That's a good question, and usually best to talk to the county treasurer/assessor in the county you are looking in. It could be a percentage of the sales price, or it could be based upon square footage, bed/bath count, and lot size. In California it's based on the sales price, in quite a few area's in Ohio it's based on the latter. I know you are looking in MN, I was helping someone in Scott County and they were paying $1,880/year and they bought a home for $245k (purchased in '04)... I was helping someone in Carver County and they were paying $6,600/year for a $550k sales price (purchased back in '96), and then finally helped someone buy in Hennepin County and theirs were $2,520/year on a $173k sales price they purchased in '06. So as you can see it can vary county to county.
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