How homestead exemption works?

[Antoine Ferguson]

How does homestead exemptions work? From what I gather only your primary residents can qualify but I'm not sure on how or why to apply or if I even qualif... I'm new to real estate btw 👌

[David Lee Hall, III]

It only applies to owner-occupants in PA. So assuming SFH you would be out of luck on getting it applied (I have tried - best bet is to buy in January as it is only evaluated yearly, so you could get a year of reduced taxes).

Additionally, there are bills on the floor in Harrisburg that will be voted on this year to drastically change the school tax setup and expand the homestead availability. Unfortunately it looks like the current proposals are looking to shift the tax burden for education to investors with this. Brad Dornish (local PGH lawyer) has a couple articles written over the years about this. He presents monthly at the Pittsburgh area American Congress of Real Estate meeting. If you are in the area I would recommend you stop by and introduce yourself. 

These changes all stem from a lawsuit sitting at the PA Supreme Court about how funding tied to the school district properties is not fair for depressed areas and violates the PA Constitution's edict on education availability.

Articles:
https://dornish.net/is-pennsylvania-ready-in-2018-to-end-most-property-tax-for-funding-public-schools/
https://dornish.net/is-pennsylvania-ready-to-end-most-property-tax-for-funding-public-schools/