A new report outlined metros where homeowners pay the lowest and highest property taxes:
There are various reasons for this, ranging from home values tending to be less expensive on homes without a mortgage to some states having tax exemptions or reductions for older homeowners who may be more likely to own their home outright. Salt Lake City and Seattle — the two metros where median property taxes are slightly higher for homes without a mortgage — illustrate there are exceptions.
“Remember that if you’re overburdened by property taxes, or just think that you’re paying too much, you can challenge your assessment,” says Jacob Channel, LendingTree’s senior economic analyst and the report’s author. “While this doesn’t guarantee that your bill will go down, it can help shed some light on why the government is saying you owe what you do. And, in the best case scenario, you could end up paying less in taxes.
There are limits to how much people can deduct for home-related expenses. The total amount that can be deducted for all state and local taxes, including property taxes, is $10,000, or $5,000 for married taxpayers filing separately. “Ultimately, people who feel home costs chronically overburden them may be better off looking at alternative ways of easing their burden rather than relying on tax breaks on their returns,” explains Channel. “For example,