Monday, July 14, 2008

I Ain't Movin'!

I live in the second-largest city in the state of Indiana. We are known here for our low cost-of-living, and, probably the comment most made by people who live here is, "it's a great place to raise a family." We are also known as the "city of churches," which is not a bad thing, either. I can think of nine or ten churches within a mile of my home, and I might be missing some!

I heard a story on the radio today. The "morning guy" played a sound-bite from a tv news story in Pittsburgh, where a Fort Wayne native had moved. He was shocked to find his property tax bill was $7000 a year.

Seven. thousand. dollars. I pay less than $500 over that amount per year for my mortgage, which *includes* property tax AND homeowner's insurance. My property taxes are about 10% of the guy in Pittsburgh's.

Another man called in to say that he moved here from Corpus Christi, TX, and the property tax bill for a 2500 sq. ft. home was *eight* thousand dollars! So that is more than I pay for everything. (guess I won't complain about my natural gas bill budget going up this month...)

My daughter Violet used to work for the Convention and Visitor's Bureau here in town, and would often receive calls from people who were moving here from other parts of the country. A man called from California, and asked if it were "possible" to find "anything" to house his family for $350,000. Now, of course you *can* find homes here for that price (at one time, our town had more per-capita millionaires than anywhere else in the country), but that her parents' home was in a lovely old neighborhood inhabited by many artsy-types (including the director of the symphony), and [our] home was less than $100,000. The man 'bout fell off his chair. Now, I understand that, him being from California and all. My aunt lived in a 1400 sq.ft. two-bedroom, one bath dealie that listed for $578,000. I can't even imagine how much money you would have to make, in order to make the payments on a mortgage like that.

Would any of you like to come "be my neighbor?" We'd love to have you!

2 comments :

Jen said...

Rub it in, why dontcha! If we ever had to move and could choose a place, Indy area would be it for us.

Bonita said...

I must admit that this post is very persuasive. If it wasn't for the fact that I love the south and dislike cold weather and snow, I'd be there in a heartbeat for those prices. You are so blessed to live in that type of economy! I'm glad you realize it!