Thinking of buying a new home? The fun part of the whole process is going to look at houses, the not so fun part… trying to assess the value of a home. Sure the Realtor who listed the property already figured the “sell price,” but what is it really worth? Some districts charge incredibly high property taxes, while others charge relatively little. You also need to assess what you are getting for the taxes paid. How is the police force? How is the local school system? Does the town keep great care of the roads? These questions need to be looked at to determine how much “waste” is in the prospective home’s town.
Sometimes neighboring towns can differ by as much as 3% points; what are you getting in return? Towns which have heavy commercial districts, have a lake, or has ocean access typically have lower property tax rates. Why is this? The value of the properties on a lake, for instance, are valued much higher than a property in the middle of nowhere, meaning the town can charge an incredibly lower fee. Depending on waste, fire departments cost the same for two towns that have 1,000 residents over the same amount of acreage. A town that has hire valued homes will have to charge a lower amount to its citizens to get the same service as a town that has much lowered valued properties.
Generally the last years property tax bill will be listed in the property prospectus that the Realtor will give you when looking at a property. It is never a bad idea to “double check” this figure by going to the town hall yourself. You can actually find out what anybody pays on their property taxes just buy asking for a record. The noisy neighbors will always know how much your homes value is, just by doing a little reverse math, and figuring out the value based on how much you paid on property taxes. Yes, some people are that tricky. This is something Realtors have been doing for ages, when there are few recently sold properties comparable to a specific property in the area.
Need a citation?
APA:
Nobles, A. (2010, February 28). Property Tax Look-up. Retrieved Month #, Year, from http://www.tax-financials.com/property-tax-look-up