Property Taxes and HOI Dallas-Ft. Worth Area (Houston: home owners insurance, how much)

[bale002]

Hello All,

My basic understanding is that property taxes in Texas are 3%. But how is taxable value assessed? For example, if I purchase a house in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area for $200,000, what can I expect to pay in property taxes per year?
I realize it may vary from district to district, but is there a rule of thumb that I can use as a general guide?

The same for home owner's insurance. I realize there are many factors, but any rule of thumb that can be used as a guide?
How does HOI in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area compare to Houston and other Gulf areas of Texas? To the situation in Florida?

Thanks

[GoPadge]

I took a property in Dallas county that's appraised for $201,400. Exemptions vary by taxing unit, but in most cases bring the value down to $161,000 - $166,000. Here's the estimated taxes for 2007.

Estimated Taxes

......................City.....School.....County.. ..College..Hospital
Taxing..............DALLAS.....DALLAS.....DALLAS.. DALLAS CO..PARKLAND
Jurisdiction......................ISD.....COUNTY.. COMM COL...HOSPITAL
Tax Rate per $100..$0.7292...$1.17264..$0.218934.....$0.081.... $0.254
Taxable Value.....$161,120...$166,260...$161,120...$161,12 0..$161,120
Estimated Taxes..$1,174.89..$1,949.63....$352.75....$130.51. ..$409.24
................................................To tal Estimated Taxes: $4,017.02


Insurance rates are somewhere between 0.006 and 0.008 times the value. Your hypothetical $200,000 home at 0.006 has an annual rate of $1200, 0.008 would be $1600. Rates vary by carrier, and some carriers tend to compensate for the "lower-rates" by over valuing your home.

[lh_newbie]

...and if your "taxable value" is higher than what you paid, you merely need to take your closing papers into the tax assessor-collector office during the month of May. I did that just a few weeks ago. Took 5 mins. Incidentally, my house is valued at $252K - and my taxes are $5435. You can go to collincad.org or dallascad.org to see tax appraisals for properties and what their actual taxes are. So my tax rate is 2.15% of my assessed value (purchase price). I believe we pay $1800/year in home owners insurance, but we do have a pretty comprehensive plan, so that's on the high side from what I understand.

Brian

[Spree]

>> My basic understanding is that property taxes in Texas are 3%. But how is taxable value assessed? <<

There is also a homestead exemption. I don't know specifics but that will bring down your taxable value.

[bale002]

Thanks all so far for your responses, very helpful indeed.

After all, it appears that the tax rate in Texas is similar to that in Florida, except that the purchase price for a comparable house in Texas is about half.

As for insurance, it appears to be roughly 1/3 to 1/4 of what it might be in Florida. Any comparison to Houston please?

Originally Posted by gulf5driver

>>

There is also a homestead exemption. I don't know specifics but that will bring down your taxable value.

I had no clue there is a homestead exemption in Texas. How does it work, what are the rules?

[Lakewooder]

I think my homestead exemption lowers the taxable value by 40,000.

Wouldn't Houston insurance also be high like FLA because of the hurricane threat?

[bale002]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Wouldn't Houston insurance also be high like FLA because of the hurricane threat?

That's exactly what I am trying to verify, curious if the other Gulf areas are in the same predicament as Florida.

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

I think my homestead exemption lowers the taxable value by 40,000.

Can anyone say more on how it works? Is that an across-the-board exemption for everyone, regardless of purchase price/assessed value? Or it is more complicated than that? What is the cap, if any, going forward?

In Florida, it is $25,000 off the assessed value, once a significant amount, but now a mere pittance for most new home buyers, and the cap is a 3% increase per year.

[Spree]

>> After all, it appears that the tax rate in Texas is similar to that in Florida, except that the purchase price for a comparable house in Texas is about half.<<

I'm in Tampa - moving to Dallas - and am finding that out. We bought in Tampa 6 years ago, have a 25,000 homestead exemption on the house and even tho our house doubled in price the time that we owned it, our property taxes were capped at the price we bought due to the save our homes amendment. It seems like the tax rate is just about the same, but you can buy more house for your money in Dallas. I'm really not sure about insurance, we use USAA - USAA is not writing any more policies in FL unless you are active duty military and moving to FL with orders.

Homestead exemptions in Dallas area - I think it's 15,000 - 25,000 depending on the area? Locals can chime in on this. In the Park Cities it's a 20% of the value of your house exemption.

website to the dallas cad has to say about exemptions: DCAD - Exemptions

[GoPadge]

While we're at it here's a link to the current DCAD - 2007 estimated tax rates with exemptions.

http://www.dallascad.org/forms/2007rate.pdf

[lh_newbie]

Homestead is a method of lowering your taxes if you live in your home. The basic rule is you have to live there Jan 1 of the tax year you're paying for. Your closing agent will have the homestead papers to sign at closing (if they're good that is).

To read about the exemptions, go to Dallas Central Appraisal District, click on "exemptions". You'll want to read about "general homestead exemption", which will give you a little more detail. The actual exemption amounts will be based on which school district, hospital district, etc, you are located in. To find the actual exemption amounts - go back to the dallascad.org home page and click on "taxing unit rates".

It can be a little confusing, but if you look up a property you're interested in on the site by doing the search by address, you can scroll down to the exemption and details section, which will show you how much each exemption is worth on that property (assuming they have an exemption) and what their actual tax basis is for each taxing unit.