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If it's so expensive why don't you just move? Or does just complaining about it make you feel better?
BTW, there's areas back in my stomping grounds where taxes are much higher. Here's one that should make you feel like you have a real bargain - $985K market value, $22K in property taxes. Not even near the water.
But since you put so much emphasis on assessment value, note that the assessed value is only $88K, just shows you how silly you are for trying to compare assessed values.
And then here's another, a bargain at $925K (note that the assessed value is only $69K), taxes are $20K.
You just have no idea what the rest of the country deals with on taxes, you have a bargain where you are.
I'm not complaining. I pay my $11k happily. I just would not characterize that as cheap. Nor would I characterize $7k in property taxes as cheap either. I would however characterize my $2k taxes and $600 insurance in Virginia as cheap.
And if other people are paying $20k+ in taxes, that's THEIR (dumb) problem!
True, you may have tax savings, but understand that this is directly offset by higher expenses in areas such as insurance (both car and home - and wait until children are driving age!!!!) and lower salaries relative to the COL.
I would also be surprised that if you’re a tenure track employee that you would be off in the summer. None of the tenured or tenure track profs I worked for were off in the summer - they might not have had classes, but they were definitely working during that time.
Good luck!
RM
Unfortunately, many people that have been in Florida for quite some time grossly misunderstand how much more expensive it is to live in the northern states. I will save over $30,000 in state and local income taxes by moving to Florida, and the average property taxes are higher in my state as well. I can buy a lot of insurance with my $30,000 savings. I have attached a link to average state property taxes across the country. Florida comes in at #25 and most of the top 10 most expensive states for property taxes are in the Northeast and Midwest.
Yes, I am a tenured professor, and no I do not need to work during the summer if I choose not to. I am not required to teach during the summer. Virtually no committees meet during the summer, and I conduct the vast majority of my research during the academic year. So, I can indeed take the entire summer off if I want to. If I do decide to conduct some research during the summer, all I need is an internet connect and my laptop, so I am free to travel wherever I please.
Thank you everyone for your replies. I have a firm grasp of some negative aspects of relocating to Florida.
Unfortunately, many people that have been in Florida for quite some time grossly misunderstand how much more expensive it is to live in the northern states. I will save over $30,000 in state and local income taxes by moving to Florida, and the average property taxes are higher in my state as well. I can buy a lot of insurance with my $30,000 savings. I have attached a link to average state property taxes across the country. Florida comes in at #25 and most of the top 10 most expensive states for property taxes are in the Northeast and Midwest.
Yes, I am a tenured professor, and no I do not need to work during the summer if I choose not to. I am not required to teach during the summer. Virtually no committees meet during the summer, and I conduct the vast majority of my research during the academic year. So, I can indeed take the entire summer off if I want to. If I do decide to conduct some research during the summer, all I need is an internet connect and my laptop, so I am free to travel wherever I please.
Thank you everyone for your replies. I have a firm grasp of some negative aspects of relocating to Florida.
Thanks for posting that link. As I was saying, Florida property taxes are not cheap. Which was my point all along.
Yes there are states with higher property taxes than Florida.
But there are also states with lower property taxes than Florida.
Don't let all the pollyannas in this thread make it out to be like Florida has cheap property taxes. It does not.
OP you are coming here from Michigan, correct? I get it. Ridiculous taxes.
But I moved here from Virginia, where taxes were much cheaper than Florida.
Combined with how cheap my VA homeowners insurance was, it was a bargain indeed.
The states with cheap property taxes would be:
South Carolina
Virginia
Alabama
Colorado
Utah
and many many others
etc.
And no, I would never own property in any of those top 10 highest property tax states, no way.
Unfortunately, many people that have been in Florida for quite some time grossly misunderstand how much more expensive it is to live in the northern states. I will save over $30,000 in state and local income taxes by moving to Florida, and the average property taxes are higher in my state as well. I can buy a lot of insurance with my $30,000 savings. I have attached a link to average state property taxes across the country. Florida comes in at #25 and most of the top 10 most expensive states for property taxes are in the Northeast and Midwest.
Yes, I am a tenured professor, and no I do not need to work during the summer if I choose not to. I am not required to teach during the summer. Virtually no committees meet during the summer, and I conduct the vast majority of my research during the academic year. So, I can indeed take the entire summer off if I want to. If I do decide to conduct some research during the summer, all I need is an internet connect and my laptop, so I am free to travel wherever I please.
Thank you everyone for your replies. I have a firm grasp of some negative aspects of relocating to Florida.
