Southlake...HIGH taxes? (Austin, Fort Worth, Keller: buying a house, neighborhood, buying)

[ajgranda]

Hi,

My wife, child and I are looking to relocate from NY. We are considering Northern Scottsdale, but also like the idea of Southlake (cosmopolitan feel), but can't believe the high property taxes, 3% of property value. Is that right? If so, that means a $500K house will have $15K/yr property taxes. That seems very high even considering that Texas doesn't have a state income tax. Why such high taxes? Where is the money going? Here in Southern NY a house valued at close to a million will have $15k/yr property taxes in an excellent neighborhood with great schools.

Also, are people staying in Southlake after they retire and the kids are grown? It seems kind of expensive for that.

Thanks for any feedback.

[New Jersey Texan]

Southlake is the most expensive place that you can find to live in. Unless your like really looking to impress somebody, look for housing like maby one town over in Fort Worth where you can pick from an infinite number of cheaper houses.

[JamieFL]

Most places in DFW average between 2.5-3.5. Texas is know for high property taxes. I know that Heritage in Keller is like 3.44%. It's very high.
We are moving from FL and have done extensive research in the property taxes in different areas. Where the schools are better, they woll hover over the 3% from what I have seen. yes there is no sate tax, but it is still high regardless. We have no state tax in FL either and taxes are lower, however, the homestead exemptions are better in TX.

Jamie

[Guingirl]

Here are the tax rate breakdowns -

http://www.tad.org/WebPages/2006_tax_rates.htm

Also if you are over 65 you have a lower rate and it doesn't increase each year from my understanding as my Mom is in that bracket.

I am from California and with the price of the house and the property taxes versus state taxes it ends up being a wash.

The reason Southlake is so expensive is one reason - Carroll ISD is one of the best in the state. Very strong and very very competitive

[ajgranda]

Thanks for the replies. What is meant by homestead exemptions?

Originally Posted by JamieFL

Most places in DFW average between 2.5-3.5. Texas is know for high property taxes. I know that Heritage in Keller is like 3.44%. It's very high.
We are moving from FL and have done extensive research in the property taxes in different areas. Where the schools are better, they woll hover over the 3% from what I have seen. yes there is no sate tax, but it is still high regardless. We have no state tax in FL either and taxes are lower, however, the homestead exemptions are better in TX.

Jamie

[JamieFL]

A Homestead exemption is the reduction in the taxable value of your primary home. In certain areas we have looked and asked about this, you get a 20% homestead exemption and an additional 20k off the taxable value (Depending on the area). So for instance, if you were buying a house in Ft Worth for 500k, your taxable value would be 380k, not the full 500k. I do not know how Southlake works with their homestead, I have not looked into that, but from what I have been told by many builders when Ive asked is that Ft Worth has a 20% homestead, (dont shoot the messenger if I am incorrect by saying FT Worth, that is just what I have been told on many occasions) and some other areas have an additional 15k or 20k on top of that for a school exemption or some other exemption.

In Florida, we have a flat 25k exemption for your primary residence. Every state is different, and in Texas it looks like the cities or counties also differ from what I have seen....but for such a high property tax rate, it's worth looking into.

On a tax rate of 3%, the difference between a taxable value of 500k and 380k is about 3600.00 per year, so it can make a difference.

[AustinTraveler]

I don't know about the rest of Texas but here in Austin (Travis County) we have a flat $15,000 homestead exemption. I have never heard of a 20% exemption in Texas! It sure would be nice though.

[ajgranda]

Thanks JamieFL, I will have to look into that furthur.

Originally Posted by JamieFL

A Homestead exemption is the reduction in the taxable value of your primary home. In certain areas we have looked and asked about this, you get a 20% homestead exemption and an additional 20k off the taxable value (Depending on the area). So for instance, if you were buying a house in Ft Worth for 500k, your taxable value would be 380k, not the full 500k. I do not know how Southlake works with their homestead, I have not looked into that, but from what I have been told by many builders when Ive asked is that Ft Worth has a 20% homestead, (dont shoot the messenger if I am incorrect by saying FT Worth, that is just what I have been told on many occasions) and some other areas have an additional 15k or 20k on top of that for a school exemption or some other exemption.

In Florida, we have a flat 25k exemption for your primary residence. Every state is different, and in Texas it looks like the cities or counties also differ from what I have seen....but for such a high property tax rate, it's worth looking into.

On a tax rate of 3%, the difference between a taxable value of 500k and 380k is about 3600.00 per year, so it can make a difference.

[JamieFL]

For Tarrant County, here is a graph straight from their county website that shows the exemptions for different areas, and the different types of exemptions.

http://taxoffice.tarrantcounty.com/r...ionsdetail.asp

For example:

026 CITY OF FORT WORTH 0.860000 20% (Min 5000) (General Homestead)

40000 - Over 65 exemption
0 - optional homestead
0 - optional over 65 exemption
40000 - disabled person exemption
5000 vet 1
7500 - vet 2
10000 - vet 3
12000 - vet 4

(not sure of the details regarding the differences in the vet exemptions, this is just taken from the site)

and then at the bottom of this chart it lists the ISD and it tells you the additional exemption you get based on the ISD. Most are 15k and some provide an additional 5k or 1%, stuff like that. Its very interesting.

So yes, the 20% does actually exist, just not in every area, but in a lot of areas. Hope this helps.

Jamie

[javak]

We pay 3% for Southlake services within Keller ISD . It costs an extra 0.25 % for Caroll ISD (Around 3.25 %) and yes it's 3.4 % in Heritage , Crawford Farms area . Yes we will probably leave the area once the kids finish college unless they come up with tax relief . One reason the taxes are so high is because the taxes are being diverted from productive tax bases to areas in the state that use more resources but collect proportionately less tax.
In addition, the property taxes are high because the school supervisors probably buy the toilet paper for the school for $60.00 per roll from their buddies, then put laxatives in the kids food .