Leticia Sanders

Homestead Exemption in Bexar County

Property Taxes in Texas are administered by each county. For San Antonio, TX, we go through Bexar County Appraisal District. Most first time home buyers and many experienced buyers and sellers are not really aware of the homestead exemption. Most buyers receive junk mail in January with different businesses offering homestead exemption processing services for a nice chunk of change. But you can do this for yourself for free with about half an hour or less if you have all the information you need, which you would have to gather to provide for these service providors anyway.

Information needed for the homestead exemption form: Name of owner completing the form and current address and phone numbers, drivers licence or social security number, birthdate, names of other owners, and the property address if different than owner mailing address.

There are several ways to receive a tax break and they are listed on the form. You can read down the form and check the applicable boxes.

If you already have homestead exemption, but have since turned age 65, become a spouse survivor or disabled, it may be time for an update.

For the form, go to http://bcad.org/PDFs/2011_HS_Exempt_Form_No_50-114.pdf to get the four-page form and instructions for printing.

We would be glad to help out. Just call or text Leticia at 210-279-5279. Email Leticia@LeticiaSanders.com

Homestead Exemption in Bexar County

If you purchased your home in the calendar year of 2010, you should begin to experience a new stream of junk mail in your mailbox trying to sell you the service of registering your homestead with the County.

What they don't tell you in the mail-out is you can do it yourself for free.

The history of homestead law in Texas goes back to the desire to protect women and children from the dangerous activities of their men, whether it be the possibility of mortality in war or gambling while intoxicated. Originators of these laws believed women and children shouldn't be threatened if they lost their breadwinner in battles for freedom and justice...or acts of stupidity. These protections have endured since the mid 1800s and we hope you take advantage of them.

Qualifying for the Homestead Exemption in Bexar County for your home is easy: Own the property, be able to identify yourself and the property, and follow the simple form instructions. There are some restrictions, but most urban dwellers live on ten acres or less, so that's good. Rules differ for urban and rural life and as to how the land is used. There are also rules for businesses and developers. For the purpose of this post, we are discussing urban residential homesteads.

1. The first step: Download the forms. This used to be harder before the Internet, which is why entrepreneurs offering this service did so well. These days it's easy. Just click this link and print the forms and instructions, only four pages.

http://bcad.org/PDFs/2011_HS_Exempt_Form_No_50-114.pdf

2. The second step: Complete the form and mail it to the appropriate address.

3. Mark your calendar and followup by March 15: Make sure they got the mail and that the job got done. Not every clerk in every government office or service does their job accurately or effectively all the time. Remembering to do this is probably the hardest part, but it's important.

Applications for Bexar County Homestead Exemption are acknowledged on-time from January 1 to April 1 of the year following the purchase of the property. After April 1, they are considered late. And there is a deadline after which you will not be allowed the exemption or homestead designation. There is a definite time limit so get it done!

Homesteading your property is worth a lot, especially in Texas. The protections of homestead are not offered in every state in the United States. For example, New Jersey offers no homestead protection at this time. There is a wide variety of applications of the practice of homestead law; however, homestead exemption in Bexar County and Texas has some of the strongest protection in all the United States.

1. Protection from creditors, except the mortgage owner and tax man.

2. Protection for a surviving spouse.

3. Reduced property taxes, varying by County.

Any questions? Give us a call! We can point you in the right direction.

www.RedDoorRealtySA.com

Martin Luther King Day reigns in San Antonio as one of it's most important city events. In fact, San Antonio hosts one of the largest Martin Luther King Day marches in the nation.

This year, the city expects once again to see 100,000 or more people from diverse backgrounds attending events including the Martin Luther King Day March and the Bike Ride.

The March begins at 10:00 a.m., but don't fret if you are late. There are so many people attending, you can still be a part of the happy crowd as it merges onto the street. It begins at the 3500 block of Martin Luther King Drive.

Click this link for more information: http://www.sanantonio.gov/mlk/

Visiting San Antonio at Christmas has all the benefits of a modern, bustling, shopping city with all the charm, culture and tradition of an old Spanish Missionary Town. If you want high-end shopping experience, visit The Rim at Loop 1604 and I-10 or La Canterra, just a bit south of there on Loop 1604. There is also The Quarry on Hwy 281 closer in the Uptown or "North Central" area as the locals call it.

And if you want all the ambiance and romance of Historic traditions, then visiting San Antonio at Christmas Downtown is your choice. Linger on the River Walk or visit San Fernando Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in the United States. It was this cathedral that rang the bells to warm of the impending battle of The Alamo. It is said there are over 120,000 lights gracing the very old cypress trees along the San Antonio River. These lights begin shining the day after Thanksgiving and continue past Christmas. Lights and candles twinkle everywhere. It's not to be missed.

Traditions found while visiting San Antonio at Christmas date back to the 16th century in Spain. One is called The Lighting of the Way or Las Posadas. when the people would light bonfires to signal the path for the Holy Family, symbolic of Joseph and Mary's search for an Inn. Stores would symbolically turn them away until they were finally given a place to rest. San Fernando Cathedral celebrates the Las Posadas annually. It is the oldest cathedral sanctuary in the United States today. San Fernando is the cathedral that rang the bells warming of Santa Anna's approach to The Alamo. This year, the last evening for Las Posadas traditions is December 19th.

For more historical info on the tradition of Las Posadas,

http://www.interpretermagazine.org/interior.asp?ptid=43&mid=11611

For more info on San Fernando Cathedral and events,

http://www.visitsanantonio.com/visitors/pla/featured-stories/san-antonio-shines-during-the-holidays/index.aspx

SA2020 is an adventurous focused initiative coming out of the office of Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio. Launched this summer with a crowd attendance of +/- 1000 participants, it is sure to be a fascinating journey. It doesn't seem to be getting the publicity it deserves, so I thought I'd take a minute and spread the news.

SA2020 is an effort to get community leaders and volunteers and anyone who wants to participate to come together and choose the focus of the city's efforts and vision for where San Antonio wants to be in 2020, for what we want to be like as a place to visit and live.

Consistent themes developed among participants at the first gathering for SA2020 such as transportation, education, street improvements just to name a few. The sessions are open to anyone who desires to show up.

You can find meeting information at www.SA2020.org

Visit this link to voice your opinions in this survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SA2020

If you moved away, live here or plan to move here, make yourself heard. This is your chance to make a difference with a very small amount of effort. Do the survey. Participate. We want to hear you.