As a homeowner, you’ll pay property tax either twice a year or as part of your monthly home payment. This tax is a percentage of a home’s assessed value and varies by area. For example, a $500,000 home in San Francisco, taxed at a rate of 1.159%, translates to a payment of $5,795 annually.

500,000 x .01159 = $5,795

It’s important to consider taxes when deciding how much house you can afford. When you buy a home, you will typically have to pay some property tax back to the seller as part of closing costs. Because property tax is calculated on the home’s assessed value, the amount typically can change drastically once a home is sold, depending on how much the value of the home has increased or decreased. Our mortgage calculator takes the price of the home and gives you an estimate of how much your property tax will be.