Property taxes
 

We went to see a villa today in pennecamp. Approximately 1600 sq ft. Taxes $2700 a year. Then went up north to see Same Exact villa. Taxes $6700. Are u kidding? I know Marion Co is more but we expected hundreds more, Not Thousands? How is this possible?

Location Location Location

Was it in Reddick?

Did you see the tax bill or just a number? A tax bill will contain a line for property tax, a total for ad valorem taxes, and a total tax which would include any bond payment. After that, different counties have different tax rates and some homes are within incorporated areas with additional taxes.

I would ask to see the actual bills (or look them up online) to know exactly where those numbers came from.

Yep, and southern villagers whined when they tried tax increase. Marion county poor county. Poor more ways that one. Like making the hard working homeowners poor. :thumbup:

Unincorporated Best Bet
 

Don’t buy in Lady Lake, Fruitland Park, Leesburg or in any new Village now owned by Wildwood. City taxes have been levied. If you want to dodge taxes your best bet is to buy an older home in unincorporated Sumter county.

There’s something else going on here that you are missing. Possibly exemptions/upgrades? Yes, Marion’s tax rate is about 43% higher than unincorporated Sumter, but that doesn’t explain your numbers.

Great Link for Taxes Villages
 

This will help explain a great deal about different tax rates here in The Villages.

The Villages Real Estate and Property Tax Values - Understanding the Local Market and Taxes

Keep in mind, it has nothing to do with additional costs like the bond, insurance, amenities etc. Those alone will increase costs by quite a bit even before you think about taxes.

OP, Did you calculate the actual taxes YOU will pay? Or, are you looking at the taxes the current homeowners pay? Current homeowners may have the homestead exemption or not. They may have been living in their homes longer than others. They may have paid substantially less for their home. They may have owned a previous home in Florida and receive a save our homes reduction. A home may have a high bond or a significantly smaller one that has been paid down. Everyone DOES NOT pay identical property taxes even neighbors who live next door. When purchasing a home, you must calculate what YOUR taxes will be.

Also, the taxes you see online could be 1/2 what you are going to pay because older homes tax rates are "sort of" frozen if the owner has been living there for a number of years and when a new person moves in you get hit for full current rate. When we bought our actual rate was almost double what the previous owner was paying (taxes, not inc bond) even after all the deductions. I guess at least in the new areas what you see (taxes) is what you will pay.

Property taxes are the most oppressive and arbitrary taxes imaginable, and they are practically the only taxes that retirees pay, unless you're dumb enough to hold your life savings in a taxable account. It always seemed insane to me that the states that rely the most on property taxes are the top retiree destinations. In a sane world, voters and not bureaucrats would decide your tax rate, it would be illegal to tax anything that doesn't produce a cash flow to tax, a given dollar of wealth would only be taxed once, and you could retire from paying taxes on the day you retire from making money. We apparently do not live in a sane world.

Then, my day to retire came, and here I am in Florida, not low-tax Oklahoma where I was raised. And where in the Villages did I buy? Marion County.

I'm in Florida because the weather is nice. I'm in Marion County to try and escape the horde of other winter escapees. And for four months every year (usually while waiting 6th in line to buy gas at BJ's), I sometimes wonder about my sanity.

A lot of variables mostly due to residency of the owner and how long they owned the home as property values are capped if you are a homesteaded Florida resident. Out of state owners will pay the most. Ask the realtor what you might expect to pay in taxes. Marion is higher but not that much. If you are buying taxes paid by former owner will not be the same,

Well said and the biggest difference IS NOT county to county. It is ownership/residency/homestead exemption(s) etc

Various laws hold down the assessment on homes that the owner lives in. Take your purchase price times the local tax rates to compare properties.

This. We live in Pine Hills, which is in Fruitland Park section of Lake County. Not only is Lake County tax significantly higher than Sumter, Fruitland Park adds an additional $1000 to our tax bill. We built here in 2017 because this was the last place to buy a lot north of 44 ( which is where we wanted to live). No regrets- love our house and it’s a good location but taxes are definitely higher than elsewhere in TV.

In Sumter county my understanding is a previous homeowners property taxes are capped a certain amount each year. So if they owned a house for 20 years let’s say their taxes are 3000. Then they sell. The new owners who do NOT own a present property in the villages will pay for example 6000 dollars now. The house is reappraised at present value and the cap is gone. So the cap now resets for the new homeowner at the higher rate. There is a grandfather clause at least for Sumter County property taxes.

Homestead vs non homestead

they are not the same exact house they may look the same, but the model names are different. As houses were built going further south, various changes were made ( improvements ) along the way.

