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Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,670,113 times
Reputation: 10256
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NJ Person
In NJ, its not unusual for people to pay $8-12,000/yr in property taxes in a decent school district; when you compare that to the $3,000 some people pay in Union County - it is a big difference. But those taxes are going up and they are going to have to go up if the residential growth continues without the tax ratables to support the schools and infrastructure. You need some BIG companies to move to Union County and places like Marvin to help balance things out. You need lower density housing, active adult communities to help balance things out, too. Some subdivisions we looked at in a county next to Union (begins with an M) already had taxes in the $4-5K range.
What you are experiencing in Union County we experienced here in Somerset County in the mid-1990's to about 2005. Communities scrambled to change their Master Plans to restrict development in some areas. The towns and counties established Open Space funds and taxes to help preserve open space, encourage farmland preservation, purchase development rights, build more parks, etc etc. And a big effort was made to rezone some residential areas to commercial areas (for offices, medical buildings, etc etc) in order to encourage economic growth. I'm absolutely not an expert in ANY of this - I just worked for one town while this was going on, lived in another and sit on a govt board there too.
I made the argument in one of the "burn the BOE" threads that their real problem is lack of rateables. A few people got it but I doubt that things will change soon.
[quote=southbound_295;36120209]I made the argument in one of the "burn the BOE" threads that their real problem is lack of rateables. A few people got it but I doubt that things will change soon.[/quote
That's too bad - especially since you really have to worry about the bubble bursting when things take-off too fast. Inflated housing prices mean people underwater later...........
We live in central NJ in a 6/7 rated school district (its in Somerset County); we have a 4br/2.5 bath ranch home with a partially finished walk-out basement and 2 car semi-detached garage (its connected by a portico). It is a 1960's home but has an updated large gourmet kitchen with a fireplace. We also have a 2nd fireplace in our living room. We have a circular driveway and over an acre of land. We pay between $8-9,000 per year in property taxes and anticipate we can sell our home hopefully for a little more then $400K. The main level of our home is 2300 sqft the rest of the square footage would be the finished part of our basement. Most areas of our home have been updated (a/c, roof, driveway, etc etc) but it can always use more.........
We have easy access to Rte 287 and the NJT - commute time for my husband is 40-45min to north Jersey.
If we move to NC we would really want to live in an area with 8-10 school ratings. Those areas seem to have houses at $400,000 but the taxes in some of places are already $4-5000 and going up. The houses we could buy for that price aren't really comparable to ours. We really don't need an acre but we aren't used to being so close to our neighbors and my kids are baseball players and spoiled by having such a large yard.
I'm not sure if the idea of NC being so affordable is overblown or maybe its the idea of NJ being so expensive is exaggerated. Maybe both..........
You are also looking in some of the most expensive areas of the Charlotte metro. Yes Union County taxes may be more likely to rise but in Charlotte they are actually pretty stable. Of course Charlotte has the highest taxes in the area but even at $5K for a $400K house it's still considerably less than what you pay now. You might spend more for groceries but you'll spend less on things like utilities and car insurance (although as mentioned you'll spend a little more for registration).
If you only still needed a "6/7" rated school, you'd be able to spend a lot less. Or you can probably spend a little less in SC which has some "8-10" rated schools as well. But as I believe was discussed in one of your other threads you then miss out on the NC university system which is another financial advantage of NC. Or if your husband is willing to commute a little longer (but probably still comparable to what he has now) you can check out some of Cabarrus County such as Harrisburg or parts of Concord.
We just moved to Huntersville in Cabarrus County from CT (and not Fairfield Cty).We have 9 and 10 rated schools. Our taxes are $2800/year on a 3600 SF 10 year old home (pd $375k) with a third of an acre. Our utilities will be about $250/mo. We came from CT with a $460k 35 year old house with an acre and 10 schools with utilities around $800/mo. I'd say we are making out pretty well. Everything costs less for us except groceries which are about the same. We love it!!
Oh- taxes on CT house were $8500 annually
Last edited by slctnc; 08-17-2014 at 11:20 AM..
Reason: Taxes
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,670,113 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoPhils
You are also looking in some of the most expensive areas of the Charlotte metro. Yes Union County taxes may be more likely to rise but in Charlotte they are actually pretty stable. Of course Charlotte has the highest taxes in the area but even at $5K for a $400K house it's still considerably less than what you pay now. You might spend more for groceries but you'll spend less on things like utilities and car insurance (although as mentioned you'll spend a little more for registration).
If you only still needed a "6/7" rated school, you'd be able to spend a lot less. Or you can probably spend a little less in SC which has some "8-10" rated schools as well. But as I believe was discussed in one of your other threads you then miss out on the NC university system which is another financial advantage of NC. Or if your husband is willing to commute a little longer (but probably still comparable to what he has now) you can check out some of Cabarrus County such as Harrisburg or parts of Concord.
Actually, Gaston has the highest taxes at the moment. That's because they got suckered into helping Mecklenburg pay for the White Water Center. I'm not sure how many more years that bill will be in effect. I think that the end is in sight. They are always looking for rateables to replace mills.
Eastern Gaston has some excellent schools. The county also has a magnet school, Highland Tech. which is one of the best high schools in the state.
Thanks so much for the great feedback - we'll be coming down for 4 days and I want to make sure we're looking in the right places. Although Fort Mill sounds fantastic, I think giving up the NC university system is too much of a sacrifice since our son will be applying to college in 8 short years. The time goes by TOOOO fast.
We'll have to make it a point to check out Cabarrus and the other places mentioned. Its starting to feel like Union Cty isn't going to be the place for us........
I went to visit some friends in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago. They are city residents with a city trash roll cart and recycle cart, but their housing subdivision is in the country if you ask me.
As an outsider looking in and debating about a relocation to south Charlotte - I have to say we've pretty much concluded that there won't be much of a financial benefit for us and we live in NJ. Aside from saving some money on property taxes - we think we would have to purchase a home for a higher cost in NC then what we can sell our house for in NJ if we want to buy a comparable home in so Charlotte that is in a good school district. We have about 3000 sqft on slightly over an acre. With taxes on the rise to support the schools and
infrastructure we think our NC taxes will raise higher much faster then our pretty stable NJ property taxes.......
It was pretty shocking to learn this when Charlotte has such a strong rep for being so much more affordable.
Any time somewhere is plugged so frequently as "the best ___" and people are telling their ex-neighbors "drop everything and move down here, don't ask questions!!!", it's going to cause a decrease in quality of living (growth too fast for infrastructure to keep up, loss of neighborhood sense where people know each other, people not knowing the area, and of course, those used to paying more taxes demanding the same services they had before...which eventually leads to higher taxes). Your best bet to find somewhere cheaper is the avoid the "best place to live" lists, at least the top 30 or so. Get in before an area gets a reputation because once the flood gates open, it's never the same.
Any time somewhere is plugged so frequently as "the best ___" and people are telling their ex-neighbors "drop everything and move down here, don't ask questions!!!", it's going to cause a decrease in quality of living (growth too fast for infrastructure to keep up, loss of neighborhood sense where people know each other, people not knowing the area, and of course, those used to paying more taxes demanding the same services they had before...which eventually leads to higher taxes). Your best bet to find somewhere cheaper is the avoid the "best place to live" lists, at least the top 30 or so. Get in before an area gets a reputation because once the flood gates open, it's never the same.
Agreed, I think I read somewhere that south Charlotte had the 2nd highest growth rate in the country. I
see tremendous growth in the Ballantyne area. New apartment complexes and housing everywhere...the thing I don't see is new roads. Audrey Kell, Johnson, and Rea will be a congested mess in a few short years...
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