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Ok- gauntlet has been thrown. Please show me a house comparable to this house, which is the one we were talking about, in Wake Forest, in a similar community in Syracuse:
OK- that's 3 bed, 3 bath, 1300 sq. ft on a 1/3 acre, in a suburb (not the city), with a nice updated kitchen like this one, fireplace, hardwood floors, etc. I know this neighborhood, and its really nice, so don't try and stick me in Solvay or some industrial area!
Before I post an example, 3 bathrooms in a house that size? Really? Anyway....
Might be uncommon for it to take as many as 30 (especially during a mild winter), but it's probably not too far off. Faster, of course, to get up there from the west side of downtown than from my neighborhood.
Also, if you don't know the area that well, it may take longer to find things as well.
No- no comparable to that home, exclusively. Tell me about what kind of work you do, your commuting [or lack of] requirements, your preferable lifestyle and aspirations, and budget.
From state to state, the budgetary allotments are different. You may save enormously, in a line item you didn't realize, and be able to afford a life you didn't know was possible for x number of dollars.
I've been poor, single and with a family... you can do a LOT on very little. My in-laws just moved down from NH (Dartmouth area) and were stunned, when we went over the numbers. It is MUCH cheaper for them to live in Manlius than their paid-for home, up there.
I'll have to DM you the personal stuff. I'm as off-the-grid as you can get in Philadelphia and love my privacy. Doing a lot on a little has been my motto for a long time. Avid listener of Dave Ramsey and working to get out of debt- almost there.
I was also supporting Ron Paul. Unfortunately, I feel like he has no chance. End political rant.
My requirements aren't too complex. I need a decent house where my monthly payment is around $900 a month. PITI. 2 bed/2 bath in a suburban location. That house on Garrett Drive was perfect- strongly desire a fireplace and basement, garage, and I hate raised ranches (that rules out Clay and Cicero). I like Manlius, Camillus (maybe) and anywhere with hills. Hate flat land. Manlius is probably the town I would want. I just calculated the STAR reduction of the house in Manlius on Garrett Drive, and it would drop the taxes to $4360 or so. That might get me under $1k a month on that place, if I was interested.
$4275 ARE the actual taxes with the STAR exemption- just looked it up on ongov.net.
I think you'd have a good leg to stand on, to lower the taxes as an owner. Surrounding properties are comparable and about tax-assessed at $30K less, at least. No outside kitchen + above-ground pool (no matter how nicely it's set up to appear in-ground) is worth that much more than the others. For that property, I think it would be easy to drop taxes to $3500. Truly.
Average 30-year is around 3.5%. At that rate, with an accepted offer of $110K, your mortgage would be just under $500/mo. Insurance would be another $35/mo. (you're about as close as any house can be, to both police and fire departments.) Escrowed taxes would be $356.25, at the current rate.
And a great chance to lower taxes. It's easy when the comps are SO much less, by tax-assessment. At $3500 in taxes, after a successful challenge to the assessment, would bring the total down to $826.
I'll get back to you with other options, after a bit more research.
Keep in mind what we said about tax exemptions and it is only 4 years older.
Ehh, that's a stretch. You ain't getting that much of a tax break on those taxes. $7400 might be $6000 at best. Your still looking at miniumum $400 more a month in taxes, and that house needs serious work.
$4275 ARE the actual taxes with the STAR exemption- just looked it up on ongov.net.
I think you'd have a good leg to stand on, to lower the taxes as an owner. Surrounding properties are comparable and about tax-assessed at $30K less, at least. No outside kitchen + above-ground pool (no matter how nicely it's set up to appear in-ground) is worth that much more than the others. For that property, I think it would be easy to drop taxes to $3500. Truly.
Average 30-year is around 3.5%. At that rate, with an accepted offer of $110K, your mortgage would be just under $500/mo. Insurance would be another $35/mo. (you're about as close as any house can be, to both police and fire departments.) Escrowed taxes would be $356.25, at the current rate.
And a great chance to lower taxes. It's easy when the comps are SO much less, by tax-assessment. At $3500 in taxes, after a successful challenge to the assessment, would bring the total down to $826.
I'll get back to you with other options, after a bit more research.
I'll have to DM you the personal stuff. I'm as off-the-grid as you can get in Philadelphia and love my privacy. Doing a lot on a little has been my motto for a long time. Avid listener of Dave Ramsey and working to get out of debt- almost there.
Likewise. We didn't buy this home until Step 4 - 2008 (started in 2005, with an annual income of $15K as *gross*)- was reached and, with some help from a health-related suit to propel us beyond the minimum of Ramsey's standards, were able to complete our goal.
There's so much room for self-sufficiency in the village of Manlius, if there's enough peer-pressure on the village trustees. I'm planning a presentation for them, this spring, on the practicality of allowing private livestock on personal property... and modifying traditional layouts to suit noise ordinances and disturbances to neighbors. I plan to take full advantage of current trends. We are very intent on being as self-sufficient as possible... and passersby OFTEN remark on our property. It brings them back to a simpler, happier time, when every-day life was a lot of work but still- beautiful, to behold. As silly as it seems, people love our laundry. Colorful quilts, bleaching sheets and cloth diapers in the sunshine and cloth napkins. This is a welcoming community, even if it does take a while. There's that deep-seeded love of simplicity that captivates even the hardest of chemically-treated yard that's free of dandelions neighbors. :P
The village trustees aren't unreasonable. With enough forethought and conflict PRE-resolution, anything is possible. There is an ENORMOUS difference between the village and the town [of Manlius].
