Wintersong

The only properties for sale anywhere near me that would give a property tax bill of $2K or less are all basically condemned.

kins

Out of curiosity I just looked and here the cheapest property for sale is a piece of land for $150k. Still I guess a tent would be cheap to maintain :-)

mrken30

My house in England , needs repairing yet again. Last roof was replaced about 15 years ago and now I have a major leak to deal with and the damage it has caused inside the house.

As for heating, I was forever having to bleed radiators, put in corrosion inhibitors in the central heating system in England. Replacement boiler is around £3000.

The heating in the US does not leak and lasts for years. My last furnace was about 30 years old before we replaced it.

Pulaski

I think we're up to about $1,650 property taxes ("per year", for the benefit of JG ), for 2,775sqft, nominally 4 beds (but could easily be 6 beds), and 1.5 acres.
I swear you must live under your own personal cloud.

mrken30

Property tax on a tiny home is probably cheap. Or just buy land and an RV.

kins

South Carolina? That's on my list of possible places to move to when the maine winters finally drive me away from here...

Pulaski

No, NC. I hear that property tax rates in SC are higher, though property tends to be cheaper.

And Mrs P has just informed me that I am wrong about the taxes - the 2017 bill is actually for a little under $1,600.

WEBlue

We have a 4 bed house in a small coastal New England town/village. Tax was around $3K when we moved in, has now gone up to $3.5K. Plenty of smaller properties around here pay $2K....

AZbound

We made the move from the UK to Tucson almost a year ago and we are loving it out here.

The only thing I would say, which is similar to others is, the cost of almost everything - groceries, health insurance, medications, veterinary treatment, phone/internet/tv service, pool service. Our electric bill in the height of the summer months was close to 400 a month because of the AC and my desire not to melt.

Oh and my husband is still mourning the loss of his weekly bacon sarnie

If at all possible, definitely try and get sponsorship for green cards written into the contract.

But yes, aside from the obvious of missing family and friends and the (very) occasional pang for some rain and a cold, crisp winters day, we don't regret a thing.

Good luck with the move!

HDWill

I bought a new-to-me car in June after seeing an article that stated there was a nationwide glut of late model used cars and prices had fallen. Then Hurricane Harvey came and ruined a million cars in Texas. Used car prices nationwide flipped from being unusually low to unusually high.

S Folinsky

Aside -- why do you assume "husband." "Wives" count too.

Also, on the non-immigrant end of things [e.g.], household members can obtain a B-2 if not married.

Used to do this all the time be gay marriage was legalized.

S Folinsky

On roofs, slate and tile [aka "Spanish"] do last forever, but even they need periodic maintenance. In AZ, I've seen both tile roofs and the composition roofs [which do need replacement].

Shake roofs used to be common here in L.A. and if maintained, would last forever without replacement. It is now illegal to replace them inasmuch as they are fire hazards.

S Folinsky

Inasmuch as you are moving to California, property tax is computed by "Proposition 13" which is 1% plus bonded indebetness. Think of 1.2% of purchase price.

Under current law, local property taxes are deductible for federal tax purposes. [Note, the current Republican tax proposal seeks to repeal this. It seems that the proposal is a "middle class tax cut" unless you live in California or New York].

Pulaski

No assumption is necessary - AZgal refers to her other half as being "he" in post #5 above.

Pulaski

'Ere you go. I received a quote last night to replace one of our heating/AC systems .... $10-$12,000 for mid-range to moderately well specified systems, so more expensive is certainly possible. Then another $2,700 to fix some ductwork issues to bring it up to current code - that isn't required, but will enable us to make better use of the new system and address poor heating and cooling issues in some parts of our home.

In short, going the whole hog to replace our systems would certainly cost $25,000, and could be more if we chose systems with all the bells and whistles.

To be clear, this isn't an esoteric system we're talking about, it's a split AC system - most of the machinery in the attic with the condenser coils outside, and a heat pump with gas back up for the coldest weather. And the quote isn't for one of the known high price brands either, it for well known manufacturers, with a good reputation, but not the most expensive ones.