Property Tax help

Fieldsy
Fieldsy Posts: 1,105 Member
edited September 24 in Chit-Chat
My fiance and I have been looking at houses for the past month. We really love this one twin house that is brand new. It has all new construction and has never been lived in. The average taxes for the township is about 5k. The property of the twin is not that much, and my agent said that the taxes would be close to 9,000 dollars. I am just curious, because I thought taxes were calculated by property of the land and square footage of the house.

If anyone is a realtor or knows how to calculate taxes, I'd appreciate your help. Thanks

Replies

  • CarrieAbbey
    CarrieAbbey Posts: 378 Member
    is you basement finished and not the other?
  • KcFitCoach
    KcFitCoach Posts: 135 Member
    I am not a realtor, but a banker....property tax calculations vary widely dependent upon where the property is. The base calculation does start with the square footage of finished space of the dwelling and any outer buildings on the land plus the actual land. But, the actual taxes levied against the property vary wildly, depending upon where you live.

    Try to google words like "tax" and "land" and "appraisal" and add to those two words the county (if no counties where you live, use the township) and hopefully you will find the local tax appraisal site. Most areas in the US have working searchable sites that you can actually pull up a specific address and view the tax appraisal base, square footage taken into account and the specific taxes levied against the property.

    Now, I will also add that new construction can be bonkers...sometimes the 'estimated' taxes for the first year of a properties existance are nothing like what they actually will be (but usually they estimate on the 'low' side because the previous base was an undeveloped or developed empty lot?)....perhaps taxes estimated are higher than you expect because this is a duplex property?
  • luv2ash
    luv2ash Posts: 1,903 Member
    hey I just want to say congratulations on your success at regaining your health!

    taxes are also based on the value of the home as well---For instance, taxes in our area are generally not as bad as the taxes in my neighborhood---we have the newest homes in the town and they are the biggest and most expensive as well, so we, sadly, pay the most property tax.
  • Carl01
    Carl01 Posts: 9,307 Member
    Taxes are based on assessed value which has a lot of variables when calculated.
    Around here folks that have moved in from NYC tend to want to build houses on hills for a view of the surrounding Green Mountains and lower valleys.
    That makes a house of one size supposedly more valuable then one identical built on the flat.
    Road frontage,out buildings and sales of properties nearby also affect the assessment.

    Remember,if 5,000 is the average then that means there are many places under that and many above.
  • CrimsonScotty
    CrimsonScotty Posts: 47 Member
    for starters, this is a bit of a strange topic for MFP but i'm a Realtor and in my opinion, if you want a good idea of what your property tax burden will be, you should speak to someone in the county tax collectors office. I'm in Alabama and property taxes vary greatly from state to state and even county to county, but they are calculated as a "mill rate" which is a percentage of the appraised value, which will be determined by a tax appraisal. Since it is new construction, there may not be an accurate number available, if it has not yet been assessed, but if there are comparable properties nearby, you can use them as an estimate.
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