Those property taxes just took this home off your "I have to see this one list" in Southern Litchfield County.
When looking for a home in Southern Litchfield County you need to consider the property taxes as they will be included in your monthly payments.
Property tax is figured by the following: town assessment of the property times the mill rate divided by 1,000 = yearly property tax.
Towns and cities in Connecticut use what they determine to be, via their property assessments, 70% of their fair market value. Do not confuse their number of "fair market value" for what is now fair market value according to the current real estate market! I always cringe when I hear anyone, especially a real estate agent, "the town says it is worth $XXX,XXX".
What the town is saying is, on the date they use as the revaluation date for the property (and not through the same process a bank appraisal is done) they determined the house to be worth $XXX,XXX. Between revaluations, their fair market value price does not fluctuate, however the real estate market sure does. And their mill rate certainly can move up or down too.
A house comes on the market at a smokin' hot price!
While housing prices are down, most property taxes have remained about the same. This is something buyers often overlook. I know it is something I look at for my buyers and ask them if they were aware of the property tax amount. It can make or break a deal as far as monthly payments are concerned.
This can be especially true of buyers who are looking at distressed sales or homes in need of work.
Pre-approvals for a mortgage do consider tax amounts. However, just because you are pre-approved for purchase price of $275,000 doesn't mean you can purchase any home listed for that amount if the taxes will push your monthly payments higher than you can afford.
I always look at the property tax amount when looking at listings for my buyers and point it out to them. It can save quite a bit of heartache later on. If I am concerned because a buyer insists on seeing the house with high property taxes, I will make a call to their mortgage banker/broker and ask if those high property taxes knock this off the list.
I had a call from an agent who was very upset about the property taxes on a listing. She had taken her buyers back a few times and they were all set to make an offer... until someone looked at the property taxes. There was a lot of wasted time and energy for those buyers and I am sure they are very upset. The house was listed at a "smokin' hot price", but for a reason! Condition! Between the mill rate and the town's tax assessment of the property, the yearly property tax knocked this one way over her buyers head.
It might be a smokin' hot price, but check those property taxes before you get your hopes up!
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