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Keep in mind that tax rates aren't necessarily those figures given as there are exemptions like STAR, veterans and for seniors, among others. So, the calculator isn't far fetched. DeWitt is an upscale town for much of it and has the most affluent census tract in terms of percentage of people making over 200,000.
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Originally Posted by VintageSunlight
Interesting site for comparing 2 different places. I do seriously question the housing cost calculator, as homes may be somewhat cheap but taxes offset that. Also, I will tell you that Cary is very expensive. Probably the most expensive area down there, even more so than Chapel Hill I would surmise. Its a nice area, but has little character, IMHO.
Here is a house in the neighborhood where my friend lives, in Wake Forest. Its a really nice house (as is his) in an upscale neighborhood with mature, tall trees, close to shopping areas, and you can walk to the downtown area:
Try as I might, I cannot find a house like this anywhere in the Syracuse area, at this price point, and certainly not at these tax rates. Now again, I'm not trying to get into a north v south rant; I've seen your past posts and you clearly are very pro-Syracuse and seem to have a lot of hometown pride, which is great. Syracuse is a nice place and if I had to live there, I would make the best of it. My only point is that I really take those cost-of-living calculators with a LARGE grain of salt, as you can plainly see here, the calculator is way off.
Keep in mind that tax rates aren't necessarily those figures given as there are exemptions like STAR, veterans and for seniors, among others. So, the calculator isn't far fetched. DeWitt is an upscale town for much of it and has the most affluent census tract in terms of percentage of people making over 200,000.
Not sure what you mean by this.
I lived in Queensbury and looked for a townhouse there. The only thing I qualified for was STAR, and it wasn't much. I mean, here is a house I would buy, in my price range:
I love this house- its got great character for a 50's ranch. I did the math, this house in the equivalent of a $175k house in Wake Forest. Both are nice towns I'm sure, so that doesn't factor. But $175k in NC gets you a 5 year old house with 3 bed and 3 baths in a great neighborhood. Again, it is what it is. NC is not NY. I've read the many posts here of people who have moved back and I understand why. My point is that those calculators are not accurate, in my opinion.
My question to you is: Is there anything that you don't like about Syracuse? Aside from taxes which everyone clearly knows are outrageous anywhere in NY. What do you not like?
I lived in Queensbury and looked for a townhouse there. The only thing I qualified for was STAR, and it wasn't much. I mean, here is a house I would buy, in my price range:
I love this house- its got great character for a 50's ranch. I did the math, this house in the equivalent of a $175k house in Wake Forest. Both are nice towns I'm sure, so that doesn't factor. But $175k in NC gets you a 5 year old house with 3 bed and 3 baths in a great neighborhood. Again, it is what it is. NC is not NY. I've read the many posts here of people who have moved back and I understand why. My point is that those calculators are not accurate, in my opinion.
My question to you is: Is there anything that you don't like about Syracuse? Aside from taxes which everyone clearly knows are outrageous anywhere in NY. What do you not like?
This is the thing about taxes.
1) The older the house, the lower the taxes. The tax assessment is not the same thing as the value, unless the owner/s haven't stayed on top of it... which leads to-
2) Owners need to challenge EVERY assessment increase. Every time. Our home is worth much more than this home but it's several decades older. The previous owners were also very, very vigilant about assessment increases. As a result, our taxes are almost half of the listing you posted above. Our next door neighbors' homes are comparable to the above listing... they didn't stay on top of the increases. The home you listed is in my village precinct- we walk by it often and yes, it's in perfect condition. The owners are very meticulous people. It's worth that money but NOT those taxes. Not.at.all. There are people 4 houses down, paying $1100/year. Same house size and style, same layout, beautiful landscaping and also very well maintained.
3) Every time you see a listing, look for other homes nearby. The taxes can be wildly different and you'll pay a lot less, enabling you to pay off your own home that much faster. The savings in taxes can pretty much cut a 30-year to a 15-year. That matters, you know?
1) The older the house, the lower the taxes. The tax assessment is not the same thing as the value, unless the owner/s haven't stayed on top of it... which leads to-
2) Owners need to challenge EVERY assessment increase. Every time. Our home is worth much more than this home but it's several decades older. The previous owners were also very, very vigilant about assessment increases. As a result, our taxes are almost half of the listing you posted above. Our next door neighbors' homes are comparable to the above listing... they didn't stay on top of the increases. The home you listed is in my village precinct- we walk by it often and yes, it's in perfect condition. The owners are very meticulous people. It's worth that money but NOT those taxes. Not.at.all. There are people across the street, paying $1400/year.
3) Every time you see a listing, look for other homes nearby. The taxes can be wildly different and you'll pay a lot less, enabling you to pay off your own home that much faster. The savings in taxes can pretty much cut a 30-year to a 15-year. That matters, you know?
SO basically, there's nothing you can do about those taxes at this point, because you cannot undo the fact that the owners never challenged the tax rate. What a shame. Its a really nice place, totally my type of house.
SO basically, there's nothing you can do about those taxes at this point, because you cannot undo the fact that the owners never challenged the tax rate. What a shame. Its a really nice place, totally my type of house.
No, it is the opposite. Proulxfamily mentions another great point in terms of challenging assessments.
Also, the COL calculator was updated September of 2011. Click on a topic like housing to see. I'm just the messenger and I didn't create any of this.
SO basically, there's nothing you can do about those taxes at this point, because you cannot undo the fact that the owners never challenged the tax rate. What a shame. Its a really nice place, totally my type of house.
Depends. You can, in some cases, argue that your house is worth precisely what you paid for it, not what the assessor believes. You can challenge every assessment if you believe it to be incorrect - it's just more difficult to roll it back after it's been high for awhile.
I believe my parents challenged their assessment on those grounds at one point - they'd just bought their house, and at ~$15k under what the house was assessed at. They won, and their assessment was lowered to meet the price paid. The rates are still generally high, but the lower assessment helps mitigate that.
SO basically, there's nothing you can do about those taxes at this point, because you cannot undo the fact that the owners never challenged the tax rate. What a shame. Its a really nice place, totally my type of house.
I would say that it IS basically that way... who's going to buy a house with those taxes *with just a hope* that they can argue the taxes down? The sellers would have to do that, being the owners, but you can't argue that a home is worth less than the assessed value when you're selling it for more.
It's a bit odd... but something that can really only be taken care of over the years. You need to find that kind of home. That's why I tend to tell people in mixed-aged homes' areas to go to the county website and look up assessments and taxes, whenever they find homes they like. Maybe that great deal doesn't seem so great with double the taxes. Maybe you can get the nice, large, updated home, with mindful previous owners, for the same price... after factoring in the lower assessment.
Around here, I've noticed that the stock that doesn't sell has high taxes... high enough that the asking price would need to drop by tens of thousands to correct the affordability. And that's exactly what happens- or the sellers give up and foreclose. One home we loved, when first looking, was $120K. Great deal because the property was ripe for an easy flip (ugly and inconvenient layout but fairly easy for a good DIYer) or a great investment BUT the taxes were $6K. The price dropped to $70K, the next year. Over the following months, I checked again. House was put up for $150K (and sold there) and the taxes were down to $4K. THAT was a lot of risk - to buy a property where the taxes are higher than the mortgage with only a HOPE that you can argue it down - but the price needed severe chopping first.
Last edited by proulxfamily; 03-12-2012 at 05:12 PM..
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