semi-retiring to Wisconsin (Ashland, Hayward, Shell Lake: buying a house, buying, schools)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by susancruzs

Its true, they tax private pensions, but not social security. However, Illinois real estate tax is so much higher than Wisconsin, I look at that as a trade off. I looked at what I got for my money, services, condition of roads, congestion, overall environment, I'd rather pay the taxes and feel like I'm getting something for my money. Where I am living, crime is a minor issue, you cannot say that in Illinois.

Of course, if you have more money it would translate into higher taxes, I'm not paying thousands and thousands in taxes.

Re the highlighted portion: In what universe??

[ccjarider]

I agree with Drover on this.

I've owned homes in both states.
Per dollar of house value, WI has much higher real estate taxes.

[susancruzs]

OK you got me there! I'm happy paying $1,900 and living a few blocks from the lake. I couldn't afford anything even miles from the lake in Illinois. My friend is paying close to $5,500. in taxes in Illinois and that is for an older home in Waukegan.

My sister left Illinois for the UP because she was paying over $4,000 for a 900 sq. ft. house, on a crawl space no basement in Fox River Grove.

% wise, per house value, you guys are right but in my corner of the world and what I can afford, I'm happy!

[Drover]

And you probably could have paid even less by moving to rural Illinois. Not that I'd suggest doing that just for a few hundred bucks less on property taxes ayear. Apples to apples, property taxes in Wisconsin are substantially higher than Illinois.

[susancruzs]

I looked southwest and west of Chicago, all kinds of smaller towns in Illinois. I even checked out all along US 20 to Galena. I was on the hunt but I really did not want to give up being close to Lake Michigan.

I even thought about Indiana and Lower Michigan but logistics getting to the rest of my family played a part, too. I really did research and look for a year before I decided.

[Paige65]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

I agree with Drover on this.

I've owned homes in both states.
Per dollar of house value, WI has much higher real estate taxes.

I currently own homes in both states. My property tax rate appears to be pretty equal on the properties I own. My IL home is worth about twice as much as my WI home, and I pay twice as much in taxes on my IL home. Maybe I have an unusual situation.

[ccjarider]

I suppose everyone has somewhat of a "unique" situation.

in 2008, my Wi home was appraised at 189K and I paid 3600 in tax.. Home sold for 225k in same year. Assuming that was fair market value at that time, the tax rate was 3.6/225 = 1.6% of fmv.

Forget about comparing assessed value in IL. It is impossible to figure out the complex equations used here. (I am sure this is on purpose to keep the public ignorant about real tax costs).

Anyway purchased IL home for 350K and tax is 4K so tax rate is 4/350 or 1.1%

I have no knowledge if this is what other people experience. But .5% of home value per year is a lot of money in my book.

[Paige65]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

I suppose everyone has somewhat of a "unique" situation.

in 2008, my Wi home was appraised at 189K and I paid 3600 in tax.. Home sold for 225k in same year. Assuming that was fair market value at that time, the tax rate was 3.6/225 = 1.6% of fmv.

Forget about comparing assessed value in IL. It is impossible to figure out the complex equations used here. (I am sure this is on purpose to keep the public ignorant about real tax costs).

Anyway purchased IL home for 350K and tax is 4K so tax rate is 4/350 or 1.1%

I have no knowledge if this is what other people experience. But .5% of home value per year is a lot of money in my book.

I don't know if my situation is unique, or yours is. My guess is it's all over the map. I just calculated mine and my WI rate is 1.4%. My IL rate is 1.45%.

I agree with you, .5% is alot of money in my book as well!

[Drover]

According to a Census Bureau survey conducted in 2005, Wisconsin's average property tax is 1.82% of home value, whereas in Illinois it's 1.58%. Now, that .24 percentage-point difference may not seem like much, but comparing homes of equal value, it means on average your real estate tax bill in Wisconsin will be nearly 15% higher.

Even taking into account that Illinois property values tend to be higher and therefore the actual bill (versus the percentage of property value) will be higher in Illinois, property taxes are still higher in Wisconsin as a percentage of median owner income (4.7% versus 4.9%).

However, it turns out property taxes in both state suck miserably compared to most of the country.

Property taxes: Where does your state rank? - MSN Money

[susancruzs]

Great list and info!