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Felt compelled to post this. I just spent the last hour going through dozens of threads after searching for information on the Cortlandt and Croton areas.
My wife and I have a beautiful 8 month old girl and are looking to move up to this area from the UWS. We've found 2 properties we're putting offers on (fingers crossed) so the process is starting for us in earnest.
I had a feeling about this area and after reading the many threads describing the small town community feel of these areas, I know that my "hunches" were justified.
We're big lovers of nature, and I can totally envision a life for us where we spend our weekends at Teatown or kayaking down from Croton Dam and rewarding ourselves for a good paddle with a trip to Memphis Mae's BBQ. Or maybe spending the 4th of July at Croton Point or spending a hot day at the Blue Pig in the upper village.
Lots to love in this area.
Anyway - we're working the whole house hunt process right now and we found two properties we're moving forward with with offers. This is our first home and thank the heavens my wife had the forethought to save the way she did... I'm capable of a great many things, but saving money wasn't one of them. All the same though - these numbers make my head spin. I think my wife said it best when after looking at a closing cost worksheet she said,
"Phew it's expensive being a grown up".
Anyway - wish us luck...I'll update this thread from time to time with our progress...
Oh and I did have one question - I looked up the tax assessor's page on the town's site, but apart from that - I'm having a hard time finding the formula for calculating the property tax rate in this area for a specific property. Does anyone know how that's calculated?
Oh and I did have one question - I looked up the tax assessor's page on the town's site, but apart from that - I'm having a hard time finding the formula for calculating the property tax rate in this area
Property taxes are the sum of the property tax levied by up to 20 or so taxing districts in which the property is located. These taxing districts are the county, town, village, if in a village, school district, library district, fire district, water district, sewer district, park district, parking district, highway district, lighting district, etc., etc., etc.
Each of these taxing districts passes a budget, some by a vote of the residents of the taxing district and others by the governing board of the taxing district.
The budget is then divided by the sum of the assessed value within the taxing district to arrive at the property tax rate, which is then applied to each individual property within the taxing district to calculate that property's tax bill for that specific property.
Do this for all the 20 or so taxing districts that a property is located in and sum these 20 or so property tax bills to arrive at the total property tax bill for that property.
Repeat the next year to calculate the next year's property tax bill, and so on and so on ...
Mochaboy - the closing costs are horrible. NYS mortgage taxes are just ugh. The easiest thing to do, if you can't work out where the taxing authority is located, is to ask the homeowners, then just call up. Its a standard formula. The complications are that you may be paying separate village, town and school district taxes. Alternativel,y just ask them what the taxes are for 2011 and estimate a 3% approx increase each year for your budget.
Can you guys help me with some budget numbers. Would you folks mind sharing what your respective utility bills are? i.e. electricity, oil, propane or natural gas...I'm guessing the numbers vary from summer to winter so I guess an average works...just trying to figure out how much to set aside
I wouldn't get too excited about Memphis Mae's. But I do live in Croton, and have a toddler so please message me if I can help you with anything. We moved up from the city 3 years ago.
Utilities , car insurance are definitely cheaper than in NYC. The closing cost is very expensive due to school tax and mortgage tax. My husband's company paid closing cost for us when we moved in Yorktown, next to Croton about more than 30K 4 years ago. I dont remember all details breakdown, just the total. We had to take care of prepaid school tax about 12k+. It depends on which month you move in, school tax is due every September. We moved in July
Utilities will vary depending upon the size of the house and what type of fuel are heating with. Also if the house you are buying is serviced by Con Ed(high) or NYSEG(a little lower). Separate hot water heater(gas or electric)?
Our 1700sq house with NYSEG averages out to about $90 a month for electric. Last winter we spent about $1200 for oil(we have a newer efficient oil burner).
We live without premium cable channels so our cable/internet/phone bill is about $130. a month. Start adding HBO, multiple DVR's and it can easily go over $200.
Hope that helps a bit.
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