Charlottesville Real Estate Blog

Some Charlottesville home buyers are relocating from areas where real estate taxes are very high while others are coming to the Charlottesville Albemarle County area from localities where real estate taxes are relatively low. The good news is that the real estate tax rates for the counties of Central Virginia (including Albemarle, Nelson, Orange, Fluvanna, Green, Louisa, Madison) along with the City of Charlottesville are relatively modest. And, in recent years, there has been a great deal of pressure from homeowners to lower the rates to offset significant increases in property values and assessments. Every year, county boards prepare a budget and establish their real estate tax rate for the coming year. Sometimes the rate changes, sometimes not.

Taking the Mystery Out of Charlottesville Real Estate Tax Values

In just about every MLS system there is a data field for entering the current real estate taxes for a property. The Charlottesville Virginia MLS is no different and in fact, it is a required entry. So, you may be wondering why I always enter zero for the Charlottesville Albemarle properties that I list for sale. The reason: The current assessment (and hence the current taxes) on the property may not be a good representation of what the buyer’s assessment will be after purchasing. In most of our Central Virginia counties and especially in Charlottesville and Albemarle, property assessments for real estate tax purposes are revised every year with an effort to reflect current fair market value in the assessment. But, the longer a property has been out of the market (been owned and lived in by the same people), the greater the disparity between the assessment and market value. This has been especially true in recent years when Charlottesville real estate values have shown dramatic increases. So, what I always counsel my clients to do is to budget for the current tax rate at the purchase price for the property they are buying. This seems to me like the best way to prepare my clients for the kind of real estate tax bill they will actually end up with after closing.

Valuable Charlottesville Real Estate Property Tax Consultation

Tax rates and assessments are a moving target. Plan for an assessment that is at or near your purchase price. And, if you want to know the current real estate tax rate for Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Nelson County, or any of the counties of Central Virginia, visit my County Tax Rates page and let me know the county(s) where you think you may be buying. If you have a question about calculating your Charlottesville real estate taxes, leave a comment by clicking on the “Comments link” below.

Until my next post,

Brian
Your Charlottesville Real Estate Resource

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