Question for Homeowners??(Non GSD)

[Wolfiesmom]

Originally Posted by llombardo

Its amazing how much taxes can be I found another house that is move in ready, not in the same town, but the taxes are 8600, how can taxes be that high. Aren't the taxes based on the purchase price of the house? The real estate agent told me that, but I can't see the taxes on a $170000 house being 8600..pretty depressing because in no way, shape, or form could I afford those taxes

That seems high. The taxes go by what the town assesses the property for. You can file an abatement if you purchase the house for less than what the town assesses it for. Also find out how many dollars per thousand the town charges for taxes, then you can make a pretty close guess as to what the taxes will be. For example my town charges $14.89 per thousand, so if you bought that house in my town for $170,000 then your taxes would be 2,531 a year.
Also, the taxes and homeowners insurance should be rolled into your monthly mortgage payment.

[llombardo]

Originally Posted by Gharrissc

First of all I love the look of the house. My husband and I purchased a ranch style home that was pretty much gutted from the inside out. The whole property was grown up and it took 10 months to get it totally redone.The actual construction wasn't too bad,but it is a pain when you plan certain things at your house and realize that it's not completed. If you have a good relationship with your contractor (if you use one),then it should go by pretty smooth.

I know...I love the house and the area is GREAT. The builder and architect gave me their cards...it would be about 75000 to add an two bedroom and 1 bath addition. I would make the kitchen bigger too. The appliances that are there are top of the line and its got my double oven It has lots of potential, but really the only thing I need to do right away is get that support fixed for the loft...they quoted me $5000.00 for that. The roof is good, the windows are good, and the yard is perfect.

[Narny]

Also, it looks like I saw a flat roof there as well... Those can be VERY tricky if not done properly. I have seen pics of a failed flat roof... standing water and cave-ins... its pretty horrible. Make sure your roof is ok as well is all im saying.

Good luck, it all sounds pretty exciting.

[onyx'girl]

sadly taxes are based on the neighborhood. Lake properties~ the 2 bedroom seasonal cottages are taxed as much as the yr round homes that take up every inch of space on their lot.

[llombardo]

Originally Posted by Wolfiesmom

That seems high. The taxes go by what the town assesses the property for. You can file an abatement if you purchase the house for less than what the town assesses it for. Also find out how many dollars per thousand the town charges for taxes, then you can make a pretty close guess as to what the taxes will be. For example my town charges $14.89 per thousand, so if you bought that house in my town for $170,000 then your taxes would be 2,531 a year.
Also, the taxes and homeowners insurance should be rolled into your monthly mortgage payment.

Since this is unincorporated I would go to the county? I have the real estate guy investigating it, because it just doesn't seem right at all. If those takes were lower, that would be the house I would pick. I'm guessing since its the county, it's not going to go by town, but just the house itself.

[LifeofRiley]

@llomardo:
Property taxes are determined by two primary factors. The first factor is the amount of money needed by the various taxing bodies (i.e. school districts, city and county taxes, fire departments, park districts, etc.). Once the assessments for a particular area are completed, these taxing bodies request money -- funds known as a levy.

The Cook County Clerk's Office uses the levy to calculate the tax rate, which in turn is used to determine your portion of the taxes. The geographic area where your property is located is categorized and given a tax code. Each and every property in a specific tax code (which can be several blocks or a few square miles) is taxed at the same rate.

The second primary factor determining your property tax bill is the assessment base, or the number of taxable properties in a tax code. To determine the tax rate for your property, the Clerk's Office takes divides the levy by the assessment base. This percentage then becomes the rate at which you are taxed.

The primary issue to remember about tax rates is that they are affected by the spending patterns of the various taxing bodies. The more money needed by the park district, the school district, police department and other taxing bodies, the higher your property taxes.

[llombardo]

Originally Posted by Narny

Also, it looks like I saw a flat roof there as well... Those can be VERY tricky if not done properly. I have seen pics of a failed flat roof... standing water and cave-ins... its pretty horrible. Make sure your roof is ok as well is all im saying.

Good luck, it all sounds pretty exciting.

The architect mentioned this, part of the support that is needed is for that roof. Good eye you have...that is where the addition would be eventually so that roof would be gone, well that would be the plan

[llombardo]

Originally Posted by LifeofRiley

@llomardo:
Property taxes are determined by two primary factors. The first factor is the amount of money needed by the various taxing bodies (i.e. school districts, city and county taxes, fire departments, park districts, etc.). Once the assessments for a particular area are completed, these taxing bodies request money -- funds known as a levy.

The Cook County Clerk's Office uses the levy to calculate the tax rate, which in turn is used to determine your portion of the taxes. The geographic area where your property is located is categorized and given a tax code. Each and every property in a specific tax code (which can be several blocks or a few square miles) is taxed at the same rate.

The second primary factor determining your property tax bill is the assessment base, or the number of taxable properties in a tax code. To determine the tax rate for your property, the Clerk's Office takes divides the levy by the assessment base. This percentage then becomes the rate at which you are taxed.

The primary issue to remember about tax rates is that they are affected by the spending patterns of the various taxing bodies. The more money needed by the park district, the school district, police department and other taxing bodies, the higher your property taxes.

I just found two other homes in the area, both selling for more. One is 210,000 and the taxes are 7700, about the same amount of land. The second one is 180000 and the taxes are 5600..all three homes are comparable. Is it possible the house is in the wrong tax code?

[Zeeva]

Good luck!!!

[Liesje]

I don't really know how taxes are assessed but just wanted to say it *was* a major deciding factor for us when we purchased two years ago. We narrowed it down to two homes that were listed at the same price (though very different) and one had way higher taxes, I want to say more than twice as much as the other (and granted the yard was a bit bigger). The two houses were both in the same "quadrant" of town about 5 miles from each other, but different cities/towns.