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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Any info on VA's taxes? or other DMV places?
this past weekend, a friend was adamant that VA is the worst of the DMV states to live in. she mentioned their high personal property taxes as a big reason. i really dont understand this. is it just paying yearly taxes on vehicles? what's your take on the different states (DC, Md, Va) and the cost of living? my dh works in arlington so we'd like to live nearby, but probably not arlington since it's really expensive. any good website recommendations?
thanks in advance!
Re: Any info on VA's taxes? or other DMV places?
This is kind of long, but it has a comparison of the various tax rates:
http://www.cfo.dc.gov/cfo/frames.asp?doc=/cfo/lib/cfo/tax_burden_2006_metro-area.pdf
You'll pay property tax on any home, land, vehicle, boat, etc. that you own.
They are sort of high in VA (I almost died of shock when I registered my car from MO). The other thing that you may/ may not be used to is the local taxes. I pay state tax and city tax on my car, and then an additional fee because I am an owner of a car within the city (they call it a parking fee, and I'm required to pay it, even though I have offstreet parking). That annoys the crap out of me.
Stand up for something you believe in.
You'll find that people around here have very strong opinions on the best and worst places to live (it's usually Maryland vs. Virginia). I know plenty of people who are adamant that their area is the best place to live, and the other state is awful. In reality, you are not going to find a huge difference in the quality of living just by crossing the Potomac. Virginia does have the property tax, but the amount you pay varies greatly depending on the value of the car (e.g., DH and I live in Arlington; I pay several hundred dollars for my 2006 BMW while he pays only the cost of the sticker - $25 - for his 1998 Jeep). Unless you have multiple, high-end cars, I wouldn't let the property tax deter you if you prefer to live in Virginia.
Personally, I think the commute should be the deciding factor in where you live. If your husband is going to be working in Arlington, he will not want to drive through DC or across the bridge every day to get to work. There are plenty of other options in Virginia if you don't want to or can't afford to live in Arlington. And I am not just saying this as a Virginian - I lived in Gaithersburg (and commuted to Tysons Corner) for two years before moving to Arlington
Baby248 - ETA 1/10/13
You'll find that people around here have very strong opinions on the best and worst places to live (it's usually Maryland vs. Virginia). I know plenty of people who are adamant that their area is the best place to live, and the other state is awful. In reality, you are not going to find a huge difference in the quality of living just by crossing the Potomac. Virginia does have the property tax, but the amount you pay varies greatly depending on the value of the car (e.g., DH and I live in Arlington; I pay several hundred dollars for my 2006 BMW while he pays only the cost of the sticker - $25 - for his 1998 Jeep). Unless you have multiple, high-end cars, I wouldn't let the property tax deter you if you prefer to live in Virginia.
Personally, I think the commute should be the deciding factor in where you live. If your husband is going to be working in Arlington, he will not want to drive through DC or across the bridge every day to get to work. There are plenty of other options in Virginia if you don't want to or can't afford to live in Arlington. And I am not just saying this as a Virginian - I lived in Gaithersburg (and commuted to Tysons Corner) for two years before moving to Arlington
Baby248 - ETA 1/10/13
My experience:
I got a "raise" by moving to Arlington from PG County, MD b/c of lower taxes. However, I did have to pay personal property tax (but I always have used cars so it's not that much).
I agree with PP: I would not factor in taxes to determine where you want to live. Commute, cost of housing, etc. are the things I would focus on.
First, and not on topic, I'm not getting this business of calling it DMV. I think only people who aren't from here call it that. I just know it as DC Metro area, and I'm from VA. I've never heard anyone but internet people call it that. Not helpful, I know I know... I do have advice:
As for taxes, the state will get its tax revenue from you somehow. I wouldn't pick one over the other for tax reasons. And county/city taxes can vary, so a blanket statement on a particular state would be misleading.
I would decide what kind of area you'd like to live in, and see what parts of DC/MD/VA meet those criteria. Then see what your commute would be like. We personally never work more than a 30 or so minute drive from home (on a good day. Bad days, well, those are bad.) That could be 15 or so miles. Alexandria (the city and the part of Fairfax County that is called Alexandria) might be good options for you depending on the vibe you want.
I thought the same thing
Baby248 - ETA 1/10/13
fwiw, i've heard that ppl from md (and maybe dc?) sometimes refer to the area as "dmv" but ppl from va never do b/c dmv=dept of motor vechiles (it's called something else in md...i forgot what)
i just noticed this in a few recent posts and was like "wha?!"
i'm new to the area and still say/think DC metro. to me, DMV = dept of motor vehicles
DH is from Maryland, but he doesn't call the area DMV.
I also think department of motor vehicles when I see DMV (and I thought it when I saw this post). It's been called that in almost every state where I've lived.
Except Maryland, where it's MVA (Motor Vehicle Administration).
As for taxes, when we were looking to move from Rockville, we did consider the expense of registering our cars in VA vs. DC as one of the factors on our pro/con list as far as staying in MD, or moving to VA or DC. But, it was only one factor and I agree w/ the pp who said that they'll get your taxes from you somehow. I also agree with whoever said to think about how much you want to spend on housing, how big you want that house to be and how long you're willing to commute as the primary factors. What works for other people is not necessarily what's going to work for you.
if your DH has a job in Arlington, I would live in Virginia. The taxes even out- yes, Virginia has the car tax (which is really not that much) but Maryland has higher property and income tax. And, DC has pretty high property taxes too. Other cost of living things like gas, groceries, rents, etc... are pretty much the same in MD/DC/VA.
Are you looking to buy or rent?
i hope i didnt offend anyone. i actually got this (DMV) from my BIL who is from DC (born & raised). he's even a police officer and he refers to the area as this.
thanks for the info, ladies! we're certainly considering other factors, but i wanted a variety of opinions & information on this issue. i appreciate it!
VA's income and real estate taxes are considerably lower than MD's and DC's, but VA has personal property tax (i.e., cars). For comparison, my parents pay slightly higher real estate taxes on a home in MD valued for significantly less than our home in VA. For a home of equal value in MD, they'd probably pay about $2000 more than we do in VA for real estate taxes.
VA's personal property tax isn't a big deal if you own an older car. We pay less than $500/year on DH's car, and until I got a new car last year, mine was under $100. But when I bought my new car last year I was in for a shock - my car tax this year will be about $2500! Generally though, I'd say, live where you want to live. It more or less evens out in the end.