Southlake...HIGH taxes?

[killer2021]

lol yup, the property taxes in Texas are way high. Which is why you don't want to go crazy with buying expensive homes. The people living in cheap homes and making high incomes are the ones who win financially in the end.

[loves2read]

What some people do not understand is that the County Appraisal District --like Tarrant--sets the APPRAISAL VALUE of property--homes. land, commercial real estate...but this value is not the full market price...it is a percentage of market value...when you buy a home that is several years old, that home has a TAD appraisal set within its area--not just that specific home...
areas/subdivisions/towns are reappraised over a period of time--not every year or immediately when a house is sold.
I believe that the appraised value can be increased so far when it is increased--like to a specific percentage -so if you buy a home for 500,000--and it was a new build--chances are that the first year it will still be valued as what the raw land's appraised value was set at--which is probably very low in comparison to what it will become--but the next year, the appraised value can only be increased by a certain percentage--maybe only half of what it should be--so you would have lower taxes that year than the next one....
If the house you buy has a market price of 550,000 the appraised value might only be rated 400,000 and you might pay taxes on that same appraisal for several years before the appraisal is raised--it does not automatically trigger a higher appraisal to market price because house is sold at higher price---

taxes in TX--like other things--don't always work they same way they do in other states or countries....

One reason Southlake taxes are high is that Southlake homes are expensive--they have consistently held high resale value and have appreciated, so their valuations go up and up...
in my town/subdivision which is built out (little expensive residential construction) homes have held their value but there has been little market appreciation and our appraisal is about 20000 more than it was a few years after we bought our home 25 yrs ago...
Check an area MLS realtor site--they usually give the tax rates for the towns in the area and you can see that Southlake's tax rate is actually lower than some---but what you pay is higher because most houses there have higher taxable value...
There are houses in Carroll ISD and Grapevine city limits
or sometimes in Dentoninstead of Tarrant county--that makes for a lower tax basis depending on home's value...

Carroll ISD is highly ranked--think there are other districts where you can get as good an education if your children want to excell....and there are several good private schools in FTW area if you live in less expensive home you can afford to send your chlldren to private schools and some people chose to go that route...

regarding that poster's slam about how educators spend tax money--he has obviously never worked in public education--school boards composed of people who live within the district and are or have been parents of students are the ultimate authority on the school district's budgets and usually comb it with a fine tooth comb--I can guarantee from personal experience--you are glad to find toilet paper in the restrooms...

the state legislature--composed of people voted into office by anyone who cares to vote and not many people do--are the ones responsible for the Robbin' Hood policy which has not really been eliminated contrary to what many people think---if people aren't happy with how their taxes are used--then they should get interested enough to check voting records and eject some of those who supported and voted for it--legislators were very happy to steal from richer tax-based districts instead of coughing up the money to improve education from the general coffers or taxing business like EXXON-MOBIL so that they pay their fair share of taxes...

[ajgranda]

Interesting feedback. I think that the MLS should just give the current tax $ in the listing. They do that here in NY and when we were buying our home we gave the realtor a price range and a $ limit on the amount of taxes we were willing to pay a year. This way we have some control over our monthly expenses on that end. You are spot on about voters getting involved. Elected officials listen to voters, they need them. By the way, Exxon Mobil and other oil/gas companies declared record high profits last year. Interesting... Guess who's paying the costs that they are not?

Originally Posted by loves2read

What some people do not understand is that the County Appraisal District --like Tarrant--sets the APPRAISAL VALUE of property--homes. land, commercial real estate...but this value is not the full market price...it is a percentage of market value...when you buy a home that is several years old, that home has a TAD appraisal set within its area--not just that specific home...
areas/subdivisions/towns are reappraised over a period of time--not every year or immediately when a house is sold.
I believe that the appraised value can be increased so far when it is increased--like to a specific percentage -so if you buy a home for 500,000--and it was a new build--chances are that the first year it will still be valued as what the raw land's appraised value was set at--which is probably very low in comparison to what it will become--but the next year, the appraised value can only be increased by a certain percentage--maybe only half of what it should be--so you would have lower taxes that year than the next one....
If the house you buy has a market price of 550,000 the appraised value might only be rated 400,000 and you might pay taxes on that same appraisal for several years before the appraisal is raised--it does not automatically trigger a higher appraisal to market price because house is sold at higher price---

taxes in TX--like other things--don't always work they same way they do in other states or countries....

One reason Southlake taxes are high is that Southlake homes are expensive--they have consistently held high resale value and have appreciated, so their valuations go up and up...
in my town/subdivision which is built out (little expensive residential construction) homes have held their value but there has been little market appreciation and our appraisal is about 20000 more than it was a few years after we bought our home 25 yrs ago...
Check an area MLS realtor site--they usually give the tax rates for the towns in the area and you can see that Southlake's tax rate is actually lower than some---but what you pay is higher because most houses there have higher taxable value...
There are houses in Carroll ISD and Grapevine city limits
or sometimes in Dentoninstead of Tarrant county--that makes for a lower tax basis depending on home's value...

Carroll ISD is highly ranked--think there are other districts where you can get as good an education if your children want to excell....and there are several good private schools in FTW area if you live in less expensive home you can afford to send your chlldren to private schools and some people chose to go that route...

regarding that poster's slam about how educators spend tax money--he has obviously never worked in public education--school boards composed of people who live within the district and are or have been parents of students are the ultimate authority on the school district's budgets and usually comb it with a fine tooth comb--I can guarantee from personal experience--you are glad to find toilet paper in the restrooms...

the state legislature--composed of people voted into office by anyone who cares to vote and not many people do--are the ones responsible for the Robbin' Hood policy which has not really been eliminated contrary to what many people think---if people aren't happy with how their taxes are used--then they should get interested enough to check voting records and eject some of those who supported and voted for it--legislators were very happy to steal from richer tax-based districts instead of coughing up the money to improve education from the general coffers or taxing business like EXXON-MOBIL so that they pay their fair share of taxes...