Mortgage rates may be a function of free markets, but real estate taxes are a function of government. And, depending on where you live, your annual real estate tax bill could be high, low, or practically non-existent. Compiling data from the 2009 American Community Survey, the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan educational organization in Washington D.C., published property taxes paid by owner-occupied households, county-by-county. The report shows huge disparity in annual property taxes by region, and by state. As a percentage of home valuation, Southeast homeowners tend to pay the fewest … [Read more...]