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I don't know about the rest of Jersey, but in North Jersey I am getting a couple of letters a week from law firms looking to file an appeal on my behalf. In all honesty, my property is being over-assessed to the tune of about $33k.
Each of these law firms are offering to file for me ($100) and then, if they are successful and get a reduction in my assessment they will charge a fee of 1/3 of the total tax dollar savings generated over a one year period.
Has anyone on this board successfully appealed their property tax assessment? Did you use a law firm and were the fees similiar to above?
Sorry for what might be a stupid question. I am a first time owner - and the 47% tax increase on my property last year is killing me.
I appealed my taxes a couple of years ago and was successful doing so.
You don't really need a lawyer; you can get the info to do this yourself from your township or the state's website. It is a lot of detail; plan to take a day off from work to go to your municipal building and research at least five properties that are similar to yours and what they sold for in the past two or three years. (you're timing is good; I appealed in 2006 when properties I had to use for comparables had been selling like hotcakes for way too much money)
Basically, you have to prove that your property is over-valuated compared to recent sales of comparable properties. The Appeal board wants to hear 'per square foot' values, and sometimes the actual land you have may be valued higher than your house!
I was awaiting my turn to appeal when the township tax assessor asked me if I'd like to make a deal instead of going through the Appeals board. I did that, but think I got taken, actually. My problem was my land was valued at way more than it should have been. Fortunately for me, three parcels of land (about 1 acre each) had recently sold for $220,000 each; I have a third of an acre and it was valued at $120,000; it should have been one-third of $220,000.
Because of the drop in housing prices and sales you may see a significant savings in your taxes if you are successful. There is no reason for a lawyer to have any of that! Trust me, I'm no whiz kid but I was able to do it, you can too.
Thank you SO much for your vote of confidence in me Fox Terrier - and for the instructions. Very much appreciated! Thankfully, in this case, I live in a condo unit, so getting comparables should be pretty straight-forward. Did you pay a filing fee to your County Tax Board at the start of your appeal? I'm going to get on the town's website and make my way through the process. I am currently unemployed - so time is something I have quite a lot of! Thanks again!
cokatie - please be aware they usually don't take appeals unless the assessed value is more than 15% overvalued. you do have to pay for it, so I would just make sure you have a solid case before spending the $$$$. there is also a window of time you can use for comparables, this may vary by county, but morris county would be sales that CLOSED between 10/1/08 and 10/1/09.
They won't look at sales from the past "two to three years." The past year (I think Oct -Oct but I don't remember for sure) is all they will accept. Don't bother going to the muni building. Just have a realtor email you all the sold listings in your town for the past 1 1/2 years.
Most important thing to do is have your town tax assessor email you your property tax record. Make sure it's all correct - often the sq ft or # bedrooms / bathrooms is off.
It's easy to do yourself and you don't need one of the companies you are considering. Good luck!
They won't look at sales from the past "two to three years." The past year (I think Oct -Oct but I don't remember for sure) is all they will accept. Don't bother going to the muni building. Just have a realtor email you all the sold listings in your town for the past 1 1/2 years.
Most important thing to do is have your town tax assessor email you your property tax record. Make sure it's all correct - often the sq ft or # bedrooms / bathrooms is off.
It's easy to do yourself and you don't need one of the companies you are considering. Good luck!
I live in Mercer County and I'm quite sure we could take comparables from the past 2 or 3 years (don't remember exactly). Maybe that is something that changes from county to county.
The problem with having a realtor send listings is that they may not be detailed. Everything matters when trying to assess a property. For instance, what you get from a realtor may not show that a house has a 'glazed' porch or if there are sheds and what size they are; lots of seemingly small details that could add up. At least, that's what I found.
Thank you SO much for your vote of confidence in me Fox Terrier - and for the instructions. Very much appreciated! Thankfully, in this case, I live in a condo unit, so getting comparables should be pretty straight-forward. Did you pay a filing fee to your County Tax Board at the start of your appeal? I'm going to get on the town's website and make my way through the process. I am currently unemployed - so time is something I have quite a lot of! Thanks again!
Each of these law firms are offering to file for me ($100) and then, if they are successful and get a reduction in my assessment they will charge a fee of 1/3 of the total tax dollar savings generated over a one year period.
Sorry for what might be a stupid question. I am a first time owner - and the 47% tax increase on my property last year is killing me.
Thanks for any help and direction.
Were all properties in your town reassessed recently? County mandated?
Yeah, FBone, there is a HUGE storm here in Hoboken about the reassessments. The appeals have been going on since last year. It appears that I have finally woken up!
Tahiti, don't worry, based on what I found out my assessment is vs. conservative market value, it would appear that I am being overcharged - wait for this - 25%!!!!
My problem now is in getting comparables without paying for them from a realtor. It is a little difficult to get good comparables in my building since it has been in litigation with the builder for the past two years which has all put ground to a halt recent sales. It is actually to my benefit in this case, since it also lowers the property value - but I have not added that into the 25% overcharge above.
I think I will be busy next week, eh?
I live in Mercer County and I'm quite sure we could take comparables from the past 2 or 3 years (don't remember exactly). Maybe that is something that changes from county to county.
The problem with having a realtor send listings is that they may not be detailed. Everything matters when trying to assess a property. For instance, what you get from a realtor may not show that a house has a 'glazed' porch or if there are sheds and what size they are; lots of seemingly small details that could add up. At least, that's what I found.
No, it's statewide. Oct-Oct.
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