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We are in contract on a house in New Hyde park. The property tax disclosed to us was around $9000 and there was no mention that it was under star exemption. Now we found out that the poperty tax was under veteran's exemption in title search and new tax will be around $12000. We feel that the listing agent has cheated us. Can we walk out of this deal without losing our earnest money? With the new tax amount - the house will be over our budget limit. What are our options? Thank you everyone for always being so helpful.
We feel that the listing agent has cheated us. Can we walk out of this deal without losing our earnest money?
Almost definitely not. Anyone can go on the Nassau County property records site and look up any home and see exactly what they pay in taxes, and it will also tell if they're getting an enhanced STAR credit and whatnot.
You know you still get the regular STAR, right? That's usually around $1,200 or so, give or take. The current owner is just getting a little extra for being a veteran. Volunteer firefighters also get a bigger break.
Listing agent is under no obligation to disclose exemptions - they are only required to disclose the actual taxes on the property as posted on the Nassau County Tax Assessment site. As a home buyer, you should have done the research on the taxes before you made any offers:
We are in contract on a house in New Hyde park. The property tax disclosed to us was around $9000 and there was no mention that it was under star exemption. Now we found out that the poperty tax was under veteran's exemption in title search and new tax will be around $12000. We feel that the listing agent has cheated us. Can we walk out of this deal without losing our earnest money? With the new tax amount - the house will be over our budget limit. What are our options? Thank you everyone for always being so helpful.
You are experiencing the issue which I raised earlier regarding Star exemption. It will get worse in that the phoney "market value" of the house used by governments is vastly lower than the real "market value," my guess is that in 2018-2019 the "market value" will be adjusted to the real market value thus tax rates will go down per $1000 but overall taxes will go up for many people.. Your tax bill will be a moving target higher. Some municipalities used to adjust market value on sale which is clearly illegal, once I throttled an adjuster and told him that I would sue him and the town if he tried to pull that practice. My appraisal was quickly reversed. Even though illegal these municipalities have engineered workarounds which accomplish the same.
Also your taxes will go up because there is most likely a gap in the assessment protesting process (rigged stupid game). You have to ask the seller if they protested tax assessments prior to sale. Or your taxes will most likely go up.
I noticed that the listing on the House I sold had two tax amounts the first was with enhanced star exemption and the second without. I noticed that my buyer was going to lose the star exemption; and at close my lawyer noticed it too took me aside and told me the same; we were under no obligation to disclose a matter of due diligence on the part of the buyer. It could have been an issue if the buyer did not use the Title company lawyer! and thus had no representation for the purchase. My lawyer anticipated that should this issue be raised by the buyer we might have to adjust in some way.
To your issue;
I would speak to your lawyer and tell him that taxes were misrepresented by the seller's agent (and therefore the seller) to include an enhanced STAR adjustment.
Ask him to make the case that the agreed upon price needs to be adjusted to correct for the misrepresentation which you relied upon.
I would offer your lawyer some math using a PVA calculation; present value of an annuity of $3000 per year for 30 years at 5% for a total of $46,117. <-based on the formula that is the real cost to you! So you say to your lawyer (who does no know about finance or math) that the $3000 is a recurring payment increasing my costs by $46,000 over the life of my property ownership and I want an adjustment or I want the deal scuttled.
If your lawyer is any good he should be able to get a $10,000 adjustment.
College level finance is a *****. Once you apply basic math to public pension plans you will realize immediately that Nassau County, NYS is broke. The moral of the story is that your real estate taxes (and other taxes) are going to go up geometrically from here. The moral of the story is don't buy on LI or in NY, sell.
It's Nassau County. Taxes will go up every year no matter what.
You do however, have a little control on how much they go up via things like grieving, STAR, and any other exemptions you may qualify for. Join the FD.
It's Nassau County. Taxes will go up every year no matter what.
You do however, have a little control on how much they go up via things like grieving, STAR, and any other exemptions you may qualify for. Join the FD.
That grieving process is rigged; so you will pay 45% of what you "save" to friends and family of Ed Mangano who were given a permit to protest taxes on your behalf. It has also caused great distortions in taxes between houses next to each other. That is why the market value is likely to be reviewed for the whole county all at once to actual market value some time in the future.. The process of changing market values will be RAPE of the largest order.
The seller may not have an active grievance, bad for the buyer.
I believe banks take into account the amount of taxes you have to pay. Check with your lender if you are still able to get a loan with the adjusted tax total. If you're lucky, they won't approve the loan, and you're out of the contract.
I believe banks take into account the amount of taxes you have to pay. Check with your lender if you are still able to get a loan with the adjusted tax total. If you're lucky, they won't approve the loan, and you're out of the contract.
Very good point.
Another interesting thing is that in the old days contracts were written to say that sales were "contingent on the buyer getting a mortgage"
The contract my lawyer drafted stated that "the buyer was responsible for getting a conforming mortgage." That is a big buyer friendly change (that I did not like as a seller).
That grieving process is rigged; so you will pay 45% of what you "save" to friends and family of Ed Mangano who were given a permit to protest taxes on your behalf
Not if you're in Nassau. They've have free public workshops that show you how to grieve your taxes, and they've made it ridiculously easy to do online. It takes literally less than 30 minutes.
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