Property Taxes in Rochester

[HowardRoarke]

Originally Posted by cheese9988

I've lived in other comparable metros. I havn't found there to be that much more of a hassle.

Comparing NY to NC as I ususally do. My house costs as much as my apartment did in NC with taxes, and that was a cheap apartment. The renting policies are not the much different except that you have to get a credit check for most places down there.

<snip>

Yeah, credit checks keep the deadbeats out. We rented a house for a short period of time before settling down, and it was a relief to not have to live around deadbeats, like in other places. Usually, landlords go through a third party for rent collection, credit checks, and criminal background checks.

Just another fallacy.

Really? I know plenty of folks who left Upstate, and they are all much happier and glad they left.

[cheese9988]

Originally Posted by HowardRoarke

<snip>

Yeah, credit checks keep the deadbeats out. We rented a house for a short period of time before settling down, and it was a relief to not have to live around deadbeats, like in other places. Usually, landlords go through a third party for rent collection, credit checks, and criminal background checks.



Really? I know plenty of folks who left Upstate, and they are all much happier and glad they left.

Really? I know plenty of folks who have left and come back. Again, you have made six posts, one of which may have something positive. Your just another deadbeat poster who creates a handle just to bash one particular area. You havn't even posted something positive about the area you are currently living in. So no, I don't take you seriously, you have no rapport anywhere on this forum.

[I'minformed2]

Very true. Although chances are the reason they haven't posted anything positive about the area they live is because they still live here. Like I always say; the people who talk the most crap about Rochester and are so convinced that it is such a horrible place to live are usually the ones who have never lived anywhere else! Still pretty pathetic. You should get a hobby besides Rochester bashing.

[hanoka]

Well I have gotten quite a bit of information on property taxes, Is $8000 on a 200k house really the average.. that is very high...,Cheese9988 you mention that you are in the city, your taxes are very low.!!. 8000k scares me I don't wish to pay that much in property taxes. Where can I get info on the taxes in the various zip codes of the city and surrounding suburbs ? Thank you all again for the info. I like the park ave area, what other areas in the city can I look at that taxes are lower and the neighborhood diverse?

[cheese9988]

Originally Posted by hanoka

Well I have gotten quite a bit of information on property taxes, Is $8000 on a 200k house really the average.. that is very high...,Cheese9988 you mention that you are in the city, your taxes are very low.!!. 8000k scares me I don't wish to pay that much in property taxes. Where can I get info on the taxes in the various zip codes of the city and surrounding suburbs ? Thank you all again for the info. I like the park ave area, what other areas in the city can I look at that taxes are lower and the neighborhood diverse?

Well one way is to use the real estate websites. We went through Remax and had a good experience with them.

As an example, this house isn't too far from where I am. I think it may be on a borderline good/bad neighborhood though. 37 Varden Rochester, NY 14609 - Property Details

If you do $5000 down at a 6.5% interest rate, WITH taxes you will pay ~$650 a month if you move in. Which is a good deal if the house is in good shape and in a good neighborhood. I'm not sure what type of house your looking for though.

Make sure you leave room in your budget for heat/electric/water. Our worst utility bill in the city so far was ~$350 for both gas and electric. In the summer our worst bill may have been $150 for both, probably because of the air conditioner. I would have to check what it was without a/c, but probably less than $100.

A good way of telling if the neighborhood is good is to come back on a warm night after dark and see what the neighbors are like. There was a house we were going to bid on, but when we came back at night there were groups of people on street corners without much to do. We looked at probably twenty houses and narrowed it down to a few before we put in a final bid.

Our home is older, but the neighborhood is good, the house is big and we have everything close by. The house has beautiful woodwork with original woodfloors, gumwood moulding and leaded windows. It really was a good find.

[I'minformed2]

cheese some day, when the kids are all grown (really the oldest two already are, but our little surprise that came in our late 30's still has quite a while before he's out of the house) we are going to be buying a house like yours! I love the old houses in the city! The character in them just can't be matched in any house built post WWII.

