I had an out of state buyer send me an email with several questions on it and I wrote her a lengthy response. I figured if one buyer has these questions, others probably do as well and I might as well post them. Below are the questions in bold an my responses after:
In the description of each of these homes, what does the following terms mean:
Sprinkler System [auto, full, pressurized irrigation} - This is telling you if the house has a sprinkler system or not. If it says auto, it is an automatic sprinkler system. If it says manual, it means you will have to manually water or set up sprinklers with a hose. Full or partial indicates if the whole yard has a sprinkler system. There are a lot of builders around here who do front landscaping but not back on new construction, so if it indicates partial it likely means there are front sprinklers but not back sprinklers. Pressurized irrigation indicates if the sprinkler system is on irrigation (with pressurized auto sprinklers) as opposed to city water. I will explain the difference between that in your question below.
What is an Irrigation District? Is that your term for water company? - No, this isn't the term for water company. We have our water company which services the potable water in our homes and then many homes have a separate irrigation district that they are part of that services non-potable water to the home that is typically mainly used for sprinkling yards. If a home has an irrigation district and has the sprinklers on a pressurized irrigation system this is a good thing because your water bill for watering your yard throughout the summer is much less. Typically if you are part of an irrigation district you pay a low annual fee to the Irrigation Company (often around $100-$150/year) that allows you to water your yard at no additional cost than that for the year. The irrigation water is available from mid-April to mid-October and then the ditches are drained and unused for the rest of the year. Most people only water their lawns between April and October anyway and have a grass that goes dormant in the winter so there is no need to water beyond that. It is a much more effective way to water yards, as if you are on city water you have to pay for as much water as you use, so it can get much more expensive - instead of paying $150/year you could be paying that per month or water billing period depending how on how much water you are using. Again, this irrigation water is non-potable so you wouldn't drink it or use it for anything other than watering the lawn and plants or things like that. Most newer homes have irrigation available, which is great, but it is something you want to check for in subdivisions or homes, because if it doesn't have it then it does become an extra cost that you have to consider with the home.
On the following, I have not been able to locate a good web site with the below info.
What are the property taxes in Ada County? Here is Idaho Property Tax website - http://tax.idaho.gov/i-1051.cfm As far as Ada County goes, the tax levies vary from area to area, school district to district, city to city and also depends on what exemptions or non-exemptions are on the home. With that said a very, very broad generalization of taxes are about 1% of assessed value in Ada County. We have a homeowner's exemption if you live in a home as your primary residence. For 2012 that amount is $81,000. So, for example, if your home is assessed for $300,000 and you had the homeowner exemption on it, $81,000 would be automatically taken off the top of that if you had applied for the homeowner exemption and then you are only taxed on the remaining $219,000. There are also some other exemptions or tax breaks as well, and you can see those on the website that I linked above. Also, keep in mind when you are looking for properties online, the new construction homes will typically only be showing the land taxes, but if you are looking at properties with vastly different taxes on them and they aren't the land taxes the reasons could be in what the home is assessed at and whether or not the homeowner exemption is on it. So, don't throw out a home just because the taxes look to be high, if you send it to me I can explain to you why they are the way they are and if they would be different if you purchase the home and applied for the exemption.
I read that there is a 6% sales tax, is that state, city, county or combination there of? I believe that is state and that city and/or county have not added to it. Here is a breakdown of sales tax and other retail products - http://tax.idaho.gov/i-1109.cfm
I know that ID has a state income tax? Here is the Idaho income tax schedule - 2012 is the most recent http://tax.idaho.gov/i-1110.cfm
Is vehicle tax based on value? Here is the tax page for vehicles http://tax.idaho.gov/i-1097.cfm Here is the vehicle registration fee schedule - http://itd.idaho.gov/dmv/vehicleservices/registrationfees.htm
What is the cost of a drivers license? Here is the fee schedule for a drivers license https://itd.idaho.gov/dmv/driverservices/DLFees.htm A 4 year license is $30 and a 8 year is $55 according to the schedule.
And last but not least, where can I get some information on Boise and Meridian and surrounding areas? Check out the City and Chamber sites that I linked below. These are for Ada County cities.
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