One more question on the tax reval-Mecklenburg (sale, real estate)

[momtothree]

I sat down today and crunched numbers on all the houses on my street.

All of the land assessed value is set exactly the same regardless of size on my street. Fine.

But all the houses are assessed at different rates despite several being exactly the same in construction materials, the ratings and offerings. (ie garage, patio, fireplace etc)

Why the difference? I took the building value and divided it by the total sq ft on all of them. I get a range from $50 to $70 per sq foot. (on the ones that are the same floor plan) These are all on the same street.

Oh and the qualified sale from a link that was posted in this forum? Was the lowest assessed per sq foot on this sq foot despite being one of the larger homes on the street. All of the smaller ones and without a garage were assesed at the high end.

[Charlotteborn]

The larger the home (typically) the less per square foot it will sell for (within a given n'hood). Think about it this way - two homes side by side. One is a 1200 s.f. ranch and one is a 1800 s.f. ranch. It would be very unlikely for the 1800 s.f. home to sell for $180,000 if the 1200 s.f. home sold for $120,000. There are certain 'fixed' costs that contribute to the overall price (i.e. land value, landscaping, grading, fixtures, etc.).

Also, typically the smaller the home the higher per s.f. it will sell for (within a given n'hood). Ranch style homes (within a given n'hood) typically sell for more per s.f. than 2-story or S/L homes.

[momtothree]

Wow, it seems really unfair that I am living in a house 150 sq ft smaller and without a garage got assessed $45,000 more than the house I mentioned. (the qualified sale) Same grading, same construction materials. We are both 1 story homes. But as stated they have a 2 car garage and a covered porch. (I just have a concrete patio)

I appealed mine so we will see what they say.

Oh and mine was bought in 2004 at the tax assessed value amount posted previously. The qualified sale was bought in 2010.

[Charlotteborn]

Momtothree - Are the two houses the same age? What about upgrades? Renovations? Both have the same number of bathrooms? 150 s.f. should not make much difference in tax values (depending on how big the total s.f. is).

You may have a good chance for appeal - sounds like you did your homework.

[momtothree]

I don't know about renovations in their house but at the price it sold it was high end for our neighborhood so I don't see it being a fixer upper. They are both 3 bedrooms/2 bath. Both were built in the same year and same builder.

My house on the other hand is a fixer upper, has all original features inside and out from the year built. I am slowly but surely upgrading it.

The kicker is that there is no way my house would ever sell at its assessed value, even in the real estate "boom" we had here. The assessed value on my home is what the houses that are about 700-1000 sq ft more are selling for.

Thanks, I hope we can get it a bit lower. On the plus side I guess if we sell it, we can say, "you are getting a bargain/instant equity, selling for waaaaaay less than assessed value!"

[Charlotteborn]

Hope you put all of that in your appeal. It sounds to me like you have a good argument for lowering your tax value.

I live in an older, in-town type neighborhood (most of the homes were built in the 60's). My tax value was similar to my neighbors that have new kitchens (granite, new cabinets, etc.), new bathrooms, etc. My home was built in 1961 and still looks pretty much like 1961. I took interior photos of my home and submitted it with my appeal.

It seems to me like most of the revaluations were realistic however, houses like mine (and maybe yours) that haven't been updated/renovated were valued too high. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the 'informal appeal' will result in a lower tax value.... I don't want to have to continue the fight!

[GCharlotte]

I'd be happy to take a closer look at any properties if you DM me the addresses. There are flukes, there are mistakes, and you should at least be prepared to go to the next appeals level simply because there's elected officials at that level that want your vote.