Buying a house...taxes are so different in different areas help

[Shiloh]

Small question we are looking at buying a house, but when I look at the different tax rates in different counties it can be from like 6-12,000 for a 250k house in the state we are looking at is there any great site for finding cheap areas to live in?

[velochic]

I googled for my state's county tax rates and quickly found the data sheet for each county's tax rate.

Or try your state's government's web site.

[Shiloh]

sounds easy I will try it small issue I don't live in the good old USA yet...
its a transfer comming up.

[LEAW]

Yah, there are cheaper places to live, but a lot of the tax base for each area goes to funding school systems, city services, etc. so you might find that the higher areas have better stuff... but there are some lower areas that also have nice stuff... the best advice Id' give is to find an area you think you'd like and rent for at least 6 months.. then you can explore the differences between the neighborhoods and if it's worth paying the extra taxes.

In hindsight, our "great" city doesn't have the greatest services. Above average schools, but no recreation center, nothing fabulous, which some of the nearby areas do offer.

[Shiloh]

yeah its so complicated here all schools get the same per child.
I heard that if you pay higher property taxes it often translates into really great schools vs not so great great schools. AHH so complicated ! Renting is an option but I am tired of renting we've never owned in our lives and we have so much stuff to rent/store/move again...life never simple eh?

[skueppers]

I would never make a decision about where to live based on the tax rates. I would make a decision about where to live based on where I wanted to live -- where I thought I'd click with the community, where there would be good schools and playgrounds, etc.

I pay more property taxes per year than people who live a couple of blocks from here, but I get better services for it. Better trash/recycling, better police service, a good local library with lots of children's programs, nicer playgrounds, and many other services that are just plain better than what neighboring communities have. I feel that I get what I pay for, and I'm happy to pay the higher taxes to get it.

[BathrobeGoddess]

Also, consider that most cities also charge an additional amount tax of property. I live in the county, outside the city limits and my taxes are about 1/2 what a person inside the city limits pays...

It was absolutely something I considered while looking for houses in my area!

[LEAW]

And the highest taxes don't = the best schools. I live in the 2nd highest tax % area in the region, and our schools are only good. We couldn't afford the cost of homes in the best school district.

We did pick our home because we could walk to the grocery (now closed), 2 parks, yoga class, etc. and because it was a neighborhood with many families and a great library.

[annekevdbroek]

I was going to add that there in addition to property taxes there are local sales taxes, state income tax, etc. to consider. So, one area may have lower property tax but a .25 or .5% sales tax on top of the state sales tax. We live in a very high tax area - our property tax makes up 50% of our monthly mortgage payment. However, we get a lot for the money, including the best area schools, small community, great city services, etc. I love the area so for us it was worth it to buy a slightly less expensive house so we could afford the overall monthly payment.

[mnnice]

If you look up a house on the web that is listed under MLS the taxes from the previous year are usualy listed.

[Shiloh]

pay more property taxes per year than people who live a couple of blocks from here, but I get better services for it. Better trash/recycling, better police service, a good local library with lots of children's programs, nicer playgrounds, and many other services that are just plain better than what neighboring communities have. I feel that I get what I pay for, and I'm happy to pay the higher taxes to get it.

okay I guess here is where I am confused as our system distributes tax 'fairly' yeah I know no such thing but for example in my prov. tax dollars for education are dolled out per student equal amount per student regardless of location to the schools.

So my question is how do you find out whats a better place? What is poor trash servicies? what is stellar? better police service? like more of them? friendlier? Here infrastructure is pretty good socialism and everything so I guess I am puzzled at what would be okay vs great like two neighbourhoods I looked at were 6k difference...for 6k in my pocket I can do without some children's programmes but I would like trash pick up KWIM?

how do you know what is a good school how do you find out if they are better funded?

[LEAW]

Do you have a general area/city you are looking in/near? We're about to move and I've found the tribal areas for our new city on MDC and asked for help with lots of replies.

city-data.org has a lot of stats about income, housing costs, crime, etc.

If you tell us where, maybe we can help

[boongirl]

Originally Posted by lisa2976

And the highest taxes don't = the best schools.

But, the lowest tax rates do often = the worst schools. In WA state, schools cannot use the money they get from the state and fed govs for anything other than school-related things: teacher salaries, books, staff salaries, etc. They cannot pay for building upkeep from the general pot nor does the general pot pay for any "extras" like computers. This is where bonds and levies come in. They pay for the extras and the maintenance of the buildings. By maintenance, I do not mean cleaning. I mean repairs and/or new buildings. You could have 50 elementary students per class but unless you have a bond there will be no new schools to shrink class size. And, property taxes also pay for parks and rec and libraries. Personally, I just factor taxes into the cost of the home because I want to live in a city that has all of these "extras." It makes life more liveable.

[EFmom]

Where I am, some of the highest tax rates correspond to some of the absolute worst schools. There are some areas that are in extremely bad financial shape, where the tax base has shrunk due to declining neighborhoods, so they have raised the tax rates to try to make up for it. So, you cannot assume that the highest tax rates are going to provide the best schools. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

[Shiloh]

I am not very familiar with the areas I am speaking about but I think its mostly north eastern PA, my dh
s company is around orange NJ but I find NJ...congested I live in huge city now I want trees!

He will do a fair bit of telecommuting/working from home so even a long commute is okay for him so nothing really further than 1hr from the NJ/PA border.

[LEAW]

I don't know much about that area too, but I'd suggest asking the mamas in the tribal area board for advice on neighborhoods and areas to look at and what to avoid.

Good luck!