<p>Just out of curiosity, I checked out this house for sale:1215 Saxon Dr Nashville, TN 37215
listed at 600K and what? the tax is 4K? the building is assessed at 37K and the land 78K… what is going on there? I guess the “otter Creek” area or Davidson County is very good, as it demand an average of 700k/home whereas the average Nashville home is only around 250K…</p>
<p>^CA just reduced the sales tax by 1% from 9.75ish, the merchant got no business at 9.75% sales tax rate.</p>
<p>Oh that’s the Forrest Hills area of Nashville. Really very nice, large lots, almost rural. Big homes. If you scroll down on the satellite view, you can see that. The area just to the west of it is Belle Meade (where the Gores, Frists & Ingrams live) and that’s even tonier.</p>
<p>I don’t live there :)</p>
<p>Here’s a good tool for researching taxes:</p>
<p>[State-by-State</a> Guide to Taxes on Retirees](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/retiree_map/]State-by-State”>State-by-State Guide to Taxes on Retirees | Kiplinger)</p>
<p>You can look up the taxes (and exemptions) in any state. I would personally be demoralized to find myself living in a state that taxes food. I don’t think I could handle being retired there. You don’t have to have a big fancy house, but you do have to eat!</p>
<p>Rob…where did you say you lived???</p>
<p>with regard to FL, if I plan on renting rather than buying, and i’m coming from Screw Jersey, the lovely state that recognised S-Corps but charges them a minimum tax anyway on top of what you pay on the pass through, plus the indirect tax it cost me to cross the hudson every time i go into the city, huge property taxes (mine are pretty good at around 9K, some are as high as the price of a house in other parts of the US), i figure it can’t be as bad in florida. Am i missing something?</p>
<p>green- that article leaves a lot to be desired. For example they complain that NJ is not tax friendly to seniors because of property taxes but fail to mention that NJ freezes property for qualified seniors making less than $70k. NJ does not tax social security, gives extra dependent deductions for seniors, allows a pension deduction of $20,000 and allows all medical expenses above 2% of income as a deduction.</p>
<p>The part of Nashville where many of you would be inclined to live if you had to move to TN is Williamson County. It includes Franklin and Brentwood, which are highly desirable places to live with some of the better public schools. Brentwood tends to have larger lots but Franklin is an awesome Civil War town with a cute Main Street, shops etc. Rolling hills and lots of trees. 30 minute commute to downtown Nashville, Vanderbilt, symphony, football stadium and Grand Ol’ Opry. Lots of the country stars live in the more rural parts of Williamson County and have lots of acreage.</p>
<p>Cayman–depends on where you are in Jersey. My taxes on a lovely home near Cape May are 3K. Looking forward to moving out of Essex Co and only paying for my paradise near the sea.</p>
<p>tom - I believe the detailed info on NJ mentioned most of those facts, but said the income cutoff was $80000 for seniors applying for property tax reimbursement. </p>
<p>Taxes are just too complicated and too affected by every locality, large and small, for anyone to make quick and easy calculations as to their effect on us. I think it’s almost a question of “the devil I don’t know” seeming to be not so bad as the devil I already know (and pay taxes to). For myself, I just want to avoid any nasty future surprises. I wish there were an online calculator (phone app, anyone?) where you could plug in a zip code, add income, house size and other factors, and find out what tax you would owe. That way, you’d be able to find out about all those local wrinkles before they drive you crazy.</p>
<p>green- it was supposed to go to $80k but was reduced to $70k in the governors last budget</p>
<p>Thumper: I’m in Middle TN.</p>
<p>Nashville is a great city. I’m not super familiar with it but we do have friends who live there in the Belle Meade area, which is very pretty. They love all that the city has to offer, and being involved with the hockey team, are very pleased with how well the team is received in the area. I remember the first time I was in Nashville when my children were very young and we were driving to Florida. We stopped there for the night and one of my Ds was sick with a fever. The hotel staff were so wonderful that I wanted to forget Florida and just spend our vacation there! In the years since, whenever we’ve visited, the friendly people have always been a feature to us.</p>
<p>MOWC, I’m sorry about your job loss. Here’s hoping that you move on to something even better.</p>
<p>^^^One of DH’s cousins is visiting the area & we met her, her DH & baby last night in Nashville. The husband is a NYC police officer & mentioned that one of his coworkers is retiring & looking to move to our area with his young family. As we were giving him some intel, hockey came up as we were explaining how easy it is to go to a game & how Nashville has really embraced the team despite not growing up with hockey. It is always amusing to my DH, a lifelong Rangers fan, to go to a Preds game & hear the natives yell “Put the biscuit in the basket!”</p>
<p>I almost posted that Kiplinger tax info myself yesterday. If Pittsburgh weren’t so cold that would be a great place: No tax on fed pensions and social security, raving lunatic sports fans and low housing costs.
We shared a table with someone at the CLO Cabaret this Summer. She retired there from Gainesville and liked the accessability to all the Pittsburgh cultural stuff from her new condo.</p>
<p>And Pittsburgh has Primantis!</p>
<p>^^^ Indeed. Just not as many pho, Thai and Indian places that I’m used to.</p>
<p>Considered Chapel Hill NC but recent years’ weather has icy winters… Somehow the music scene in Nashville would not be our taste at all. For us being close to a major U and even medical center means attending lectures- want intellectual stimulation available. Culturally is is a lot easier to be standard American who attends church et al when searching for places to live- most people don’t even realize how much influence this has. Florida property taxes- in Tampa- seem lower than here in Wisconsin. One’s perspective depends on what one is used to- cost of houses, taxes, even weather. Somehow air conditioning in summer doesn’t seem as bad as bitter cold in winter, rain not as bad as snow… Some places seem like nice places for a family or to be if you have ties to the area. We would like a place with other outsiders. We’ll see what actually happens.</p>
<p>Yes I do remember from the 70s that Chapel Hill had ice storms, but the ice went away real quick. Fall lasts longer, winters are much shorter, and a real spring comes earlier than in Wisconsin. Spring always seems to be a disappointment in Madison.</p>
<p>wis75- Not that I care whether Nashville appeals to you, but I can assure you that Vanderbilt and its medical center provide plenty of lectures and intellectual stimulation. Also, there are plenty of people where who are not into country music. It can be avoided. There is an excellent symphony and art museum. I love when people like you think the south is a cultural wasteland!</p>
<p>
wis75, many folks have this impression of Nashville, but there’s far more to it than those folks realize. The music scene in Nashville is varied, and the quality of local musicians is superb. The Blair School of Music is a conservatory program, highly competitive, that presents challenging programs in a variety of styles. The Nashville Symphony performs classical, pops, and country-inspired programs in a state-of-the-art concert hall. The Nashville Ballet is a well-respected regional company with a strong pre-professional training program. There are great museums and a fascinating historic heritage. </p>
<p>As for lectures and intellectual stimulation - Vanderbilt, with its outstanding faculty, is no slouch in either area. 
And a world-class medical center, too. (Why was I thinking about Charlottesville again?) I’m not really a country music fan, either - just suggesting that there’s much more to Nashville than its signature industry.</p>
<p>I think you make a good point about the importance of church when relocating.</p>