Last edited by proulxfamily; 03-13-2012 at 11:22 AM..
Also- it's the school tax that kills everyone. Look it up... they're easily half.
F-M pays about $17K per student, per year. I've been campaigning for Dr. Ron Paul for a while now... and people scoff at his ideas. For education, he proposes a $5K tax CREDIT - per student, per year - for students who are homeschooled. The dubious think he's pandering.
That would save our district $12K per child, per year. How awesome would it be, to have lower property taxes, a parent home with their child/ren, and a better-tended lifestyle for all families? This is called Win-Win. A parent at home to educate, to care for the home, to educate/care for the home via teaching the children to maintain and improve it and oneself, as a life experience? We have 3 children- many homes would be able to afford to stay home (income - childcare, clothes, commuting expenses - including a second vehicle for a household, doctor's visits, sick days off since children with a temp of 100+ aren't legally ALLOWED in legal childcare facilities/homes, convenience items/meals, bonding activities to make the most of not being with the children, etc.)
That's the kind of culture I want to experience.
eta: Apologies, for the political tangent. lol
People move to F-M for the schools, not the privilege to home school their children. Why should my tax dollars subsidize a $5,000 tax credit to people that want to home school their children. Everyone has access to public schools and it's their choice to utilize them or find other arrangements. Like it or not, the tax system is structured so every homeowner pays property taxes regardless of whether they use the public school system. Your only option may be to move to somewhere like Rockland County, NY, where hasdic jews have managed to infiltrate the public school boards in some districts and gut education spending. Their nefarious motive is that their children attend private yeshivas and they don't want to pay high property taxes. I would guess the vast majority of people in the F-M district with school age children would not opt to home school their children even if their taxes would plummet and they would receive a $5,000 subsidy from Washington. Some people like having careers and having their kids educated in a more formal setting, even it includes being exposed to some social ills and a competitive academic environment.. You're certainly entitled to parent as you see fit and I'm not trying to judge you, but to expect the vast majority of parents and Americans to agree with this view is naive.
That being said, it's good to stand up for your beliefs even they may be unpopular in some circles. Like him or not, Ron Paul has been very successful in developing a very cohesive group of supporters.
Ehh, that's a stretch. You ain't getting that much of a tax break on those taxes. $7400 might be $6000 at best. Your still looking at miniumum $400 more a month in taxes, and that house needs serious work.
People move to F-M for the schools, not the privilege to home school their children. Why should my tax dollars subsidize a $5,000 tax credit to people that want to home school their children. Everyone has access to public schools and it's their choice to utilize them or find other arrangements. I would guess the vast majority of people in the F-M district with school age children would not opt to home school their children even if their taxes would plummet and they would receive a $5,000 subsidy from Washington. Some people like having careers and having their kids educated in a more formal setting, even it includes being exposed to some social ills and a competitive academic environment.. You're certainly entitled to parent as you see fit and I'm not trying to judge you, but to expect the vast majority of parents and Americans to agree with this view is naive.
That being said, it's good to stand up for your beliefs even they may be unpopular in some circles. Like him or not, Ron Paul has been very successful in developing a very cohesive group of supporters.
Thank you for your honesty, Rolls.
At least in our community, I see a trend building... homeschooling. There are teachers in F-M, living AND working, who homeschool.
This isn't dis-similar from how children used to be taught.
A safe, local-government-active community allows for free-range thought.
An economy that allows profits to be RETAINED has an exceptional motivation for children to learn to create those profits.
I know a lot of stupid people with college degrees.
A college degree should not be the staple of educational results. SUCCESS should be.
Peer-pressure is powerful. It keeps me - truly, solely - weeding my gardens, mulching my paths, and cleaning our property *beyond* bare necessity to aesthetics. I have a reason to keep our property beautiful and productive, beyond basics.
If I hadn't the time to notice, those standards would be too high to obtain with an average [for the area] income.
In addition to my own business, I watch a child during the school year. Depending on the needs of my business, this child is cared for by me, my husband, my original, nuclear family or my husband's. It doesn't really matter- whoever cares for my children (close to us and well-known to us) cares for this child as well.
His mother often betrays her own lifestyle and expresses an urgent desire to be with her children. This expression of her desire often comes when she picks up her child when we've just returned from Green Lakes, a park, or are just playing or working on our own property.
Her peers tell me, in passing, how "lucky" I am, to be home with our children.
It has nothing to do with luck; it is merely a self-designed NEED to remain at home, as often as possible, to teach our children the facts of life.
Those facts have nothing to do with toys, activities/vacations, clothes or other "standards" of living that are common to this area.
Our children don't notice that these NEEDS aren't needED.
And there IS a need, imo, for higher education from the F-M school district... it's just that, by the time those higher-pursuits are needed, I've had the time to make connections, find needs and can work without arranging exceptionally-costly childcare for our family.
Kindergarteners don't need $17K in education. Yet- taxpayers are being charged for it.
Would seniors and no-children homes, who have no children in school, prefer to pay $5K or $17K for what would AMOUNT to the same education... especially if lesser funds were spent on children who expressed a desire to go on to apprenticeships, based on a REAL, free market?
Wouldn't YOU be happy, to pay for the same education for general education for less than a third of what you've been paying?
Last edited by proulxfamily; 03-13-2012 at 11:58 AM..
Reason: eta: The credit would not be from Washington, D.C., in the end. It would be from local governments, like NYS.
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