Did You Buy a Home Last Year?
At the beginning of each year, I like to reach out to my clients who purchased a new home the previous year. I provide a list of some helpful housekeeping items as well as any necessary specifics from their purchase.
Most items are relatively standard and would be helpful to any recent home buyer. Below is a list of some of the most common items that I touch on. Hopefully you will find these tips informative and useful as well!
Property Taxes New property owners occasionally have difficulty maintaining their real estate tax bill the first year property is owned. Many lending institutions make no effort to locate a tax bill if the owner does not forward it, and previous owners are careless about forwarding tax bills to new owners. The bills would have come out in late Summer/ early Fall. If you escrow, your lender should send you record of payment.
If you have not seen this record or not received your tax bill for last year, you should call the county tax office to inquire as to whether your taxes for 2020 are still outstanding (they may have been paid in full at the time of closing if you bought the last few months of 2020). A duplicate bill, if needed, may be requested from the tax office.
I also suggest going to your county tax assessors website. Some aren’t the most user friendly, but once you get the hang of it, you can check on future bills, assessment information, etc. It’s just a great tool to keep tabs on your property taxes.
I did have a client this year who closed in August and half of the bill was unpaid when we checked this January. She was able to quickly forward the outstanding bill from the website to her loan servicer and luckily they had collected plenty into her escrow account and were able to pay out ASAP!
Some of my happy new homeowners in Dunwoody, Georgia
2. HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION A homestead exemption provides the homeowner with a reduced taxable property value. It allows the assessed value of your home to go down $10,000-$30,000 (depending on the county). You may only file on one property as your primary residence and it is automatically renewed annually.
Remember to file for Homestead Exemption if you are occupying your home on or before January 1. The deadline to file is APRIL 1 for most Georgia counties. I encourage you to check with your tax commissioner ASAP to verify. For example, if you are occupying the home on or before January 1, 2021 you will have until April 1, 2021 to file for the exemption and have it apply to your 2021 property tax bill. Click HERE for a chart that provides homestead exemption information for metro Atlanta counties. You can also Google your county and homestead exemption instructions. Most counties require that your driver’s license and/or car registration has been changed to your new home address. Some counties also require a copy of your settlement statement and/or deed. Your closing attorney should have either emailed you a copy of your deed or mailed you a hard copy. If you are a client of mine and you don't have the correct one for your county, let me know and I'll help you locate. Don't worry...filing for Homestead is a one time annoying task!
3. Termite Contract I also like to take this time to remind clients that if a termite control contract is in effect on the property, it is a good idea to keep it renewed (if living in a condominium, Home Owners Associations usually take care of this). Call the exterminator who issued the contract and don't let it lapse, because it will cost you a considerable amount of money to reinstate it. They may expire at various times throughout the year depending on when it was established, so make sure you know when you need to call to pay for your renewal or go ahead and pay in advance so you don’t have to think about it. As the saying goes in Georgia, “A house has either HAD termites or WILL HAVE termites”! If a termite bond does not exist on the property, I strongly advise that you get one in place. I can always help provide contacts for you to shop around.
4. Settlement Statement At this time, I email all of my clients a copy of their Settlement Statement from closing. Yes, they would have received a copy at closing, but we all know things get crazy during a move!
You will need a copy to file your personal tax returns in the coming months, so best to have a copy in hand now rather than scrambling for it last minute. Your settlement statement is a document that itemizes all of the charges imposed on buyers and sellers in the transaction. It is signed by all parties. Consider it your “Proof of Purchase”.
