I was fooled by this, we almost bought in Florida back around in June, heck I still have the unsigned contracts in my inbox.
I love in SC and have state income taxes.
All I can say is watch out if you think something is "free" government spends money and it comes from someplace.
Ok, so I will pit South Carolina against Florida in this case.
South Carolina has state income taxes and Florida doesnt.
We passed on buying that house in Florida for two main reasons as much as we loved the area.
One, compared to SC, Florida taxes are much more expensive, trust me, they make up for not having income tax.
A 2000 sq foot home in Florida compared to our 3000 sq ft home in SC
Property taxes on Florida home $4,500 ++++ (read on) a year, Property taxes on South Carolina home $2000 a year
Community Development Fees and HOA fees IF you chose to live in a community (unique to Florida are CDD frees) in the range of $2,400 to $3,600 a year for CDD fees and $1000 a year in HOA for Florida.
With that said these fees can also be switched around HOA vs CDD but all told, between these fees and property taxes, just on a new 2000 sq ft home on a sandwiched property in Northern Florida we were looking at up to $8300 + in property taxes, CDD and HOA fees for a nice community with sandwich size tiny lots.
Throw in way more expensive food, gasoline and lets not forget way more Florida homeowners insurance.
To be fair, I am not sure if Florida annual has vehicle tax fees. SC does and depending on the county can be expensive and we happen to live in one of the most expensive counties in SC. Our cars, boat and motorcycle run a bit more than $1000 a year. Granted, there is no sales tax if you buy any of these items new, better said a sales tax cap of $500 on any purchase no matter how much. Buy an $80,000 boat or car $500 tax.
I have nothing against Florida, I have said many times, I LOVE Florida but one thing for sure, it ain't cheap just because there is no state income tax, use reason, the money has to come from someplace, it doesnt come out of thin air... Sure if I still lived in NY maybe that it would look like a bargain but not really anymore.
Oh on more thing, Florida does not give property tax breaks to senior citizens. (except for low income OR if you lived there for 25 years)
SC gives you the first $50,000 of home value as an exclusion, not much but it is something and adds to the already low cost of living here.
With all the above said, until our house is finished early next year in North Carolina, at the right price and right community we actually could go to Florida but that is looking exceedingly unlikely. I do love the state and I suspect will will still always vacation in the area but not as much sure now that we will be in a coastal area of NC but I suspect we will because I like the crowds and action in places like St Johns shopping areas, places to eat in Destin can be awesome, with real chefs names on the menu.
I still kind of have this "thing" for Florida but somehow ending up in NC *LOL* I think maybe because I made so many trips there I know the entire area well. Not as much in NC
, You know all this talk of SC and Florida.
