How to Find Tax Appraisals for a House
Before purchasing property for yourself, a business, or as an investment, review the current tax appraisals. Tax appraisals describe how property is valued and taxed by government entities. Property taxes represent an additional cost of ownership; if you fail to pay property taxes, the county can file a lien and eventually foreclose on the property. Real estate taxes for residential properties are public record, so you can access tax information about any house. Lots of tax information is available for free online, such as through county appraisal offices. You also can assess tax exemptions and find information about adjacent properties.
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Instructions
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Gather information about the house. You should know the property's physical address. It helps to know the current property owner's legal name so that you can search by name when needed. For example, some systems will not immediately recognize an address (1234 Apple Lane should be 1234 Apple Ln).
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Locate the county tax appraisal's website, and try to search for the property's records. For instance, the Miami-Dade County property appraiser (miamidade.gov/PA) allows property searches based on address, owner name, or folio number (a Florida property identification number).
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Contact the tax appraisal or assessor office directly by telephone or in person if the office does not maintain a website. You should be able to request tax information about the property and receive a quick response (namely the most recent appraisal). Ask about exemptions, such as homestead (primary residence), elderly, disabled and veteran tax reductions. If the current owner pays $18,000 but received a 10 percent homestead discount, you will pay $20,000, since the discount does not transfer
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Search real estate websites like truila.com, zillow.com, or realtor.com that describe available property for sale. Many listings disclose recent tax obligations as a total sum or per square foot, such as $20,000 or $60 per square foot.
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Register with a commercial website, like taxnetusa.com, if you cannot travel to the property or obtain information through the tax assessor. Although you must pay for results, you will save time if you must investigate multiple properties.
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Tips & Warnings
Property taxes vary by location and often change, so a tax appraisal from 2000 is not accurate. Most tax assessors collect money for different agencies. A tax obligation might consist of county, city, municipal, school district and special assessments.
While assessors usually complete comparative market analyses before sending tax bills, some people disagree with tax appraisals and file disputes. You might increase or decrease a tax appraisal by demonstrating evidence of its current exterior and interior condition (foundation problems, bathroom flood or number of nearby foreclosures).
