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Ours went up $417 for the year. Whatever happened to the 2% cap?! Sick of paying for other people's raises and benefits while ours have remained stagnant for years with yearly increases in healthcare insurance, cutbacks on 401 matching, etc. Ugh! We really want to move to NOVA/Maryland, but only if we can find jobs near each other since traffic down there is horrific! My friends have 4000 sqft house in DC area and pays the same amount of taxes as our 1900 sqft house! And the schools there are rated much higher nationally than Long Island's. None of the Suffolk schools are ever ranked that high nationally to even make the cut.
Yup, mine went up $350 and oddly enough, I wanted to say 'only' 350. They were up $500 the year before.
As you've discovered, just like with all things Gov. Cuomo, the 2% cap was more political posturing for the positive sound bites it would generate than any substantive tax relief for way over-taxed NY homeowners. Like his LIPA-reform and anti-corruption drive, they sounded great until when they were implemented and you realize they were nothing more than rhetoric.
Northern Va has some fine schools, housing is LI expensive, but the property taxes are LOWER! On top of that, there are actual jobs, some even well-paying. It is, however, very crowded and roads are congested. It's a better Long Island.
This is all true, but the fact remains that if you worked your entire career in that other state you probably wouldn't be able to afford the house you currently live in there. Cost of living may be lower, but I think salaries are proportionally even lower than that. SO while you save dollars on taxes and mortgage, your quality of life (if you are not a fixed income earner) is probably lower than it would be. I know this would be true for me. Best bet in my view is to minimize expenses on LI and earn your income here, then cash out and retire somewhere cheaper.
Just the TAX bill alone on a LI property is equivalent to a much bigger home down Souths mortgage. If you purchased a home that would be equivalent to the average LI Home (<2000ish SQFT, 100x100 property) in many middle class areas it is $100-180K with taxes <$3K you get a big difference. Taking LI vs South home other the entire length of the mortgage (365K/10K vs 150K/2K):
LI:
Mortgage (monthly): 2575.90
Taxes (length of loan): 300,000
Total Mortgage cost (no tax): 627,323
Total Mortgage cost (w/ tax): 927,323
South:
Mortgage (monthly): 882.79
Taxes (length of loan): 60,000
Total Mortgage cost (no tax): 257,804
Total Mortgage cost (w/ tax): 317,804
That is not including costs for gas (one of highest in nation), electrical (one of the highest in nation), insurance (one of the highest), higher sales tax, higher income tax, higher vehicle registration, etc that come along with it. It also excludes the heavy increases in taxes here vs other parts of the country.
So if you think you are going to bank $610,000ish dollars more over the course of 30 yrs then stay. I think more and more those people not associated with the teaching or law enforcement profession or have a job tied to NYC are realizing the futility of the effort.
So if you think you are going to bank $610,000ish dollars more over the course of 30 yrs then stay. I think more and more those people not associated with the teaching or law enforcement profession or have a job tied to NYC are realizing the futility of the effort.
Bingo! Unless you are at the top of your field and earning a top notch executive NYC salary, or work as a public union cop or teacher, it isn't worth to stay on Long Island anymore. Also, don't rule out the rust belt. Many of the mid tier cities there (Columbus, Madison, Pittsburgh, etc) are really turning around, are seeing an influx of young educated people, and all of their amenities are affordable on a middle class salary. If you do move there though, please do not bring over your Long Island voting habits that turn over the localities to the corrupt politicians and public employee unions.
We relocated to Pittsburgh and love it. Taxes are decent, schools are wonderful and there are jobs.
My son plays football and this weekend they won states for their division. If we stayed on Long Island, he wouldn't even be on a team. The school district is awesome so I don't mind paying $5k in taxes for a 2000 sq ft house on over an acre.
We relocated to Pittsburgh and love it. Taxes are decent, schools are wonderful and there are jobs. My son plays football and this weekend they won states for their division. If we stayed on Long Island, he wouldn't even be on a team. The school district is awesome so I don't mind paying $5k in taxes for a 2000 sq ft house on over an acre.
Just the TAX bill alone on a LI property is equivalent to a much bigger home down Souths mortgage. If you purchased a home that would be equivalent to the average LI Home (<2000ish SQFT, 100x100 property) in many middle class areas it is $100-180K with taxes <$3K you get a big difference. Taking LI vs South home other the entire length of the mortgage (365K/10K vs 150K/2K):
LI:
Mortgage (monthly): 2575.90
Taxes (length of loan): 300,000
Total Mortgage cost (no tax): 627,323
Total Mortgage cost (w/ tax): 927,323
South:
Mortgage (monthly): 882.79
Taxes (length of loan): 60,000
Total Mortgage cost (no tax): 257,804
Total Mortgage cost (w/ tax): 317,804
That is not including costs for gas (one of highest in nation), electrical (one of the highest in nation), insurance (one of the highest), higher sales tax, higher income tax, higher vehicle registration, etc that come along with it. It also excludes the heavy increases in taxes here vs other parts of the country.
So if you think you are going to bank $610,000ish dollars more over the course of 30 yrs then stay. I think more and more those people not associated with the teaching or law enforcement profession or have a job tied to NYC are realizing the futility of the effort.
The math works, you could have stolen this from one of the many spreadsheets I created back in 2006 when trying to quantify relocating for my wife. But I would also point out that income adjusts somewhere near proportionately as well when relocating. I recently took a full-time position where I live in North Carolina which is a full 25% lower than what I was making in the salaried position I had when I last lived in New York. So if you factor that into the equation I could easily satisfy your $610k challenge ($25k multiplied by 30 years).
However as you pointed out the ancillary costs are also more reasonable elsewhere and in the end I shed nearly 40% of my monthly expenses by moving. I'm making 25% less in gross income but spending 40% less in monthly expenses so I'm still way ahead. Plus my property taxes have only been increased once in nearly seven years and that was a very modest $280 per year.
I feel for all of you who are living on Long Island, it's an awesome place but one with a ridiculous price tag.
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