Completely confused about property taxes (Orlando, Seminole: for sale, real estate, 2010)

[GinnyFavers]

Maybe their data is way off, but homes we've seen on Zillow.com in the Windermere area are showing property taxes of $5000 to $7500 a year on homes listed for sale around $225K. There's no way we can afford $600 a month in property taxes.

I'm just using Windermere as an example... I've noticed the same pattern all over Orange County. Lake County seems to be less extreme, we're looking there, too.

Will the tax value be reset by our new purchase at this lower price??

I am assuming that before we close we'll be given a firm estimate of property taxes, but I'd like to know before we bother putting in an offer on something there's no way we could handle.

Thanks in advance for your input!

[aneftp]

Originally Posted by GinnyFavers

Maybe their data is way off, but homes we've seen on Zillow.com in the Windermere area are showing property taxes of $5000 to $7500 a year on homes listed for sale around $225K. There's no way we can afford $600 a month in property taxes.

I'm just using Windermere as an example... I've noticed the same pattern all over Orange County. Lake County seems to be less extreme, we're looking there, too.

Will the tax value be reset by our new purchase at this lower price??

I am assuming that before we close we'll be given a firm estimate of property taxes, but I'd like to know before we bother putting in an offer on something there's no way we could handle.

Thanks in advance for your input!

In Seminole County, the home gets assessed by the county at 85% of appraisal. Say you have a 525K home. It will get assessed at about 450K. Than if it's your primary home, you get a homestead exemption which is worth about 50K for a 525K home.

So you taxable assessed value on your primary home with the homestead exemption would be about 400K. So Real Estate taxes are about 1.5-1.6 times the assessed value minus homestead exemption (in the case of the 525K home...the real estate taxes come out to about $6000 a year.

If you are looking for a home 225K, your property taxes will be much lower. Maybe about $2500-3000 a year.

Hope that explains everything to you.

[Silent1900]

Depending upon what time of the year you buy, you will likely start out paying at the inflated rate for some period of months.

[GinnyFavers]

How do we manage this so we DON'T pay at an inflated rate? What time of year would save us this money?

[beckycat]

I called the tax office on this issue. First of all, those taxes are really high to me. I have a $225K house and I pay about $1900/yr with homestead exemption. If you purchase now, you will pay what the previous owner pays until the end of the year. They will reassess your house next year. They told me that values will have gone down, but usually it takes 2 years to see the difference. Be aware, the previous owner may have had a Save our Homes discount which also reduced their taxes. You will not get this until you live in the home for a period of time, maybe 3 years. That deduction increases the longer that you live in the house. As I said, I pay about $1900 and my neighbor pays $750. She has lived in her house 25 years and I've been here for five. Hope this helps. I've heard of taxes being high in Windermere, I'm in Seminole county.

[M_M]

I bought a home in Windermere for under 200k. The taxes the previous owner paid were $4900/yr. I am hoping to get them down to $2500-3000/yr once the property is reassessed and homestead is filed.

I talked to the Orange County Property Appraisal office and they told me the house would be reassessed by the end of July for the tax bill due in November, but the value would not necessarily be based on it's sale price. They look at other comparables and figure out what they think it is worth.

I'm just waiting to see if the bank appraised the house low so that we are stuck with a >80% LTV and the county appraises it high so we pay more taxes. That's the part that doesn't make sense to me.

Also, ocpafl.org has a tax estimator you can use. Search for the property you are interested in and look for the tax calculator on the property's info page.

[GinnyFavers]

You would think they'd be doing whatever they can to help all these abandoned homes get sold.

[cfIfan]

Keep in mind each area has a millage rate which is applied and will vary from place to place. Windermere will have a higher rate because it is more desireable and one of the premier areas in Orlando hence why so many celebrities live there. The amount is based on values so its just a matter for the county assesor to reassess the property, but this can be done earlier, for example if a neighbour puts in a pool then the street would be reassessed.

Beckycat it does seem like you are trying to sell ther op your home ;-) That along with all your threads most days asking whether the market is moving yet. Im wondering whether you have engaged a realtor to sell your property or if yoru just trying to sell it on here?

[GregTraub]

Wrote a pretty detailed blog about FL property taxes here http://www.city-data.com/blogs/blog4...your-home.html

[Dee2e]

If you buy a preforeclosure/foreclosure, the current tax bill was generated based on the previous sales price. The new tax bill will be based on the new sales price. So if the home was sold for $400,000, then homesteaded, the assessed value would be about $350,000 and the property would be taxed on that amount. The millage various per area.

Let's say you buy the home for $200,000. In November of this year, you're assessment is based on that. If you bought prior to the January 1 of this year, you could homestead to reduce the assessment by your homestead amount. If not, you cannot homestead until January of 2010 but the next tax assessment won't be until the fall of 2010 so the homestead will not be immediately reflected in the Novemeber assessment.

A few years ago, if you bought an existing home, you might have experienced a huge increase in taxes for that first fall assessment. Now we see just the opposite happening since home values have declined so much.

Best advise, before you buy, call the County tax assessor and ask!