Florida is one of the few states that does not have a state Income Tax. As a result property taxes may be a little higher than other locations but also are lower than other locations. I have lived in Texas and Georgia and property taxes were very near the rate we have here. But, in Georgia we had a state Income Tax and higher sales taxes.
I have a number of clients from the far Western states and from the Industrial belt in the mid and North Easter states. They tell me they are supprised at how low our property taxes are.
As a general rule of thumb, your property taxes are going to run around 1.5% of the purchase price or current value of the home.
If you are purchasing home that will be your sole primary residence you can declare the home a Homestead and you receive an autormatic 25% reduction in the taxable value of the home. Once Homesteaded, property taxes on a home may not increase more than 3% in any one year. This will protect home owners who bought while the market was extremely low when the market begins to move back up.
In addition, if you choose to sell a homesteaded home and purchase another home, you now have "portability" which allows you to transfer your protection again more than a 3% increase in property taxes to the new home.
If I can help more, please feel free to call or email me.
