Port St Lucie property taxes (insurance, mortgages, house)

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by Jimmyp25

a 200,000 house here in chicago is 6500-8000 a year ... wouldnt be complaining...

I just knew someone would write a response like this, which is why I hesitated posting. Who is complaining? I asked a question about property taxes.

Some of us need to figure out what our payments will be because of a budget or fixed income. I don't see how your response about the taxes in Chicago is relevant.

[rusty78]

Originally Posted by justNancy

I just knew someone would write a response like this, which is why I hesitated posting. Who is complaining? I asked a question about property taxes.

Some of us need to figure out what our payments will be because of a budget or fixed income. I don't see how your response about the taxes in Chicago is relevant.

Go Nancy...

[alsidw]

Nancy, I am very concerned with taxes as I am on a fixed income and although have enough money to buy a home I am very concerned with the cost to staying in the home. I do not trust real estate agents and you post is very helpful, I just don't know where to go from here. I thought selling was hard and treacherous but seems like buying may be too. My wife wants to rent a house because of the uncertainties of house maintenance, taxes and insurance. I feel I cannot trust anyone., Your research is valuable and keep it coming. There must be a lot of seniors like myself on the fence between buying and renting, a house or a condo or a villa. Heck I just want to enjoy my retirement, living is hard enough.

[rusty78]

Sid....Once you buy...your state/county/town/city/etc...is limited to a maximum of a 3% raise in taxes which is tied to the Cost of Living Index...Basically...if your Social Security Cost of Living Increase is 2% then they are limited to a 2% raise...as long as you have filed for the Homestead Exemption...if you get a 4% raise they are still limited to the 3%...

I gave you the Martin County Tax Appraiser Site...so you can basically figure out your initial taxes and go from there...I am sure you will receive many more posts about this...but you can't be afraid to move...by the way...every book on relocating will recommend that you RENT BEFORE YOU BUY...

[LingLing]

Originally Posted by Jimmyp25

a 200,000 house here in chicago is 6500-8000 a year ... wouldnt be complaining...

Here at Port Saint Lucie. My house is appraised at 212K. Tax is $5800. Not too far from Chicago.

[LingLing]

Originally Posted by rusty78

Sid....Once you buy...your state/county/town/city/etc...is limited to a maximum of a 3% raise in taxes which is tied to the Cost of Living Index...

It is wrong. The value (not tax) of the house can't increase over 3% no matter how market acts. The policy was enacted during the housing booming. But tax can increase as much as city wants. All they have to do is to increase millage.

Here is an example (my house).
2009, it was valued at $215K, after homestead exemption, the tax is $5306. 28.
2010, it was valued at $217K (it is strange, my house value actually went up in this market). After exemption, the tax is $5682.73. Tax was increased 7%.

[alsidw]

Ling Ling, those taxes are scaring me. I may not buy in that case. How did your property get reevaluated. Is that normal ? every year? Did you improve the property and the tax man found out because of a permit or something. By comparison, in New Orleans once you reach 65 years old the value of the house is fixed for the time you are there or die. My taxes went up though because although the value of the house was frozen to reassessment they increased the mileage and therefore my tax bill went up.
At this rate I may just rent. I cannot afford taxes like you have.
Sid

[rusty78]

Ling-Ling

Yearly Assessments
The property appraiser assesses all property at just value each year on January 1. When you acquire new real property, your assessed value is equal to the just (market) value.
If the property is your homestead and the just value increases, your next year assessed value cannot increase more than 3% or the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is less. This is true for all the following years, until you move or make improvements to your home. If the property is not a homestead, the assessed value increase is limited to 10% each year.
If your just value declines, your assessed value can increase each year until the assessed value is the same amount as the just value. However, the assessed value can never be more than the just value. (See s.193.155, F.S. and Rule 12D-8.0062 F.A.C.).

I just took this off the State of Florida web site...there were several other articles limiting tax increases...but what can I say...you live there and I am only looking to move down...

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by alsidw

Nancy, I am very concerned with taxes as I am on a fixed income and although have enough money to buy a home I am very concerned with the cost to staying in the home. I do not trust real estate agents and you post is very helpful, I just don't know where to go from here. I thought selling was hard and treacherous but seems like buying may be too. My wife wants to rent a house because of the uncertainties of house maintenance, taxes and insurance. I feel I cannot trust anyone., Your research is valuable and keep it coming. There must be a lot of seniors like myself on the fence between buying and renting, a house or a condo or a villa. Heck I just want to enjoy my retirement living is hard enough.

Thank you. I hope my post didn't imply that I don't trust the real estate agent I contacted, since that isn't what I meant at all. I was only emphasizing how important it is to do your own research. Coincidentally, I just read [URL="//www.city-data.com/forum/fort-myers-cape-coral-area/1006984-hate-cape-coral-9.html#post25670690"]another comment [/URL]written by a person in his 40s who said he wished he had done more research before buying a home, although it was on a different City-Data forum.

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by alsidw

Ling Ling, those taxes are scaring me. I may not buy in that case.
Sid

There are plenty of homes that are assessed for a lot lower. (See my earlier post.) Heck, I probably would be content living in a 1,000 sf house as long as it was in a safe, quiet area and had a garage and some closet space. I spent all of 2011 in a 624 sf mobile home in a lovely park, but I wouldn't recommend buying one.

One reason I posted about the taxes is that I was looking in a gated community and wanted to get an approximate total. The HOA fee was about $800 a quarter, very reasonable for Florida, especially with all that community has to offer, including lawn care. I was only asking about the tax bill because I was adding up everything (taxes, insurance, HOA fee, utilities) and, no matter how hard I tried, I still came up with an average of about $850 a month if I pay cash. I don't want to get too personal on an internet board, but I'm trying to determine if I need to work after I begin collecting Social Security and a small pension. There are many things to consider (like should I wait to collect Soc Sec) but that's a discussion for a different forum. You also need to think about future changes to Medicare. I'm not talking about the current political debates between the 2 parties, but increases in Part B premiums or co-pays and deductibles. Many people think Medicare covers everything and it doesn't. I've been doing a lot of math lately, using all sorts of charts. If I win the Lottery, I can toss them all way!

There are never any guarantees in life and Florida is still a good deal in most cases. However, if you are concerned about taxes, you might want to use [URL="http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/retiree_map/index.html?map=14#anchor"]this tool [/URL]that I posted on one of the other City-Data forums. I don't know how accurate it is, but Kiplinger is usually very reliable.