Considering Move to Nashville-Tax Question (Murfreesboro, Franklin: transplants, for sale, new house)

[CountryGirl2b=]

I was referring to the PRICE of electricity. Everyone uses it differently.

[WanderingFar]

Originally Posted by CountryGirl2b=

I was referring to the PRICE of electricity. Everyone uses it differently.

N.CAL is right. There's no way you can go an entire TN summer without AC. It's a beautiful 68 degrees in the Bay Area today. Also, houses are about half the size in CA.

Produce and utilities are the two line items where CA comes out cheaper. Let us have our amazing fruits and veggies and cheaper gas and electric bills! We get so little else!!

ETA: And the weather, of course.

[ehe1248]

Thanks for everyone's responses. Yep, I max out my 401K and give to charities.

I live a little east from SF so it is hot during the day during the summer. AC during the afternoon and open the windows for a nice cool breeze in the early evening. I don't generally need AC at night. I run the heater for about 4 months. My power bill averages about $200 per month. Food wise, we probably loose what we save in produce to other things at Whole Foods I just filled up with Premium at Costco for $2.69.

As far a salary, I am going for a promotion so my base might be the same but commission potential might be a little lower (as odd as that sounds!) - welcome to management . I think $200K should be right on target. I made significantly more last year but lost a ton to taxes and my daughter's hobby, show jumping. Right now we have a two bedroom townhome so moving to a single family home even at $450-550K would be a huge upgrade over what we have today. I finally have enough equity for a down payment!

My daughter has some apprehension about moving. She will be a junior and wants to apply for the top colleges. It appears that most school districts to the south of Nashville seem to have excellent reputations. Is it worth living in either Franklin or Brentwood to have a better school or is Murfreesboro OK? It seem you can get more house for the money in Murfreesboro. Any advice on High Schools and Real Estate is appreciated.

One thing I noticed was there were about 4 time more options for classes in Tennessee High Schools than where she goes today. We have only an Engineering and Bio Medical program and no IB classes. They try to prevent kids from taking more than two AP classes due to the huge amount of homework each class gives. It appears the kids in your area are able to take more A.P. classes to boost their GPA. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[flamadiddle]

Originally Posted by septimus

Why would you pay the bank $1 to save $0.30 in taxes?

Bingo! we have a winner.

[Hey_Hey]

One other thing about taxes at the state and local level: You can deduct either state income taxes or state sales taxes from your federal taxable income, however you can't deduct both. In California you were choosing to deduct your state income tax, but you were not able to deduct your state sales tax. Once you move to Tennessee there is no state income tax, so you will start deducting your state sales tax. There is a calculator on the IRS website that uses your income to estimate your sales tax. You can also keep all of your receipts of you want. It still won't be as much of a deduction as the CA income tax was but it will be a good chunk.

[ehe1248]

Originally Posted by Hey_Hey

One other thing about taxes at the state and local level: You can deduct either state income taxes or state sales taxes from your federal taxable income, however you can't deduct both. In California you were choosing to deduct your state income tax, but you were not able to deduct your state sales tax. Once you move to Tennessee there is no state income tax, so you will start deducting your state sales tax. There is a calculator on the IRS website that uses your income to estimate your sales tax. You can also keep all of your receipts of you want. It still won't be as much of a deduction as the CA income tax was but it will be a good chunk.

Nice to know!

[brentwoodgirl]

Originally Posted by ehe1248

Thanks for everyone's responses. Yep, I max out my 401K and give to charities.

I live a little east from SF so it is hot during the day during the summer. AC during the afternoon and open the windows for a nice cool breeze in the early evening. I don't generally need AC at night. I run the heater for about 4 months. My power bill averages about $200 per month. Food wise, we probably loose what we save in produce to other things at Whole Foods I just filled up with Premium at Costco for $2.69.

As far a salary, I am going for a promotion so my base might be the same but commission potential might be a little lower (as odd as that sounds!) - welcome to management . I think $200K should be right on target. I made significantly more last year but lost a ton to taxes and my daughter's hobby, show jumping. Right now we have a two bedroom townhome so moving to a single family home even at $450-550K would be a huge upgrade over what we have today. I finally have enough equity for a down payment!

My daughter has some apprehension about moving. She will be a junior and wants to apply for the top colleges. It appears that most school districts to the south of Nashville seem to have excellent reputations. Is it worth living in either Franklin or Brentwood to have a better school or is Murfreesboro OK? It seem you can get more house for the money in Murfreesboro. Any advice on High Schools and Real Estate is appreciated.

One thing I noticed was there were about 4 time more options for classes in Tennessee High Schools than where she goes today. We have only an Engineering and Bio Medical program and no IB classes. They try to prevent kids from taking more than two AP classes due to the huge amount of homework each class gives. It appears the kids in your area are able to take more A.P. classes to boost their GPA. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Murfreesboro is good too, although a horrible commute if you are going into Nashville.
The choices offered depend on the school you choose. Even in Williamson County it varies from school to school somewhat.
So you will need to investigate each school. But at most WCS schools, you can take multiple AP classes as long as your transcript indicates that you can handle the work. My oldest started taking AP classes as a freshman, and he should easily have at least 8-10 AP classes completed before he finishes high school. Another kid we know is taking 4 AP classes next year as a sophomore.
But I would ask any school about their requirements before buying in that school zone if that is important to you.

[JJAF]

I live in North Murfreesboro in a subdivision. If you have any Murfreesboro specific questions you would like answered, you can DM and I will answer to best of my knowledge.

[Sunflower_gal]

Back to the age old question: where will your office be located? If it is downtown Nashville, I personally couldn't deal with the traffic problems from Muffreesboro. Every day, there are major backups on I-24. From a work-life balance standpoint, I would choose to rent for a year close to my job location. I know that's tough to say with your daughter already being an incoming junior. However, it would give you the opportunity to figure out Nashville first with your own eyes, instead of remotely.

[El Passeaux]

Originally Posted by Sunflower_gal

Back to the age old question: where will your office be located? If it is downtown Nashville, I personally couldn't deal with the traffic problems from Muffreesboro. Every day, there are major backups on I-24. From a work-life balance standpoint, I would choose to rent for a year close to my job location. I know that's tough to say with your daughter already being an incoming junior. However, it would give you the opportunity to figure out Nashville first with your own eyes, instead of remotely.

Why would you rent a house in Nashville if your kid would be assigned to Davidson County High Schools. If you are going to rent a house, I would rent in Williamson Co. for your daughter. You basically cant go wrong in Brentwood or Franklin high schools from what I can tell.