Marv's Neighbor Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 The trick is buying a $60-70K 2-unit house in a neighborhood that hasn't gone to crap yet. Then taxes aren't too bad and you can get some rental income too. There are some deals in Sloan. Nice working class neighborhood, if you don't mind the sound of trains. PTR Is that with or without the Flamingo's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 the only "what not" is property taxes. I don't have buffalo specifics, but have a friend in the central part of the state that pays $10k on a $295k house. What's the big deal?... My house is only worth about 200K (if that) and I pay almost 6k in taxes in "collar county" Illinois (Will-Cook)... Keep banging the drum it is ONLY New York Sate! And it is more in other places... Yep, they are flocking out of Illinois/Chicago! Oh ya, didn't they just raise the sales tax to over 10% in Cook County... Nice scapegoat... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Wow.... $5k on a $180k house? That's freaking ridiculous. They just want to keep me out of NY, don't they? I just looked at a couple of houses in Amherst and the taxes were over 6k! That's going to add five-hundred bucks to a payment. Incredible. The interest and whatnot is simple math, that makes sense... it's just the taxes I'm not familiar with. I hear "best prices in the country" and it sounds attractive until you consider you're adding another 1/3 or more on top of your standard payment. I never owned when I lived there. No freaking wonder people leave in droves. Hey, I've an idea if anyone wants to help the economy out up there.... seems kinda simple.... Ya... They are really leaving in droves in Chicago and the Chicagoland suburbs... I am on the south end where things are "cheap." You know what... It isn't the taxes, etc.. etc.. etc.. It is location... Location, location, and location. Maybe for once they can stop blaming this and that and realize that everything left not because of taxes but because of geographical location and now there is a post industrial northern infrastructure that is attempting to be maintained. My point? NYS gets a bad rap... Sure you can find much cheaper taxes elsewhere... But, there are places where they are higher by far... And those places are doing economically well and people aren't flocking out in droves... What an ultimate "scapegoat" that really has a life of its own! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Oh... You pay all those taxes here in Illinois and schools suck... So I alleviate the burden and send my children to a private school and spend another 6k... I get 500 bucks back at tax time because I am doing the state "a favor"... Oh... They are leaving in droves here! [/sarcasm off] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjeff215 Posted March 21, 2008 Author Share Posted March 21, 2008 Ya... They are really leaving in droves in Chicago and the Chicagoland suburbs... I am on the south end where things are "cheap." You know what... It isn't the taxes, etc.. etc.. etc.. It is location... Location, location, and location. Maybe for once they can stop blaming this and that and realize that everything left not because of taxes but because of geographical location and now there is a post industrial northern infrastructure that is attempting to be maintained. My point? NYS gets a bad rap... Sure you can find much cheaper taxes elsewhere... But, there are places where they are higher by far... And those places are doing economically well and people aren't flocking out in droves... What an ultimate "scapegoat" that really has a life of its own! Okay, now throw in the fact that the only house I've ever owned is here in Georgia, where I pay a whopping $1600 year. It doesn't so much matter to me how high taxes are elsewhere; going from 1600 to 5200 is a hell of a big jump in tax burden. I'm certain NYS income tax is probably higher than GA and my expected salary would probably be lower than what I make here. When you look at all of that, it really doesn't make a whole lot of financial sense to live there. I don't personally care about the location or the weather. That's a non-issue to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Okay, now throw in the fact that the only house I've ever owned is here in Georgia, where I pay a whopping $1600 year. It doesn't so much matter to me how high taxes are elsewhere; going from 1600 to 5200 is a hell of a big jump in tax burden. I'm certain NYS income tax is probably higher than GA and my expected salary would probably be lower than what I make here. When you look at all of that, it really doesn't make a whole lot of financial sense to live there. I don't personally care about the location or the weather. That's a non-issue to me. What about utilities (how deep do those go in the south)? Snow removal... Wear and tear on the road infrastructure? What about heating the schools? What not? Look at the added cost of infrastructure in the urban north? Let alone maint. You just can't bury a plastic water main a foot underground... