Property Taxes

[bobpbx]

Nice interactive map that gives bad news. I don't know where this is going, but we are really over the top. I don't know the answer, but I can guess the cause.

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/...l&utm_term=0_1d26f473a7-7dc6a7865c-398650705#

 

[Teegate]

As expected I am in the dark brown.

 

[Teegate]

I own my home and it is frustrating paying the taxes realizing that it is almost back up to the same amount as when I had a mortgage. My sister-in-law and her husband recently paid their home off and I warned them of what was ahead for them and my wife told me they now see what I was saying.

There are 55 homes in my town that are abandoned or up for sheriff sale I have been told. I see the signs in the windows on almost every street. And the adjacent towns are the same way with one street having 3 houses in a row like that.

 

[46er]

I own my home and it is frustrating paying the taxes realizing that it is almost back up to the same amount as when I had a mortgage. My sister-in-law and her husband recently paid their home off and I warned them of what was ahead for them and my wife told me they now see what I was saying.

There are 55 homes in my town that are abandoned or up for sheriff sale I have been told. I see the signs in the windows on almost every street. And the adjacent towns are the same way with one street having 3 houses in a row like that.

Have you challenged your assessment? Most folks have not. It is a relative easy procedure and was very effective for us when we did it.

 

[bobpbx]

There are 55 homes in my town that are abandoned or up for sheriff sale I have been told. I see the signs in the windows on almost every street. And the adjacent towns are the same way with one street having 3 houses in a row like that.

My house was worth $320K right before the recession in 2007.
By Jan 2013 it bottomed out at $257K, had lost $63K in value.
It rebounded nicely to $298K in May 2015
It lost $30K since then, and is down to $266K

What happened? The guy across the street defaulted on his mortgage. He paid $330K in 2006. It just sold for at least $100K short of that price.

It ain't over till the fat lady sings.

 

[Teegate]

Have you challenged your assessment? Most folks have not. It is a relative easy procedure and was very effective for us when we did it.

They are planning to do one soon.

 

[46er]

To challenge the assessment is up to the homeowner. You may be thinking of a town reassessment.

 

[bobpbx]

They are planning to do one soon.

You know, here's the weird part. They assessed me at $305K soon after the recession. I was happy with that even though I knew it was worth less. Why? It was psychological. I felt better, and was willing to pay a bit more to have my house advertised on the tax rolls for that much. But then, they did another reassessment because people were challenging that, so, what happens...???....they did a town reassessment a couple years ago and brought me down to $277K. Go figure. Never thought that would happen. But of course tax liability in dollars stayed the same. They have to pay their bills.

 

[ecampbell]

Here is a useful site for NJ tax information. I just keep double clicking until I zoom into the area of interest. It gives assessment value, owner and taxes.
http://njgin.state.nj.us/oit/gis/NJ_TaxListSearch/

 

[Boyd]

This thread inspired me to dig out my records. My taxes have increased by 22.5% over the 10 years I've lived in Estell Manor. Of course I would prefer to have them lower, but that doesn't seem too bad. They re-assessed everything in 2013 and my taxes actually dropped by $40 in 2014. The 2006 tax on my home in Medford was $6952 when I moved to Estell Manor where the tax was $3230. My 2015 tax was $3959, I shudder when I think of what it would cost if I still lived in Medford.

Maybe it's time for some of you to think about moving to a town with more reasonable taxes?

 

[ecampbell]

Boyd, look up your Medford home on the link I provided.

 

[Boyd]

Well that is interesting, according to that site the tax on my old home was $5463 last year, so it actually went down. That house was seriously in need of repair when I sold it, so maybe the new owner didn't do anything and the tax dropped when they re-assessed? Regardless, even at that rate I have probably saved about $20,000 in taxes since I moved.

OTOH, property values have taken a big hit in Atlantic County recently due to the problems in Atlantic City. Not going to lose any sleep over this though…. until I decide to move.

 

[Boyd]

This got me interested, so I looked up the old home on zillow.com, they provide a lot more data. Property tax on that home was $7867 in 2012 and it dropped to $5464 in 2013. Wow. 2015 tax is $5649. I bought it for $224,000 in 2002 and sold for $292,000 in 2006, the same family still lives there today. Zillow estimates the current price at $223,800.

All things considered, I think I did OK.

 

[manumuskin]

Commercial twp where i am and Millville are in the white! everything around us in the brown.MRT and downe twp.

 

[46er]

The school systems usually take up about 2/3's of the real estate tax bill. Something to consider when school budget elections come around, although that is a bit of a quagmire. Can't complain about our local and county taxes.

 

[Spung-Man]

My municipality, the one that initiated Pinelands precedent-setting redevelopment, didn’t fare too well according to NJ Spotlight; at least when compared to other Atlantic County municipalities. During the period 2010 to 2015, only troubled Atlantic City had a higher tax change (+31.1% v. +23.0%).

During the period 2005 to 2015, only Atlantic City (+129.6%) and Egg Harbor City (+60.4%) performed worse than BVT (+58.1%), albeit tying with Longport (+58.6%). Not included in the metric is ~$6-million in bond debt incurred during the same period.