We are looking at buying our first house. We've rented for quite awhile and figured it might be nice to firmly put down some roots at 31 years old.

We are looking at the dripping springs area cause we figured that we might as well skip the starter home and just buy a house to grow into with a decent school district. But looking at the property taxes for Dripping Springs....Holy cow. $9800 tax bill on a $350,000 home In Belterra?!

How is that possible? Does Dripping Springs just have absurdly high property taxes? Is the Belterra neighborhood worth it?

Any other recommendations of non dripping springs areas to look?

No idea on your commute so hard to say what options are good. All the Williamson county's school districts are good

Work is off Mopac and close by Zilker.

Circle C?

Dave helped with our first home purchase too. Very easy to work with

Sending you a PM now.

Thanks...hope y'all are well. Tacos soon

Thanks! We need to golf soon with JC

As far as additional areas you could look there are many fun you want to be Southwest. You could try Circle C, Western Oaks/Legend Oaks, Beckett Meadows, Senderra amongst many other.

Most of that will depend on your budget and what the most important thing to you is in regards to the home neighborhood. We work a TON in SW Austin and would be happy to jump on a quick call. Cell is in the PM I sent.

Bott is right about tax rates and bringing in infrastructure to the area.

Stay away from most MUDs, they will kill you with taxes.

This plan sounds awful, but do whatever you think i best for yourself.

Welcome to buying a house in the Austin Area.

There aren't a lot of areas with lower taxes than that....especially if you're concerned with schools.

AgGrad99 said:

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Welcome to buying a house in the Austin Area.

There aren't a lot of areas with lower taxes than that....especially if you're concerned with schools.

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Lots of places in the area have a lower tax rate. Round Rock would only be about $8000 on a $350k house.

I realize some are going to be a little higher/lower....but in general, you're going to pay for good location/schools out the whazoo in this area.

AgGrad99 said:

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I realize some are going to be a little higher/lower....but in general, you're going to pay for good location/schools out the whazoo in this area.

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Right, I'm just saying a lot of the mud's have a tax rate round 3% and most o the cities tax rates are down around 2.3%

A very general rule of thumb is whether the subdivisions have city utilities or not. If not connected to the city most likely a MUD.

I understand. I am within the RRISD, and pay 2.35

How far from work do you live now? Make sure you fully buy into the commute difference. I moved to Austin in 2005 and bought out in Cedar Park in 08. My commute to Barton Skyway off Mopac was 30-38 minutes for a few years. As the years went by it became 35, 40, 45, 50 and not only that, but when I sold my house the increase in value relative to places closer in the city was pretty weak; less than 5% YOY appreciation.

we live in Eanes ISD and total property tax rate for our home is 1.78%. Fortunate to not be CoA and in a good school district.

https://imgur.com/a/MUrdZYy

I think they all sort of average out in the sense that Eanes might be < 2% but the homes there are probably more expensive on average than the rest of Austin. I recall the rates in Cedar Park being closer to 2.8% years ago, but homes were less expensive. Now our rates are ~2.3% in Austin.

the homes in eanes are more expensive because of the schools. We were discussing tax rates. There are some areas where yes - it all evens out, but I have some friends in Austin whose homes are valued much less and pay more taxes than we do. We've often discussed moving and downsizing, but the downsizing doesn't save us that much on the tax bill.

Capcity looks like you're not in he city limits which makes the rate lower

Austin proper would he about 2/3's of that figure. You are talking about a long commute.

yes I realize that, which is why I said I am fortunate. Fortunate to have bought in 2011 when prices were low and have successfully protested taxes each year to where 6 years later, my appraisal is now only 16% higher. That seems to be a slower progression than most.

We just bought a house on the west side of town and I don't believe the property taxes are near as high over here. We're in the Arrowhead Ranch neighborhood. $9800 on a $350K house? I don't think any neighborhood would be worth that. I believe the taxes on a home in that range is about $5-6K in my neighborhood....I can give you an accurate number in a year since I just moved here!

Or, you could look it up on TCAD. I had a guy contact me on LinkedIn to ask if I owned a property. It took thirty seconds to find the owner on TCAD.

You don't know what your county taxes are?

SteveBott said:

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You don't know what your county taxes are?

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I remember seeing the tax rate and not thinking it was crazy like some other nearby areas. My county tax rate is not a number I memorize, so no.

Those numbers are all over your file when you purchased. Might want to look them up. I will assume you escrow so it's just a monthly check but dude, you need to know this and if it's fair and whether your family is over taxed.

I appreciate your advice on this. I looked at it but I just don't remember the exact number. I know our taxes on this end of town are significantly less than in Belterra. We bought a new home that was finished in May, so the taxes are based on the land (from my understanding and previous experience with a new build a few years ago). I know my taxes in 2019 will be higher but we knew that when we signed and planned for it.

As far as it being fair...I believe it is. My agent was also my lender, lives in our neighborhood, and is a good friend of mine. She talked us through all of that and is more familiar than myself with regards to the exact tax rate differences.

Ok new Construction. Total Wild card. Again if not escrowing you should have a 2018 tax statement. It should be proposed value of improvements or not, which is land value only.

I would google a same street address of an existing home to see the value to determine proposed value on your new home.

I'll definitely be doing that. Thanks!

I was paying $6000 a year on a $250k house in CP 8 years ago. I'd plan on $7500-$8500 if you haven't already.