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VABills Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Are they going to build heli-pads everywhere so people can avoid the congested highways? I remember when I first moved to NH, people warned me, "yeah, no income tax and no sales tax is great, but the property tax will get ya!" I took one look at the taxes and laughed...The property tax I pay on my 300k home in NH is the same as what I paid in Rochester, NY...on a 100k home. You don't live down here I guess. Sure traffic is bad, especially on holiday friday evenings. But you deal with it and take secondary roads. Much better to take 15 minutes extra to get to the mall than to have no job and no future. BTW, if you live outside the beltway, traffic really is no worse then any other suburban area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agilen Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 This article is on the Business First site today: http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffalo/sto...6331200^1607587 Maybe that will answer some of your questions, although it focuses on "median" prices and salaries. I recently moved back to Buffalo from the NYC area. I was really excited about it and we'll see where it goes in the future. I'm not going to get into it right now, but in a few short months I have learned exactly why people leave the region. Suffice to say it has nothing to do with property taxes or the weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I thought the title of this thread was about a real estate agent that sells house in the nude, man was I disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 One of the houses we looked at in a nice Rochester suburb was right at $300K. The taxes were $13K PER YEAR. That's right, sport's fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taterhill Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 the town of Evans has some of the highest taxes in the area...ridiculous if you ask me... Nice House CRAZY taxes.... $8200 in taxes on a $300k house.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 he meant property taxes im sure. I know what he meant. $10k on a $300k house? No wonder WNY is so depressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjeff215 Posted March 21, 2008 Author Share Posted March 21, 2008 What about utilities (how deep do those go in the south)? Snow removal... Wear and tear on the road infrastructure? What about heating the schools? What not? Look at the added cost of infrastructure in the urban north? Let alone maint. You just can't bury a plastic water main a foot underground... My point is that I *want* to move back, it just seems that there are a million hurdles. I'm not down on the region at all. Realizing I'm going to tack another 400 onto my payment sucks no matter how you look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndZoneCrew Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Wow.... $5k on a $180k house? That's freaking ridiculous. They just want to keep me out of NY, don't they? I just looked at a couple of houses in Amherst and the taxes were over 6k! That's going to add five-hundred bucks to a payment. Incredible. The interest and whatnot is simple math, that makes sense... it's just the taxes I'm not familiar with. I hear "best prices in the country" and it sounds attractive until you consider you're adding another 1/3 or more on top of your standard payment. I never owned when I lived there. No freaking wonder people leave in droves. Hey, I've an idea if anyone wants to help the economy out up there.... seems kinda simple.... Depends where you go......our house is assessed at a little lower than that but we pay like 2500 in taxes....its not that bad....just do your research as to the towns with the best rates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndZoneCrew Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Don't forget, you have to heat the damn thing six months out of the year. You sound like a bitter man....grow some balls....as if people in the Sun Belt don't "cool" their houses 6 months out of the year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFinkle Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 What about utilities (how deep do those go in the south)? Snow removal... Wear and tear on the road infrastructure? What about heating the schools? What not? Look at the added cost of infrastructure in the urban north? Let alone maint. You just can't bury a plastic water main a foot underground... Is your dad the mayor or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndZoneCrew Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 This article is on the Business First site today: http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffalo/sto...6331200^1607587 but in a few short months I have learned exactly why people leave the region. Suffice to say it has nothing to do with property taxes or the weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yall Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Don't let these guys get you riled up - they like to ignore things like the amount of home your $ will buy and don't mention the STAR exemptions which greatly reduce the amount of taxes you pay on your home. Like the linked article showed quite clearly (with sources and stats as opposed to Brie and wine fueled anti-NY tirades) that it is actually pretty affordable to live in WNY. I won't argue that the taxes aren't too high, or that our job market is weak, but there are economic advantages to living here if you have a decent job or marketable skill set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndZoneCrew Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Don't let these guys get you riled up - they like to ignore things like the amount of home your $ will buy and don't mention the STAR exemptions which greatly reduce the amount of taxes you pay on your home. Like the linked article showed quite clearly (with sources and stats as opposed to Brie and wine fueled anti-NY tirades) that it is actually pretty affordable to live in WNY. I won't argue that the taxes aren't too high, or that our job market is weak, but there are economic advantages to living here if you have a decent job or marketable skill set. I know.....I just don't like bitter former WNY'ers who have nothing better to do.....except bash the city and tell people that they are crazy for living or wanting to live there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I know.....I just don't like bitter former WNY'ers who have nothing better to do.....except bash the city and tell people that they are crazy for living or wanting to live there Just put him on ignore, Francis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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