As for property taxes; look on remax, and also check out the largest local real estate agency; Nothnagle. Almost all of the listings on Nothnagle.com have many inside pictures and virtual tours, and all of them give the taxes (you'll find taxes can REALLY vary greatly from house to house).

[gastric]

When I left Roch a couple of years ago our house was assessed at $145K with $6k in taxes in the town of Gates. We looked at houses all over Monroe county and the overall tax rate is really all over the board % wise, even within the same township.

These next comments are based purely on my personal experience: What you'll find is that in the low/mid/average range housing the overall home prices in Rochester are much lower than other areas, such as Raleigh, NC. But the NY taxes are obviously significantly higher. So you may end up with the same or maybe even a smaller overall escrowed mortgage in NY in that housing market. But once you get into the larger/high-end homes the difference in home prices between other areas decreases, and the NY taxes grow even more significant, so other areas actually get more affordable when comparing the escrowed mortgage.

It's important to remember that taxes are deductible, as is mortgage interest. So consider that into your overall cost-of-housing computations. You should also seriously consider heating costs into your overall costs. It gets pretty cold in Rochester in the dead of winter, we'd often have a 2-3 months where gas bills would hit $350.

[cheese9988]

Originally Posted by gastric

When I left Roch a couple of years ago our house was assessed at $145K with $6k in taxes in the town of Gates. We looked at houses all over Monroe county and the overall tax rate is really all over the board % wise, even within the same township.

These next comments are based purely on my personal experience: What you'll find is that in the low/mid/average range housing the overall home prices in Rochester are much lower than other areas, such as Raleigh, NC. But the NY taxes are obviously significantly higher. So you may end up with the same or maybe even a smaller overall escrowed mortgage in NY in that housing market. But once you get into the larger/high-end homes the difference in home prices between other areas decreases, and the NY taxes grow even more significant, so other areas actually get more affordable when comparing the escrowed mortgage.

It's important to remember that taxes are deductible, as is mortgage interest. So consider that into your overall cost-of-housing computations. You should also seriously consider heating costs into your overall costs. It gets pretty cold in Rochester in the dead of winter, we'd often have a 2-3 months where gas bills would hit $350.

Thanks for the info. I can attest to the heating bills. My worst was $350 combined gas/elec for a ~1800sq/ft house. The house is older though. Maybe if a member could post a similar sized house that is energy efficient for comparison?

[sick of the winter]

We are in the process of moving back to the Cincy/Northern KY area and have been doing extensive research on homes...We're looking for newer homes (I've done the older home thing, tired of stuck windows and things constantly needed to be fixed up)..

We were looking in the Webster/Penfield area... A home in the 250K range netted us about 9-10,000/yr in property tax... Good schools, descent area, miserable weather for most of the year..

In a nice suburban area of N.KY the same house for 250K has annual property taxes of 2500/yr. Same good schools, alot more to do for us (pro sports, better shopping (higher end stores for my wife) better overall dowtown).

I'll admit that Rochester has way more affordable homes in the 100K range. And for the most part they are nicer than a 100K home in most other cities. But when you get into a slightly higher end home, the taxes really start to put a hurt on the budget.

Schools seem to be some what similar. But I'd have to give the advantage to Cincy area.

I've asked myself what do I get for the higher taxes... Potholes that I can't avoid, toll booths on the 90 that keep increasing. We have good snow removal here, but i'm not sure if I'd call that a plus. About the only thing cheaper in Roch. is vehicle registration. Down in Ky you have to pay personal property tax on your vehicle. But the cheaper gas just about takes care of that every year.

I'm not a Rochester hater. I grew up here, played alot of sports here, used to go downtown when I was younger(until people started getting shot on Monroe etc)... But there are some cities that I find to be very nice, not in a major metropolitan, that have more to offer than Rochester. Cincinnati happens to be one of them.