All Forum Posts by: Scott McEntee

Congrats on the awesome deal! Curious how your STR/MTR experience has been going? Have you seen good demand for medium term stays or are you focusing more on short term at this point?

0 Votes

Quote from @Allen Tracy:

I've heard rumors that individuals from the school boards are now going after people because the law only blocked the school board as a whole from going after people but any individual can challenge any property on an individual level. Other than that I read the amount of complaints filed by the school districts dropped from 1,883 last year to 409 this year so it sounds like the law is helping.

I think because of this the auditor's are stepping things up on their side. This was a recent article from The Columbus Dispatch "Franklin County Auditor Warns Homeowners: Expect 40% Property Tax Increase with 2023 Mass Reappraisal - 40 Other Ohio Counties Plan the Same".

Interesting insight on individuals still going after properties for reassessments.

I saw that Columbus Dispatch article as well. I think it's important to distinguish that the 40% increase relates to property values, not property taxes. While property taxes are very likely to increase, fortunately taxes do not increase in a 1:1 ratio with values. According to the auditor's website, the 2020 appraisal saw values increase about 20% on average, while taxes only increased about 7% as a result.

https://www.franklincountyauditor.com/AUDR-website/media/pdf...

1 Vote

Columbus, Ohio

I may be missing something, but given that in Ohio property values are reappraised every 3 years anyway, is this really a significant change compared to past reappraisal cycles?

It seems like the only differences with the 2023 reappraisal are that a visual inspection of the outside of the property may occur, and that there's a new website that provides more resources/transparency regarding the process (which I would think is a good thing).

1 Vote

Columbus, Ohio

Quote from @Chinmay N.:

Quote from @Allen Tracy:

Quote from @Chinmay N.:

Quote from @Allen Tracy:

Quote from @Chinmay N.:

Quote from @Allen Tracy:

Saleh (the original poster of the link you provided) and I meet up weekly and we've both gone through the terrible process of having to pay two years of property taxes when we didn't even own the property (cost me roughly $10k). Luckily a law just passed that will make it illegal for the School Board to go after non commercial properties for back taxes so you should be safe going forward on having to pay back taxes.

The way I typically go about it is I look at the taxes charged vs the tax assessment value to determine the percentage of taxes in that specific area (it varies widely across Columbus). Then I multiply by that percentage by the amount I would like to purchase the property for and figure that eventually the property taxes could be that number. Sometimes if you're lucky that tax assessment is still under what you purchased the property for but running the numbers at purchase price should give you a good buffer.

I believe they try to update the values every 3 years if they can.

The 15 tax abatement program is something you can apply for if you do a major remodel like moving walls or adding rooms onto the property. I don't know the exact details but I do know the application process can take a while but could be extremely beneficial if you're doing a huge remodel.

Can you share the link to this particular law that blocks school board from going after past-year taxes? I'm more curious if this law makes it harder for the district to ask for increased taxes on transfers. Thanks

H.B. 126

https://www.mondaq.com/uniteds...

Thanks! This is very interesting. Does this mean that the school board can no longer ask for property tax increases based on the transfer price (on the auditor's site) for 1-4 unit properties purchased with a conventional loan? That would be a game changer. I'm also assuming that the accessors from the city are not going to be too aggressive with tax increases in their 3/6 yearly audit cycles.

That's what I'm really hoping for. They've already screwed me out of tens of thousands of dollars. I know investors that were leaving Columbus because of it.

I found out about the school board pushing for tax increases when I called the county tax accessor (they were nice enough to warn me) a few days before I need to close on a couple of deals. I had to scramble last minute to modify the contracts. This has really slowed me down in Columbus and I have had to move to other markets.

Based on the timing of the reply it looks like the deals you're referring to closed just before HB 126 was passed. My question would be are you still having issues with the school board pushing for increases since the law has passed?

1 Vote

Columbus, Ohio

@Torrell Palmason Thank you so much for the response. That was very helpful!

0 Votes

Hi everyone! While I have been listening to the podcast for some time, I am relatively new to the forums here on Bigger Pockets.

I had a question about the 10% down second home/vacation home loan I have often heard about on the podcasts. I currently rent for my primary residence, but would like to buy a short term rental as my first investment property. I know with primary residences, as little as 3.5% can be put down such as when you are house-hacking.

My question is, would I still be able to qualify for a loan product like the 10% down vacation home loan if I occupy it for x number of days? Has anyone heard of a product like this where a vacation home can be purchased without already having a primary residence mortgage?

Thanks so much!

0 Votes

All Forum Posts by: Scott McEntee

Scott McEntee has started 1 posts and replied 7 times.

Post: Purchasing Rental Properties in Columbus OH

Post: Update on my first BRRRR!

Post: Understanding Property Taxes in Columbus

Post: Higher Property Taxes Coming Soon To Columbus Ohio... What Are You Doing To Prepare?

Post: Understanding Property Taxes in Columbus

Post: Vacation Home Loan without having a primary residence?

Post: Vacation Home Loan without having a primary residence?