<p>Anyone thinking of challenging their homeowner property tax assessment ?</p>
<p>It’s a hush hush but in this bad econmy seems like state government is quietly raising property tax even while your home value declines. They are doing this to make up for short fall in the revenue.</p>
<p>I like to hear from folks who successfully challenged their tax bill. What are some ways you can ask to reduce the assessment ? </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I did this in the last downturn cycle some number of years ago. It was successful and resulted in lower property taxes for a while and then they went back up to the pre-downturn level. I can’t recall specifically but I think there was an actual program in place for this at the time and a lot of people did the challenge successfully.</p>
<p>I don’t know what you mean by the state government quietly raising property taxes in California since we have prop 13 where it’s fixed - except for all the bond measures and extra assessments the people keep voting in for some reason.</p>
<p>I successfully challenged and lowered my property taxes several years ago. My town has a time of year that this can be challenged, so make sure to check with your village hall to find out the time frame. What I did was go to my town hall and checked what all of my neighbors were paying in taxes. This information is public and available to anyone. Everything is usually computerized and you can search their databases. Because I have a brick house and corner property, I narrowed in on those properties similar to mine in my neigborhood such as similar square footage, acreage, corner and brick. I typed everything up with my supporting evidence and submitted everything to the town and was given a decision 3-4 months later for the better. They lowered mine by 1000 units. It was worth the little bit of leg work and I didn’t have to pay for someone else to do it that usually advertise this type of service.</p>
<p>I have a cousin who is an attorney in PA that now does nothing but represent homeowners to lower their property taxes. She has a client base that reaches nearly 600 per quarter, and has steadily grown over the last 2 years. She has a 97% success rate. So yes, it can be done. I think even without an attorney if you’re savvy.</p>
<p>I successfully challenged mine in PA over ten years ago. It was a pretty clear-cut process – think I got comparative data from the township about other homes similar to mine in my neighborhood, then wrote a letter and filled out some forms in a county office. I think there was an appointment for a brief interview. Then I got a letter with the revised numbers. </p>
<p>My case was relatively easy as there are many homes similar to mine in my neighborhood, with lots of sales data.</p>
<p>Anyone can now use zillow.com to check out estimates and taxes on properties in their area.</p>
<p>My property taxes are lower than they could be because I live in an older home and houses haven’t been reassessed since the 1950s. No way I’m challenging!</p>
<p>“state government is quietly raising property tax even while your home value declines”
Not in Calif, as ucla dad pointed out. maybe some SF bond issues that were passed in 2008 are showing up on your tax bill?</p>
<p>We just got our new property valuation yesterday. They claim the value of our house has increased by $60,000 since 2003. We DID finish our walkout basement…but it is NOT a heated space (has walls, ceilings, new windows, carpet, etc…but it’s an unheated space). Would THAT add $60K in value in a market where the price of houses is going DOWN. They claim the fair market value of our house has gone up $60K too…Hmmm…If someone came along and offered me that price, I’d move OUT.</p>
<p>Our assessments are what they were at the peak of the market right now. The problem is that there are no sales and no way to do comps. I did challenge our assessment many years ago with all the proper paperwork. The person at the tax office said that I had a case on the house but that they would just change the valuation of the property if they lowered the amount on the house. I would have had to sue the town and the amount wasn’t worth the time and effort. It can be hard to fight city hall.</p>
<p>Calif_Dad:</p>
<p>Have you tried contacting the county assessor’s office and asking if they have a program to allow you to temporarily drop the tax bill for the year?</p>
<p>California property owner here. I’ve challenged twice–once successfully (early 90s recession), once unsuccessfully. There’s a form to fill out. I had attached the sales info of a house just like mine that had recently sold in the neighborhood. I can’t remember what the circumstances were in the second challenge.</p>
<p>State and local challenge rules must vary a lot. In our town the right to appeal an assessment expires after a very short period – sixty days if I recall correctly. Reassessments are done by computer here, despite assurances that “every property is visited by a trained assessor.” (It’s remarkable how many unimproved houses go up the same percentage!) No right to question the assessor, and very limited rights to use comparative data unless the house is identical. I tried “my neighbors house was built at the same time and is larger – and it just sold for sixty percent of my current assessment.” Denied. IMHO you’ll need a lawyer.</p>
<p>I agree w/ NewHope, that you can’t fight city hall, and that it may take professional help. It depends on your area (and the luck of the assessor draw). I’ve known others in other cities who are successful, but we have not been.</p>
<p>We tried the last cycle. When the new values came out, they gave a specific time and place to meet in a large gym with a part-time assessor (temporary hire). I knew within 2 minutes that my assessor would not change a thing. He even threatened to increase it because I was challenging the amount ! The meeting was professional, but he had absolutely no intent of changing anything from the moment I sat down with him. Our house was priced above all our neighbors, but he said he would not consider the values of our neighbors, and would only look at comps of recent sales. I had lots of comps from nearby areas, but nothing within a few blocks because nothing had sold in the last 5 years. It made absolutely no sense to me. Plus, I knew that many of our neighbors had updated many things inside (kitchens, baths, etc.) when we had not, but they of course do not know what the insides of the homes look like. </p>
<p>After our meeting, when we received our new “revised” amount, the value had INCREASED by $400. I felt he was simply slapping my hand for having the audacity to question the assessors office. I then took it to the next level. They told me that because nothing had sold in our neighborhood, that our assessor probably made a judgment call on what the houses SHOULD sell for!. They said it was unlikely I could get it changed. I was astonished. They were increasing our taxes because they thought it should sell for higher, not based on what the actual sales might show. </p>
<p>Well, several homes sold immediately after the last assessment, and as expected (although disappointed) the prices had gone down. For the last 4 years, however, we had been paying more than we should. </p>
<p>We just received a new assessment. It went down, although very slightly, and not at all in line with recent home sales due to the economy. But I also know it is not worth my time and effort to try again!</p>
<p>Thank you for all your input. First off, we live in a southern new hampshire. We transplanted ourselves from cali years ago when our S was accepted to east coast school.
Sorry if that was misleading. How I wish we can move back to San Francisco now!</p>
<p>Now the facts, it seems like one way to challenge your bill is recent sales of comparable homes in the area. With way things are, I hardly have seen any home sale. We are in a rural area where families usually stay in the house for generations. But I will do the leg work and hope to find some justifications.</p>
<p>Are there other ways to challenge your taxes beside comps ? What if nobody sold their home recently in your area?</p>
<p>I did this 2 years ago. I had comps, but when they brought up a house on my street that HAD sold for over market price I also had info on that. It turned out to be the house right next door that was completely remodeled during/after a huge insurance claim. My stance was backed by by photos I took of my outdated bathrooms & kitchen (w/ old built-ins), replacement estimates for the aging roof, and an estimate for repairs to the foundation. </p>
<p>In addition to sales comps, I had info on 2 houses in the area that had been on the market for over a year. </p>
<p>My fight was successful.</p>
<p>I’d suggest reading the laws on property taxes in NH. NH doesn’t have a sales or income taxes and relies heavily on the property tax for state funding.</p>