No misunderstanding here. I wouldn’t paint with such a broad brush, however. Most of my neighbors are former East coasters, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a native Floridian any more. They’re simply outnumbered.
I came from the Midwest and lived in several different Midwestern states and still own property there. I lived in San Francisco and New Hampshire (near Boston, not rural) as well as outside of the country for a number of years. Yes, some northern and midwestern states have high property and income taxes, but regardless of what you might find in research, based on comparative analysis of direct experience, living in Florida and the other locations stated above, the savings, if any, are marginal at best.
One of the areas where things are starting to rapidly equalize is in real estate. Certainly some New England and west coast states have far more expensive real estate, but prices here continue to rise, making those dollars from elsewhere buy less.
And while you may save money on taxes, you’ll find that savings is reflected in the lousy and inadequate infrastructure and poor quality public education. As a former school district administrator, I’m speaking again from direct experience. And it’s only getting worse as the area gets more and more developed and built out. Those taxes we pay in the Northern states are directly reflected in an excellent infrastructure and high quality schools, for example. Those amenities aren’t free.
“If it’s so awful, why don’t I leave?” will be the question from proponents. I don’t hate it here, I like it. My kids are grown and out of school, so I have no interest in the school quality. Yes, one can play the card about the poor education my future caregivers are getting, but quite frankly, I can afford quality care and will be able to the end of my life if necessary.
As I have said time and time again here, when someone finds the perfect place to live I want to know about it. Every place has positives and negatives, and requires compromises based on the values that matter at that time. If lower taxes and more disposable income are your motivation, great! You will offset that with heat, humidity, high insurance costs and inadequate infrastructure. But maybe those things don’t matter, so the compromise is minimal.
Not every state "up north" has high property taxes like NY.
That is true, I should have specified that in my experience in NY, MA and PA plus NJ (relatives) they definitely do..
My home is 1/2 mile from Tampa Bay and 6 miles from the #1 beach in the US and is an above average home for the area. A similar home in any of those areas above - newer, drivable to a desirable beach, quick access to interstates and airports could really easily get close to a million dollars or more in those states. That is gonna get you slammed in taxes. I pay 2600. That would be the same taxes on a 90k home where I'm from. So I kind of see it as saving, twice.
Literally everything, from food to home renovations to electric and cost of maintaining vehicles (due to not having all the driving and wear and tear from salt/ice) has been less expensive from what I'm used to except our home owner's increased from 600/year to 1600 because we are in a storm surge zone (by choice so not complaining).
Plus when you factor in the heating costs for a lot of those areas as compared to cooling costs annually here..woah. I used to curse a blue streak with the propane truck would pull up.
No misunderstanding here. I wouldn’t paint with such a broad brush, however. Most of my neighbors are former East coasters, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a native Floridian any more. They’re simply outnumbered.
I came from the Midwest and lived in several different Midwestern states and still own property there. I lived in San Francisco and New Hampshire (near Boston, not rural) as well as outside of the country for a number of years. Yes, some northern and midwestern states have high property and income taxes, but regardless of what you might find in research, based on comparative analysis of direct experience, living in Florida and the other locations stated above, the savings, if any, are marginal at best.
One of the areas where things are starting to rapidly equalize is in real estate. Certainly some New England and west coast states have far more expensive real estate, but prices here continue to rise, making those dollars from elsewhere buy less.
And while you may save money on taxes, you’ll find that savings is reflected in the lousy and inadequate infrastructure and poor quality public education. As a former school district administrator, I’m speaking again from direct experience. And it’s only getting worse as the area gets more and more developed and built out. Those taxes we pay in the Northern states are directly reflected in an excellent infrastructure and high quality schools, for example. Those amenities aren’t free.
“If it’s so awful, why don’t I leave?” will be the question from proponents. I don’t hate it here, I like it. My kids are grown and out of school, so I have no interest in the school quality. Yes, one can play the card about the poor education my future caregivers are getting, but quite frankly, I can afford quality care and will be able to the end of my life if necessary.
As I have said time and time again here, when someone finds the perfect place to live I want to know about it. Every place has positives and negatives, and requires compromises based on the values that matter at that time. If lower taxes and more disposable income are your motivation, great! You will offset that with heat, humidity, high insurance costs and inadequate infrastructure. But maybe those things don’t matter, so the compromise is minimal.
