ORANGE COUNTY, Florida – Homeowners across the country are finding property taxes soaring despite an ongoing pandemic that forced shutdowns and businesses to shut down permanently.
What you need to know
- Property taxes are rising nationwide
- In Orange County, higher sales prices drive up property taxes
- Prices can also vary greatly among neighbors for various reasons
- To estimate their tax rate, homeowners can use the county’s tax calculator
In 2011, Imad Chams first became a homebuyer. His very first property tax bill surprised him a little.
“Was higher than I wanted to see,” says Chams. “It was much higher than before when we got the homestead exemption.”
Chams is currently looking for a new home after the sale of his conservatory house and admits that property tax is still an issue but is not one of his main considerations when ticking the boxes for what he wants in a new home.
“I wouldn’t say top three, I would say it’s more in the top five,” says Chams.
While he is shopping for this house, what he will ultimately spend will determine what the bill he will see later on will be.
“We’ve increased the sales price 9% year over year,” said Amy Mercado, Orange County real estate appraiser. “Our sales volume has decreased by 6%.”
In 2019, the middle Orange County home sold for $ 329,589. In 2020, the home price rose to $ 360,325.
For the past three years, homes have been selling in record time and at a price higher than estimated value, according to Ron Ziolkowski, Florida’s top-selling REMAX real estate agent.
“It will rise (property tax),” says Ziolkowski excitedly. “If you have the rise in property value that we’ve seen, this is unprecedented. We haven’t seen such a surge in 20 years, even during the quote-unquote boom we haven’t seen such demand. “
A homestead exemption will help curb this increase for most homeowners who may only see a 3% cap on the estimated value of their home. In contrast, someone moving to Florida and having no exemptions could see up to a 10% increase.
Ziolkowski also shares this information with his customers:
“Whatever the property tax bill is on the property, it won’t currently be the same property tax on January 1,” explains Ziolkowski. “It is always reset to the new estimate.”
The tax burden can be very different between neighbors for various reasons.
“When they were bought, how long they’ve been there, whether they’re portable,” explains Mercado. “So we have state law that says you can port your savings of your taxable value, estimated value, into your new property.”
Chams, who is now looking for a new home, knows exactly what to expect in the mail later.
“It’s definitely worrying,” says Chams slowly. “Just because we know Orlando is a hot market now, the property tax only goes up.”
Homeowners wanting to see what property taxes they can pay later this year can visit the Orange County Property Appraiser website, which has a tax calculator that they can use to estimate the amount of that tax by using the information of a House.