Property Tax

First, I didn't get the damned stitches out. The doctor says the wound hasn't healed enough. Maybe Monday. But let's drop that boring topic. I went on zillow.com to look up home values in the area. We are thinking of moving into a smaller home, but I want to stay in the school district until my youngest graduates. We could move to a house valued about the same as ours, but with reduced property tax. That would save some money. But I told my husband I want to get a cheaper house, too. I want to put a nice chunk of change in the bank to live on. In fact, once Nick graduates (in 3 years) we will probably leave the area. I don't want to leave Long Island. It's fricking expensive to live here, but it is my home, where I have lived for all my 50 years and hope to live forever. I found out we can live in a pretty nice area farther east for about $100,000 less than this house and waaaayy less property tax. So there is hope for the future. I found out my house value has dropped by about $30,000 in just the last month. The Boom is going Bust. Who cares? If my house sells for less, so will everyone else's--it all balances out in the end. Okay, so being nosy, I had to look up the value of my boss's home. It takes me 2 minutes to drive to work, but that's the next town over and a little ritzier. A LOT ritzier. I live on a corner lot of slightly less than a 3rd acre and my taxes are about $6,000/year. Not only is her home on a lot of about 1.5 acres...she pays (don't choke) almost $25,000/year in property tax! Geesh, no wonder the woman works 6 days a week running two pediatric offices! (One here, one in Brooklyn. She must spend 4-6 hours a day commuting.) I have more to say about it, but the thumb is hurting. Enough typing. I'll continue this later. Off to take a walk before it gets too hot.