A real estate agent has warned homeowners about a crucial way that could stop their mortgages from increasing by hundreds of dollars.
Neglecting this cost one of his clients a lot of money in his monthly payments.
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Jessica Rogers, a real estate expert and licensed broker in South Carolina, explained how her client failed to complete the document so that all homebuyers in the state could prevent this from happening to them.
Rogers noted that she was first contacted by the client because they decided to sell the property they had purchased four years earlier, according to a clip on your TikTok page.
She told them she would be “more than happy” to help and began going through the process that all real estate agents do to prepare the home to be officially listed.
Part of that is filling out certain tax information, which Rogers started doing when he noticed something – the client’s annual property tax bill was quite high.
“His annual tax bill was $3,500 for a single-family home that was his primary residence,” the real estate agent noted in the video.
“I was like, oh my God, why are your taxes so high?”
Rogers said she even lived a few streets away from where the client’s property was located, and being in a similar situation, her annual taxes on her residence were only about $800.
After calling the customer and explaining what she had discovered, she asked a “critical question.”
The real estate agent wanted to confirm that when the client moved into the home in South Carolina, he went to the DMV and updated his driver’s license.
This would allow them to go to a local courthouse and fill out an application for what Rogers called a 4% primary residence tax.
She noted that in South Carolina, if a home is designated as a new owner’s primary residence, they will receive a 4% “special assessment” on property taxes.
The broker stressed that this only applies to primary residences, as investment properties and second homes would be taxed at 6%.
Because the homeowner was unaware of the 4% rate request, he saw an increase of over $300 per month in his mortgage payment and was never able to figure out why.
Rogers noted that it is rare for a homeowner to not know, as many attorneys and real estate agents in South Carolina now encourage homeowners to immediately go to the DMV and court to begin the process.
4% Property Tax Exemption in South Carolina
The 4% special property tax assessment rate is a benefit potentially available to legal residents of South Carolina.
- To request the rate, the resident must be the main owner or occupant of the property, in accordance with the South Carolina Department of Revenue.
- They must also be occupying the address for which they want the exemption for a certain period of the tax year.
- Any investment properties, mobile homes, or for-profit businesses located on the land will automatically disqualify the resident from the fee.
- Residents age 65 and older who are legally blind or disabled may also qualify for the Homestead Exemption.
- The Homestead Exemption sets aside $50,000 of a property’s value for taxes for qualified seniors.
It’s unclear why Rogers’ client was never notified of the 4% tax opportunity.
She said they were able to sell the house, but over four years the client paid significantly more than he should have.
Even if they paid the additional cost for half the time they had the house, with an increase of $300 per month for two years, that would be $7,200 lost.
The increase is still smaller than what some owners have seen in recent months.
One resident said they would be forced to get a third job after their payments increased to more than $400 a month, or $4,800 annually.
Another was hit with a $7,476 bill after a bank error sent his mortgage skyrocketing.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
