“Don’t talk to me about property taxes…I probably have all of you beat.”
I don’t know, @nj2011mom, I might have you beat (sadly), but I don’t also have to pay state income taxes, like Bunsen says! And @IxnayBob might have you beat, but I think he lives in NJ also, so he pays big state income taxes. I think I would rather just pay the property tax, and not the income tax, also!
@busdriver11, I fell off this thread a while ago, so I’m not sure where it has been, but we pay extortionate property tax ($38k) and state income tax (8.97% marginal rate). Our house is very nice, but it is not a mansion. We decided some years ago to stay here until we sell for retirement rather than move to a lower COL home still within commuting distance to NYC; it might have been a mistake. By now, it seems silly to sell and then sell again in 5 years.
@AttorneyMother mentioned attorneys who challenge assessments, but my understanding here is that the town is allowed a 15% deviation. My half joking solution is that an assessment should act as a put option; if you assess me at $1M market value, I should be able to put the house to you at 90% ($900k). Of course, in NJ, that would be the basis of a million scams, but I honestly would be happy to get 90% of appraised value when we sell.
That is extortion, Bob, especially when you combine it with the state income tax. I hope (but doubt) they spend your tax money wisely. Hopefully it’s appreciating fast enough to make it worth all the taxes when you sell.
IME, the only place I’ve lived that I considered more corrupt than NJ was New Orleans. They are not spending my tax money wisely, for the most part. 1/3 of property taxes go to Newark, which has improved over the years, but has a long way to go. Our public schools, while they are always #1 to #5 in the state, (currently #1) still had enough negatives that we paid a king’s ransom for private school.
I will be happy if we get the cost of the house plus our renovations when we sell. We renovated our 1920’s house in a manner that kept with the Tudor feel. We landscaped and hardscaped with the same intention. We only need one buyer, but our house is not in keeping with what sells well here: McMansions with a lot of marble and other ostentation – a house like Tony Soprano’s.
Whatever; we’ve had 20 good years here and raised our kids in a fit-for-purpose home. It is not an investment.
Yuck.
I saw an article about the Housewife of NJ who had to go to jail (and hubby will go after she is released) putting her “incredible mansion” up for sale. It came with photos and I thought that house was tacky as all get out. I’d much rather have a spacious and remodeled Tudor or modern farm house than something so incredibly ostentatious, with marble everything, gold plated faucets, elaborate draperies, big clunky furniture, etc.
@Nrdsb4, I can understand it with the thuggish Housewives and their families. I can understand that not everyone likes a Tudor (and tbh, I wouldn’t mind an occasional 90 degree angle in a doorway 
). But these McMansions are much too big for their lots, their landscaping is unimaginative, and if you look under the surface, the construction is third-rate. So, I’m surprised that so many people with better upbringings than the Housewives (I know, I know, I’m sometimes a snob) pay top dollar for them.
One of our neighbors, years ago, was a very well-divorced woman who was selling her house. She asked the realtor who was buying it, since she didn’t remember the people looking at the house. The realtor said that they were buying it as a tear-down, so there was no point in looking at it. The woman said that the house was good enough to raise her children in, and if they didn’t have the courtesy to at least look at it before bringing in the bulldozers, she wouldn’t sell to them. She soon after sold to a nice family that added a pool and a generator and a number of other things, but basically the house still stands.
Anyone want a $100,000 house, for almost $400,000?
( it will probably sell for more than that)
http://www.seattlepi.com/realestate/article/Open-houses-for-March-21-22-2015-6146361.php
The house we sold in CA went for $500 a foot. The house we bought in greater Seattle area was $100+/foot. And I loosely mean Seattle, because it is still a good drive into city. The houses there were at least $100-200,000 more for less sq footage and house than the one we bought. The house in CA we put a bunch of money into, but did not rehab everything. As agent said, people’s tastes are different. I could have put another $8-10,000 in new flooring, or another $50,000 into a new kitchen rehab, but what if they wanted to make that decision on style, materials and colors, instead?
