[Scott R]

I haven't checked in on these forums in quite some time, but just remembered of their existence a minute ago and thought I'd pop back in. Despite hating the taxes here, my wife and I are now in the process of buying/selling houses again, and this time we're moving from Simsbury to Niantic. The idea of moving closer to the shore was originally supposed to also involve downsizing, but as we started to look at less expensive houses, we realized that we still have some specific needs that require quite a bit of room. My wife and I were both already working from home full-time, and our daughter just graduated college, but will likely be with us for a while. So we both needed dedicated home office areas and either a large BR or some other space that our daughter could use.

So we've got a contract on the new house and it's quite a bit more than I would have liked to spend. Taxes are only a little more than what we're currently paying in Simsbury, but that was already much higher than I liked.

So we're buying a more expensive house than our current one, but what makes it worse is that I'm looking at the listings in Simsbury and having a tough time imagining that we'll be able to sell our current home for anything close to what we'd like to or what it would cost in some other town. I don't quite get it. The housing market is hot and prices recovered from the housing crash, but it seems like Simsbury didn't recover much at all. That's good news if you're looking to move to Simsbury, but bad news for us. The town is safe and has more nice restaurants than it did years ago. The Hartford closed its Simsbury campus a few years back, so there aren't many larger businesses nearby and it's a trek to get to a highway. Is it as simple as that?

[EmiSky]

Originally Posted by Scott R

I haven't checked in on these forums in quite some time, but just remembered of their existence a minute ago and thought I'd pop back in. Despite hating the taxes here, my wife and I are now in the process of buying/selling houses again, and this time we're moving from Simsbury to Niantic. The idea of moving closer to the shore was originally supposed to also involve downsizing, but as we started to look at less expensive houses, we realized that we still have some specific needs that require quite a bit of room. My wife and I were both already working from home full-time, and our daughter just graduated college, but will likely be with us for a while. So we both needed dedicated home office areas and either a large BR or some other space that our daughter could use.

So we've got a contract on the new house and it's quite a bit more than I would have liked to spend. Taxes are only a little more than what we're currently paying in Simsbury, but that was already much higher than I liked.

So we're buying a more expensive house than our current one, but what makes it worse is that I'm looking at the listings in Simsbury and having a tough time imagining that we'll be able to sell our current home for anything close to what we'd like to or what it would cost in some other town. I don't quite get it. The housing market is hot and prices recovered from the housing crash, but it seems like Simsbury didn't recover much at all. That's good news if you're looking to move to Simsbury, but bad news for us. The town is safe and has more nice restaurants than it did years ago. The Hartford closed its Simsbury campus a few years back, so there aren't many larger businesses nearby and it's a trek to get to a highway. Is it as simple as that?

I really like Simsbury and thought for a while about buying there, that is until I saw the real estate taxes!
I moved on very quickly from there. That’s probably why Simsbury never recovered. Who wants to pay $12k in taxes on $400k -$500k house. (Now I’m also looking at coastal towns, but mostly in RI.)

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by EmiSky

I really like Simsbury and thought for a while about buying there, that is until I saw the real estate taxes!
I moved on very quickly from there. That’s probably why Simsbury never recovered. Who wants to pay $12k in taxes on $400k -$500k house. (Now I’m also looking at coastal towns, but mostly in RI.)

A quick Google has Simsbury at a 37 mill for taxes. That's really high. Can't blame you. 12K per is a pretty hefty burden for the sect of personnel in the 4s. That mill is going to be a deterrent in any RE market.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by EmiSky

I really like Simsbury and thought for a while about buying there, that is until I saw the real estate taxes!
I moved on very quickly from there. That’s probably why Simsbury never recovered. Who wants to pay $12k in taxes on $400k -$500k house. (Now I’m also looking at coastal towns, but mostly in RI.)

It’s wild in Simsbury. My in-laws sold their house last year and moved south, and at the time of the sale, they paid 1,400 a month just in taxes. They had a very nice home, but wow.

[EmiSky]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

It’s wild in Simsbury. My in-laws sold their house last year and moved south, and at the time of the sale, they paid 1,400 a month just in taxes. They had a very nice home, but wow.

