How much will your property taxes be for your new Tampa Bay area home?

Are you in the market for a home and you're wondering how much you're going to pay in property taxes? This is one of the most common questions I get from home buyers and I wanted to give you some tips and tricks to help determine how much you're going to pay in property taxes.

First, let's go over how property taxes are calculated. The short and sweet answer is that the county property appraiser gives your home an assessed value every year. Then they deduct any applicable exemptions and then they multiply it by the millage rate and that's how they get your tax value. 

When you're working with a real estate agent, they will give you a listing of the home and that will have the amount that the current owner paid in property taxes during the last tax year. Now it's very important not to rely on this number and just use that as a ballpark estimate. Mostly because taxes change every year, especially after a home sells. When you're looking at that number, check to see if the current owner has a Homestead exemption. It will show that on the listing. A Homestead exemption is a tax break you get for your primary residence. So if the current owner has a Homestead exemption, their property taxes are going to be less than if they didn't have that Homestead exemption.

Another thing to keep in mind is, on a Homesteaded property, the assessed value can only increase a maximum of 3% each year. So if you're purchasing a home from someone that has lived in the home 15 or 20 years, then their property taxes could be significantly lower than what you'll pay the following year. So make sure to keep that in mind as well.

Pinellas County and Hillsborough County have some great resources if you're purchasing a home in either of those areas. You can go on their tax collector website and they have a tax estimator where you put in the property address and purchase price and it will give you a rough estimate for how much your property taxes are going to be. And you can also call the county tax collector and talk to them directly and they can help address any of your questions or concerns.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you have any real estate questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.