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The cap of 10K for the SALT deduction causes many upper middle class homeowners to feel the full brunt of their property tax bill where before they might have felt only ~ 60% of it due to the generous tax laws.
Towns like Acton, with very few businesses and bloated school budgets, are VERY expensive in taxes. Other towns in the same price ball park like Burlington and Natick have far lower taxes due to large business tax bases and their schools are also very good.
first number = tax rate per 1000 for 2019
second number = tax rate * zillow home value index
*the second number is to adjust for the fact that some towns Like Newton have very low rates but it is counter balanced by the fact that their values are extremely high. Still, even Newton is pretty cheap in taxes when you consider the top tier location, schools, and quality of the town.
I believe Burlington, Natick, and Acton are pretty apples to apples in terms of home values and overall quality level of the town. They all have good schools.
Zillow home index for each:
Burlington: $578,200
Natick: $581,700
Acton: $575,600
If you chose Acton you are paying 85% more in taxes than Burlington and 50% more than Natick. Acton has a much worse location than Natick and Burlington in my opinion.
Why on earth would anyone move to Acton at a worse location compared to Natick or Burlington and pay 50-85% more in property taxes?
Would agree, however sometime in the next 8 years the Democrats will come back into power and the first thing they will change is this SALT deduction (huge liberal base on the coasts)...
Definitely surprised how Newton is able to keep its property taxes sane while having low crime and great schools, theres definitely more room to attract businesses...
People in Acton may commute to the local area, or they are just looking for a quieter/leafier existence. I do agree that you pay through the nose to maintain those NIMBY land use policies though, personally as a homeowner I would much rather have more businesses in town to share some of the tax burden.
If you can afford a house in Acton the SALT cap is a non issue for you. If the SALT cap suddenly makes you poor, you've got bigger problems.
You are missing the point.
If you can afford a place in Acton you are probably wise with your finances and aren't keen on shelling out money for no benefit. Why would you willingly move to Acton and pay 50-85% higher taxes when you could move to another town at the same house price and pay far less taxes and have a better commute on top of that?
I'd rather move to another town and pocket another 500-600 a month.
If you can afford a place in Acton you are probably wise with your finances and aren't keen on shelling out money for no benefit. Why would you willingly move to Acton and pay 50-85% higher taxes when you could move to another town at the same house price and pay far less taxes and have a better commute on top of that?
I'd rather move to another town and pocket another 500-600 a month.
Despite all of this, Acton is steady-as-she-goes. Still up >25% from pre-recession values. Look at the median income levels in Acton vs. Natick vs. Burlington.. Way higher. Income vs. ppsqft/property taxes still sides with Acton.
Top rated schools, reputation, bigger homes, bigger lots, windy roads will always have a seat at the table when it sits 20 miles from Cambridge. Is it declining? No. Is it as desirable in the minds of Bostonians as it was in the 70s-90s? Probabaly not.
I should have prefaced this by saying that I think Acton is overrated.
Despite all of this, Acton is steady-as-she-goes. Still up >25% from pre-recession values. Look at the median income levels in Acton vs. Natick vs. Burlington.. Way higher. Income vs. ppsqft/property taxes still sides with Acton.
Top rated schools, reputation, bigger homes, bigger lots, windy roads will always have a seat at the table when it sits 20 miles from Cambridge. Is it declining? No. Is it as desirable in the minds of Bostonians as it was in the 70s-90s? Probabaly not.
I should have prefaced this by saying that I think Acton is overrated.
Acton also has higher median income than Newton and Brookline according to the 2016 estimate on city data. I would take that with a few grains of salt though since living in a town and buying a SFH in that town can be very different things.
Some of the gap is explained by the higher renter population and smaller % of families as compared to Acton. Natick and Burlington have a lot more renters than Acton and have a smaller percentage of families with kids.
Acton also has higher median income than Newton and Brookline according to the 2016 estimate on city data. I would take that with a few grains of salt though since living in a town and buying a SFH in that town can be very different things.
Some of the gap is explained by the higher renter population and smaller % of families as compared to Acton. Natick and Burlington have a lot more renters than Acton and have a smaller percentage of families with kids.
There are 3% more renters in Natick than in Acton. The median income is ~40% higher.
But, the overall point makes sense and is definitely true. That is, income levels of those who own a SFH in Newton will generally be higher than that of a SFH owner in Acton. At the very least, for folks who are buying outside of the family.
Acton also has higher median income than Newton and Brookline according to the 2016 estimate on city data. I would take that with a few grains of salt though since living in a town and buying a SFH in that town can be very different things.
Some of the gap is explained by the higher renter population and smaller % of families as compared to Acton. Natick and Burlington have a lot more renters than Acton and have a smaller percentage of families with kids.
Newton has a high senior population which skews incomes
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