Let's use a real example. My 2 BR Condo in VT runs me about $2200 in taxes. A similarly sized 2BR condo in my town in NJ would run about $5800 in taxes. The assessed value of the example condo in NJ is a bit less than twice the assessed value of the VT condo, yet taxes are about 2.5 times higher.Not really. Very slightly. That's where 'effective tax rate' comes into play, and Vermont's is one of the worst in the nation. Better than NJ, but still pretty bad.
I'm not sure what you're referring to by "effective" tax rate. Bottom line the taxes on the condo in VT are substantially less in terms of real dollars than the similar one in NJ would be. The VT tax rate comes out to around 2% while the NJ one is about 2.5%. Those real values are pretty close to the "effective" values listed on the site you mentioned, so I'm not following how they are adjusting to account for property values being different in different states.
Cost is a factor, yes. Tax rate is not. I pointed out in my example above that the taxes for a similar property are cheaper in VT vs NJ due to property values being lower even though rates are not terribly different. That's what I'm looking at to determine my perception of value and whether they are "expensive" or not.You sure? That's DEFINITELY something I'd think about. Taxes, price appreciation of asset, etc... all of that. Cost would be a huge factor in my decision. For some people who are buying solely for every weekend trips, well then sure, because they cant fly every week. But if you're only making it on say 3 ski trips a year, that CO home you mention sounds pretty nice.
If you're buying a second home to use it for 3 ski trips a year, then you have other issues to begin with. I can't believe that is the normal target audience for a second home. So again, saying taxes are much cheaper in a state like CO is irrelevant because there are other factors that play a much bigger role in the decision than taxes alone. You buy a second home typically because it is in a location that you want to visit (usually often), not because of tax rates. If I wanted a place down the Jersey Shore (which I don't...but just an example as there are many people that do), I'm not going to buy a place in South Carolina instead just because they have lower property taxes.
I'm not saying taxes don't matter, I'm just saying especially when it comes to second homes they are much less a factor compared to other things.