The real estate market has gained speed over the past few months. The distressed properties have attracted first time buyers and investors to purchase now. Nearly all distressed properties currently on the market were purchased within the past 5 years. Property taxes reached their peak during that same period of time. Buyers are realizing that the current property taxes are impacting their ability to qualify for a loan. Homes priced between $120,000 and $160,000 have annual property taxes as high as $3000. A buyer trying to obtain a loan for these properties must qualify for a loan with the inflated taxes factored into the qualifying process. Lenders will not qualify buyers based on an estimate of what the taxes should be based upon the current value. The taxes will go down when the property is reassessed, but not until the property is purchased. We have seen some contracts cancelled due to inflated tax amounts causing the loan to be denied.