Property Tax Issue

[Joel Owens]

Helping my brother-in-law buy a house.

3,200 sq ft upstairs where he will live with 4 year old son and wife and 2,000 sq ft downstairs where mother-in-law will live in a full suite.

Sellers property tax bill is only 700 a year as they use homestead and senior exemption. In Georgia almost all of the assessment is school tax so if you can get rid of that the bill is much lower.

The mother-in-law will not be on the loan but will be on the deed as an owner and will have full rights to live there until she passes away as she will help with mortgage payment with a small amount.

The lender will use lower tax this year from seller for escrowing and estimating taxes. Since the mother-in-law will be on title they want to claim the homestead exemption and senior exemption so that taxes stay at 700 a year instead of 2,400.

I don't know how the tax assessor will rule on this or accept this. My thought is the county cannot deny a senior exemption for an owner that lives in the property. I don't know if they would just let it go or asses the mother-in-law suite at a certain percentage without school tax and the upstairs sq ft with the school assessment.

Just wondering if anyone has done this before and results.