While you can't escape all taxes, you can reduce them some. Where can a person looking to buy a new home in Atlanta (or within two hours of the city) find the best bang for their buck in tax savings?
Shirley Gary, a license partner, broker and owner of Engel & Volkers' Buckhead Atlanta and North Point Offices, identified three counties that require the least amount of city and county taxes for homeowners to pay while still offering a good living environment and a good educational system. The counties are Cobb, Cherokee and Forsyth.
Located approximately 120 miles from Atlanta, Cherokee County has a 0.87-percent effective property tax rate. Not bad, but Cobb County is even more appealing with a property tax rate of 0.86 percent.
Forsyth County, which is located 40 miles outside of Atlanta, has the smallest effective property tax rate at 0.83 percent.
"In comparison, Fulton County's effective property tax rate is 1.16 percent," Gary said.
While Forsyth's property tax rate is appealing, it also has the most expensive home prices of the three options.
Gary said in Forsyth you can expect to pay a median home price of about $258,200 with a median annual property tax coming in at $2,148. In Cobb County the median home price is $196,700 and the median annual property tax (based on the median home price) is roughly $1,688. For Cherokee County, a median home is $194,000 and home owners there can expect to pay approximately $1,647.
Assuming equal home values, though, puts the savings from lower tax rates in perspective. Gary used this comparison:
Fulton County $250,000 home – annual tax bill is $2,860
Forsyth County $250,000 home – annual tax bill is $2,043
"That's a saving of $817 in Forsyth County," Gary explained. "In Forsyth, homeowners aged 65+ can apply for a 100 percent exemption of the school taxes and the school board taxes too. Many counties have exemptions for seniors. Buyers need to remember that they may be eligible to apply for a number of exemptions in any of these counties."
Full-time residents might also qualify for a homestead exemption. Gary said to ask about all the taxes that must be paid in a county when buying a home.
"Buyers need to be aware whether they will be paying just county or both city and county taxes," Gary said. "For example, when moving into the city of Marietta in Cobb County, a homeowner is responsible for both city and county taxes."
It always pays to look at the numbers, Gary said.
"Homeowners always need to investigate opportunities for savings because it is different in each county," she said.
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