A fresh perspective on "expensive" (Jacksonville: sales, homeowners insurance)

Fodder · 07-26-2006, 01:48 PM

I have been reading this board for some time in order to prepare for an imminent relocation and have found it quite useful and informative - thank you all!!!
Now for the meat of the post...
My wife and I are making the transition from Southern California to the Jacksonville area due to a job transfer (hers). While I read all of the posts commenting about how expensive Florida has become, I can't help but to chuckle a bit. We are in the process of buying a 1 story, 2500 square foot home on a third of an acre in Nassau County, which is about 10-12 miles from the beach for $290,000. The corresponding property tax bill should be about $3700 with insurance at about $1500 (the agent was quite apologetic about THAT rate). A similar home in So. Cal would easily run 700K + with around a $10,000 property tax bill (you read that right) and homeowners insurance somewhere in the neighborhood of $2500 to $3000. Now we are not talking about special or custom, this is merely a normal tract home reasonably close to the coast.
The housing isn't the only dramatic difference. We just received our car reg. renewal on a Honda Accord - $270 in So. Cal vs. $45 in Florida. I have been shuttling back and forth between the two coasts, gas is consistently 30-40 a gallon cheaper in Florida (still outrageous though!!). My wife had a dental emergency, the price was about 60-70 percent of what we would have paid in So. Cal. My latest electric bill was $342, all because I dared to turn on the a.c. when it was 111 degrees outside. Sales tax is less, and remember: NO state income tax.
I'm sure some are thinking - oh, they'll take a big hit in income. Well, because of the transfer, my wife did not take a decrease in salary at all. I have two solid job offers, both with a salary of about 7% less than in California, which is more than offset by the decrease in cost of living.
So while many of you long-time Floridians legitimately see the prices skyrocketing, we look at Florida as though we have won the lottery!!

Racelady88 · 07-26-2006, 01:56 PM

Isn't perspective grand!

I spent some time in Cali many years ago and remember it being outrageously pricey.

Congrats on your new beginning.

jackie1014 · 07-26-2006, 02:04 PM

You couldn't have said it better Fodder. Living in Long Island, NY, we pay 16,000 a year in r.e. taxes, 1,800 homeowners ins., $3.13 per gal for gas, $3,000 car ins, etc. Our new home in NC the taxes are 3,500 year, 950 homeowners, 1,000 car ins., and when we were there at the end of June, we paid $2.69 per gal for gas, big difference from NY.
Making the same salary there as we do in NY, we feel like we hit the lotto too.

Quick note - 16,000 in taxes - in 10years thats $160,000
3,500 year in NC - 35,000
We will be saving in taxes alone in 10 yrs $125,000 - it's a no brainer

bamboosmom · 07-26-2006, 02:12 PM

great post Fodder. I too believe that it is not as bad as some other states.
The taxes in New Jersey are skyrocketing. My parents pay about $15,000 in taxes on their home. What a difference from what we pay down here.

nk0171 · 07-26-2006, 02:17 PM

Wonderful! But know that you are a rare case and i do stress RARE! I do not expect anyone from CA, NY or NJ to understand this rediculous price jump that we have experienced here in FL, i am still appalled, but seems that for at least you and your family the numbers all work out. Good luck to you and don't forget to "hunker down" during hurricane season! LOL! Seriously though, welcome to FL!

pslOldTimer · 07-26-2006, 02:25 PM

Great perspective. 34 years ago, I moved here from Taxachusetts and I found the same comparison, although the numbers were a bit lower back then.

Coming from CA, the change in weather isn't as great, but we also saved a lot of money on Winter heat, two sets of clothing, snowblowers and such, two sets of tires, etc. etc.

Re-reading my message, I feel I was a tad harsh about my former home state. It's really called Massataxes...did you know that they not only charge sales tax on the purchase of a car, but they also charge a 6% excise tax on the value of the car every year that you own it? Incra dibble.

bamboosmom · 07-26-2006, 02:27 PM

Fodder, you will be fine here. Don't worry yourself about the hurricanes.
You will have plenty of warning before one may even get to where you are living.

nk0171 · 07-26-2006, 02:41 PM

oh yes, you do get PLENTY of warning about the hurricanes coming, just be one of the smart ones and scram! It is not to be taken lightly...there are folks who have unfortunately died during these storms and did not listen to the warnings. Which, by the way, if there is even a slight thunderstorm, be prepared to listen to the meteoroligist on the local news have a field day with it! Don't know what it is, but our weather man just goes crazy with the slightest bit of rain drops and warns everyone to take cover! Hurricanes, yes i can see...but just rain?

bamboosmom · 07-26-2006, 03:01 PM

Hi nk, I guess they worry about the lightning because there have been many golfers that were killed by it.
We stayed here in our home during Hurricane Charley which was a cat. 4 but I think it was more like a cat. 5. I don't want to experience that again.
We are going to scram too then just come home when its over.
We made out ok, just the pool cage, some window damage and a mess out in the gardens. We were fortunate but others weren't.
Mother Nature is getting even with all of us all around the world. Maybe it's a message from up above.

macguy · 07-26-2006, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fodder

I have been reading this board for some time in order to prepare for an imminent relocation and have found it quite useful and informative - thank you all!!!
Now for the meat of the post...
My wife and I are making the transition from Southern California to the Jacksonville area due to a job transfer (hers). While I read all of the posts commenting about how expensive Florida has become, I can't help but to chuckle a bit. We are in the process of buying a 1 story, 2500 square foot home on a third of an acre in Nassau County, which is about 10-12 miles from the beach for $290,000. The corresponding property tax bill should be about $3700 with insurance at about $1500 (the agent was quite apologetic about THAT rate). A similar home in So. Cal would easily run 700K + with around a $10,000 property tax bill (you read that right) and homeowners insurance somewhere in the neighborhood of $2500 to $3000. Now we are not talking about special or custom, this is merely a normal tract home reasonably close to the coast.
The housing isn't the only dramatic difference. We just received our car reg. renewal on a Honda Accord - $270 in So. Cal vs. $45 in Florida. I have been shuttling back and forth between the two coasts, gas is consistently 30-40 a gallon cheaper in Florida (still outrageous though!!). My wife had a dental emergency, the price was about 60-70 percent of what we would have paid in So. Cal. My latest electric bill was $342, all because I dared to turn on the a.c. when it was 111 degrees outside. Sales tax is less, and remember: NO state income tax.
I'm sure some are thinking - oh, they'll take a big hit in income. Well, because of the transfer, my wife did not take a decrease in salary at all. I have two solid job offers, both with a salary of about 7% less than in California, which is more than offset by the decrease in cost of living.
So while many of you long-time Floridians legitimately see the prices skyrocketing, we look at Florida as though we have won the lottery!!

I think you got the wrong figures, the tax rate there at the lowest is about .169 making the tax on your house after your homestead exemption around $4500. Also the tax on a $700,000 home in your example where you are moving would be around $12,000, actually higher then in Ca.