Cost of living

[NBuffaloResident]

I spent a lot of time in the mid west and I do have to say those people are much nicer and much more patient than people in NY. In fact, in my last position in my job, I moved to cover the upper midwest (MN, ND, SD, NE, KA, IA, MO, WI) area because the people on the east coast and west coast were nasty, rude, and many times didn't speak english and got mad when I asked them to repeat what they said.

The major thing WNY, well upstate as a whole, has going for it is the FOOD!! We have more mom and pop shops than any place i've ever been (out side of Italy). Every other area is chain after chain after chain.

If the cost of living and politicians weren't so messed up, this area woudl be the best place to live... if you don't mind a little snow!

Cost of living, comparatively speaking, is very low here. This region has some of the lowest BAH's (Basic allowance for housing, which is determined based on Cost of Living) in the country.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/money...PL3611000.html

In fact, Amherst ranks 42 out of the top 100 places to live:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/money...00/index2.html

[Dougles]

Cost of living, comparatively speaking, is very low here. This region has some of the lowest BAH's (Basic allowance for housing, which is determined based on Cost of Living) in the country.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/money...PL3611000.html

In fact, Amherst ranks 42 out of the top 100 places to live:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/money...00/index2.html

Please you and I both know why houses are fairly cheap around here! PROPERTY TAXES!

In most prospering area's your taxes make up less than 10% of your monthly mortgage payment... here they make up up to 50% (most being in the 40% range).

[dgrzeb]

Taxes & leadership are definitely negatives around here, but the people are there for you, when ever tragedy strikes, people come from every corner of WNY to not only help here, but in other parts of the world, as for that lack of leadership/politicos, a positive thing would be to find fresh blood, not career politicians & get them into office w/out owing anyone anything, we're starting to see this now I think (?) hope we react positively & continue to oust these people....

[NBuffaloResident]

Please you and I both know why houses are fairly cheap around here! PROPERTY TAXES!

In most prospering area's your taxes make up less than 10% of your monthly mortgage payment... here they make up up to 50% (most being in the 40% range).

If it were so expensive as some would purport to live here, the Cost of Living would be immensely higher.

It is not. It is in fact, quite low when compared to other metropolitan regions. So, say whatever you like about property taxes, etc. The total cost of living here is lower than most other major areas.

[Dougles]

It is not. It is in fact, quite low when compared to other metropolitan regions. So, say whatever you like about property taxes, etc. The total cost of living here is lower than most other major areas.

that's because a 4bd 2.5bath house in WNY costs $190K, while in NC it will cost $250K... but you'll pay $7000 in taxes here and $2500 in NC!

[NBuffaloResident]

that's because a 4bd 2.5bath house in WNY costs $190K, while in NC it will cost $250K... but you'll pay $7000 in taxes here and $2500 in NC!

Dougles, you are missing the point. Cost of Living takes into account the Total Cost of Living. Taxes included.

This region has a very low cost of living. I mean, are you trying to make sure nobody ever moves here or something? Is that your goal here?

Hell, I know this area has problems. Every area does. But it seems you want to ignore the positives of this region, while inflating all of the negatives.

[Hscout]

How did this conversation go from the nicest people in Buffalo to an argument over the cost of housing?

[Dougles]

Dougles, you are missing the point. Cost of Living takes into account the Total Cost of Living. Taxes included.

This region has a very low cost of living. I mean, are you trying to make sure nobody ever moves here or something? Is that your goal here?

Hell, I know this area has problems. Every area does. But it seems you want to ignore the positives of this region, while inflating all of the negatives.

No, my point is to say that if we could get our taxes under control, housing prices would rise, because more people would move here.

True or false, WNY has a population decline almost every year for the last 40 years?

[Dougles]

How did this conversation go from the nicest people in Buffalo to an argument over the cost of housing?

Because were talking about the main reason, IMO, that people don't see WNY as a great place to MOVE TO.

[NBuffaloResident]

No, my point is to say that if we could get our taxes under control, housing prices would rise, because more people would move here.

True or false, WNY has a population decline almost every year for the last 40 years?

Newsflash:

We don't want housing prices to rise (Taxes included). That raises the cost of living!

The low cost of living (Which includes property taxes) is a BENEFIT to our region. Can you say,"Farmshoring"?

Low cost of living = low labor costs = more businesses

[Hscout]

Because were talking about the main reason, IMO, that people don't see WNY as a great place to MOVE TO.

I am not sure if that's a statement about who could move here and forgetting about the people that are already here.

[Dougles]

Newsflash:

We don't want housing prices to rise (Taxes included). That raises the cost of living!

The low cost of living (Which includes property taxes) is a BENEFIT to our region. Can you say,"Farmshoring"?

Low cost of living = low labor costs = more businesses

So your telling me you'd be happy paying almost the same amount in taxes as you do your mortgage every month?

Please tell me if your proprty taxes dropped by 50% and your house value went up 20% you wouldn't be upset?

[NBuffaloResident]

So your telling me you'd be happy paying almost the same amount in taxes as you do your mortgage every month?

Please tell me if your proprty taxes dropped by 50% and your house value went up 20% you wouldn't be upset?

Dougles, if property taxes dropped by 50%, and value went up by 20% Cost of living would go up. That would be a bad thing to orchestrate purposefully for this region.

The low cost of living is a major bonus this area has. Add to that our housing market is completely indigenous in growth, and not subject to the extreme market fluctuations that other regions have, that's another benefit we have here.

No company would buy property here, if they had to worry about it's value falling out of it the next time we have a market correction. Our current situation, when compared to most other regions, promotes a very stable housing market.

[WNYresident]

Dougles, if property taxes dropped by 50%, and value went up by 20% Cost of living would go up. That would be a bad thing to orchestrate purposefully for this region.

How so? WHy would the cost of living go up? SO if taxes were on average like the rest of the USA why would cost if groceries go up? I know I wouldn't raise my prices just because taxes in NYS were lower...



No company would buy property here, if they had to worry about it's value falling out of it the next time we have a market correction. Our current situation, when compared to most other regions, promotes a very stable housing market.

NO company would buy property here for the most part unless they get incentive and stuff to offset the abnormal high cost of fees and taxes.

[NBuffaloResident]

How so? WHy would the cost of living go up? SO if taxes were on average like the rest of the USA why would cost if groceries go up? I know I wouldn't raise my prices just because taxes in NYS were lower...

Um, 'Res, can you do basic math?

Average property tax is say, $7K per year, right. Cut that in half (50%). Property taxes are now average $3.5K per year.

Ok, let's increase the price of a home by 20%. Average, per data is $45K. So, now these homes are priced at what? $75K.

That's a net gain. Which means, net increase in mortgages. Which means renters pay more. Which means jobs have to pay more. Which means cost of labor goes up.

NO company would buy property here for the most part unless they get incentive and stuff to offset the abnormal high cost of fees and taxes.

Tell that to Yahoo! They just got done building a data center here. Or, you can tell that to Canalside. Nobody will buy property here.

Again, basic math: The high costs imparted by fees and taxes is dwarfed by the extremely low costs of labor here.

Every businessman knows that 90% of your input costs are labor-related. Not energy, capital expenditures, or taxes.