Many Realtors in North Jersey Seem Misinformed about West Orange.... (Newark: for sale, to rent)

[Shoshanarose]

Originally Posted by Metsfan53

you can pay off a mortgage- you can never pay off property taxes....

Exactly. That is what scares me too.
It's a payment that never will go away and in fact keeps increasing!

[Marc Paolella]

Originally Posted by Shoshanarose

Exactly. That is what scares me too.
It's a payment that never will go away and in fact keeps increasing!

And in West Orange, among other towns, they are increasing at a rate that is far higher than the rate of inflation. Over time, older people will literally be pushed out of their homes by the profligate and relentless confiscation of wealth. All so legions of government workers can retire in style with full health benefits and COLA increases, while those on fixed income have the fangs in their necks and their lifeblood being drained.

[Shoshanarose]

Originally Posted by Marc Paolella

And in West Orange, among other towns, they are increasing at a rate that is far higher than the rate of inflation. Over time, older people will literally be pushed out of their homes by the profligate and relentless confiscation of wealth. All so legions of government workers can retire in style with full health benefits and COLA increases, while those on fixed income have the fangs in their necks and their lifeblood being drained.

I agree, it's really unfair.
In particular that older people will no longer be able to afford the taxes on their own homes!

At least in NYC seniors under a certain income can have their real estate taxes waived.

[Metsfan53]

Originally Posted by Shoshanarose

Exactly. That is what scares me too.
It's a payment that never will go away and in fact keeps increasing!

yup- you can budget a mortgage to reasonable certainty for 30yr fixed payments. That's why I never got the whole cheaper house in higher tax town thing- taxes always go up. I get you may not have bigger down payment available, but its better to wait and save more....its the same monthly nut- I'd rather work toward P&I rather than the T part of the bill.

[Kthnry]

A lot of people buy in these towns with the intention of only staying until the last kid is out of high school. The math is different when there's a fixed end point, as opposed to planning for the rest of your life.

[nykstevenyg]

Originally Posted by Metsfan53

yup- you can budget a mortgage to reasonable certainty for 30yr fixed payments. That's why I never got the whole cheaper house in higher tax town thing- taxes always go up. I get you may not have bigger down payment available, but its better to wait and save more....its the same monthly nut- I'd rather work toward P&I rather than the T part of the bill.

Yes but their a catch to that plan. The tax bill in a low tax town will be the same or more because it's all a percentage of assessed value. Those taxes will go up more because your already starting at a higher level. Before I started my search I assumed the same thing then I realized that I wouldn't be saving on taxes. Truth is taxes suck and nobody is doing anything about it. There are so many things that can be done to decrease them or stabilize them over the long term. For one we have way to many towns unnecessarily. In addition we needs checks and balances we just write out checks without any balances and on the local level were breaking hard working people's back and on the national level we get deeper and deeper in debt. Sad part is we could provide the same services locally and nationally for a fraction of the price if it was done efficiently

[nykstevenyg]

Originally Posted by Shoshanarose

Exactly. That is what scares me too.
It's a payment that never will go away and in fact keeps increasing!

I know its increasing everywhere and always will until something changes.

[nykstevenyg]

Originally Posted by Marc Paolella

And in West Orange, among other towns, they are increasing at a rate that is far higher than the rate of inflation. Over time, older people will literally be pushed out of their homes by the profligate and relentless confiscation of wealth. All so legions of government workers can retire in style with full health benefits and COLA increases, while those on fixed income have the fangs in their necks and their lifeblood being drained.

I am just curious is that proven? Like have the taxes in West Orange increased in the past 5-10 years more than the nearby towns did even towns outside of Essex County? The research I did does not support this. Like I have been saying we have a serious property tax problem in in New Jersey but I wouldn't single out West Orange in particular.

[Marc Paolella]

Originally Posted by nykstevenyg

I am just curious is that proven? Like have the taxes in West Orange increased in the past 5-10 years more than the nearby towns did even towns outside of Essex County? The research I did does not support this. Like I have been saying we have a serious property tax problem in in New Jersey but I wouldn't single out West Orange in particular.

From an earlier post:


And how about those increases? Zillow reports property tax increases of 4.2% for 2013, 2.9% for 2014, and 2.6% for 2015. Inflation was 1.5% for 2013, 0.8% for 2014, 0.7% for 2015, and is currently running at 1.1%. So over the last 3 years West Orange has raised property taxes 10% while inflation only ran 3%. So basically, the West Orange budget is running the same yearly increases as MEDICAL COSTS!!!!!

[nykstevenyg]

Originally Posted by Marc Paolella

From an earlier post:


And how about those increases? Zillow reports property tax increases of 4.2% for 2013, 2.9% for 2014, and 2.6% for 2015. Inflation was 1.5% for 2013, 0.8% for 2014, 0.7% for 2015, and is currently running at 1.1%. So over the last 3 years West Orange has raised property taxes 10% while inflation only ran 3%. So basically, the West Orange budget is running the same yearly increases as MEDICAL COSTS!!!!!

What about other towns comparable towns? There all running well above inflation. We have a big issue in NJ but its statewide not limited to West Orange. I'm just saying taxes suck but in the scheme of it West Orange isnt all that much worse than other towns in the area. I always tell people if it wasn't for family, work and friends id have no reason to live in NJ and deal with this BS.