Wisconsin, Why Live Here ? (Milwaukee, South Milwaukee: sale, home owners insurance, how much)

[Milwaukee City]

Okay I love WI and Milwaukee but when it comes to two factors; Weather and Taxes why live here?

Property Taxes on a 200K Home

MKE: 6,000 after 50yrs 300,000
Delray Beach,FL 2k after 50yrs 100,000

Sales Tax

MKE 6%
DB, FL 6.5%

State Income Tax assuming 80k household income

WI 7% after 50yrs of working 280,000
FLA 0% after 50yrs of working 000,000

Just using basic taxes why would you live in WI when it's better weather and cheaper to live in FLA?

Is everything else in Florida so expensive that it makes up a lot more of the difference of income tax and property tax? if so then you would have to make up 464,000 in a lifetime to equal or property taxes and income taxes

You have to pay $480,000 more in a lifetime to live in WI vs FLA in just income tax and property tax. That's $800 more a month over a lifetime 18-68.(50yrs).

Delray Beach, Florida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Hntr]

Wages, wages, wages!!

The difference in wages might not be as astronomical for some professions, but for skilled and non-skilled labor, the wages are probably three times higher here in Wisconsin. Some of the southern states are very anti-union. I grew up in Texas, we had a major packinghouse looking at building a plant in our city. Obstacle after obstacle was thrown in their path, they were union and would raise the prevailing wages, and thus all the non-skilled labor would jump ship to the new plant.

I moved up here in the sixties, my wages more than double as soon as I got here. In the early nineties I was making three times what they were making in Florida. I was union and most similar jobs in Florida were non-union.

I have a brother that moved back to Texas after he got out of the military. His home insurance is six times what our is. Granted he doesn't pay state taxes either.

Our heating/electrical bill is less than his air conditioning bill. Summers are as bad as our winters. Walking outdoors is like walking in an oven, you can't go outside until the evening.

My son-in-law got transferred to Dallas a few years ago. They have a swimming pool they can't use most of the day. The sun is too hot to be in the pool! My daughter has had a hard time adjusting to the weather. She been down there three years and she can't wait to move back to Milwaukee.

We were down there in 2003 looking for a place we could retire to. My wife had this idea of retiring in the warm sunny south. Late June 2003 the temperature was 107! My wife was born and raised in South Milwaukee, she said no way in Hades she would live down there during the summer.

I love Wisconsin! Well everything except January. We have beautiful country, great summers, thousands of lakes, affordable hunting. Just for the hunting alone I would live in Wisconsin!!

[Milwaukee City]

I completely understand your point, my wife and I both work in the financial industry and I lived in Miami for a year and I loved it year round and a little unknown fact is that Miami has never had a day over 100 degrees. However Miami is really hot and humid but that's what I like. My point is on taxes over a lifetime we pay more than 480,000 in just 50yrs of property and income taxes. With Miami and a high concentration of finance jobs we have researched the pay in our Miami branch and it's a little higher than what we get paid here.

[Hntr]

Yeah, when we still lived in Milwaukee I heard we were the #2 state as far as taxes paid, second only to New York. I don't know where we sit nationwide now, but it has to be pretty close to the top.

[Milwaukee City]

It's usually:

New York
Conn
California
Mass
WI

[Allan Trafton]

Milwaukee City you need to factor in home owners insurance. My friends in Key West were paying $1200 per month a few years back. They ended up moving to North Carolina. It may not be as bad in other parts of the state, but it is much much much more than anywhere in Wisconsin. Also, home values in Florida are down 30% to 40% over the past year or so. Expect large increases in property tax rates. The schools are underfunded to the point where some students are taught in trailors. This would never happen in Wisconsin. In Milwaukee all of our services are paid by our property taxes. This is not the case everywhere else. Many communities have fees for services. Not property taxes, but still an expense. High quality cold tap water. Not happening. Pay more for water. Garbage pickup. Nope pay out of your pocket. Auto insurance in the Miami area plan on paying higher rates. When its all said and done. Yes you are getting a better deal concerning cost of living, but not to the extent your claiming. My advice is to live where you are happy. Don't worry so much about money. If you are smart and willing to work hard things will work out regardless of where you live.

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by Allan Trafton

Milwaukee City you need to factor in home owners insurance. My friends in Key West were paying $1200 per month a few years back. They ended up moving to North Carolina. It may not be as bad in other parts of the state, but it is much much much more than anywhere in Wisconsin. Also, home values in Florida are down 30% to 40% over the past year or so. Expect large increases in property tax rates. The schools are underfunded to the point where some students are taught in trailors. This would never happen in Wisconsin. In Milwaukee all of our services are paid by our property taxes. This is not the case everywhere else. Many communities have fees for services. Not property taxes, but still an expense. High quality cold tap water. Not happening. Pay more for water. Garbage pickup. Nope pay out of your pocket. Auto insurance in the Miami area plan on paying higher rates. When its all said and done. Yes you are getting a better deal concerning cost of living, but not to the extent your claiming. My advice is to live where you are happy. Don't worry so much about money. If you are smart and willing to work hard things will work out regardless of where you live.

Agreed

[allcoed]

I am looking at a possible job offer in the MKE area and looking at relocating from Georgia. Georgia offers all the services mentioned in the above post along with low property taxes (2k on 2500 sq ft), significant more value for home purchase, almost 2 to 1 from what if have looked at and decent state tax. I was wondering how you guys do it up in Wisconsin? Luckily the job pays more in WI but I almost need to make twice as much just to break even.

[Ron Burgundy]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

Okay I love WI and Milwaukee but when it comes to two factors; Weather and Taxes why live here?

Property Taxes on a 200K Home

MKE: 6,000 after 50yrs 300,000
Delray Beach,FL 2k after 50yrs 100,000

Property taxes in the city of Milwaukee on a $200K house would have been at $4500 last year. (Link) You're citing a figure that is somehow 33% higher. Sure taxes in Wisconsin are high, but not that high.

I don't think your Delray Beach figures are right also. The closes thing Google can find me as to an actual dollar amount was a site listing a sale in 2008 of a $212K home with a property tax amount of $3900. Got any hard facts on your 2K figure?

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by Ron Burgundy

Property taxes in the city of Milwaukee on a $200K house would have been at $4500 last year. (Link) You're citing a figure that is somehow 33% higher. Sure taxes in Wisconsin are high, but not that high.

I don't think your Delray Beach figures are right also. The closes thing Google can find me as to an actual dollar amount was a site listing a sale in 2008 of a $212K home with a property tax amount of $3900. Got any hard facts on your 2K figure?

When I speak of Milwaukee most people generally mean the Metro Milwaukee, the house in delray was my buddy's house that he sold a yr ago and I asked him how much he paid and that's what he told me. I have heard Delray prop taxes usually ave 3k a year for a 200,000 home. I have also seen home in Delray for 180k and paid $2,200 in taxes.

Either way $480,000 over a lifetime is a lot of money to make up any way you can.