Do property taxes impact your choice of market/ state?

[Michael Wentzel]

We are purchasing buy-and-hold properties for cash flow in Colorado Springs and Pueblo at the moment. Both seem to have extremely low property taxes. We are looking at paying a bit more than $30 per month on one property worth around $65,000 (COS) and another property worth around $90,000 (Pueblo).

We are originally from Ohio and looked at properties there this past summer. The purchase prices and rents were similar, but the property taxes were about 5 times higher. I'm told this is because Ohio funds their schools through property taxes, where as Colorado does not.

When I'm looking at a property that cash flows $200 to $300 per month, an extra $100 in property tax per month just kills the model. Hence we've decided to continue purchasing properties in Colorado.

So my question is which states have the lowest property taxes? And is this a major factor for investors who are choosing out-of-state markets to invest in? It seems like it should be a huge factor to me, but I haven't found much information on the subject.

Mike