If your house burns down and you have to rebuild or purchase new

[socalmoney]

Do you keep your tax rate on the new house or do you get slammed paying a higher tax based on your purchase price. Just wondering, my house is fine but I feel so bad for all those who are now homeless.

[welk2party]

I am no insurance expert, but generally your homeowners insurance covers replacement cost of an identical structure. Having said that, the city IMHO should have no new assesments if nothing has changed from the original structure. I could be wrong, and I hope I am more right.

[socalmoney]

that is what I would think but it wouldn't surprise me living in this state.

[WYRD]

I am no insurance expert, but generally your homeowners insurance covers replacement cost of an identical structure. Having said that, the city IMHO should have no new assesments if nothing has changed from the original structure. I could be wrong, and I hope I am more right.
If that were the case that might be the silver lining in loosing your home, however sadly I think it would get re-assessed:)

[edog_103]

Well this is what I think will happen. I would imgagine you need to pull new permits to re-build. I'm sure they would re-assess it when it was all signed off. So if you bought your house lets say 20 years ago, and are paying taxes based on that value, they would re-assess it to todays value.

[al cole'holic]

..from my own experience, I lost my home in 2000...because the home had to be rebuilt and NEW permits where issued in order to rebuild there was new assessments done and my taxes did change. Any time you are dealing with construction and permits this is what happens, it wasn't too much of a concern as the brand new home factor far outweighed the tax deal.

[blown65]

Your talking taxes and government and thinking they will be on your side. (I dont know the answer BTW)
I'd guess you'd be screwed and pay the new tax value.

[WishIknew]

If you lose your house to fire this is the least of your problems TRUST ME

[Cole Trickle]

Do you think the assesed value would still be well below market value?

[welk2party]

..from my own experience, I lost my home in 2000...because the home had to be rebuilt and NEW permits where issued in order to rebuild there was new assessments done and my taxes did change. Any time you are dealing with construction and permits this is what happens, it wasn't too much of a concern as the brand new home factor far outweighed the tax deal.
How much does that suck! Forces beyond your control, and suddenly the government has their fricken hand out. Sorry you lost your home, but since you built a new one you owe us more money.

[SummitKarl]

I have done a couple fire rebuilds out here, so my info is only good for Havasu
there is no change in your tax assessment, unless you add square footage to the home...ie add slab, in Mohave County your "Improved value" is based off your square footage of concrete. so if you rebuild on the same slab..and it does not have to be the identical home, you can move interior walls and plumbing, you can even change the roof line (add bell towers stuff like that) as long as the outline of the slab remains the same.
the reality of H.O. ins in a case like fire is they will cover up to 120% of your insured value for full replacement .....and that extra 20% isn't easy to get but they have given it both times I had to do this for others. basically it comes out of things you can prove were personel property
The real problem is, have people kept up on their insured Value. say they bought the house for $500k and insured it for that at the time of purchase...leap forward 10yrs and it now costs $750k to rebuild the same house, but they did not update their policy....their insurance company is only going to pay against the insured value of $500k

[Boatcop]

I DO know that if your house is destroyed, you should contact the County assessor IMMEDIATELY!
They will change your property taxes, based on a bare lot, until you rebuild.

[Boatcop]

I have done a couple fire rebuilds out here, so my info is only good for Havasu
the reality of H.O. ins in a case like fire is they will cover up to 120% of your insured value for full replacement .....and that extra 20% isn't easy to get but they have given it both times I had to do this for others. basically it comes out of things you can prove were personel property
The real problem is, have people kept up on their insured Value. say they bought the house for $500k and insured it for that at the time of purchase...leap forward 10yrs and it now costs $750k to rebuild the same house, but they did not update their policy....their insurance company is only going to pay against the insured value of $500k
That's why I have a "Replacement Value" rider on my HO policy.

[ULTRA26 # 1]

I believe that in CA, rebuilding as a result of a fire or any act of God, will not change a person's property tax assessment amount as long as the rebuild is same size or smaller.
I have verified this to be the case in OR, but have not confirmed in CA, as of yet.

[Mandelon]

We are more congenial down here. According to Supervisor Jacobs, fire victims in the county of SD don't even have to pay for the permits.....
You want to get reassesed after the fire to get your taxes reduced. If you rebuild same size house, no reassessment. If you go bigger they only asses the additional square footage and add that on.

[totenhosen]

Now my question is does the insurance company just cut you a flat check or do they do disbursements to a contractor. I imagine many people still carry mortgages so its not like they could just keep the money and not rebuild and than sell the lot.

[Mandelon]

They will typically pay in installments. Much like a construction loan. They have an inspector who will come out to verify benchmarks are met and disburse checks based on those...much like a construction loan.
The lender wants to be sure they are covered as well. You should have your lender notified so they can prorate the loan. I have heard in most cases you can stop making payments until you can move back in, then they just add that in to the back of the loan and you start back where you were.
The insurance policy should have some sort of temporary housing provision, but it depends on your policy and company. Hopefully the coverage is enough to rebuild. For a lot of folks it wasn't during the last big fires.

[haulina29]

Replacement value doesnt always mean what it says, Insurance companys are allowed to use their own contractors and suppliers for quotes for back up numbers against yours ,and if they are cheaper you get paid what the subs or vendors will do it for . Example a burnt tv you paied 5k for you arent going to get 5k for it you may get a new one but not 5k cash to purchase it yourself.

[YeLLowBoaT]

I do know that if your in a declared disaster area, your life gets alot easier when it comes time to rebuild ( cheap loans and shit form the gov)

[SummitKarl]

That's why I have a "Replacement Value" rider on my HO policy.
the two I have delt with called it "like and type" construction, you filled out their build sheet with how much things cost (line item check list) and they paid based on that....the one was a full pay up front..because the previous contractor tried to take the money and run (it felt so good to bust that guy)
once I got the mess straightened out, I asked for a escrow account from the INS. co with the full cost deposited before we started and did the standard 5 draw method from there