Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

Hi all,

My wife and I are currently thinking of moving back to the Chicago (suburb) area where she was born and grew up, from the UK.

Having been across many times I think I know the city pretty well and it seems like a fantastic place to live, however I am struggling to find information on property tax and how it works. I should get my visa quite easily (we were married in Illinois 6 years ago) and I am looking for jobs that pay in the region of 80,000 'bucks' per year.

After tax I'm estimating that should have a net income of circa 4,500-5,000 if I'm correct. I've tried calculating monthly bills but where I am struggling is property tax. I believe it is based on 33.3% of the value of the house but from there I don't know how to convert that to a monthly/annual cost.

If I was to buy a house for 350,000 then 33% is roughly 115,000-120,000 so where do I go from there. I was guessing before research that it would be maybe 200-300 per month but I'm now fearing its in excess of 1000 a month.

How do I know?

Looking at Algonquin, IL (which is Kane County or McHenry).

Apologies if this has been asked before, I've tried searching the forums but found nothing!

Thanks in advance!

Re: Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

You can find property tax info on zillow.com. Just type in an address and look under "details" and you'll find the annual property taxes. Here's a place in Algonquin listed at $340k and it has $9k annual property taxes

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/49...54941633_zpid/

That property tax will be on the "assessed value" of the house and varies a lot between towns. As an example I live in New England. My house is worth $550k, the assessed value is $450k and I pay $6.75k in annual property taxes......so the rate is 1.5% of the assessed value.

Re: Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

Thanks very much for the information above, much appreciated.

It seems property taxes are a lot higher than the equivalent 'council tax' we pay here in the UK.

Once you had that to the cost of a mortgage it really adds up fast.

Thanks again.

Re: Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

Our is about 12 x what we pay in the UK. I find gas and electricity very expensive due to the very cold winters and air con in the hot, humid summers. All these costs vary depending on your location. Car insurance is also expensive and you will also have to consider healthcare costs.

Re: Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

Yes property tax is usually way more than the UK council tax, but it all depends on location and the cost of your house. Along with the mortgage you will have to pay home insurance and if you put less than 20% down probably PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance). These costs usually go into an escrow account and are paid by the mortgage company. For me I paid $2k a month on my mortgage and $700 into an escrow account to pay my property taxes and home owner's insurance. Another cost will be water and sewer which you'll have to pay to your town.

Re: Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

Our property taxes aren't any way near as high as some of the others have mentioned here and are a little lower than what we paid in the UK. We do have to pay for refuse collection on top of that which was included in the UK council tax.

Re: Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

Lower than the UK??!! :eek:

We're at 3.3%. Our mortgage is approx $1400/month and the taxes and insurance approx $900/month...

I find the cost of maintaining a house to be FAR higher than in the UK. It depends on location but for me electricity can be $300/month in summer, water can be upwwards of $150/month depending on useage, I could mow my own lawn but I hate it so I don't so that's $120/month in summer and I will have the HOA on my back if I don't. Obviously in winter these costs all drop. Then there's cable/internet which is approx $150/month, car insurance which is WAY more than in the UK and when you factor in health insurance co-pays and premiums (I'm free but I do have to contribute for my family) it's crazy how expensive everything is. On top of all that there's HOA fees, which aren't too bad but still another $800/yr.

Re: Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

I find maintaining a house in the US to be expensive too.

Monthly costs include:

Property taxes: $550
Home insurance: $120
Water: $40
Electricity: $50
Gas: $30
Heating Oil: $100 (all spent in the winter, but it averages out over the year to $100/month)
Cable and internet: $100
Cell phone: $65

Re: Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

When looking at property taxes on zillow.com (or anywhere else for that matter) if is also important to understand how the "assessed value" of the property is calculated and whether purchasing the property will trigger a reassessment. I don't know if any other state has anything quite like California's Proposition 13 but it is something worth investigating to avoid unpleasant surprises.

For example, my neighbor's house is almost identical to mine and Zillow lists both of them as having a value of approximately $500,000 ($498,460 vs $501,882) but the assessed value and property taxes are very different:

- $245,353 assessed value and annual property taxes of $3,434 for him
- $475,096 assessed value and annual property taxes of $5,936 for me

... and the only reason for the difference is the price that was paid when they were purchased and the fact that I had to buy out my ex-partner's share of my house about 5 years ago and, unfortunately, that event triggered a reappraisal ... :(

Re: Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

That method wouldn't work where we live - everyone pays a different amount based on what they originally paid for the house.

Edit: didn't read to the end of the thread, it has been explained above.

Re: Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

Here it's based upon the local council's valuation of the property.

You cannot rely on Zillow. I don't know whose house details they are showing for our house...but it isn't ours.

Re: Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

Wow thanks everyone for the help/advice!!

I've been relooking at all my figures today and my conclusion is that the US would be far more than the UK on the same sort of salaries.

I also tried to do research on medical expenses with my job and my conclusion was that if I required cover for just myself its ok, but once I add my wife and daughter as dependents it escalates quickly.

I think the only option here is to make sure my wife can work part time, and hopefully get her medical included.

I was naive to think a salary of 80k or so in the suburbs would be enough for a nice comfortable life - its not :-(

Re: Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

Even with healthcare insurance you will still have out of pocket costs to pay...co-pays, deductibles. These can add up as doctors here will send you for every test imaginable. Would you have insurance to cover prescriptions? Will you have dental insurance?

Re: Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

It is the rare part-time job that offers medical insurance.

Re: Property Tax/General Help - IL
 

We're not trying to be mean just trying to help with realistic numbers. Seems like you have your head screwed on and are taking on board all of the costs.

I think the US looks cheaper than the UK on the surface, and to a certain extent, if you rent and don't get hit with some of the home-based costs in certain areas it's reasonable, but underneath there are actually a lot of hidden costs. Healthcare is a massive hit and even if you are all covered you can still end up paying quite large sums on the deductible and co-insurance (plus the co-pays which you'll have to pay anyway) before the insurance kicks in at 100% (were you to need medical services that is). It's certainly a lot more expensive living here as a family than as a single person, particuarly on the medical front.

Don't get me wrong, I love living here and am very happy but I will say it's a lot more expensive than I would have thought when I first moved over so I would caution to look into all costs closely. Admittedly some of the costs are what you make of them though; you can choose to not have cable, drive inexpensive cars, cook at home rather than eating out etc etc which would give you more disposable income for other things. It just depends what you're priorities are.