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My husband and I (and two boys, ages 8 and 4) are thinking about moving to Wake Forest. We currently rent in Durham (near Southpoint) and my husband works in downtown Durham (near the Durham Bulls ballpark). I work from home. Although his commute will be quite a bit longer, my husband seems ok with that as long as we are in a family-friendly area with good schools.
We've been to Wake Forest several times and LOVE the small-town feel. I was wondering if anyone had some insight as to the cost of living out that way. I've been looking at houses and while you get more house for the money, the property taxes seem very high, as compared to other places like Raleigh or Apex (which is another -but lesser- consideration).
Would anyone know why the property taxes appear to be higher out there? And, are there other items (water, utilities, cable) in Wake Forest that are higher (or lower) than neighboring areas?
I'll wait to hear what responses you get. Will say that if you move close to either 98 or 98 bypass you can be in downtown Durham in 30-35 mins. I've done 3 test runs from Heritage Schools/Rogers Rd to the downtown loop in Durham and my drive was no more than 40 mins even though I got stuck behind a school bus and another time an overloaded pickup truck going too slow
PS - and this was leaving Heritage at 7:45am
Last edited by RaleighLass; 12-27-2010 at 11:11 AM..
Reason: PS
Thanks, RaleighLass, I was thinking that my husband could do the 98 route, rather than Capital Blvd, which I understand is an exercise in frustration. Was looking at the Heritage area, but also looking around Jones Dairy Elementary (Northhampton subd), which would probably tack on another 5 minutes or so.
It's just the property taxes that kinda knock me out of my chair--why are they so high--what am I missing?
I was also going to ck out Northampton, haven't gotten there yet. Taxes, yes, WF is high. Don't know specifically why other than general economies of scale - costs them more to provide certain services if they are buying and reselling them? Or could be a combo, they need more revenue for infrastructure for projected growth. Honestly don't know why they've set it higher than some towns. bear in mind, you could live in Wake Forest but in the County rather than under city/county jurisdiction, this will greatly reduce your taxes...for now The way our area is growing it's a matter of time before many of the pockets of county only taxed areas go away. I used to live in one in Raleigh. Then Raleigh (city) annexed us. Our taxed doubled. We had to pay for our portion of sidewalks the length of our land, it was pretty costly for not really any additional services - at least ones we could use.
Hopefully someone will also discuss water rates. I think they are higher in WF. But for a family friendly place with larger lots, WF can't be beat. The Factory (ice skating, soccer, skateboarding, etc) is a great place for kids. And Wakefield subdiv and area is across US 1/Capital. They have the roller skating rink there.
It's just the property taxes that kinda knock me out of my chair--why are they so high--what am I missing?
I lived in WF for four years and still have a rental property there, and I guess that it's a matter of perspective when it comes to the tax rates. The current rate in WF ($1.044 per 100K) is 15% higher than Raleigh's rate ($0.9075). If you were to stay in the city of Durham, though, you would be looking at a rate of $1.298. In parts of Chapel Hill, the rate would be as high as $1.636. Compared with those, Wake Forest still comes out looking like a relative bargain, and the rate isn't much higher than some other Wake County towns like Garner and Zebulon.
Moved from Raleigh(in the city limits) to Northampton in Wake Forest about 4.5 years ago after being in Raleigh for 12 years. Don't know if water rates are higher now but do remember them being slightly higher than what we were paying in Raleigh when we moved. Town services are about the same as city of Raleigh. I can say in the 12 years in Raleigh I never saw a snow plow in my subdivision and we had a firehouse/EMS in our subdivision not 2 blocks from our house which you would think would get priority once major roads were clear. By 2 yesterday afternoon a Town of Wake Forest plow was down my block which is not one of the main roads in Northampton. The neighborhood is great and once the bridge replacements are done on Jones Dairy Road(June 2011) it will be an relatively easy commute across 98 to Durham especillay now that the bypass is complete.
Thanks lb27608 and dad2jules for your responses! It's good to hear about the WF town services--particularly about the snow plows. I would not have expected to see plows on secondary roads, so it's very impressive that it was done in a timely manner. And when you list out comparisons as lb27608 did, it doesn't seem as bad as I thought. Maybe it's the houses and the land being valued higher that results in a larger prop tax bill? Hard to say, I guess.
I do have a question--what happens if a home/land is valued at a certain price, but because of the economy, you purchase at a much lower price. I guess you appeal that original price with the tax assessor?
And one more question, I promise. In addition to Northhamption, I took a look at a neighborhood called Bowling Green--any insights about that neighborhood?
As always, thanks so much for sharing your opinions. It's very much appreciated.
I also live in NH and once the new bridge opens 98 is right there, also you have the elementary school basically right in your backyard. There is a path in the subdivision to the back of Jonesdairy.
HOA here is about 425.00 a year
Property taxes, like the rest of us, you are stuck with the assessment unless the house has fallen apart since they valued it If they allowed one homeowner to reduce their taxes based on the current economic climate it would be a disaster as many homes are tax valued more than current market value. In Wake Co for yrs it was the other way - homes were valued way less than market value.
Would anyone know why the property taxes appear to be higher out there?
Taxes are very relative as they seem like an absolute bargain here in Wake Forest compared to where my wife and I relocated from in suburban Maryland.
Here’s my 2 cents, Wake Forest is a well managed and progressive town and that’s possibly why it cost a little more in taxes. For example, we just got a new Town Hall and the downtown area around it has also been substantially spruced up. That cost money but to my mind it’s well worth it because it means WF is investing in the future.
We probably have more police than similar NC towns our size but again that seems like a worthwhile investment given that people are willing to commute all the way from here to Durham. No doubt that’s because WF has a reputation for low crime making it a wonderful place to raise a family.
Ultimately Wake Forest represents the great divide between towns that are trying to hold on to old traditions and those that are embracing socioeconomic realities and moving forward with a well thought out plan.
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