Talk me into or out of moving back to Upstate NY!

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Call me stupid or whatever you want but knowing how to pay your way is 1st grade knowledge.
We all don’t get to land on the moon.
We still need ditch diggers and people who can work their hands.
Excuse me but what does being able to.work with your hands have to do with intelligence or lack there of?
 
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Excuse me but what does being able to.work with your hands have to do with intelligence or lack there of?
I work with my hands.
 
Digging ditches by hand is often a menial job that the least capable can do, and have done in the past. It doesn't mean all those who do it are unintelligent. I have 2 bachelor's degrees, run a company with 7 figures in sales, and dig ditches when needed. It was only a couple years ago that my business partner and I were the only ditch diggers.
 
There is a local comedy group here, where one of their skits is "are you smarter than a county worker". Boos in the audience turns around pretty quick, when some archane no-one could possibly know question gets answered not by the PhD but just by a chance comment from "the guys". You won --. High fives, simulate a beer or two. Next question. The PhD never did get the hang of it.
 
Sad to say, basic budgeting is a skill that is independent of ones profession, Look at how well Dave Ramsey has done repackaging Crown Financial Ministry concepts into a commercial empire. His borrowed radical concept starts with getting some envelopes, labeling them for all household expenses and then putting all the cash from a paycheck in them. When any envelope is empty they do not get refilled until the next paycheck. People pay money to take the courses and buy the books mixed in with a slightly lesser tie to fundamentalist christian faith.

I was brought up by a bookkeeper and while he didnt force us kids to learn it, I did. I still balance my checkbook every month and keep track of debit card purchases. Many do not and banks and financial institutions make lot of money on overdraft fees.

In my case on property taxes, I moved to a small town in 1987 with a large papermill that paid most of the taxes, the town next door had a large pulp mill that also paid a majority of the taxes. The nearby rural towns were bedroom communities for the managers of the mills. So my property taxes were reasonable. Fast forward 30 years and the pulp mill is gone, the papermill is struggling and usually behind on their rent with plans to tear down 75% of the buildings to concentrate on running on last papermachine (out of 6 previously)and the state decided to renig on deals on school funding and medicaid forcing more costs on the towns and county . Property taxes started going up and with a loss of major employers home values went down. Its now a split market, seasonal places with good views in the surrounding towns are in demand while cheap places in town sell to out of town ATV owners who can drive on town roads to get to the local 1000 mile plus ATV network . So $415 a month for one acre and 1500 foot home with garage. That is actually a bit low as a 3rd bedroom and bath was never finished, if they were it would probably jump up to $465 a month. Pick up my house and move it one town over and my taxes would be about 60% of what I pay.
 
My sister lived in Watertown newyork for 30yrs. It was interesting how when the family was grown, one by one they all moved back to WI. I think they wanted a more urban/rural combination vs the north woods feel of Watertown. He was a physician in town. I think the rest wanted more employment opportunities. Other extended family had a lot to do with it too.
 
I lived in Rochester for 5 years and Albany for 6 years in the 80's and 90's and loved every minute. Relaxed life style, low cost of living, easy driving and lots to do surrounded by beautiful country and 4 great seasons. And I like the cold! But the jobs for Engineers were Awful.

I moved to Boston in 1997 to present for a great job but I hate living in the Boston area because I'm sick of the crowds, horrible traffic and endless wall to wall cities with little rural space. Now I'm retired and want to go BACK to Upstate NY. The only disadvantage I see is the horrendous property taxes. The income and Sales taxes are a bit higher than MA but not terribly. Housing costs in Upstate NY look to be about half for the same type house and land area.

Anybody out there living in Upstate NY with an opinion? I know there are other areas but I like living near cities with populations of 100K-200K for the numerous conveniences but they have to be surrounded by lots of rural space that's friendly to woodburners and NOT near any Megalopolis.

Oh yea, the other things I don't like about Boston is they have no idea how to make a proper Italian Sub, Buffalo Chicken Wing or Pizza!
I live on Long Island and can't wait to get out. For what it's worth, NH had cheap prices on wine and liquor.
 
