property taxes

[Mark W.]

Newbie question here.

I recently had a home to sell, since no one was living in the home the homestead exemption did not apply. Taxes went from less than $500 to over a $1000. How would you know this, most website show the current taxes that are paid.

Mark  

[Daria B.]

Originally posted by @Mark W.:

Newbie question here.

I recently had a home to sell, since no one was living in the home the homestead exemption did not apply. Taxes went from less than $500 to over a $1000. How would you know this, most website show the current taxes that are paid.

Mark  

 Hi Mark-

On your property appraiser or tax site, likely appraiser site, they should have a place that has the assessed value and the exemption in addition to some other valuations. If you know the mileage you can calculate using it with the assessed value. For homestead, they deduct that amount from the assessed value. 

Moving a renter in is irrelevant to the taxes you pay. Because you purchased the home with a homestead, that rides out to the next tax due and when you pay the next years taxes they will not have it as homestead so you pay more. When you purchased the property they should have been told that you are buying it as an investment and will not be living there. I make it a point to tell them this at closing so they file correctly. My last purchase the county still got it wrong and sent the "automatic" homestead card - once a homestead is applied they don't have the home owner fill out for it again - it's automatically done - at least in my town.

You have to dig a little deeper to make sure you know the potential taxes you will incur. I've paid close attention to this because on some homes the assessed value pushes the taxes too far for me to want to deal with - especially when I know I can't get enough rent to cover it and make a decent profit.

Hope this helps.