When selling, the original offer wanted to keep house as it was with a few improvements. Wrote one of those letters. One of the backup offers was going to tear down completely. Honestly, we would not have considered that. It was a family home with multiple generations sharing it over 50 plus years. It was hard enough to leave without idea that they would demo to ground.
I cannot imagine nearly $40,000 in property taxes per year. That is insane.
DS and fiancee hope to take possession of the new home a week from Monday. Happens so fast!! They are going to consider some renovations (take out carpeting, put in hardwood, etc) before moving in. Will find out what that will cost…
Ok, $38k has me beat, but we are north of $25k, which is just obscene.
That and the horrifically Unfunded pension and benefit system for state employees and the lousy winter weather are just a few reasons we will be heading south in 2 years. We aren’t from here, so there’s no reason to stay, as I dont see my kids sticking around this area.
Unimaginable! $38K is more than our entire annual house payment (taxes, interest, principal, and insurance) plus utilities were before we paid the mortgage off this year!! And we live in a very nice home within a strong school district where voters support every school bond.
I’m one of the first to complain about my town, but ultimately it’s about supply and demand. There are two reasons to live in this town:
1 - the “great” school system, which I think is only partly true. My two oldest went all the way through the public, my next one made it through middle school, and the youngest through elementary school. The private schools around here are selective (~20%), charge a lot ($35k+), and have waiting lists; we can’t all be crazy, so there must be something imperfect at the public.
2 - the good commute into NYC – it’s a relatively painless 40 minute train ride into Midtown during peak hours. Off hours, it’s a decent drive, rarely, but occasionally, a 20 minute drive.
If #1 had worked for our family, I’d think the property tax was a bargain. Now, we have only #2. And, the minute my wife retires, we are out of reasons.
It’s not uncommon for residents of waterfront homes in Seattle to pay property taxes similar to Bob’s. In many cases the homes are not huge and the lots not large, but the location makes the value skyrocket.
update:
Closing is fast approaching. While I wasnt sure I was 100% on board with this purchase, the prices just seem to be going up and up and up!
I know those nj real estate taxes sound crazy but the market is driven by families who can’t afford or who did not get in to the private schools of choice in nyc. If you need to budget for 40K per child per school and you have 2 children, 40K in taxes seems like a bargain for a great suburban public school. We sold our house in one of those communities a few years ago and it was an easy sell, even in a slower market. Also state taxes in nj are less than in nyc so there’s a win there too. Add in the fact of no longer needing the summer rental when you have a pool in the backyard and it makes economic sense.
The question is, where/how to downsize to when you (me) no longer need the good schools and big back yard but want to stay in the area for work, family and friends.
Actually, at higher income levels, income taxes in NJ are higher, but they’re both very high and there really isn’t a big difference.
We initially settled in NJ using your reasoning about the schools. In the end, we would up paying property taxes and two tuitions to private school, for an annual toll of $110+ before we bought groceries. Admittedly, it’s a first world problem, and the kids would have done okay in the public school, but …
@IxnayBob, I think my H grew up close to where you are living. The school district in his hometown is always ranked the top three among non-magnet schools in NJ. However, his parents, with a lot of others from his hometown sent him to a private school. During a mini-reunion in SF, I was told by the headmaster that the tuition is $30K for kindergarten. This never makes economic sense.
@cbreeze, no, it doesn’t make economic sense. But then, neither do kids, pets, or going out to dinner
Well, I don’t know about your kids, but mine promised they would never allow me to go to the poor house.
So they may have a ROI after all 
I have a letter on my bulletin board from DS #1 that says he “promises to take care of us in our old age as we have taken care of him even better”. OK- so he wrote it when he was 10. But the document is now 18 yrs old-- its of legal age!! And the new house has a bedroom and bath downstairs that is ground level. Score!!