Wake County Tax Rate (tax rates, 2008, current)

[lynnsprufera]

Originally Posted by gastric

I'm not a Realtor or even a resident yet. But regarding property taxes it's my understanding that the Raleigh area does not tax on market price but on assessments which are usually thousands less than market price. So your $300K house is only taxes on an assessement of $210K or so which brings the actual real estate taxes down by a significant amount.

However, it's also my understanding that all assessments are scheduled for review in 2008 so who knows what they'll be.

Hopefully it doesn't follow trends in NY where my taxes went from $3800 to nearly $6K in a matter of years due to crafty reassessments from partial assessments, to full assessments, to full market values in addition to increased tax rates.

There is a reassessment to be done in 2008 but for those who have purchased new homes (Many) they are probably near the proper value. This will affect the resales and older homes a bit more. Older homes around here are 10-15 years old.

[northerner9]

Thanks for all the responses ! These are all excellent info. Being a new member here for 2 days, I already love this forum.

NC is surely more expensive to live than the NH. And if we take the housing out of the picture, it may be more expensive than MA/NY/NJ too (but I may be wrong). In NH, I can buy cars without paying sales tax and saves thousands of dollars. There is no state income tax so I saves thousands of dollars every year. These savings are more than enough to pay for the difference in property tax comparing to NC. The housing price in NH is comparable to the NC.

People also says New England area has a higher avg. salary than the South. My company pays about $5K to $12K less for the same position comparing between MA/NJ/NH/RI and NC area !

So I guess it is not making sense to move from NH to NC if I want to save more money by doing the same job. But in terms of weather, NC is much nicer than New England if you are not a ski lover, or don’t want to stay indoor most of the winter (like the cold winter this year).

I also guess some of the people are moving form the North to the South because of expensive housing in their area. With the rapid increase in house prices at NC along with these expensive taxes, I think this moving trend will be stopping soon. It won’t surprise me that many of the people that moved to the South may be starting migration back to the North within the next 10 years. Does anyone see that ??

Could someone tell me about the car and home insurance too ? Is there a big deductible or premium for the wind damage ?

Thanks again for the info, it helps me a lot.

Regards,
Northerner9

[Bull City Rising]

Originally Posted by northerner9

Thanks for all the responses ! These are all excellent info. Being a new member here for 2 days, I already love this forum.

NC is surely more expensive to live than the NH. And if we take the housing out of the picture, it may be more expensive than MA/NY/NJ too (but I may be wrong). In NH, I can buy cars without paying sales tax and saves thousands of dollars. There is no state income tax so I saves thousands of dollars every year. These savings are more than enough to pay for the difference in property tax comparing to NC. The housing price in NH is comparable to the NC.

People also says New England area has a higher avg. salary than the South. My company pays about $5K to $12K less for the same position comparing between MA/NJ/NH/RI and NC area !

So I guess it is not making sense to move from NH to NC if I want to save more money by doing the same job. But in terms of weather, NC is much nicer than New England if you are not a ski lover, or don’t want to stay indoor most of the winter (like the cold winter this year).

I also guess some of the people are moving form the North to the South because of expensive housing in their area. With the rapid increase in house prices at NC along with these expensive taxes, I think this moving trend will be stopping soon. It won’t surprise me that many of the people that moved to the South may be starting migration back to the North within the next 10 years. Does anyone see that ??

Could someone tell me about the car and home insurance too ? Is there a big deductible or premium for the wind damage ?

Thanks again for the info, it helps me a lot.

Regards,
Northerner9

Well... to be honest, I think your argument depends on the assumption that people are only motivated by living as inexpensive (tax/housing/etc.) an existence as possible. There are more people that choose to live in metro Boston, with all the tax costs of Mass., than in the entire state of N.H. My wife, born and raised in Milford NH, loved growing up there but has no interest in returning, even if it were cheaper in terms of housing or tax costs. If we ever returned to New England, it'd be to Boston, Cambridge, or Newton... not Merrimack, Bedford or Mount Vernon.

I disagree that the housing prices are comparable between the two. If you're living in a really rural area.. maybe. But in the Nashua-Manchester-Concord axis, you're going to be paying more for the same quality housing stock (or paying the same for a lower-quality house.) My brother-in-law paid the same for a rickety, falling-apart house in Hillsboro NH as we paid for a much cuter, better-maintained house in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Durham.

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

Originally Posted by northerner9

With the rapid increase in house prices at NC along with these expensive taxes, I think this moving trend will be stopping soon.

I haven't noticed a rapid increase increase in home prices here in NC. Apprecitaion seems to be fairly stable and consistant...not very rapid at all.

It won’t surprise me that many of the people that moved to the South may be starting migration back to the North within the next 10 years. Does anyone see that ??

I have heard this statement before but have yet to here an explanation as to why this would ever be the case. Almost every person I have met who moved here is very happy and either plans to stay or is following their job as their career advances which may lead them to later transfer anywhere in the US. I don't know of any changing situation here in NC that is causing people to move back to where they came from.

[northerner9]

I am sorry that I made wrong judgement. I read some posts here that said the cost of houses increased by as much as $20k in last 12 months.... so I am just using this rate to judge. If this is not, I am happy to know that. I am not a city guy, I enjoy the quiet small town more, but not too far from the town (like 30min. to 45 min. away).

Any one know the car and house insurance rate around Raleigh ? This is also one of my moving consideration. Right now I am paying $1650 for my two 4-year old cars (Mazda Protege and Toyota Highlander). And I pay $650 for my 1650sqft house.

Many thanks again.

[Njrover0216]

The income tax rates are going to go down only for the high bracket tax payers,in Jan 2008 the high tax bracket will see a .25% decrease...what about us middle class??? Doesn't it seem like we are being squeezed bone dry?

[ChipL]

Hazard is pretty cheap in NC, I'm not as confident to speak on cars.
There are too many variables involved in insurance to quote specifically a rate, as in how much coverage, property type, what your credit is like, and all that. Check with Farm Bureau, they've been consistantly the cheapest on prices for Hazard we've needed to find for people.

[vetegnc]

Don't forget about county vehicle tax! Our taxes (yearly) on our vehicles were somewhere around $250/year when new (VW Passat wagon..."cheapest" version; and Toyota Tacoma 4 door). When we left, the taxes had gone down to around $150 per vehicle (since its based on value of the car). I assume this is state wide, I know Nash and Wilson Co. had them.

Our insurance for these two vehicles was around $1500 yearly (about best insurance coverage, we both have good histories). We just moved to PA, and our rate is around $1000.

[southward bound]

Interesting note: I heard just yesterday on the news that NC is considering legislation that would make it illegal for out-of-staters to claim residency in NC for the purpose of obtaining cheaper car insurance, which reportedly many people are doing.

That would lead one to the conclusion that insurance rates in NC are lower than some other states.

[Njrover0216]

When I moved from northern NY to Charlotte, NC my car insurance did go down. However, when I moved out of Charlotte to MD my car insurance remained the same. So it may be cheap, but not extremely cheap. It is definitely cheaper then NJ, NYC, CT, MA...for sure!