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My wife gets e-mail of homes from Zillow. There are some really neat old homes in West Hartford and Hartford, CT that she will send me. Neat homes around the UConn law school area (Mark Twain house is in the area). Always amazed at the property taxes, which are prohibitive.

West Hartford Mill Rate is 42. Hartford is 74! By contrast, I grew up in Shelton. Mill Rate there is 22.

 
... I still balance my checkbook every month and keep track of debit card purchases. ...

Same here. My buddy thinks it is hilarious that I balance out the checkbook each month . . . me . . . I like knowing how much money I have on hand and if the bank or myself have made any errors. I also am old school in that I keep all of my debit slips and do everything with pen and paper and a calculator vs. tracking things on line. Sometimes I think I am a 81-year-old man and not in my early 50s.

Oh yeah . . . my wife and I also are exploring a possible move . . . north to The County.
 
I balance my checkbook and check all credit card receipts for the month.

I also manually enter all monthly transactions from our financial statement and quarterly statements from my wife's multiple retirement accounts into Quicken. I could download the information, but I like to be more hands-on involved in seeing what's going on.
 
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I pay about $110 a month on 5 acres 2000 sq ft house and roughly 10000 sq ft in 3 out buildings.
That is incredible. There is a huge difference in property taxes between states.
 
My sister lived in Watertown newyork for 30yrs. It was interesting how when the family was grown, one by one they all moved back to WI. I think they wanted a more urban/rural combination vs the north woods feel of Watertown. He was a physician in town. I think the rest wanted more employment opportunities. Other extended family had a lot to do with it too.
Yup I get that. It's nice to be near major conveniences but still have the rural surroundings which is exactly the combo i am looking for.
 
That is incredible. There is a huge difference in property taxes between states.
It varies allot within the state as well though.
 
Try Utah, weather is So much better than the East. 1 hr to 1 1/2 hr North of Salt Lake City. Some Great places to live.
 
I just learned that NY is next door to the state that is the "sock capital of the world". So we have that too.
 
Fort Payne, AL....?
 
Wait, are you telling me that there is more than 1 sock capital of the world?

Oh, the humanity! What is this world coming to when 2 places can claim such a title?
 
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Couple thoughts cost aside. Having close access to healthcare specialists is really nice. Local orthopedic, oncology, cardiac specialist ect. just makes life easier. That an airport with more than one carrier 90 miles or less away.

Easy in easy out for reasonable prices.
 
Couple thoughts cost aside. Having close access to healthcare specialists is really nice. Local orthopedic, oncology, cardiac specialist ect. just makes life easier. That an airport with more than one carrier 90 miles or less away.

Easy in easy out for reasonable prices.
Good points - decent health care and nearby airports are on the list of must-haves.
 
Upstate NY is beautiful country!
Here are the reasons i have seriously considered moving....
Super high taxes.. When my property was assessed at$250k my property + school taxes where almost $7000. My property assessment just recently jumped to $400k for no reason.
The politics. Upstate might be mostly conservative, but we are ruled by Albany and NYC, which are liberal.
Just look at the number of people that moved out of NY this year!
That should give you a hint...
 
Upstate NY is beautiful country!
Here are the reasons i have seriously considered moving....
Super high taxes.. When my property was assessed at$250k my property + school taxes where almost $7000. My property assessment just recently jumped to $400k for no reason.
The politics. Upstate might be mostly conservative, but we are ruled by Albany and NYC, which are liberal.
Just look at the number of people that moved out of NY this year!
That should give you a hint...
Did your property tax go up proportionally to the increased assesment?

It would be pretty much a no brainer of a choice for me if it were not for the high taxes.
I agree about the beautiful country. We have considered the Ithaca area.
 
Did your property tax go up proportionally to the increased assesment?

It would be pretty much a no brainer of a choice for me if it were not for the high taxes.
I agree about the beautiful country. We have considered the Ithaca area.
My taxes did not go up proportionately...
Our assessor is either crooked or incompetent...
My assessment went up that much, without any reason.
Some properties are way under market value.