Thanks for the help. I did find a simple solution. For anyone trying to get properties to display the proper word count, go into options and add the following shortcut to the quick access toolbar:

"Word Count..."

Now you can just click that button before saving to make sure the word count displays properly when you are viewing the closed Word file in windows Explorer. Even though the bar on the bottom left may show the correct word count, it won't display in the properties section when browsing in windows explorer unless you use this particular word count button.