Tax assessment - new selling price vs. new assessed value (Homestead: sales, 2015)

[TasmanianDevil]

My wife and I are looking at houses in South Jax Beach (Duval County) and PVB (St. Johns County). I spoke with both county tax appraiser offices and the answers I got are about as clear as mud in one key area. So hopefully someone here and can shed some light on this.

Where I can’t seem to get a straight answer from the property tax appraisers is how the selling price translates into the assessed value, Is the new assessed value derived from the new sales price of the home? Then if we qualify, we can get the homestead exemption. I basically got a circular answer from both offices and told to check back in August. So maybe someone who bought a home recently or understands exactly how it works can provide some insight.

Let’s use the following example as it the numbers work easily. Suppose I am looking at an older house but the selling price will be 500k in both PVB and SJB. Assume the current taxes in PVB are 4200 and in SJB 5400. Based on the current assessed value of the home of 300k but has a homestead exemption.

So what happens if I buy the home now? If I buy it now, I will pay the current property tax for a few months until next year’s tax kick in. According to both appraiser’s offices, they said I would have to wait for the 2018 assessed value to know what it would be. What I need to know fundamentally is will the new “assessed value” be the same as the purchase price (dollar for dollar) of the home minus any homestead exemption? I assume that will become the basis of any future tax increases limited by the SOH act.

Also am I reading the tax estimator correctly that S. Jax Beach taxes for a home will be about 30% higher than in PVB. Looks to be about 1.8% vs 1.4%.

Thanks for any insight.

[Ivan Putski]

This is how we estimated our property taxes back in 10/2015 when we bought our house in PVB (have no idea how Duval County works so this is PVB specific).

What the appraisers won't tell you is that the assessed value lies somewhere between 75% to 85% of the eventual purchase price of the home. So in the example you gave, a house selling for $500k would be assessed anywhere from $375k to $425,000.

Once you have the assessed value, use the St. Johns County property tax estimator found here:

http://www.qpublic.net/tax_estimator...county=stjohns

1) Once you accept the disclaimer, type in the assessed value, NOT the purchase price in the box labeled "Market/Assessed Value"

2) Tax district will be 300 if you're not in the PVB Municipal Service District (ie. PVBMSD = areas east of A1A excluding HOA communities = Old Ponte Vedra etc.). If you're in the PVBMSD, tax district is 301.

3) Make sure to check off the Homestead Exemption box which lowers the assessed value by another $50k

4) Click "Calculate"

* At $375k or 75% assessed value, taxes are $4,843.

* At $425k or 85% assessed value, it's $5,563

I always assumed the worst case scenario and calculated 85% of purchase price. Our reset assessment ended up being ~ 80% of purchase price.

[TasmanianDevil]

Thanks, that is very helpful. I hope Duval County is the same way. We just put an offer in on a house in S. Jax Beach.

Will need to find a good home inspector. Many have asked recently but I've seen no suggestions that are recent when I searched the forum.

[Thundarr457]

Originally Posted by TasmanianDevil

Thanks, that is very helpful. I hope Duval County is the same way. We just put an offer in on a house in S. Jax Beach.

Will need to find a good home inspector. Many have asked recently but I've seen no suggestions that are recent when I searched the forum.

PM, Shaken Not Stirred, he is the expert on here.

We used this firm:

About - Inside & Out Property Inspectors. Inc.

[TasmanianDevil]

Thanks for the information, it is a good start. We put an offer on a house and if it is accepted, we'll need a good inspector ASAP.

[mav286]

We hired Larry Filasco with HomeWise at 904-997-1630 to inspect our newly constructed home. He was very professional and thorough. I highly recommend.

[Thundarr457]

Originally Posted by TasmanianDevil

Thanks for the information, it is a good start. We put an offer on a house and if it is accepted, we'll need a good inspector ASAP.

I would strongly advise you are there during the inspection. Feel free to ask any questions. We had 67 items that needed addressing including a new roof which we would up chipping in part of, or else they would have repaired the old one and it would be leaking. You may want to consider paying part of something to get it done right, but wait until the inspection is done and you have time to think about it.

[TasmanianDevil]

Thanks for the advice. The roof on the house is about 2 years old but you never know what could have been damaged in the last few storms.

On the plus side the home is owned by the original owner who obviously put a lot of love into it. It seems like they were very good about maintaining things and that is very important. Only concern is one AC unit is original. It was top of the line 20 years ago but still it is 20 years old. We'll just budget for replacing that in the next year or so.

[z_zk_z]

I think, your property taxes will be more like $8,000 for a $500K home, if the tax rate is 1.8%. In Saint John's County, the Assessed Value is becoming same as the Market Value (which is what buyers pay for homes). If the home you are interested has an Assessed Value of $300K, you shouldn't pay $500K for it.