<p>^^^
That would be net…and if you’re not too extravagant. </p>
<p>M2CK said:
That’s only if you’re under a certain income level. Thanks to some really good investments, my 84-year-old mom was still paying property tax when she died. And don’t forget, the low property tax and insurance cost is way less on an owner-occupied unit than one that is not a primary residence.</p>
<p>What what I’ve heard, home insurance costs climb dramatically south of I-10 in all states bordering the Gulf of Mexico. We have friends who had to repair condos after hurricanes. In addition to their own condo’s damages, they were assessed to cover extra costs for the building, such as repairing the swimming pool, parking deck/lot, lobby etc. One friend had to pay a $10,000 assessment to the HOA.</p>
<p>I also have a friend who retired to Fairhope. Lots of folks from the north, a heavy Democrat/liberal lean (look up the unusual history of Fairhope) and it’s considered walkable.</p>
<p>There are lots of retirement discussion posts on a certain other forum. You can PM me for the address.</p>
<p>I’m thinking condo life might not be for me. I have a very large dog and I don’t like the politics in some condo associations. Plus we pay huge flood insurance here in CT & we live near a river, I can’t imagine what it would be near the gulf.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I vascillated between home and condo for retirement. I opted for small home/small yard, with a low maintenance exterior. I wanted to have a small backyard for a rose garden and a veggie garden…and BBQ, etc. I also have pets, so that was also a consideration.</p>
<p>My Tuscaloosa “short-term rentals” are condos, which I think works out well. </p>
<p>So looking at a 1920’s bungalow in B’ham for under $150K and it says taxes are $2500??? That’s a lot.</p>
<p>^^^
That is high. Can pm me the link.</p>
<p>We in la-la land up here in IL pay relatively high property taxes. (Ex: a very modest home is assessed about $10,000 in property taxes.) Precisely 74.2% of my own “huge” property tax bill goes directly to my local public school district. Our schools are top-notch. I would not trade the funding of that school system for a moment. Funding public education happens to be an important social value of mine. In other areas of the country, you might need to send your student to private schools to get a similar education, and you would certainly need to spend a wad on music lessons, whereas our public HSs are regularly finalist or semi-finalist Grammy Signature schools with a superb public music education available to all students. </p>
<p>Young people settling into the child-rearing years of their careers need to think carefully about where they eventually live (and the education opportunities available to their own children). I know this discussion was about retiring…but I, for one, want to be very close to my eventual grandchildren, wherever that might be. What might appear inexpensive can actually turn out to be the opposite, if you will have to pay privately to get the things that taxes would have otherwise funded publicly. </p>
<p>Grandchildren, another sigh. My one thought is to live somewhere really inexpensive where I could afford to visit my grandchildren and children whenever I want. </p>
<p>Aero, not to hijack the debate, but I Iive in one of the top school districts in the country (former #1 ranking by Newsweek). Outstanding, to be sure, but expensive. Aside from extreme home prices (my ordinary 4BR on 1/3 acre is worth around $700K), my school tax alone is $9600 this year. If I were in a lower cost area, what would a good private school cost? </p>
<p>Well, unless you only have one child, the chances that all of your grandchildren will be near you is rare. Even if you live by your grandchildren, the chances that they will remain living there is low…since young professionals have to relocate a lot.</p>
<p>That said, my kids grew up in Madison, Alabama where property taxes are low and schools are excellent, so it doesn’t take high taxes to have good schools. My property taxes were about 2000 for a very large home (over 4400 sq feet). But my kids still went to private K-12 because that was a family preference since H and I had gone to private schools as well.</p>
<p>Alabama has constitutional limits on property taxes, so funding at the local level is highly dependent on sales taxes. This has proven to be an issue for some of the more rural counties. For example, Greene County is just south of Tuscaloosa County and funds much of its hospital and E911 services from gaming revenue at Greenetrack. </p>
<p>There’s a sentiment at UA that a lot of in-state students went to one of around 20 high schools in Alabama. Thinking of the public schools mentioned, Bob Jones (Madison), Huntsville, Vestavia, Oak Mountain, the public magnet schools, Mountain Brook, and one Tuscaloosa-area school (Hillcrest?) were the ones most commonly mentioned. A lot of in-state students went to private high schools. Do students from other in-state high schools attend UA? Of course, but not in as great of amounts.</p>
<p>With a lot of young people preferring to living in cities instead of suburbs, it’ll be interesting to see where people are living in 10-20 years. Target, Costco, and Wal-Mart are already planning for more urban locations after finding that locations built in or near the downtown cores of major cities are doing really well.</p>
<p>Of course, homeschooling is always an option. 
It comes with the advantage of limitless class selections, no course ceilings, and not being controlled by poor local educational choices. :)</p>
<p>Homeschooling my grandchildren…now there’s a thought!</p>
<p>Since the state of Alabama has an unusually high number of state univs for its population, most kids go locally to college. Since going away is rather pricey, even if in-state, it doesn’t surprise me that most instate kids are coming from the better publics and private high schools. </p>
<p>Going away to college is not the norm in probably any state. The norm in this country is to commute to the local college. </p>
<p>I wish our taxes in Michigan were like Alabama’s. Our primary home is bad enough but nothing compared to
our cottage which is like triple the tax rate. It kills me that they can keep raising the rate on it and I don’t have a vote or use their schools. Taxation without representation. Alabama is looking better all the time-and warmer too!</p>
<p>Flexibility in thinking is key. By the time our children are out of college and on their own a few years, we will then be retired. Thinking now about what needs to be done to our primary residence to sell it. Want to have something in two places, with Jan-Feb-Mar in the warmer south. Do not want so much $$ tied up in one property.</p>
<p>Is it worth the higher property and other taxes to continue living in a particular place?</p>
<p>I want to live within my means comfortably in retirement. Reshaping my dreams with reality and new information.</p>
<p>Family is important to us, and a geographic consideration.</p>