxes in Fairfax are in the mid-6000 range. Insurance about $700.

We're in the process of moving down to Spotsy, to a considerably nicer house. Taxes will be $3800 and insurance about 60 bucks less.

I will not miss Fairfax taxes, that is fer sure.

[Tiger Beer]

I was also looking into Nevada, and it's around $ 1,500/year! (Sorry, not solid stats on that, so feel free to prove me wrong on that - informal polling).

Actually the property tax is a little offputting for Virginia. If it's around $6,000/year, that is around $500 month. There are some parts of the country where you can rent something for $500/month.

While housing has great security. It also makes me wonder how many people intend to retire and stay in their same Virginia homes with DC proximity. It sounds like people do out on the distance peripheries like Loudon County. But I am wondering how many people in say 'Springfield' would live out the rest of their lives well after their careers are finished.

That being said, most of the rest of the country I believe is much similar to Virginia's property tax rates than say Nevada (which seems to be on the extreme lower end). So, maybe they do after all.

For anyone following this thread, do you intend to stay in Virginia well after your careers are over, and you move into your retirement years?

[DC Oldtimer]

Our move to Spotsy is retirement related. We dont want to stay in pricey Fairfax now that we dont need to be here. Besides, I'm up for something new--and the new house better suits us than our Fairfax colonial. My knees are at a point where I prefer a ranch.

[jacmadhel]

Originally Posted by DC Oldtimer

My knees are at a point where I prefer a ranch.

LOL! My husbands knees would have liked a ranch too. We couldn't find one with enough bedrooms for our kids.