-------------------------
From the Florida Chamber of Commerce Website,
regarding the Property Tax Relief Act that was passed into Law this year:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (June 4, 2009)

Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed House Bill 521, which restores balance to Florida’s broken property tax system by lowering the burden of proof for taxpayers who challenge these property tax assessments.

The legislation levels the playing field in property tax challenges by lowering the burden of proof from “clear and convincing evidence” to a “preponderance of the evidence.”

Previously, the system was unbalanced in favor of government at the expense of taxpayers.

http://www.flchamber.com/docs/NewsReleases/FCCCommendsProper…
---------------------------------------

Fred's comment on this:

As the value of Florida Real Estate continues to fall,
it will be easier to force the Property Appraiser to lower your Assessed Value,
resulting in lower taxes.

By the way, you can expect outright hostility from many Property Appraiser Offices on this.

Furthermore, don't read the Leftist Spin put on this by the Media ("It only helps the Big Corporations").
This is Tax Relief for all Florida Property Owners.

Best wishes to you,
Fred
----------------------

H
No.

I would ask your Realtor to check not only SOLD comps, but those in escrow (Pending) that may be SOLD by the time you are ready to fund. Some lenders are doing checks prior to funding, so if the market is going down, you'll need to make sure that the appraisal will still support the sales price.

H
No.

I would ask your Realtor to check not only SOLD comps, but those in escrow (Pending) that may be SOLD by the time you are ready to fund. Some lenders are doing checks prior to funding, so if the market is going down, you'll need to make sure that the appraisal will still support the sales price.

Hi Haydee,
You should not pay much attention to the tax appraisal when trying to determine the value of the house. Appraisals done for tax purposes are different than the ones that the lender would consider for the loan approval. Ask your RE agent for CMA, even though it is not considered as an appraisal, it will give you a better idea of what the value is for the property in the given area. And of course there is the actual professional appraisal services that can be ordered. The Realtor will use the same data that the appraiser would for CMA.
Hope this helps.

It really not reliable to go on that and it depends on what you are taking into consideration. As far as the value of the homeit will have to appraise out at the value of the offer or the bank wont approve the loan. I can assist your more if I was able to speak to you in person. Feel free to give me a call at 813-900-6884 and it doesnt cost you anything for me to help you with finding a home.Look forward to hearing from you.

Tax values tend to lag behind real values so they are not always a reliable indicator of property value. What's more accurate is recent comparable sales of similar homes in your area as well as active listings (but sold comparables are the best source).

Here in Minnesota as in many states, the tax values were set in January 2008 for the taxes being paid in 2009. Needless to say home values have dropped appreciably since 2008, so using a tax value is most often not a good indicator of true value.