Methods Used To Minimize Taxes On Long Term Waterfront Personal Residence
I've been studying the tax maps. I'm learning a lot toward my long-term goal of designing and building my own home.
I've got a few questions, though. I see a number of parcels broken off in the middle of lakes. Is this because the holder knows they can hold it for next to nothing, and always be assured a right of way to bring their boat years down the road? Is there another reason I'm missing?
Also, I notice that there are parcels where the piece on the lake is broken off and taxed at either a wasteland, AG, or vacant rate. The piece not on the lake has a sfr on it, and maybe orange trees on the rest. Is this because they're avoiding the tax hit of having the sfr on the lakefront property? If so, can they clear part of the lakefront lot and/or build a dock, etc?
If a lakefront parcel (say 3-5 acres) were purchased, would you generally assume that it could be diced up in this fashion, or is this a "if you know someone at the assessor's office" sort of situation?
Has anyone on here bought waterfront property and gone through the steps to get it listed as agricultural? If so, how did it go? Any snags?
I'm not sure I understand your question. In what way are these lots "broken off in the middle of lakes? And in what way is the lake "broken off"? Does water behave differently in Florida? Here in Chicago it is occasionally possible to break off a piece of the lake but thats usually in January and the lake (or at least portions of it) is a solid then, not a liquid. I didn't think it got that cold in Florida.
As to the question of how to go about getting AG status for property taxes it is usually a pretty straighforward process. The county assessors office will have some guidline they use for determining what constitutes AG land and you just need to meet that guideline and provide the appropriate paperwork. My father used to have a small farm in Ohio where the standard was a certain amount of AG sales in a year but there was no requirement to show reciepts for your costs. One year dad was a little short of making the minimum. So he went down to the local hog auction and bought pigs. That afternoon he sold the same pigs at the same market. Added the reciept for the sale of the pigs to his AG exemption paperwork and it sailed through without a hitch. No one ever asked whether he had actually raised the pigs on the AG land in question. I think he even made money on the trade.
Its all in knowing the rules and then thinking creatively about how to meet them.