How do you calculate property taxes when buying a home in Houston? (Lone Star: sales)

[Surfertx]

I'm a first time home buyer and recently moved from S. Cali. Will be planning to purchase a house in Cypress most likely. How do I calculate the property taxes on the house. I want to figure out what will my monthly payment will be on top of my mortgage payment.

In addition to property taxes will there be any other taxes?

Thx

[Hangster]

Property taxes is calculated differently in Houston than it is in California. In Houston, your taxed valued is re-assessed each year and it could go up or down based in the re-appraised value of your house. This is a shock to most who come from California where the taxed value is based on the sale price of the house and then it's locked in with almost no increase or a very very small increased based on the taxing county. So tax amount is almost constant year after year in California. In Houston, your tax amount can change greatly depending on how much your house was re-appraised for that year, keep in mind that if you have homestead exemption, the appraised amount for tax is capped at 10% increase each year. Your homestead exemption also qualifies you for a 20% discount on some of your taxes. Taxes are usually divided into 3 parts, County, School District and if applicable, MUD tax. The 20% exemption applies to county and school, but usually not to MUD. Your agent should be able to tell you what the tax rate is for your property, and you can also go to hcad.org to look up the tax info of the house you are interested in if it is not a new built home.

Hope that helps. if you have concerns, contact your taxing district for more info.

[haudi]

What neighborhood are you looking at? The tax rates are usually published on the builder site but they are easily searchable too. Here are all the tax rates for Harris County Jurisdictions along with the homestead amounts.

In Cypress, expect to pay the following:

Harris County
Cy-Fair ISD
Harris County Flood Control
Port of Houston Authority
Harris CO Hosp Dist
Harris CO Educ Dept
Lone Star College Sys
HC MUD for your area
HC Emerg Serv Dist for your area

These all have different tax rates and exemptions found here HCAD: Jurisdiction Information

[cheryjohns]

Take the sales price and divide by 100. Take that amount and multiply times the tax rate for that particular subdivision (it's listed near the bottom of the listing on HAR). Apply a 20% discount for Cypress for homestead. That will come close.

[Surfertx]

Lot's of good info. Thank you all.

[Meyerland]

HAr.com shows the monthly taxes using the price. Just scroll down through the listing and it shows an approximate monthly payment including property taxes. Then they break it down into the parts.

[Lowexpectations]

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

Take the sales price and divide by 100. Take that amount and multiply times the tax rate for that particular subdivision (it's listed near the bottom of the listing on HAR). Apply a 20% discount for Cypress for homestead. That will come close.

Or if the tax rate is 3% you can multiple .03 by the home price it is after all a percentage

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by Lowexpectations

Or if the tax rate is 3% you can multiple .03 by the home price it is after all a percentage

LOL - true. I am just used to doing this in my head.

[trbstang]

I put together an Excel spreadsheet for my boss since she is buying a house also. Easy to estimate the taxes depending on the area. I set it up so she could type in the sales price and the MUD district taxes since they vary by neighborhood and it calculates the homestead discounts and the tax on the balance. I can forward it to you if you want to send me your email via PM.