Two things jump out at me in this graphic on real estate tax rates.
Texas. I’m a lot less interested in investing in Texas. Now you can see one reason why Texas real estate is “cheap.”
California. Help me out here but I believe California property taxes are very high for newcomers. When you buy a home, your property taxes are very high at first but are locked-in from then on. Which means if you are considering moving to California, your tax rate would be much higher than suggested by this graphic.






8 responses so far ↓
1 Keith Jeppson // Jun 7, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Thanks for the link. I’d not seen this before. Great source for relos. Do you know of many states that charge a premium for 2nd homes or out of state owners? Some do, for example wasatch county in Utah gives a 50% concession to resident owners but charges the full rate to out of state owners. I’ve not seen any others that do that.
2 John L. Wake - Realtor // Jun 7, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Wow! I didn’t know that. Very interesting.
3 Cbass // Jun 8, 2007 at 5:31 pm
I would not base your decisions on this data set alone.
Some of these states do not charge a sales tax or have very low ones. no?
This seems to be one portion of the story but not the complete picture?
4 John L. Wake - Realtor // Jun 8, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Absolutely! But if you are planning to retire, you might be better off in an area with an income tax but low property taxes versus an area with no income tax but high property taxes.
It’s one thing to consider when planning a move.
My guess is that Texas’ high property taxes hurt it as a retirement destination.
5 Tom H // Jun 22, 2007 at 8:22 am
Having recently moved from from California, and having been a home owner there for 30 years, I can assure you the rate in the graph is grossly understated. When a home sells, new or used, the new tax rate becomes 1.25% of the selling price!! A $500,000 sales price translates to annual propery taxes of $6,250!!
6 John L. Wake - Realtor // Jun 22, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Tom H,
Thanks, that’s just what I wanted, some first hand knowledge.
7 Ken44 // Jun 22, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Thank god for prop 13 and the reassement exclusion between parent-child sale.
I bought the house I grew up in back in 1998 shortly after my father died and my mother moved. I paid the same property tax as my parents who bought the house in the 1960`s (around $640 a year)
The problems in SF and Cal in general aren`t going to be fixed by throwing more money at them. So I for one am glad not to be paying around $10,000 a year in property taxes. (House is now worth over $900,000)
8 John L. Wake - Realtor // Jun 22, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Economists say, however, that the way the tax works tends to lower the supply of homes (people are more reluctant to move because their property taxes will increase greatly) which increases home prices.
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