What is enough? (New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Zachary: sales, apartment complex, leasing)

[anothertiger]

Hi All,

Never have lived in southeast US. I am being offered a government job for 60 to 65K. Currently living in southern MA (near Providence, RI). I hear cost of living in LA is cheaper, but I just have no sense how much. Any clues guys? Thanks.

Lost tiger...

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by anothertiger

Hi All,

Never have lived in southeast US. I am being offered a government job for 60 to 65K. Currently living in southern MA (near Providence, RI). I hear cost of living in LA is cheaper, but I just have no sense how much. Any clues guys? Thanks.

Lost tiger...

60-65K for a single is pretty good. For a family, it depends on where you want to live. As to cost of living, it's not too bad. Taxes aren't too bad. Income tax is 6% (keep in mind some of your income gets taxed at 2 and 4%, so you'll not be paying 6% on everything you make). Sales taxes in BR are 9%. Property taxes on a 200K home would run you about 1000-1500. One thing which IS expensive in La is the first time you register your car in Louisiana, as they charge you with 4% Louisiana sales tax regardless of whether or not you bought your car in Louisiana.

Anyway, I'll let you digest all this because I'm sure the next question is where you want to live (Are we talking Baton Rouge or New Orleans ?).

[anothertiger]

Wow - that was just what I was wondering w/ taxes and etc.. This position is in Baton Rouge. I have a family (my wife is a HS English teacher in MA.) She will want to work down there, but still looking around if she wants to continue her graduate studies at LSU or something.

So where do I want to live? :-)

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by anothertiger

Wow - that was just what I was wondering w/ taxes and etc.. This position is in Baton Rouge. I have a family (my wife is a HS English teacher in MA.) She will want to work down there, but still looking around if she wants to continue her graduate studies at LSU or something.

So where do I want to live? :-)

With kids, you'd want to look into Zachary, Central, W. Feliciana Parish (St Francisville - has good schools b/c of the property taxes they get from a nuclear power plant), and Prairieville in Ascension Parish. I specifically didn't mention Livingston Parish because the I-12 commute is nasty, and there always seem to be wrecks along that corridor. Plus, they're about to start widening I-12 from O'Neal Lane to Range Ave in Denham (I think in a year or two), so that will make I-12 traffic even worse.

With no kids, I prefer west of Airline, east of Dalrymple, and south of Florida. I also would NOT buy a house between Bayou Fountain and the Miss River because that land is nearly all floodplain. Meaning that whenever you get a heavy rain (a fairly often occurrence in BR), you have the risk of flooding.

In general, you want to live south of Florida Blvd and east of Dalrymple. Within that area, there are a few seedy areas: (1) Blvd de Provence, and (2) Gardere.

Now, depending on what you can spend and type of house (new, old, etc) you want, we can steer you to more specific neighborhoods.

Oh, and when I talked about the cost to register a car the first time in Louisiana, let me also add that once you pay the sales tax, renewals are pretty cheap - I want to say $40 every two years.

[markdneck]

I am leasing a small condo, 2 bedrooms in Orange County, California that would sell for $550K. I am buying a gorgeous home on a lake and golf course all tricked out in a gated country club community near Baton Rouge for $275K. Gasoline is l75 a gallong cheaper than California, food is cheaper, ditto going to the dentist or to a restaurant.

I bet where you are is close to California prices. $60K in Calofornia is worth $100K in Louisiana/

[anothertiger]

Thanks guys.

[champa]

$275k in gated golf and lake? where at? anything decent in zones 5 & 6 is 130-150+ sqft, and CCL or Santa Maria $170-$500?

Pelican Point doesn't count too far

In all seriousness though, 60K is good enough here, unlike California or the big cities in the North East. You can get a nice home, even a new one in the 200's in-town (or if you are feeling adventurous, perhaps a bungalow in SBR for $40k or a whole apartment complex for $50k in Gandere )