My wife and I are in the process of looking at buying our home. To this point, we've been renting.

Is there somewhere I can find what kind of property taxes I'd be looking at if I were to buy? Since we'd be first-time homeowners, I have no idea where to look for that information or how it's even structured.

If it's necessary, I live in the North Hill section of Akron

PIIHB

O-Trap;1331470 wrote:If it's necessary, I live in the North Hill section of Akron

What county is that?

O-Trap;1331470 wrote:My wife and I are in the process of looking at buying our home. To this point, we've been renting.

Is there somewhere I can find what kind of property taxes I'd be looking at if I were to buy? Since we'd be first-time homeowners, I have no idea where to look for that information or how it's even structured.

If it's necessary, I live in the North Hill section of Akron

Probably check with the county offices, they should have that stuff on file: http://fiscaloffice.summitoh.net/index.php/documents-a-forms/view.download/25/697

here is a summit county web site to look up property tax

http://fiscaloffice.summitoh.net/index.php/property-tax-search

The homeowner is required to disclose property taxes in the sale process. The selling realtor should always have that info handy, usually on the listing and in promo materials.

But generally you can get a good estimate knowing what the local property tax rate is. I think many places in OH might be around 2% of assessed value (so roughly on a $200k house you'd pay $4k in property taxes each year, which are deductible if you itemize).
1) They don't do assessment every year. Something to look into when you buy because property values have come down

2) Also make sure you get a homeowner/occupier(?) exemption. I think some states, at least, have a lower rate if it's your primary residence you occupy.

The Real Estate office that has the property listed should have this information on file. Also go on line to your county website and go to the real estate area ... type in the porperty address and it will give alll the information and property picture, tax value past a present owner and property boundary.. PM me with the address and county and I will do it for you...

If you look at the MLS listing online they should have the most recent ACTUAL property taxes.

But if it's a FSBO they probably aren't paying for an MLS listing.

A couple websites to get decent info on past sales and taxes are. Do a search or the property address or street to find similar listing in the area:
Zillow
Trulia
Redfin
Blockshopper

gut;1331500 wrote:Zillow

Does anyone have any idea how accurate the zestimates are? When I bought my house it appraised for ~$50k over the zestimate. When I refinanced it, they appraised it for ~$50k less than the zestimate. (The loan lady had to get a waiver to refinance without having me pay PMI. I would have either argued the estimate value or not refinanced if they wanted me to pay PMI.) I'm not sure if the first estimate was really high, the second estimate is really low or if zestimates are complete crap, but the zestimate did not change much from when I bought the house to now. The first loan was through fifth third and the refi was through a credit union so they may do things differently. I just thought it was odd that the three were that much different.

FatHobbit;1331539 wrote:Does anyone have any idea how accurate the zestimates are? When I bought my house it appraised for ~$50k over the zestimate. When I refinanced it, they appraised it for ~$50k less than the zestimate. (The loan lady had to get a waiver to refinance without having me pay PMI. I would have either argued the estimate value or not refinanced if they wanted me to pay PMI.) I'm not sure if the first estimate was really high, the second estimate is really low or if zestimates are complete crap, but the zestimate did not change much from when I bought the house to now. The first loan was through fifth third and the refi was through a credit union so they may do things differently. I just thought it was odd that the three were that much different.

They are not accurate at all.

Yeah, value estimates are junk, especially with fewer houses recently sold in the immediate area and when the properties are significantly different in a variety of areas.

What I use Zillow for is to see what similar properties have recently sold for, and tax info. You need to calibrate your own ideas of what the market value is (your realtor should do this for you, but keep in mind the realtor's is not always aligned with your best interest).

Your loan is going to rely on the appraised value. I think they typically try to find 4 comparables sold over the last 6 months or so. Same sort of exercise you should be doing when trying to determine what a property is worth. If it appraises for less than what you buy, you're out-of-pocket that difference.

FatHobbit;1331539 wrote:Does anyone have any idea how accurate the zestimates are? When I bought my house it appraised for ~$50k over the zestimate. When I refinanced it, they appraised it for ~$50k less than the zestimate. (The loan lady had to get a waiver to refinance without having me pay PMI. I would have either argued the estimate value or not refinanced if they wanted me to pay PMI.) I'm not sure if the first estimate was really high, the second estimate is really low or if zestimates are complete crap, but the zestimate did not change much from when I bought the house to now. The first loan was through fifth third and the refi was through a credit union so they may do things differently. I just thought it was odd that the three were that much different.

They are not accurate --- maybe a good starting point, then it's like +/- 25% or so I'd guess on the actual value.

The zestimate on my house is likr 105,000, we just had it appraised at 120,000 for a refi, but 3 houses on the same street recently sold for 135K, 140K, 145K, all would be considered comparable to our home, so Zestimate shows around 105,000 for us, but I'd put it more like 130-135K realistically if we were to sell...

Thanks. That's kinda what I thought.

When I looking for my house and ended up buying I just went to the websites of the realtors and it had it clearly on there what the taxes were.

Auditors website should have tax history for the specific property you're looking for.

Here's a site with links to all Ohio county auditors. I use it all the time for work.

http://www.caao.org/DIRECTORY/