Question about property tax (appraiser, 9%, sales, condo)

[induhvidual]

Looking to purchase a condo, list price is around 100k and comps for the past month have been in that general price range.

Here is the twist though. The owner purchased it from the builder in 2003 (new construction) for 400k.

In 2007, it was assesed at 360k and his 2008 taxes were $7800.00 (~ 2%)

Should I purchase, I expect to pay the pro-rated part of the remainder.

My questiion is, what would my taxes be for the next year.

Is is based on my purchase price and the mediam purchase price (market value)of that building (for comparable units) for the year or would I continue paying the higher taxes set by the first buyer (I am the second)
Or, would it be set arbitrarily by the PA's office?

2009 sales in that community have been between 130k-90k for comparable units with similar sqft. so far.
I expect a decline or flatline, definitely not an increase.

I contacted the county Property Appraiser office but they directed me to an online calculator which basically asks to input my purchase price and deduct my homestead.
Using that I came up with a figure of $1000.00 annually.
Sounds too good to be true and I suspect it is.

[MsFancyPants]

I am not sure what happens in Florida. In CA, we passed Prop 13 years ago and the only time our taxes can increase is when a permit is pulled and your property gets reassessed or when you sell. The buyer then pays taxes based on the sales price.

I paid pro-rated taxes on the assessed price through escrow, but I then got a rebate check 90 days later for the difference between the assessed taxes and the new taxes based on my purchased price, because my purchase price was lower than the most recent assessment.

Bottom line is property taxes vary by state. So someone from Florida would have to answer this for you! Sorry!!

[Norsky1]

Originally Posted by MsFancyPants

I am not sure what happens in Florida. In CA, we passed Prop 13 years ago and the only time our taxes can increase is when a permit is pulled and your property gets reassessed or when you sell. The buyer then pays taxes based on the sales price.

I paid pro-rated taxes on the assessed price through escrow, but I then got a rebate check 90 days later for the difference between the assessed taxes and the new taxes based on my purchased price, because my purchase price was lower than the most recent assessment.

Bottom line is property taxes vary by state. So someone from Florida would have to answer this for you! Sorry!!

Not to hijack, but is kind of the same question as the OP is trying to get condo reassessed for purchase price. Say if a house was never homesteaded, it would have to be assessed to become homesteaded correct so it might be taxed out at a fair market value?

[Pragmaticus]

There is a similar thread in Tampa Bay forum, two of them, that might help if you are in FL. Since I will be a buyer soon I have been looking closely. My understanding for my county is like this:

1) If the home owner has already homestead you will be paying that price for the remainder of the year
2) Next year the county will assess including your home and other COMPs in the area and tax will be based on that minus the homestead exeption, if you qualify that.
3) Therefore, my conclusion is if purchase price is lower than current assessment your next assessment will be anywhere between current assessment and purchase price.

The county website clearly says it will not be based on ONLY purchase price that is 100k for you (if you pay the list price), which I was hoping to be the case. Your best bet will be somewhere near the current assessment. Again, this is my understanding for FL and in particular for Tampa Bay.

Good luck

[induhvidual]

Originally Posted by MeInDenudinFL

There is a similar thread in Tampa Bay forum, two of them, that might help if you are in FL. Since I will be a buyer soon I have been looking closely. My understanding for my county is like this:

1) If the home owner has already homestead you will be paying that price for the remainder of the year
2) Next year the county will assess including your home and other COMPs in the area and tax will be based on that minus the homestead exeption, if you qualify that.
3) Therefore, my conclusion is if purchase price is lower than current assessment your next assessment will be anywhere between current assessment and purchase price.

The county website clearly says it will not be based on ONLY purchase price that is 100k for you (if you pay the list price), which I was hoping to be the case. Your best bet will be somewhere near the current assessment. Again, this is my understanding for FL and in particular for Tampa Bay.

Good luck

Thanks for your response,
The current assessment is around 9k
And the property will cost me 100k
So does that mean I will be paying Prop taxes of 9% anually?
Seems a little high

[Pragmaticus]

Originally Posted by induhvidual

Thanks for your response,
The current assessment is around 9k
And the property will cost me 100k
So does that mean I will be paying Prop taxes of 9% anually?
Seems a little high

No it will be definitely less than the current but what I am saying is it is almost for sure it is not based on just the 100k that you are paying now in FL.

The next assessment will consider the sale of the house your buying as well as other sales in the visinity to come up to an assessed value, which can be anywhere between what you pay now and current assessment.

I guess you can ask the county assesor's office but my guess is they will tell you it is based on an assessment in the second year (that's exactly what I understood from my county web site). Having said that a house that has depreciated that much may have lost some of the value and you may not be assessed as much. And you can always contest the decision. Short answer is that you may not know the exact amount now! Now I am confused myself again.

oh, well.