Is Zillow tax estimate any good?

Question

I was trying to analyze a property in Fort Worth, Texas.

I looked up the taxes on Zillow as well as on the county assessor site. The 2 are very different for 2012. One is about $2000 and the other is about $3000.

For 2014, the values from the 2 sites are pretty close.

Has anyone else seen this before? I will ofcorse go with county site info but just wanted to make sure i am looking in the right places.

Justin Fox · Answer

You can just go to the tax office site for that area and then look at the tax break down for each category (ISD, COUNTY, CITY, DRAINAGE and etc).  When you buy property as an investor, you don't get the Homestead exemption because you are not living there.  You just apply the taxable rate to the fully appraised value of the home instead of the discounted taxable value due to the Homestead exemption (if there is one).I would always use the local county site instead of any third party one.

There are other exemptions a person can get too, Veteran exemption/discount for example.

Daria B. · Answer

I don't go by what Zillow has. I use the link or just go to the county appraiser site. Then I call to verify the TRIM values they have and tell them that I am an investor since the homestead will not apply in my case so that I get the actual values. This helps a great deal because the taxes as shown on a non-appraiser site generally in what I see are not accurate.

Stuart Birdsong · Answer

Justin,

I may be mistaken but I believe she means Mill Levy, Mill rate, or millage tax(not mileage) which is the basis for property taxes. In addition, in order to calculate property taxes you should use Assessed valuation, not appraised value. Best of luck.

Nick Smith · Answer

Hey Hersh,

My name is Nick Smith.  I'm an investor in the Dallas area.  I just wanted to echo what was said above.  In my experience Zillow is basically useless for data such as taxes and mortgage payment estimate.  It's easier and will save you headaches later to do your own research.

Nice to meet you.  Good luck!

Daria B. · Answer

@Hersh M. looks like @Justin Fox already answered your questions on homestead, just to add....

As an investor, if I am not occupying the property, say as a multi family where I live in one side, I am not sure if homestead applies in any way. I do know that the SFR (singe family residential) homes that I buy I don't live in so the homestead exemption does not apply.

When you have a primary home your tax assessment is reduced by this homestead exemption because you live there. There are other exemptions as mentioned by Justin as well.

Your local appraisers office can explain in detail what they allow. Some municipalities may differ. For example, the home is 100k and the homestead exemption is 25k, your taxes will be based not on 100k but on 75k, which greatly reduces your taxes. Here I would multiple the mileage (24.7431) by 75k to get my taxes. There are "miscellaneous" that exist here as well like the shed I have on my property is also taxed.

Regarding TRIM, these are the proposed values of the assessment prior to the county locking down and officially determining what the assessed values are for all the homes. They also determine the mileage rate for each county.

Hope this is helpful....

Hattie Dizmond · Answer

There's no reason to go to Zillow, if you have the address.

Ft Worth

http://www.tad.org/search-property

Dallas

http://www.dallascad.org/SearchOwner.aspx

Even the smaller counties in Texas generally have the Tax Appraisal District info online.  Just Google the County name.  If you don't know the county, just Google what county that town is in.

Chirag Parikh · Answer

I'm gonna go ahead and echo what almost everyone has said. Use local means to find the information you need. Zillow is not reliable. I'm fairly certain tax records are public knowledge as far as I know so there is always a way to get this information and it will be 100% accurate if you get it from the source.

Hersh M. · Answer

Too much technology can be a pain some times, right? :)

Daria B. · Answer

Yes, my auto correct is horrible and continues to change what I type. Thanks for the correction.

Daria B. · Answer

No not mileage...my auto correct changes just about everything when I use my Surface Pro for composing.

Is Zillow tax estimate any good?

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