New York has high property taxes. My property taxes are more than my mortgage payment! So, I'm looking forward to moving to Florida for some cheaper property taxes. I will take all that exta money I am giving to the government and turn it into equity!
The taxes are cheaper in Florida versus New York, however... lets not get ahead of ourselves. The property taxes are not free and might not be even as good as you are dreaming about. Lake County Florida (the home of Clermont), for example, has some of the highest median property taxes in the United States.
There are ways to reduce a Florida Property Tax. The Homestead exception will save a lot of money. If the Florida house is your primary residence, you can take $25K of the first $50K off on your taxed amount. And seniors 65 and over get a Senior Exemption that further lowers the tax burden.
I looked at one house in Clermont Florida. According to the Property Tax Calculator, the taxes should have been around $2600. Instead, the taxes for this particular property were over $5200!
How could that be? I did some research and obtained a breakdown of the taxes:
Lake County Bcc General Fund of $1,497
Lake County Mstu Ambulance $137
School Board State $1,146
School Board Local $885
City of Clermont $1,241
St Johns River FL Water Management $71
Lake County Debt Services $32
Lake County Water Authority $105
South Lake Hospital District $174
And then... don't forget the $732 HOA fees, which are kinda like a property tax, bring you to $6,000/year
And BAM! You are paying 2% of your home value every year in taxes. That is cheaper than what I pay in New York... but not free. And not anywhere near what the Property Tax Calculator came up with.
The tax rate is more than a third cheaper than New York, however, the home value will be about a third more expensive! While I will save some money, it won't be a life changing amount of money.
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