Unfortunately, many people that have been in Florida for quite some time grossly misunderstand how much more expensive it is to live in the northern states. I will save over $30,000 in state and local income taxes by moving to Florida, and the average property taxes are higher in my state as well. I can buy a lot of insurance with my $30,000 savings. I have attached a link to average state property taxes across the country. Florida comes in at #25 and most of the top 10 most expensive states for property taxes are in the Northeast and Midwest.
Yes, I am a tenured professor, and no I do not need to work during the summer if I choose not to. I am not required to teach during the summer. Virtually no committees meet during the summer, and I conduct the vast majority of my research during the academic year. So, I can indeed take the entire summer off if I want to. If I do decide to conduct some research during the summer, all I need is an internet connect and my laptop, so I am free to travel wherever I please.
Thank you everyone for your replies. I have a firm grasp of some negative aspects of relocating to Florida.
Well...if you decide to get out and about on the SWFL coast send me a message. We beach hop up from Naples to CWB all the time! It is a blast. I hope you will find the positives outweigh the negatives. I wish I could share some of my pics here. So I changed my profile pic to one I took at Clearwater beach..no filter or photoshop involved. For us, family time seeing these sunsets at a whim is priceless. Of course this was one of the best ones in the 5 years we have been here. But I got a ton of others hanging on my walls.
That is true, I should have specified that in my experience in NY, MA and PA plus NJ (relatives) they definitely do..
My home is 1/2 mile from Tampa Bay and 6 miles from the #1 beach in the US and is an above average home for the area. A similar home in any of those areas above - newer, drivable to a desirable beach, quick access to interstates and airports could really easily get close to a million dollars or more in those states. That is gonna get you slammed in taxes. I pay 2600. That would be the same taxes on a 90k home where I'm from. So I kind of see it as saving, twice.
Literally everything, from food to home renovations to electric and cost of maintaining vehicles (due to not having all the driving and wear and tear from salt/ice) has been less expensive from what I'm used to except our home owner's increased from 600/year to 1600 because we are in a storm surge zone (by choice so not complaining).
Plus when you factor in the heating costs for a lot of those areas as compared to cooling costs annually here..woah. I used to curse a blue streak with the propane truck would pull up.
Where do you have the evidence of food prices being cheaper in Florida? My understanding from everyone who has done the research is that food prices are higher (than average) in Florida.
Just a quick Google search reveals that Florida has the 5th highest grocery prices in the USA.
Yeah. I must be delusional. Paying 11k in taxes and insurance, it must all be a figment of my imagination. I think my CPA would disagree. And my insurance agent would disagree also. So would my neighbors, who pay A LOT more than that.
I'm sure insurance and taxes are much much lower in Riverview. No shocker there. Enjoy your lower taxes, your lower insurance! Because many other people in Tampa Bay are not paying what you pay. It is disingenuous to say that property taxes and home insurance are cheap in Tampa Bay. In many many parts of Tampa Bay they are not and are in fact much higher than northern states, especially higher than your old stomping grounds of Illinois.
My taxes and insurance would have been 14k this year if I hadn't switched flood carriers this year. My annual flood premium increased to $5k. And no I'm not on the water. I am in a flood zone that has NEVER EVER flooded. Anyway I was able to get a cheaper policy. My homeowners is a little over $2k a year and my flood is $2k a year.
Yeah, all a delusion.
But you are living in a home that is about 4x what the average person can afford. Your 7k in taxes is what my elderly parents pay on a run down 1900 sq ft 1950's ranch in NY and that is with their "star discount". Your property ins has to insure a home that will take likely 700K to rebuild if a total loss! And paying only 400 more a year in property insurance than I am LOL? Man you are actually a lot better off than you think..and if you get sick of that flood ins start looking for zone x. They are out there. There are some drop dead gorgeous homes over here that are high and dry and beauuutiful for a good price. Funny thing is, I'm zone x, nearly in evac zone b and can practically jog to the bay. So apparently getting the risk of a 20 ft storm surge which would annihilate my home is cheaper to the insurers than you living in a flood zone. That is interesting.
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I hope you will find the positives outweigh the negatives. I wish I could share some of my pics here. So I changed my profile pic to one I took at Clearwater beach..no filter or photoshop involved. For us, family time seeing these sunsets at a whim is priceless. Of course this was one of the best ones in the 5 years we have been here. But I got a ton of others hanging on my walls.
There are some drop dead gorgeous homes over here that are high and dry and beauuutiful for a good price. Funny thing is, I'm zone x, nearly in evac zone b and can practically jog to the bay. So apparently getting the risk of a 20 ft storm surge which would annihilate my home is cheaper to the insurers than you living in a flood zone. That is interesting.
