Lake Martin Voice Realty
Archive for the 'Regulations and Red Tape' Category
Lake Martin Property Taxes – It Pays To Do Your Homework
Lake Martin waterfront property owners are in one of three counties – Tallapoosa County, Elmore County, or Coosa County. If you’re considering buying on Lake Martin, and are curious about property taxes, you would need to research all three counties to cover of your bases.
There are some similarities, however, in that they all are governed by the state of Alabama’s property tax laws. The property tax fiscal year in Alabama runs October 1 – September 30 every year. So the property taxes you would pay by December 31, 2007, were generated based on a snapshot of value taken on October 1, 2006. Here is some info for further research:
Tallapoosa County – Click here for a link to the Tallapoosa County Tax Assessor. The office number is 256–825–1046. Click here for an online calculator for Tallapoosa County taxes. It is a really good tutorial of how to translate assessment and millage rates to the actual taxes you might pay. They use an example of a $100,000 single family home, not in city limits, which yields a tax of $300.00 per year.
Elmore County – Click here for a link to the Elmore County Tax Assessor. The office number is 334–567–1184. Click here for a link to their explanation of rates and here for the millage rates.
Coosa County – At this writing, Coosa County does not have its own website. Click here for info. The Revenue Commissioner is Charlie Luker, and is a heckofa nice guy. His number is 256–377–4916. Their rates may be a tad different from Tallapoosa and Elmore, but for planning purposes, they are about equal.
Online Research
All three counties employ third party websites to publish their property tax map and owner information. The online sites are very useful, but take caution. The best way to determine current ownership is to do a deed search at the courthouse. Also, most of the time the lot lines are generally correct. But the best way to know your lot lines is to get a professional survey.
Many times the info online will only give you who was the owner on the previous October 1. That said, sometimes the counties update a sale as the year goes along. Consider if John Doe owned a property at 10-1-07 and sold on 1–10–08 to Bob Smith. Many times I have seen where the will leave John Doe as the owner but have Bob Smith’s name and mailing address in the mailing address slot. Then when the next year rolls around, they bump John Doe off and Bob Smith is property owner. But this is only a case by case observation.
Need Help?
If you are thinking about buying waterfront property on Lake Martin, and need some help in sifting through all of the Counties, school districts, and tax zones, I would be glad to help you estimate what your annual property taxes might be. As compared to other states, property taxes in Alabama are pretty low, so hopefully it will be a nice surprise. Email me, come by my Kowaliga office, or call my number at the top of this page. I would be glad to help you out.
Mythbuster: Alabama Power Leased Lots – Lake Martin
Alabama Power has leased waterfront lots on Lake Martin for decades. Yet, so much rumor, speculation, and innuendo surrounds the topic it remains mysterious to many people, real estate agents included.
Allow me to try to bust the myth on this subject.
Why are there leased lots on Lake Martin?
Lake Martin was created in 1923 when the Southern Company (Alabama Power) built Martin Dam on the Tallapoosa River. They bought up all of the eventual waterfront at the elevation of 490 feet above sea level. Since old Mr. Ben Russell (founder of Russell Mills), already owned the damming rights to the Tallapoosa, the Power Company swapped him those rights for one half of the waterfront. Pretty much every inch of the 700 miles of waterfront of Lake Martin at one time or another was owned by either Alabama Power or Old Mr. Ben.
When did Alabama Power begin to lease lots on Lake Martin?
Sometime around in the 1960s, Alabama Power allowed people to build homes on the waterfront, but they retained ownership of the land underneath the home. The people own the sticks and bricks, the company owns the dirt. The people paid a monthly lease to do so. Over the years, depending on the opinions of officers at Alabama Power, the homeowners were given the chance to buy the dirt under their homes. No rhyme or reason to it, some years they would decide to sell, other years they would institute leases. That policy continues today. Who knows, they may decide to start selling lots to leaseholders tomorrow. They might not.
How does a lot lease work on Lake Martin?
These days, when Alabama Power leases a waterfront lot to homeowners, they have a written lease, just like you would for an apartment. The lease specifies the monthly rate (currently around $400), the length of the lease (currently twenty years), and the yearly increase of the rate. The key here is that every lot is different, so if you’re concerned, consult a lawyer. Alabama Power assigns the lease amount when they offer new lots for lease. They offer the lots in a bid system, meaning, the homeowners bid offers of cash to pay for the privilege of entering the lease. If you are the top bidder, then you must pay the monthly lease rate on top of that.
What happens at the lease end?
Again, you must examine each lease to be sure of how it works. But generally speaking, at the end of the lease, one of 4 things can happen:
1. Alabama Power renews the lease
2. Alabama Power sells you the lot
3. Alabama Power buys the house from you
4. You pick up the house and leave.
My family has been selling real estate in the Lake Martin area since 1953. We have never heard of Alabama Power buying a house, or making someone move their house away. Not that it is impossible, but it is, in my opinion, highly, highly, improbable. Most of the time they either renew the lease or sell you the lot. Once again, if in doubt, talk to a lawyer.
Can you sell a leased lot home?
One word answer – YES. There are plenty of great leased lot homes
for sale now (like this one) on Lake Martin and many that have sold in the past. Generally speaking, you can get more house or view for your money on a leased lot house than you can on a deeded lot home, because of the existence of the lease. The transaction works just like a deeded lot sale, except you have the added step of transferring the lease to the new owner. Alabama Power must approve this transfer, but usually it’s just a matter of paperwork.
Can you finance a leased lot home?
YES – easily. I almost always recommend that Lake Martin buyers use lenders from around the lake. Not because I am related to any many of them, but because lake financing is usually a bit different than your standard McHouse in McSuburbia. Local lenders are especially handy when it comes to financing a leased lot home. They are familiar with all of the documentation, so it’s a lot easier to work with them.
Do you own a leased lot home and have some advice to add? Or maybe you have questions that I haven’t answered here. If so, please comment on this post and I will do my best to answer anything else.
Related posts:
When Does The Water Level Go Down On Lake Martin?
When does the Water Level go down on Lake Martin?
When does the water go down? Does this house have water year round?
I hear this a lot. When people are looking for homes or a lot on Lake Martin, they soon learn that the lake’s water level fluctuates. Depending on your preferences, this might affect where on the lake you choose to be. If you are not aware of the lake level’s changes, it may affect how happy you are with your purchase. If you want to be able to take a New Year’s Eve boat ride, you will be disappointed if you are high and dry with no water in the winter. Or, maybe you prefer a quiet cove off of the main thoroughfare. In that case, don’t over pay for a place that doesn’t fit your needs. You need to learn a little about Lake Martin in order to make the right decision.
Why does the lake level go up and down? First, you need to know that Lake Martin was created back in then 1920s when the company that is now Alabama Power dammed the Tallapoosa River. The Tallapoosa River joins the Coosa River to form the Alabama River near Montgomery. The Alabama flows all the way to Mobile Bay, and is a navigable river. The Alabama River must maintain a certain level so that barges can move up and down it.
So, part of the reason the Martin Dam exists is to ensure that the Alabama has a certain amount of water flow. Since Alabama Power owns the dam, they (with permission of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) decide how to regulate the water level. So how does this affect your lake house?
