First Time Home Buyers Beware

First time home buyers are immersed in information and emotion. It can be difficult to completely budget for all the additional costs involved in the transaction; costs that go beyond the normal mortgage payment. One of the largest and most unexpected of home owner costs is for property tax.

Irvine, CA (PRWEB) April 25, 2005 -- First time home buyers are immersed in information and emotion. It can be difficult to completely budget for all the additional costs involved in the transaction; costs that go beyond the normal mortgage payment. One of the largest and most unexpected of home owner costs is for property tax.

It's fairly easy to calculate or estimate normal property tax based on proposition 13 guidelines, but it gets far more complex if the property falls within a Mello-Roos or 1915 Act Assessment District. Most new home buyers assume that all of the costs are disclosed in escrow or by their agent, but often even the seller doesn't forecast the 'surprise' taxes assessed because a property falls into one of these special districts.

Mello-Roos and 1915 Act Assessment Districts are formed to provide financing for helpful infrastructure within the community. These can include new schools, parks, roads, fire stations and other valuable services. The homes within the area pay yearly assessments in addition to standard (ad valorem) taxes to cover the payoff on the bonds. When you add up all the potential assessed taxes it could be a large amount and something a new home buyer has not budgeted for.
New home buyers should ask their agent directly, "does this property fall into a Mello-Roos or 1915 Act District?" If it does then the next question should be, "how much will my property taxes be?" If the agent doesn't have an answer then it may be cause for worry especially since California law requires this information to be properly disclosed prior to a real estate transaction. Luckily this information can be determined by companies that handle tax disclosure. Peter Placey, CEO & Founder of California Tax Data, says "The new disclosure laws were created to make sure home buyers know up-front what their taxes are going to be. When you see one of the disclosure reports you'll truly understand what your taxes are paying for, and exactly how much the yearly assessed amount will cost you."

For additional information on California Property Tax Disclosure reports or Mello-Roos & 1915 Bond Act districts, contact: California Tax Data directly at (949) 789-0660 or visit CTD online at: www.californiataxdata.com.

About California Tax Data
California Tax Data is the industry leader in property tax disclosure. For nearly two decades, CTD has developed key relationships with every municipal bond issuer in California including counties, cities, school districts and water districts. CTD has a comprehensive database for every new and existing parcel, over 11 million records and growing, the largest repository of property tax data in the State of California. CTD offers free educational presentations on California property tax disclosure issues.

Website: http://www.californiataxdata.com

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