Check with your builder and your local taxing authority. In Florida the real estate tax year is Jan 1-Dec 31. In our county the Assessor tries to squeeze in some addtional revenue by checking new construction through January 16. If the Certificate of Occupancy has not been issued, and if there is a reason it could not be issued, the tax is on the unimproved property - not the % of completion of the new build.

It is interesting following this thread on NoVa because Chantilly was one relocation site that we specifically turned down due to QOL issues. (We turned down Denver because it was too cold and too far from our sailboat!) I think my DH is related to akkw's DH - very uhhh...frugal. We have never bought the most expensive house or car that we could afford. We get what we need and like, value, quality allowed. We pay off the one credit card every month and max out retirement investments. But we aren't waiting until retirement to use the money we have set aside. We cashed in the boat fund and bought our dream sailboat a couple of years ago when the timing was right, and now find that our used boat is worth more than what we paid for it (unbelievable???). We were able to buy a great house in FL to relocate to, without selling another house. And pretty much whenever we're mentally ready, we'll be able to shut the house up and take off cruising with the kids (boat-schooling). I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I just shake my head when I see my neighbors working overtime hours to pay for their 3 fancy cars (two drivers w/small kids) - they admitted to this folly. And so many friends who are house-poor (friends here in CA) and/or commuting hours a day and later realizing how much of their kids' lives they have missed (mostly friends back there in NoVa). Not even factoring in anybody losing jobs or in poor health. This is just folks who have gotten themselves in a bind due to their choices.

Thanks for the replies. Lily'smom, that is exactly what was going on. The property with the house had the garage, from another parcel, on its tax bill. The realtor found out that the garage didn't come with the house & the seller had full rights to use our driveway to access the garage. We also found out that there was another lot in front of the house that he was selling with no road frontage, it's blocked by another parcel that does have it. We saw potential future headaches with this setup & decided to pass on this. Within a few hours, we found another country home with no weird tax/property issues that holds some promise. It has been on the market for almost 4 months & was built in 2004. We hope to view this very soon & hope it'll work out. Thanks again folks for the responses.

Mike-I’m not sure your wording equates to the explanation of the escrow account and calculating the amount needed at closing. There is no capitalization of an escrow account. The lender actually uses a very simple formula to determine that there won’t be a shortage when it comes time to pay those bills. In many areas, the taxes paid in 2019 are actually 2018 taxes. In your case, it sounds like the taxes paid in 2019 are 2019 taxes. So by paying in July 2019, you are paying the “current year’s” taxes. If you were paying the 2020 taxes in 2019, you would then be paying a year ahead. How much you bring to closing has more to do with how soon the taxes need paid. You bring more to closing if the taxes are due in 2 months versus if they were due in 11 months.