If you post images of two tax bills showing these kinds of amounts, you will likely get much better answers to your question. Tax bills are public record from each county’s property appraiser website.

So choose the one with the Lower tax bill ...... BUT I'd bet that the Bond is a lot higher.

That is not true. Google the tax assessor for each county and see the bills yourself. Too much of a difference.

The property taxes aren’t capped. The assessed value of the home can only increase by a maximum of 3% each year if you are homesteaded. The property taxes are essentially the millage rate times the assessed value (minus exemptions). The millage rate can also change each year.

The prior owners pay tax on a sold value of the house from years ago whereas a new sale is based upon the new sales price which can be values at a much higher price.

Gas in Miami 5 bucks

The $6700 could be because it is not the owner's primary residence. If it is his/her second home or investment property taxes are higher.

1 villa maybe homestead and the other may not. always best to check the county website for information on a specific property to make sure what it is.

Research how to obtain a land patent. If you own yor property-no mortgage (mourge), you can apply yo have your property removed from the tax records.

Most likely the lower taxes were based on what the present owner is paying, which they paid much less for the villa years ago. Have the taxes calculated at the price you are going to pay for the villa. I’ll bet they will be much closer.

Buy where you want to live. In the grand scheme of things, the taxes may stink, but unless they are so unaffordable they impact your quality of life, do what you want to do. If your retirement home is driven by the cost of living, you could have done better than Florida, so in moving here it sounds like you've already decided paying more for end-of-days quality of life was worth it. IMO, the increase in homeowner's and car insurance in Florida will dwarf your property tax difference.

One agent may have given the rate based on the full market value (sale price). The other realtor may have given the amount currently paid. If the current owner of that unit is homestead the amount may be way off, because the house is assessed much lower. If you would like the correct tax calculation, ask your agent to provide one. This is why it is important to have an experienced and knowledgeable agent representing you.

Plus a 30K bond on that new home. Sumter has the lowest property taxes Marion and lake county are higher

Ours property taxes here in Texas last yr. Went from $6,4??. to $4,243. & we are supposingly getting a senior citizen discount because we’re both 75 yrs. old. But a little worried because they’re building 2 more schools. But thinking about moving again where property taxes are lower & either NO HOA or about 1/2 what we’re paying now! Everything here is geared for the ones that have children. Basically nothing because our HOA knows if they put anything in for us the kids will have it all torn up. Nothing against kids but their parents don’t watch them.

When I bought my house 2 years ago in the Village of Charlotte the taxes were much less. The following year they were reassessed based on what I paid for the house. I applied for the Homestead deduction, which will be applied on this year’s tax bill. What you are quoted as taxes will change.

Whole picture?
 

Were you looking at just property taxes vs property taxes, bond, maintenance, fire dept total?
I believe past taxes may only be a guideline. If a property is assessed at let's say $250,000 in 2018 and you purchase the property at $400,000, the assessed value will increase quite a bit. I've been told roughly 85% of the purchase price will be the assessed value but I'm not convinced that is accurate.
$4000 difference sounds like something is missing.

Not true....Marion County's rate is 4.29, Lake is 5.0364, Sumter is 5.19

Yes
 

True, and further more, Leesburg and Wildwood taxes are astronomical. Those two taxing cities encompass all new Villages homes and developments.

You got it. Taxes are reassessed each time the home is resold. And you can bet the taxes don't go down.

And yet, friends of ours chose a villages sales rep. and in their initial conversation in the office, ask many questions about the Villages covering 3 different counties, something they had not dealt with previously as career moves usually had them considering only a single county nearest their work. They were told there is NO difference here; that if the sales taxes are lower in one county, the property taxes will be more; that if the utility companies in one county have higher rates, it will be off set by my other considerations being lower, and so on. They did a little fact gathering and comparisons on their on, and found the agent's opinion to be very erroneous and concluded the agent was more interested in personal gain than in helping them find the best financial situation for them ?

Not an "expert" in taxes and tax comparisons, but wouldn't it also apply, that the actual tax paid would depend on if the present property owner's tax bill had a homestead exemption ? And also (don't understand how this works) was told that when an individual sells their homesteaded property to move to another property where they will have a homestead exemption, the taxes will (somehow ??) be similar to their previous residence and NOT increase 25, 30, 50% ? If someone actually knows how that works, would love to see it posted here !

So, if one lives in Sumter county 15, 20 years, sells, and BUYS again IN Sumter county, would their taxes stay relatively the same assuming the square footage is relatively the same, meaning a 1400 sq. foot house (not villa) to a 1400 sq foot house but in Sumter co. ? That makes it even stranger that agents will say it really makes no difference which county one moves to ? ? ?