Support Local, Homestead, and Portability

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No, no, no. Not for President but for Best Brokerage.

* A Vote for Echo *

* Is a Vote for a Local *

We are all in this together. Most Real Estate Brokerages are located out of Palm Beach County. Echo is located right here in Palm Beach County.

Keller Williams, Redfin, Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s, Compass, Douglas Elliman, Remax, Century 21 and Berkshire Hathaway are all headquartered out of state. That means corporate jobs are shipped out of Palm Beach County.

Echo is a local company. That means all our corporate jobs stay right here in Florida. In 2020, with your support, We Won Best Brokerage out of 3696 firms. Our Home ECHOnomics Guarantee and adaptability to Covid with Echo TV LIve Streaming, 3D-VR Buying and Selling Strategy and our Echo Agents that delivered food for the elderly are what makes our Pod so special.

Every Vote Counts…..Please Support Us. When You Work with Us, You are Supporting Local Jobs.

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Homestead, & Portability & Closing Costs

There are a lot of advantages to moving to Florida. Besides the warm weather, beaches, golf courses, restaurants, and easy lifestyle, there are no income taxes. You get a upwards of a 13.3% raise once you are a resident. Becoming a Florida resident has giant advantages…..

Tips on Homestead, Portability, and Closing Costs

Homestead
- If you own your property on January 1^st of the tax year and its your permanent residence than you are eligible for a $25,000 tax exemption. If your property is worth between $50,000-$75,000 than an additional $25,000 is exempted. The $50,000 is not applied to school district taxes.

Your home once homesteaded qualifies for the Homestead exemption, meaning your taxes can only go up 3% a year. That’s why its critical for Buyers to never ever ever look at the current taxes because they will be taxed at the new rate. READ MORE

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There are some ethical things that can be done to make sure you get the lowest tax base possible (can possibly save 7-10% depending on how offer is written up). You can also appeal your tax once a year if you can prove your home is assessed over the market value. A few years ago we helped a homeowner reassess a home and they knocked off nearly $6,000 a year by appealing. *There are some rental ristrictions to homestead. You can rent once a year up to 30 days and keep it.

Portability

Portability was established in the mid 2000’s when prices were skyrocketing up and homeowners couldn’t move because of losing their tax exemption. Its basically gives you some of your exemption to take with you.

Quoting from the Portability website…..If your new residence has a higher market value than your former residence, the portability amount is determined by subtracting the assessed value of the former home from its market value. For example, if the market value of your previous home is $250,000, but the assessed value is $150,000 because of the SOH benefit, then the assessed value of your new home will be reduced by $100,000, and the 3 percent SOH cap will continue on that portion of your new home’s assessed value. If the new residence has a lower market value, you can transfer a percentage of the difference from your previous property to your new home. To qualify for portability, you must establish your new residence on or before January 1 of the second year after leaving or selling your prior residence

Closing Costs
- Usually in Palm Beach County, the Seller pays all the closing costs. This interactive spreadsheet lets you play with the numbers to see what it cost both sides. Sellers typically pay title insurance and documentary stamps and its based on a promulgated rate. However, it can be reversed and the Buyer can also pay the closing costs which in turn could lower your tax base. Tune into our Real Estate Roundtable discussion for details. Watch Live

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WATCH LIVE!!! You can watch our Real Estate Roundtable LIVE at 9am on our website or comment on Facebook to make sure you get all the details on Septembers 2021 Sales & on Withdrawing an offer.

Jeff Lichtenstein is owner and broker of Echo Fine Properties, a luxury real estate brokerage selling real estate in Jupiter and homes in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He has 20 years of real estate experience, has closed over a 1,000 transactions, and manages over 50 agents in a non-traditional model of real estate that mimics a traditional business model. Some publications he has been quoted in.

Feel free to ask him a question directly at [email protected].