OK... just double-checked with the CEO. It's not as bad as I had thought, but, still... we got screwed: The house will be assessed on January 1. If we move in any day after that, we would not have to pay any taxes for '06 (on Jan. 15 of '07) because we would not have owned the house. Now, we will have to pay the taxes. So, one more week would have saved us some $9K.

She's a mortgage banker. I'm an English major. Guess who handles anything that deals with housing and mortgages? :D All I do is sign where she tells me to. Heck, for all I know, I've signed everything over to her. :bustingup

Sorry to hear about the closing date Juan, but what a beautiful house you will be moving in to! It will be a hectic time for sure, but one that will be well worth it.

I'm sorry to hear about the builder....For some reason I always hear things like that about builders/contractors, whats up with this group? Do they not have any business skills?!

It sounds as though you purchased and took title to the lot seperately and prior to the house being built. Normally the builder has the lot until the house is complete and house and lot title transfer together. The builder is responsible for paying the year's taxes, and there is typically an adjustment made by the lawyers at closing to charge you a prorated amount for taxes for the period of the year you actually own it.

If you bought the lot on your own, seperately, then you owe taxes on the lot from the point of possession regardless of whether the house was built.

In Georgia it is very advantageous to close at the end of the year. You only pay taxes for the number of days you lived in the house for that year. Both homes we have purchased were at the end of the year to take advantage of this. Still...I am sure you cant wait to get into the house. It looks really nice. Next time I am up there..you have to give me a tour.

Philip

I didn't. I corrected myself:
Still sucks, though! lol

Let me explain all new construction in York County SC is tax on January 1 of that year. Hence if a house has been finished on January 1 it is taxed House and land for 2006. If the house is not finished and certificate of Occupancy is not issued till let's say January 7th 2006 the property is only taxed on the land for 2006 and saves about $8000 in taxes. So by cloisng 9 days earlier it costs us $8000. If we change the close date we are out of contract and there is a line of people behind us to buy this home.

:yikes: It looks like a beautiful house. I'm sure it is worth it; and yes, we want more pics of the house and the Great Wall when you're in :) .

There has to be some advantage to paying taxes upfront.Seems to me the more taxes you pay now the more you take off later. I know you have checked with you tax advisor.What does he/she say?

Oh sure! If we were to sell the house in, let's say, June, then yes, we'd get half of those taxes back. Who knows when that will happen, though. Unless something drastic or unforeseen happens, we will hopefully be here for a long time. :)

We knew about the tax issue. It's just frustrating, that's all. We put in the contract in August of '04; at that time, we were told we'd close sometime in June -- "Possibly July." Obviously, they missed that date.

And the whole living out of boxes during the holidays thing is not much fun. BUT... I am trying to remain positive. It's our dream home, and we're very fortunate. :thumbup:

Juan

Give the builder $2k to move the closing date out by a couple of weeks - you'd save $6k and he'll make $2k that he wouldn't otherwise have. I'd certainly do "nothing" for $2k in 2 weeks! Just an idea...