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Building on raw land and the tax consequences

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    Building on raw land and the tax consequences

    Wanted to see if I could get some opinions from the campfire crew.

    I am working through building a cabin in Gillespie County. Recently had a well dug and am in the process of working with a local retired plumber to get the plumbing run in the cabin. I know that digging the well pinged with a few local authorities, even had the Hill Country Underground water authority call me so they could inspect the well. I know of 4 other wells that are being dug off of the dirt road that I am on, and I want to say 3 different very large homes are being built. Plumber is telling me that the appraisal district is flying properties with drones to keep up with the development, I know of other counties that use a Google Earth type program to do the same.

    I am starting to worry about what the cabin will do to my property taxes. I have a wildlife exemption and honestly pay very little in taxes. And I hope that I can keep it that way. Just wanted to see what other ran into tax wise when they built on their property. One thought is to not have indoor plumbing so that I can make a better argumnet of it being a “cabin” and not a house. It is a 16x40 footprint, open floor plan, with no real bedrooms. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

    #2
    Originally posted by batmaninja View Post
    Wanted to see if I could get some opinions from the campfire crew.

    I am working through building a cabin in Gillespie County. Recently had a well dug and am in the process of working with a local retired plumber to get the plumbing run in the cabin. I know that digging the well pinged with a few local authorities, even had the Hill Country Underground water authority call me so they could inspect the well. I know of 4 other wells that are being dug off of the dirt road that I am on, and I want to say 3 different very large homes are being built. Plumber is telling me that the appraisal district is flying properties with drones to keep up with the development, I know of other counties that use a Google Earth type program to do the same.

    I am starting to worry about what the cabin will do to my property taxes. I have a wildlife exemption and honestly pay very little in taxes. And I hope that I can keep it that way. Just wanted to see what other ran into tax wise when they built on their property. One thought is to not have indoor plumbing so that I can make a better argumnet of it being a “cabin” and not a house. It is a 16x40 footprint, open floor plan, with no real bedrooms. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
    We ran into the same thing. When we bought the property our taxes were $65 a year. A few years later the appraisal district found the cabin that was on the property for years and our taxes went up. They carve out an acre of land and tax you separately on that acre that has the cabin. So our property with wildlife exemption is still $65 a year and the one acre and cabin is $1400. Ours was a 32x20 cabin when we bought the place. We have added a skinning shed 45x20(20x12 enclosed under the roof) this is what we are currently taxed on. We recently added another 24x20 to the existing cabin. Hope it takes them a few years to find it

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      #3
      Much appreciated Stolle. My current taxes are $97/year.

      Any idea on how they came up with the value of your improvements? It cost me about $25K to build what I have (not counting the well), and I am hoping that I can use that as the value of the improvements. Think it helps any to tell them about it, or just let them find it on their own?

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by batmaninja View Post
        Much appreciated Stolle. My current taxes are $97/year.

        Any idea on how they came up with the value of your improvements? It cost me about $25K to build what I have (not counting the well), and I am hoping that I can use that as the value of the improvements. Think it helps any to tell them about it, or just let them find it on their own?
        Just let them find it on their own, and they will. They'll put a value on it and if it's not to your liking then go protest it. Normally they come in lower than you think.

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          #5
          Originally posted by batmaninja View Post
          Much appreciated Stolle. My current taxes are $97/year.

          Any idea on how they came up with the value of your improvements? It cost me about $25K to build what I have (not counting the well), and I am hoping that I can use that as the value of the improvements. Think it helps any to tell them about it, or just let them find it on their own?
          Let them find it on their own and then protest them later if you feel they're too high. Most protests are accomplished by showing them "comps" or comparable properties, which is probably difficult in rural areas. Cost of improvements might be another route but probably a less desirable option because as you probably know, the cost of the materials does not equate to value of the materials as constructed.

          Comment


            #6
            Just build underground

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by CabezaBlanca View Post
              Just let them find it on their own, and they will. They'll put a value on it and if it's not to your liking then go protest it. Normally they come in lower than you think.
              this.

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                #8
                Do they get to come inside to see how nice of a cabin? Or just based on outside building materials, known improvements like water electric, and SF of the building?

                If you let them "find it on their own" can they come after you for back tax? Say it takes them 3-4 years but they look on google earth and can confirm it has been there the 3-4 years? Then slam you with 4 years of tax at one time.

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                  #9
                  I have 217 acres and have it on timber exemption. I built a 1200 sq ft house on it and put up a 20'x40' carport with a slab. When they connected the dots my taxes went up to over $2K a year. If I had it to do over I would just invite them down to take a look. I think there might be a little "get even with the landowner" at work. I've since sold the place, to close in late December, so I'm not worried about it now, but if I ever do it again, I might just do what Efren said. I've always wanted an underground house anyway.

                  Edit: Where I live we have 84 acres and 2,600 sq ft under roof and my taxes are cheaper here than they are in Rusk Co. Go figure !
                  Last edited by Drycreek3189; 11-30-2018, 12:41 PM.

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                    #10
                    I don't know if they can back tax you or not. They only started taxing me after they found it.

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                      #11
                      Hide the air conditioning unit. Barn buildings will be reclassified. Also, a poured floor gets them going.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Do yourself a favor and submit to county that it will only be a shell... there is a standard icc building code that most city's counties will follow to issue you u the permit.
                        I did mine and went with bare shell no insulation just storage shop with lighting.
                        Heres the spec sheet as of earlier this yr.. with an example of how they calculate the permit cost..
                        Attached Files

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                          #13
                          They found my stuff at the South Texas ranch about 12 years after I built it. They just sent a bill for the current year. I felt real bad about them loosing around 25k dollars. But not bad enough to write them a check.

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                            #14
                            If u show it as nothing more than a utility shed then it wont hit the radar and trigger a later inspection that will reveal your buildout inside later
                            Also if u can just build a pole barn style with no floor u can easily go back after permit is done and final coo is issued and have your plumber run pipe etc and use a pump truck to pour the slab afterward...lots of ppl do this
                            Last edited by kingranch; 11-30-2018, 02:12 PM.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by batmaninja View Post
                              Much appreciated Stolle. My current taxes are $97/year.

                              Any idea on how they came up with the value of your improvements? It cost me about $25K to build what I have (not counting the well), and I am hoping that I can use that as the value of the improvements. Think it helps any to tell them about it, or just let them find it on their own?
                              I'm not sure how they came up with the value, but it seams to be in line of what we have out there. I'm not going to ask since we have made more improvements.

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