Is Your New Property Taxed Correctly?

There are many excellent homes to choose from in the Columbia area, with a variety of local real estate markets that have properties of great quality available for purchase. If you're considering buying real estate in the Columbia area, GO HERE to perform a Full Home Search, or if you're in the process of selling your home, CLICK HERE to obtain a Free Home Value Report. For any other questions you have regarding the market conditions of Columbia real estate, or your own home's value, please don't hesitate to contact me at  (803) 407-3883.

Hey everyone, today we want to talk about property taxes. We want to make sure you are aware of what they are and how they affect you.

If the property you are living in is your primary residence, you should be taxed at a 4% rate. Unfortunately, when you buy a new property, the county automatically considers it an investment property and taxes it at a 6% rate, tripling your tax exposure.

To make sure this doesn't happen to you, here's what you need to do if you have purchased a new home. Make sure when you get your tax bill at the end of the year, the box marked 4% is checked on your tax bill, stating that your home is an owner-occupied property.

If you've recently purchased a property, you need to fill out a form that states it as your primary residence and take it to the county assessor's office, where you will be required to present your license with the property's address on it. They might also want to see a utility bill for the home as well.

If you get the bill that says 6% rather than 4%, make sure you call the assessor's office immediately so you can get it changed. This is very important to keep your tax exposure where it should be.

If you have any questions for us, don't hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to help out!
 

Why 2015 is the Time to Sell Your Home

There are many excellent homes to choose from in the Columbia area, with a variety of local real estate markets that have properties of great quality available for purchase. If you're considering buying real estate in the Columbia area, GO HERE to perform a Full Home Search, or if you're in the process of selling your home, CLICK HERE to obtain a Free Home Value Report. For any other questions you have regarding the market conditions of Columbia real estate, or your own home's value, please don't hesitate to contact me at  (803) 407-3883.

We sold 150 homes in 2014, which is up by more than half of what we sold last year. People have been asking us how we did this, and it's because we associate ourselves with some of the top minds in the business. Barbara Corcoran from The Shark Tank was with us in December and was extremely happy to see how well we were doing.

Our clients have been impressed by the systems we have, and that's because they are proven to work and can be duplicated. We can be confident in selling a home because we use market research in our sales techniques. 

On top of this, the market here in Columbia showed real signs of growth, and a lot of people were satisfied with the prices they received on their homes.

In 2015, our goal is to sell more than 200 homes. We think this is within reach because interest rates have taken a dip recently, which will spur a lot of market activity in Columbia this winter. 

This tells me that now may be the time to make your move and sell your home before interest rates climb back up. With higher rates, a portion of buyers will be knocked out of your pool because they can no longer afford a higher monthly mortgage from increased interest rates. This is why right now may be a very good year to sell your home.

If you are considering selling your home in Columbia, we urge you to get into contact with our team. You just can't lose with us!