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My taves are $5600 for a 1100 sq ft townhome that I paid $223,000...I do not know how anyone (especially in NJ) would think that $3600 would cover taxes for a $300k home with land. It kills me everytime I hear someone blame the realtor, the mortgage company or the owners when people should take personal responsibility before making such a large purchase. I did months of research on comps and even went to 5 or 6 open houses in the same community after I made my offer to see that everything was in order and made sense as far as my unit.
If you are that in the weeds living "paycheck to paycheck" before you buy a house you probably should not be making that large of a purchase to begin with.
I hate to sound harsh, but it time to put your big boy pants on and suck it up and either pay the taxes/mortgage or sell the house.
900 more a month today, but be prepared to pony up more if you don't have enough to cover the escrow minimum balance once the bank reevaluates your escrow account.
I'm puzzled about this. Isn't this what Title insurance is for, to make sure the property is free and clear of all financial loss from defects in title to real property and from the invalidity or unenforceable of mortgage liens. I would have filed a claim against my title insurance, that's what you pay the premium for.
I tried but the title insurance co told me that they informed me of this potential lien on the title search so the burden is on me. This is what my lawyer told me too.
I tried but the title insurance co told me that they informed me of this potential lien on the title search so the burden is on me. This is what my lawyer told me too.
Your lawyer is a dummy. Anyone lawyer with brains would have held at least 10 grand on the day of the closing for this unknown expense.
Your lawyer is a dummy. Anyone lawyer with brains would have held at least 10 grand on the day of the closing for this unknown expense.
I agreed (and I will never go back to him) - he did have the seller signed a letter agreeing to pay the omitted assessment tax - I guess the letter doesn't do me any good now that the seller filed for bankruptcy. It was one expensive lesson for me.
$3600 tax on a $300K property. That sounds all wrong from the start. One should really understand the cost of home ownership before buying a home.
Wonder if the OP realized that he lives in NJ? I bought a 25-year-old, 940 s.f. condo this year in Monmouth county for $180,000. My taxes are a little under 4200, and coming from Bergen County, I was thrilled that the taxes were that low.
I'm sure the OP has now slunk away and will never come back to this forum.
Something really bad happened with the taxes on my NJ home. I bought a new construction about a year ago. The taxes at that time were $3600 a year on a 300k house. The mortgage was somewhat manageable, with me working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day. Recently, I was on my bank's mortgage page, and--surprise, surprise!--my monthly mortgage payment suddenly increased by $900 a month! I called up the bank, and they said that the increase was due to an increase on the NJ state taxes on the house. So I called up my county tax lady to see what was going on, to find out why was I now paying $3,000 a month on a fixed interest mortgage instead of the $2100 I was paying for the past year. A lady answered the phone.
She said, well, in New Jersey, there's this rule where if you buy a new construction house, in the first year you only have to pay real estate taxes on the LAND of the house, not the HOUSE itself. Then, after a year, the tax assessor ADDS THE HOUSE to the entire tax assessment. So, your taxes double because now you are not only paying taxes on the LAND (which is half the house/land complex) but you are now also paying taxes on the HOUSE. IN ADDITION, the cute lady said, YOU HAVE TO PAY BACK TAXES ON THE HOUSE TAXES THAT YOU HAVE NOT BEEN PAYING FOR THE PAST YEAR. So, not only do your taxes double, but you also have to pay on top of that half the taxes over again to make up for you not paying for the house portion of the real estate tax.
“What?” I told her, “This is absurd, this is increasing my total mortgage payment by $900 per month!!!!”
She said, “Well, the people who sold you the home, the real estate salesman, the builder, they should have told you that. That your first year you only pay taxes on the LAND, and then later on the tax assessor adds the house and you pay for everything plus retroactive real estate taxes. But don't worry, it only increases by $900 for the year 2011. After that, in 2012, you will have paid off the back real estate taxes on the home for 2009, so you will pay the normal tax rate, which will only increase the mortgage payment by about $400 per month for the year 2012 and beyond. If you want, you can file an appeal in January.”
After that I hung up. Suddenly I have to pay an extra $900 per month on top of my already paycheck-to-paycheck mortgage payment. That pretty much eliminates the possibility of refinancing my house or of me saving any money in 2011, and may even be a bankruptcy risk. I don't know why the State of NJ likes to checkmate people in their own homes like this. Is there a way to speed up the appeal process or get some other kind of recourse? I read in the newspaper that right now there is a backlog of 30,000 real estate tax appeal requests right now in NJ. Should I hire a lawyer to get the $900 increase reduced or eliminated?
I'm surprised your attorney did not disclose this to you during closing.
Also, you relying on the seller to disclose is a waste of time, its against their own interest to derail a possible sale.
Did anyone made you aware of the fact that New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation, along with the highest car insurance rates?
Were you not aware that buying new construction, will set your property taxes double?
And those taxes are going to go up every year.
Consider yourself lucky that you are not living in Northern NJ, where the tax rate is astronomical. My friend pays $25,000 per year on taxes on his house.
I feel very sad for you.
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