[Peazoup]

Hi,
My understanding is that when buying a home in Florida, the property tax is based on the purchase price. My questions is, has anyone out there bought a furnished home and requested that the furniture be a separate transaction so that the property tax is not based on the home with furniture? Just curious as it could mean the difference of a few hundred dollars a year.
Can anyone comment on this for me?
Thanks for any input.

[Fourpar]

That's possible, but the way to do so is to purchase the personal property (Furnishings) as a separate agreement. That way the contract for sale and purchase only reflects the purchase price of the real property alone.

[fraurauch]

We sold our first home, a Courtyard Villa, with the furniture, but did not put it in the purchase price. It was sold separately. As it turns out, the buyer did not want the furniture, but our sales rep knew a couple who were furnishing a villa to put it on the rental market. They bought it and on we went to our new Designer home.

[Dutchman]

That is on my list of ? also. If you are paying cash it shouldn't be a problem. With a mortgage you need the extra cash on hand for the down money, closing costs, and the furnishings. Also, wouldn't the cost of the furnishings be subtracted from the sale price during the assessment process in determing "just value" or if not, couldn't that be a point for an appeal of the assessment amount?

We bought our home "Turn Key" in Aug. 2006. This was the start of the downturn in real estate in Fl. After we gave the Villages the down payment and closed the deal we signed a document that had the home separate from the furniture and all that this house contained.We paid one price for everything but only are taxed on the value of the home. It is a Courtyard Villa. Since this is a second home for us it was a great deal as we could move in without buying anything---not even soap! I believe it was used for the Village Lifestyle program and furnished by Southern Lifestyle in a French County style. Quality furnishings and the stove and everything else looked like new. They even left phones, maps, paper, dishwasher soap and on and on. Everything to clean with also so did not have to spend another dime for Vac cleaners, hammers, mops, pails, etc. Really was kind of strange.This was two years old and the only things that we felt we needed to do was landscape the front, side , and rear. That was fun since we are from the North and love the tropical plants. It worked for us since we did not want to sell our home in IL. We ALSO had a second home in Calif. so did not want the work or expense of moving everything. This worked for us!! You do not want to be taxed on the personal property so ask that it is in writing before you buy. 024