Want $265,000 and 4 months vacation? Move to Saint John.

I’ll admit it – I live in suburbia. And I hate it. The flat blandness. The cookie cutter McMansions in car-centric neighbourhoods. The endless lawn mowing and manicuring for a lawn I never use. I hate it all. The one thing going for me: at least I live in Saint John. So I mentioned this to a friend recently who, in all seriousness, replied, “Why don’t you just move out to KV? At least then you wouldn’t get the fog and you don’t have to pay those high taxes. That’s the whole reason I moved to KV.” As if that would make me happier about living in suburbia.

Fog aside, that statement intrigued me.

Residents outside Saint John love to crap on the high tax rate of the city, and they’re right. It sucks and it hits me right in the wallet every year. Score one for KV. But when I looked back at my friend with the smug glow of self-satisfaction on his face, I thought to myself, “His house, for all intents and purposes, is the exact same size and quality as mine. The yard too! My neighbourhood is equally sought after by families, but I know I only paid a fraction for mine as he did for his, and the daily commute to KV must be killer!” Then I remembered growing up, spending 20 years on the far outer rim of KV. The commute WAS killer. But for him, it was completely worth it. So what IS that worth? Now that my parents aren’t paying the bills anymore, I thought, “maybe he’s on to something.”

I decided I would find out.

I figured it can’t be that hard; keep the calculation to things equal, things that can be easily quantified, ones that can easily have a dollar value associated with them and keep the subjective quality-of-life stuff out of it. He lives in a subdivision in Quispamsis off the Vincent Road; I live in a subdivision in Saint John off Westgate Drive. We both drive one car. Assume we both work 5 days a week in the center of the city in the area the highest concentration of workers (neither of us actually do) – near King Square. Add another round trip for the weekend errands. Easy. [I won’t continue to bore you with all the calculations an assumptions here; they’re included at the end of this article.]

So here’s what I decided I would measure, all other things being equal, with the facts and figures that I thought I could easily uncover using trusty old Google:

• Average home price
• Property taxes
• Mortgage payment
• Transportation costs

Here’s what I found: My friend was right. He’s paying 32% less than me in property taxes every year, which adds up to a savings for him, on average, of:

• $38.24 per month,
• $458.90 per year, or
• $11,472.50 over the life of his 25-year mortgage

Wow – $11,000! That’s a substantial sum of money right in his pocket. All for choosing to live in KV. But here’s the kicker: living in Saint John won hands down in all the other categories. Not only am I saving on my mortgage payment and interest by paying nearly $40,000 less on the initial purchase price of my house, but combined with transportation costs, I’m saving, on average:

• $436.06 per month,
• $5,232.73 per year, or
• $130,818.35 over the life of my 25-year mortgage.

Wait. Did I just say $130,818.35?! Cha-CHING! Suddenly sticking around in Saint John doesn't sound that bad! For what my friend is saving on an annual basis in property taxes, I am saving the equivalent on a monthly basis! And even though I said I’d keep the quality-of-life stuff out of it, when I crunched the numbers I found another interesting advantage to living in Saint John: my drive to and from work saves me 10.4 hours a month. That’s equivalent to more than an extra day of vacation each month or nearly 4.5 months over the span of 25 years! Increased quality of life… assuming that resting and spending time with your friends and family is something that you enjoy.

And here’s a different way of looking at the same data. If I chose to be a workaholic and spend those extra hours at the office, I could easily add $5,400 to my annual household income. What do you suppose I could spend another $135,000 on over the next 25 years?! All without spending any less time with my family than my KV friend would.

Hold on. Let me wipe that smug glow of self-satisfaction off my face.

I think I’ve made the right decision. But I give credit to my friend – he’s really committed to the lie. To the tune of $265,000 and months of free time. Is avoiding the fog, then, worth it? Nope. I’ll gladly put up with the 15 or so days of fog a year and the higher property taxes, thanks. And here’s the bonus – the closer you live to the centre of the city, the greater the savings. Call me greedy, but I think I’m gonna put my house up for sale – look out, Uptown, here I come! If you live in KV, you'd be smart to follow.


[UPDATE: In March 2011, I moved from the 'burbs of West Saint John to the Douglas Avenue area, adding $50,000 to my pocket book in increased income an reduced transportation costs.]


Data:

Kennebecasis Valley

• Average home price: $204,027 (Vincent Road area) (http://www.zoocasa.com/en/area_details/32188-Sherwood-Park-Quispamsis-New-Brunswick/demographics)
• Tax rate: $1.207 / $100
• Total taxes: $2,462.61
• Interest on 25-year mortgage w/ 5% down at 5.5%:  $163,252.05
• Monthly mortgage payment: $1,190.26
• Distance to King Square (from Vincent @ Alderbrook): 24.4km
• Cost to drive per month @ $0.35/km x 6 trips per week (wear & tear, plus gas):  $444.08
• Time per month spent driving (according to Google Maps): 21.6 hours
• Average neighbourhood household income:  $96,587.00 (http://www.zoocasa.com/en/area_details/32188-Sherwood-Park-Quispamsis-New-Brunswick/demographics)
• Lost income per month from travelling (@ $46.44 / hour / 40 hour week):  $1,003.02

Saint John

• Average home price: $163,670 (Downsview Drive area) (http://www.zoocasa.com/en/area_details/27640-Mahogany-Heights-Saint-John-New/demographics)
• Tax rate: $1.785 / $100
• Total taxes:  $2,921.51
• Interest on 25-year mortgage w/ 5% down at 5.5%:  $130,960.40
• Monthly mortgage payment: $954.82
• Distance to King Square (from Westgate @ Downsview): 9.8km
• Cost to drive per month @ $0.35/km x 6 trips per week (wear & tear, plus gas):  $178.36
• Time per month spent driving (according to Google Maps): 11.2 hours
• Average neighbourhood household income:  $102,170 (http://www.zoocasa.com/en/area_details/27640-Mahogany-Heights-Saint-John-New/demographics)
• Lost income per month from travelling (@ $49.12 / hour / 40 hour week):  $550.15