After you have looked up the address in the Sumter County Property Appraiser page you will then need to go to the upper right side of the page and click on retrieve tax record. This will bring up the tax record on the property. If you look under Non-Ad Valorem Assessments you will see a number of assessments One may be for fire, another for maintenance and then another one that I believe is the yearly bond assessment. If you take this number and multiply it by 30 you will get what the total bond on the property is including interest.

This number is what the owner is currently paying. You can then look at the tax history and see the payment history as to how many years the owner has been paying deduct that from the total to get a balance. Also you can use the year the home was built for the number of years the owner has been paying.

I know that does not give you the bond on new homes but let me do some searching and see if I can come up with something.

JimJoe - excellent question.

Hawkwind - Thanks for that thorough explanation. Much appreciated!

Okay let's try this for determining the bond on a home. First of all look at my other post to determine the yearly bond payment. Now take number and divide by 12 to get what the monthly payment would be as you will need this for a reverse loan amortization calculation below.

Go to this site, http://www.sharewareisland.com/mortgagecalculator.aspx (if the link does not work cut and paste it into your browser) and first click on the reverse button under the all clear. You will now have to enter the necessary information. You know the payments are for 30 years, you know the payment (from the number you arrived at above) and the one number that is iffy is the interest. At present I believe the interest is at 7%.

Okay here is an example. Over in Pennecamp there are some beautiful premier homes on Lake Ridge Dr that I was told the bond is about $48,000. Looking at the records for that street I see that the bond payment is $3,914.12 per year or $326.18 per month. The total over 30 is $117,423.60. Now entering that information into the reverse loan amortization calculator I come up with a bond of $49,027.32. About a grand off from the rough number now being kicked around for premier homes in that area.

A word of caution and this may not work in all cases. If you are trying to do the same calculation on say a home north of 466 you will have to know the interest rate and term of the bond. I understand these have changed over the years.

I think it's currently referred to as a "Geithner"

Hawkwind: I appreciate your efforts but isnt your method merely an estimate? As I understand it you can pay off the bond when you buy a home or you have that chance one time per year. If you call a realtor then can give you the exact amount due if you buy the house. Where does that number come from? I am thinking there is a website that has it or it requires a call to the assessor or tax collector. I am quite certain it is public knowledge since it would be a lien on the property. Any ideas where I can get it without asking a realtor? Thanks again for all the help.

I used to use TurboTax but I switched to Tax Cut - Now H&R Block At Home a few years ago. It is cheaper and does the same as TurboTax - along with the free e-file.

I do not believe that this is your bond assessment. This is the annual charge to you for your annual maintenance of your CDD area. It can change annually depending on your CDD needs for your CDD maintenance.

I just checked my taxes and the maintenance is the annual CDD maintenance charge.

The line called Bond Assmt is the interest on your bond.

I used to use tax cut, switched to turbo tax several years ago, I just felt turbo tax was much more user friendly, to each his own...gn

Agree on the to each his own. :pepper2:

turbo tax discount
 

check your bank's website - at least 2 that I know of are giving a significant discount this year - first time I've seen that. Someone mentioned to me last night that their bank - National City Bank - which was bought a few months ago by PNC - was giving a discount.

So - I checked my bank - USAA Federal Savings Bank - and found the same discount - 25%, and you can also import directly all you bank info when you download it. I haven't done it yet - says it will be available by Feb. 1st. Plus, seems like the non-discounted price is quite a bit cheaper than last year - maybe more competition?

Does anyone know if Citizens is offering the same thing?

Not sure why I would want to download my bank info into a tax program. All you need are the numbers from the 1099s.

You can download most bank's data into Quicken - but again why?

Yes it is an estimate but the closet thing other than calling a sales rep. The bond is a fixed number and determined when the infrastructure is completed. That number is in the hands of the developer / TV Property Management and has yet to be found on any web site so this is about as close as you can get without making a call.

The county tax office has nothing to do with the bond except for collecting the funds for the developer. The bond could be considered a lien but is is a private lien between the owner and the developer thus would not have to be a public record.

I just spent last month in TV going to a lot of open houses (mostly new) and in every case, with the exception of one, I was only given the bond figure in rough approximate dollars. In only one house was I given the exact amount and that house was already sold (sold the day before the newspaper listing and it was too late to get it removed).

I would be willing to bet that each and every home listed with the VLS has the bond already on the form just as the number of rooms, baths etc. Only problem is that it is not all on a web site. During my looking I was also allowed to look at a number of street plans and layouts in the newer areas of TV. I asked if I could get a copy but was told no. Same thing with a printed spreadsheet that the sales reps had of all the currently available homes that the reps get every day. More good information but again you have to go through a sales rep.

Z
Thanks for checking but if you look at any of the homes that I used in my example on Lake Ridge drive and then look at the payment history you will see that there are three lines in the Non-Ad Valorem Assessments.

UNIT xxx SPEC ASMT-MAIT $1,665.82
UNIT xxx SPEC ASMT-BOND $3,914.12
VILLAGES FIRE DISTRICT $81.00

Total Assessments $5,660.94

If the $3,914.12 is interest only then do you receive another statement of what the bond principle is for that year? Do you write out two checks, one for your taxes and another for bond principle? I am well aware of the maintenance fee and how it can change from year to year.

I will play around and try to find some homes that are north of 466 to see how they pan out. If the ASMT-BOND is only interest then a 10 year old home would show a decrease in the figure over time.

Isn't the interest and principle payment?

Are there changes for you in the wind, Russ? If so, congrats!