How much $$ per year on Property Tax and House Insurance? (Pittsburgh: real estate, chapel)

[Tiger Beer]

How much $$ per year on Property Tax and House Insurance?

Just curious how much most of you pay for those things for your property in Pittsburgh. Actual figures, if you don't mind (or give me a range that includes your price, if you do mind)

[pburghfan]

I am curious too. I'll just take millage though. I was comparing millage rates in Murrysville to O'Hara and Shaler and if I was looking at them correctly they seem to be MUCH higher in Murrysville. I would like to hear from anyone out in Murrysville if the real estate taxes are really that high.

[gg]

Keep in mind home price values when comparing millage rates. Lets take a look at an example. Fox Chapel's millage is around 27 total. Murrysville is 117.72. What? Seems Murrysville has done some math for you and Fox Chapel expects you to do the math. You need to multiply the 27X4 to compare the two, if I am still up to date on this stuff. That being said, Fox Chapel is 108 and Murrysville is 117.72. I believe that is how you have to compare the two.

[gg]

Oh and insurance would probably be around $250-$500ish depending on value of the home. Of course if your home is worth a million or so, the rates would be much higher.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by pburghfan

I am curious too. I'll just take millage though. I was comparing millage rates in Murrysville to O'Hara and Shaler and if I was looking at them correctly they seem to be MUCH higher in Murrysville. I would like to hear from anyone out in Murrysville if the real estate taxes are really that high.

You have to compare in dollars when you're doing different counties, especially when Allegheny County is involved. The millage in Murrysville really is higher than anything in Allegheny County would be but the assessed value is a lot lower.

Here's my Beaver County example:

Assessed value is $26,250. This is actually half their so-called "market value", which would be of course $52,500. I bought the house in 2003 for $114,000. So where does the market value and thus assessed value come from? Dunno. Some earlier year. The house was only built in 1983. I don't think it cost even that much then so I don't know what year they might be using.

The millage goes like this: 22.2 mils to Beaver County, 14 mils to Economy Boro and 63.390 mils to Ambridge Area School District. That's almost 100 mils total (and some locations in the county are over 100), but it's on that $26,250, not the $114k. So 99.539 mils on $26,250 is around $2600. Mils are 1/1000th of a dollar, so 99 mils is almost a dime or 10%, which sounds insane if you think of the market price of your house, but it's not on the market price.

Now I checked my mortgage info and it shows they only paid out $2400. Not sure how much is early discount, how much could be Homestead Exemption or what. Would have to dig deeper. I don't even see a copy of the tax bills.

[pburghfan]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Keep in mind home price values when comparing millage rates. Lets take a look at an example. Fox Chapel's millage is around 27 total. Murrysville is 117.72. What? Seems Murrysville has done some math for you and Fox Chapel expects you to do the math. You need to multiply the 27X4 to compare the two, if I am still up to date on this stuff. That being said, Fox Chapel is 108 and Murrysville is 117.72. I believe that is how you have to compare the two.

OK, I am lost. What is the X4 for?

Originally Posted by greg42

You have to compare in dollars when you're doing different counties, especially when Allegheny County is involved. The millage in Murrysville really is higher than anything in Allegheny County would be but the assessed value is a lot lower.

Here's my Beaver County example:

Assessed value is $26,250. This is actually half their so-called "market value", which would be of course $52,500. I bought the house in 2003 for $114,000. So where does the market value and thus assessed value come from? Dunno. Some earlier year. The house was only built in 1983. I don't think it cost even that much then so I don't know what year they might be using.

The millage goes like this: 22.2 mils to Beaver County, 14 mils to Economy Boro and 63.390 mils to Ambridge Area School District. That's almost 100 mils total (and some locations in the county are over 100), but it's on that $26,250, not the $114k. So 99.539 mils on $26,250 is around $2600. Mils are 1/1000th of a dollar, so 99 mils is almost a dime or 10%, which sounds insane if you think of the market price of your house, but it's not on the market price.

Now I checked my mortgage info and it shows they only paid out $2400. Not sure how much is early discount, how much could be Homestead Exemption or what. Would have to dig deeper. I don't even see a copy of the tax bills.

Yeah, I would be looking at houses in the same price range in both areas but the tax does depend greatly on how they assess the value. I guess looking at the tax history on individual houses would be the only way to compare them acccurately.
Also, I have to look into the earned income tax rates. No income tax is the best thing about living in Texas.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by pburghfan

Yeah, I would be looking at houses in the same price range in both areas but the tax does depend greatly on how they assess the value. I guess looking at the tax history on individual houses would be the only way to compare them acccurately.
Also, I have to look into the earned income tax rates. No income tax is the best thing about living in Texas.

Look for the official county web site (Allegheny, Westmoreland, Butler, Beaver, Washington, whatever) and see if they have online assessment info. I know Allegheny and Beaver do. You can look up by address so if you know address of house you can find out how it's assessed.

Income tax is a flat 3.07% to the state. That's not just earned income at the state level, though. They tax unearned (interest, dividends, etc.) too like the feds. There's an additional local earned income tax (which is not on unearned), which in this area, outside the City of Pittsburgh, is 1% unless I'm missing some exception somewhere. I can't think of a spot where it's more than 1%, although technically these are determined by individual municipalities and school districts so it *could* be more, it just isn't. In the city it's 3%.

You do get to deduct all your state and local taxes including the property tax as itemized deductions from federal, so depending upon your highest federal bracket you would gain back perhaps 15-25% of what you pay to those.

[mckeesport_alum]

FAQ - Real Estate

10. WHAT IS THE MILLAGE RATE FOR CITY AND SCHOOL TAXES?
The 2011 City Real Estate Tax rate is 10.8 mills. The 2011 School District Real Estate Tax rate is 13.92 mills.


Allegheny County Treasurer

Allegheny County Millage is 4.69.

So, the cost of property taxes in Pittsburgh is just under 3% of the property value before the Homestead/Farmstead. Homestead reduces the assessed value by $15,000 if I'm not mistaken.

$150,000 house = $4,500 in real estate taxes.

[gg]

Originally Posted by pburghfan

OK, I am lost. What is the X4 for?

I may be out of date on this, but the millage rate would be applied to 1/4 of the value of a home in Allegheny county. So if your home was worth $400K you would multiply the millage rate by 1/4 of that which would be $100K and then you would have your taxes due. Seems in Murrysville they are not calculating it in the same way. They are giving you a millage rate that can by multiplied directly to the homes assessed value. Therefore, if you want to compare them, you need to multiply by 4 to compare the rates.

This is further confused if you add in homestead exemptions. LOL

If you are really confused about it, you can call the borough offices and ask them how to calculate the taxes. I tend to look at how much you would pay per $100K of value. So if you take Oakmont for example, it works out to about $3500 per 100K. Ouch! That being said, if you are looking for a $200K home in Oakmont, be ready to play around 7K in taxes!!!!! Oh, you want a $400K home there. Do the math. Ouch!!

[greg42]

Oh and the insurance is between $400-500 a year, I can't remember exactly. I might be paying more because my roof is getting old; I suspect it could go down when I replace it.