Clevelanders, is $60K truly possible?

[L2DB]

Originally Posted by mortey

Found this random house in Cleveland Heights for $100k. The property taxes? $4,864 last year. http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...07-41404?row=1

Lol, if the owners appealed that based on the purchase price in '07, they probably pay $1-2k less per year in taxes.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by mortey

hybridtheory's husband here...

Found this random house in Cleveland Heights for $100k. The property taxes? $4,864 last year. http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...07-41404?row=1

Found this house in a great area in San Diego (we lived just a few blocks from this area and know it is very safe/quiet) for $465,000. The property taxes there? $3,434 last year. So that's more than a thousand less a year. http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...5_M17766-12465

Now the monthly payment, including property taxes and estimated Home Owner's Insurance, on the CH house with 10% down is $898 per month while the San Diego with the same is $2,585.

I don't think anyone can disagree that you can get much more house out here for a budget than you can in San Diego but my wife and I were just shocked at the property taxes here. It nearly doubles the mortgage which is not the case in San Diego. Then of course you get a higher salary in San Diego and get the weather, beach, etc.

You also likely get much higher income taxes and sales taxes in San Diego and perhaps a lower quality of services, given CH rec programs, etc.

As someone pointed out, CH services likely don't cost one quarter of those in San Diego, so higher property taxes are needed to provide sufficient revenues given the lower value of comparable houses in CH.

As another poster pointed out, those taxes on the CH property would be reduced by over $1,000 if the property actually sold for $100,000. According to the Cuyahoga County link in post 36, the effective tax rate in CH as a percentage of market value for residential property is 3.86 percent.

A smart buyer can also reduce the valuation further by buying detachable personal property separately, such as removable appliances.

[ByeByeSanDiego]

Mortey, Im not sure about the higher salaries in San Diego. I used to work in staffing/recruiting and San Diego's "sunshine tax" is well-known. People will earn substantially less $$ to live in San Diego vs. Some Other Place.

For example, if a plumber earns $60K in Minneapolis, the salary in San Diego could be $45K - with a substantially higher cost of living.

Finally, in my own experience, I was working in a public relations position in San Diego, earning $62K/year (2003). I moved to Washington, D.C. and started at $85K. There was NO difference in responsibilities at all. It seemed to be an east versus west thing.

[Clevelander17]

Originally Posted by L2DB

I did a calculation once comparing Shaker Heights and Beachwood. Because of the difference in property taxes between the two, (and I forget the exact numbers, but it was in this range) you could buy a $140K house in Shaker or a $175K house in Beachwood and have the same monthly payment (calculation done with interest rate and insurance cost held constant).

All thanks to lines drawn on a map more than half a century ago. Hopefully this type of regional tax leeching by the residents of certain communities is corrected at some point in my lifetime. At least in Kasich's latest education budget he's cutting state aid to places like Beachwood (losing 37%) and increasing it to places like Shaker Heights (gaining 15%), so that may mean tax increases coming for Beachwood residents...hopefully. Additionally there has been talk by Ohio lawmakers about eliminating the income tax loophole which forces nonresidents to pay for Cadillac services in places like Beachwood, though that one hasn't progressed as quickly.