That’s crazy! I can’t imagine paying that much in taxes. I’m looking to move from VA back to New England and it is a sticker shock to see the annual taxes. So there are only handful of towns I am considering, which have lower tax rates.

[pramre]

Originally Posted by EmiSky

That’s crazy! I can’t imagine paying that much in taxes. I’m looking to move from VA back to New England and it is a sticker shock to see the annual taxes. So there are only handful of towns I am considering, which have lower tax rates.

Are you planning to pay all cash and buy the home outright? If not, I don’t see how higher taxes make a significant difference to total cost of ownership assuming good schools.

High taxes imply lower house price, so lower interest payments.
Low taxes will have sky high house prices(Eg: Greenwich) and the higher interest payments almost offset the tax advantage. Not to mention the opportunity cost of not deploying the big down payment in better investments and paying 6% of the larger amount to brokers when you sell.

It might help to do a total cost comparison over 30 years to see how much difference there is. I don’t think high taxes are something to reflexively avoid if a town checks all other boxes. Anything I am missing in this line of thought ?

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by pramre

High taxes imply lower house price, so lower interest payments.
Low taxes will have sky high house prices(Eg: Greenwich) and the higher interest payments almost offset the tax advantage.

Not always true. Some towns have moderate house prices and high mill rates, like Simsbury at 38.28. Makes for much higher taxes than other towns. To some the trade off is worth it, but total cost of ownership is still on the high side for the Hartford area.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by EmiSky

I really like Simsbury and thought for a while about buying there, that is until I saw the real estate taxes!
I moved on very quickly from there. That’s probably why Simsbury never recovered. Who wants to pay $12k in taxes on $400k -$500k house. (Now I’m also looking at coastal towns, but mostly in RI.)

Would be about $7k here in Milford. The last home I lived in was a smidge over $400k and about $6500 in taxes.

There's many towns in CT with a mill rate below 30.

[pramre]

Originally Posted by Stylo

Not always true. Some towns have moderate house prices and high mill rates, like Simsbury at 38.28. Makes for much higher taxes than other towns. To some the trade off is worth it, but total cost of ownership is still on the high side for the Hartford area.

Isn’t the case for towns people cross shop in a particular metro area? Not saying it applies to any two arbitrary towns in CT. For example, NY/CT towns with similar NYC commute time and vibe seem to have very similar total cost IMO.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Scott R

I haven't checked in on these forums in quite some time, but just remembered of their existence a minute ago and thought I'd pop back in. Despite hating the taxes here, my wife and I are now in the process of buying/selling houses again, and this time we're moving from Simsbury to Niantic. The idea of moving closer to the shore was originally supposed to also involve downsizing, but as we started to look at less expensive houses, we realized that we still have some specific needs that require quite a bit of room. My wife and I were both already working from home full-time, and our daughter just graduated college, but will likely be with us for a while. So we both needed dedicated home office areas and either a large BR or some other space that our daughter could use.

So we've got a contract on the new house and it's quite a bit more than I would have liked to spend. Taxes are only a little more than what we're currently paying in Simsbury, but that was already much higher than I liked.

So we're buying a more expensive house than our current one, but what makes it worse is that I'm looking at the listings in Simsbury and having a tough time imagining that we'll be able to sell our current home for anything close to what we'd like to or what it would cost in some other town. I don't quite get it. The housing market is hot and prices recovered from the housing crash, but it seems like Simsbury didn't recover much at all. That's good news if you're looking to move to Simsbury, but bad news for us. The town is safe and has more nice restaurants than it did years ago. The Hartford closed its Simsbury campus a few years back, so there aren't many larger businesses nearby and it's a trek to get to a highway. Is it as simple as that?

I’m not sure why you think you will have a hard time selling. Realtor.com shows just 160 homes for sale in Simsbury. I don’t think that’s a lot considering the size of the town and that a number of the homes listed are already under contract with sales pending. As long as your home is well priced, located and maintained, it should sell in a reasonable amount of time. I’d talk to a good local agent to get their opinion on your house. Jay