Are high property taxes making you consider selling your property in Fort Worth? Is it even worth selling a property located in an area with high property taxes, and how would those taxes affect the market value of your property?
This article will discuss Fort Worth’s property tax rates, how they compare to property tax rates in other nearby cities, and the current situation in the Fort Worth real estate market. This guide aims to provide you with information that enables you to make an informed decision about selling your property in Fort Worth.
Property Tax Rate in Fort Worth
Texas is one of few U.S. states that doesn’t have a statewide property tax rate. Instead, the property taxes in Texas are determined and administered by the county. This allows us to cross-reference individual property tax rates from Texas counties and calculate Texas’s average property tax rate, which is 1.80% (as of January 5, 2022). Texas currently ranks seventh as a state with the highest average property taxes.
That means that the Texas property tax is one of the highest property taxes in the nation. However, since the state doesn’t collect personal income taxes, the overall tax burden in Texas remains one of the lowest. In addition, property taxes, assessed and administered at a local level, allow local governments to pay for public services.
Fort Worth, Tarrant County seat, has higher property taxes than in Arlington, its neighboring city. Residents of both cities pay the county’s general rate of 0.234%. However, Fort Worth’s city rate is 0.748%, on top of a school district rate of 1.378%, which adds to a total tax rate of 2.36%.
How Taxes in Fort Worth Work?
Considering that the median home value in Fort Worth went up by more than 24% compared to last year and skyrocketed to $325,000. Texas tax law states that all property taxation must be uniform and equal, so all personal property in Fort Worth is taxable at 2.36% of its appraised value.
Let’s say the Tarrant appraisal district, whose primary responsibility is to appraise all residential property in its jurisdiction, appraised your home’s property value at $220,000. The tax assessor-collector would take your home’s appraised value, and apply the effective property tax rates, previously determined by Fort Worth ISD (independent school districts), to generate your property tax bill.
Applying Fort Worth’s property tax rate of 2.36% on your home’s appraised value of $220,000 means you’d have to pay $5,192 in annual property tax. Remember that we haven’t accounted for any tax exemptions, like homestead exemptions. Unlike property tax, which is assessed and administered locally, Texas tax exemptions are established and governed by statewide laws, rules, and regulations.
As such, homeowners can qualify for a tax reduction of up to 20% of their properties’ appraised values. However, these exemptions can’t be less than $5,000, or greater than $25,000, depending on the total appraised value of their personal property. All exemptions filed during the current fiscal year will take effect in the upcoming tax year.
Using the example above, subtracting 20% from your property’s original appraised value of $220,000 brings your home’s taxable value to $176,000, which is a $44,000 difference. Considering that exemptions have an upper limit of $25,000, your home’s taxable value would be as low as $195,000, for which you’d have to pay $4,602 in annual property tax.
Check out the Four 19 Properties’ Property Tax Guide for more information about Fort Worth property taxes and applicable tax exemptions. We buy houses Fort Worth residents are looking to sell fast, and offer cash payment regardless of the condition of your home.
Tax Rates By County (Texas)
As we previously said, Texas is ranked seventh when it comes to property taxes, considering that its average property tax rate of 1.80% is significantly higher compared to the national average property tax rate of 1.07%.
Tarrant County is among the nine state counties whose average property rate is higher than 2%. Admittedly, its property rate isn’t as high as El Paso County’s avg. property rate of 2.24%, but it’s still significantly higher than Kennedy County, which has the lowest property tax rate in Texas, collecting only 0.73% of median home value per annum.
The One Star State is massive and has 254 counties in total, and listing all of them for comparison is entirely unnecessary. However, detailing Tarrant County adjacent counties’ property tax rates for comparison should paint a clearer picture of property taxes in the region. Tarrant County is adjacent to the following counties:
· Denton County — North — 1.90% property tax rate
· Dallas County — East — 1.93% property tax rate
· Ellis County — Southeast — 1.67% property tax rate
· Johnson County — South — 1.57% property tax rate
· Parker County — West — 1.61% property tax rate
· Wise County — Northwest — 1.54% property tax rate
Based on this information, it’s evident that Tarrant County, and by extent Fort Worth, has the highest property tax rates among its neighboring counties and the highest property rate in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (DFW) metroplex.
Will Fort Worth Reduce Property Tax Rates By 2022?
During a presentation to the city council held in August 2021, City Manager David Cooke recommended reducing Fort Worth’s property tax rate by 2.0% of its current value. In other words, the property tax rate would decline from $0.7475 per $100 of appraised property value to $0.7325 per $100 of appraised property value.
This reduction in property tax, regardless of how small it may appear (it reduces your annual property tax bill by less than $100), will influence the Dallas-Fort Worth real estate market significantly. The property tax rate in Fort Worth has steadily declined since 2016, which increased the median home value by 111.03%, from 154,000 in 2016 to $325,000 in December 2021.
Should You Sell Your Home in Fort Worth?
Historically, Fort Worth’s real estate market is at an all-time high, with massive demands for housing and continuously shrinking supplies. Now is the best time to sell a house in Fort Worth, but there are several factors to consider since the housing demand and supply, paired with the overall cost of living, play a crucial role in dictating market prices.
The increased demand for housing is caused by the influx of newcomers from other areas. The city welcomes approximately 20,000 new residents annually and is currently ranked 12th in population among United States cities.
Fort Worth has a cost-of-living index of 99.8, just a smidge shy from the national average of 100, with public transportation being the costliest “commodity” the city has to offer. Nevertheless, it’s a much cheaper city to live in compared to Mansfield, Arlington, or Kennedale. And the aforementioned reduction in property taxes will only decrease the cost of living in Fort Worth.
Property tax rates affect house market values. According to Wallace E. Oates’ The Standard Capitalization Theory, the market value of a home is determined by its total value, minus the present net costs of owning a house. For the balance in Oates’ equation to be maintained, the home value must go up every time the property taxes go down.
Lower property taxes mean lower living costs, which leads homebuyers to immediately pay a higher asking price for the house. There are two reasons to sell your property in Fort Worth right now:
- Tarrant County has higher property rates than the national average, which could reign heavily on your budget
- The property tax rates are going down, which would eventually lower the price of real estate, despite the ongoing increase in home median value
If you’re looking to move to a city with lower property taxes and a significantly lower cost of living, Woodbury in Minnesota, for example, has a 0.96% property tax rate. Using the example described above, you’d only have to pay $2,112 in property taxes on a property appraised at $220,000 if you moved to Woodbury. That’s $2,490 or 51.4% less than you would pay if you stayed in Fort Worth.
Fort Worth’s real estate market is booming, and houses usually take less than 30 days to find buyers. However, the sale process can be quite lengthy and tedious, especially if homebuyers are getting a loan to purchase your home. Your best option involves house flipping companies that buy houses Texas taxpayers are looking to sell quickly, and for cash.
Endnote
Fort Worth has one of the highest property tax rates among Texas cities. Admittedly, the Lone Star State is extremely tax-friendly, but taking the current real estate situation in Fort Worth and the rest of Tarrant County, it’s quite easy to see why people are selling their secondary or even primary residences.
If you’re looking to sell your property, Four 19 Properties are reputable cash home buyers Arlington and Fort Worth homeowners refer to with real estate sales. They’re fast and reliable and can offer cash payments on your home in less than 24 hours.