School District Property Reassessment Appeal (comparable sales, sales, real estate)

[asalbeag]

As anticipated my school district has appealed my property tax assessment (presumably based on my purchase price since I just bought the house last year).

-The hearing is coming up this week, any tips on what to expect/prepare? I'm working on preparing some comparable sales in case I need them but not coming up with much to be honest.

-A lot of the online articles advise against representing yourself, most of these are written by attorneys who obviously have a vested interest in having homeowners not represent themselves. Presumably if I don't want to answer any question I'm asked I don't have to? Anyone here ever represented themselves?

-Assuming the school district's attorney is appealing based on the sale price the actual resulting assessed value would be the sale price divided by the common level ratio (1.14) is that correct? This should be the worst case scenario?

-I suspect my assessed value will go up but what sort of compromise can I expect, does the hearing allow for some sort of agreement/settlement?

[Paul2421]

Originally Posted by asalbeag

As anticipated my school district has appealed my property tax assessment (presumably based on my purchase price since I just bought the house last year).

-The hearing is coming up this week, any tips on what to expect/prepare? I'm working on preparing some comparable sales in case I need them but not coming up with much to be honest.

-A lot of the online articles advise against representing yourself, most of these are written by attorneys who obviously have a vested interest in having homeowners not represent themselves. Presumably if I don't want to answer any question I'm asked I don't have to? Anyone here ever represented themselves?

-Assuming the school district's attorney is appealing based on the sale price the actual resulting assessed value would be the sale price divided by the common level ratio (1.14) is that correct? This should be the worst case scenario?

-I suspect my assessed value will go up but what sort of compromise can I expect, does the hearing allow for some sort of agreement/settlement?

What is your argument for the assessed value being less than the purchased price?

[asalbeag]

I'm not arguing anything, I didn't file the appeal, I'm just asking some general question about what to expect in the hearing (see my original post above).

[RonSantoRules]

Do yourself a favor and hire someone who knows what they're doing, i.e. a lawyer, if you want to have a chance at a positive outcome.

[asalbeag]

What would a positive outcome be in this case?

[RonSantoRules]

Originally Posted by asalbeag

What would a positive outcome be in this case?

No clue. If you are fine getting your taxes jacked up then keep on the current path. If you want to get an informed opinion talk to a lawyer who handles these cases.

[UKyank]

Hate to say it but you will certainly 'lose' regardless of who is representing you as there is no argument that will be successful at challenging a recent sale price of a property.

[asalbeag]

Right so that is what I expect, hence why I asked "RonSantoRules" what they thought a positive outcome would be and why such an unknown outcome would be worthy of the guaranteed $400 an attorney would charge.

But even in light of this 'revelation' most of my questions are still legitimate if anyone can provide input. Thanks.

[Lost_In_Translation]

If you're just going to find out what they appealed it at and you have nothing else to do go ahead. If you expect to minimize your tax assessment, I doubt you'll have much success. You can always go do a quick search on comps and show up with them. The appeal and hearing is very informal. We've done it twice and they literally just meet with you one on one, take some notes, record your comments and take your documentation and send you on your way. I don't think you even get to argue against the school board, those are desperate meetings.

[gg]

I have been through this on three properties that I have owned and one property I was attacked twice by the school district via an appeal. I have WON every time, but I know real estate. The problem you have is you paid X amount for your home and it is assessed lower than what you paid. Here is my advice if you want to fight it. I would get on zillow and look for properties that are similar to yours in your area that have also sold. I would claim you feel you paid too much for your home and use the compatible properties as evidence. This will be an uphill battle of course, but you might get something off your assessment. If you are okay with what you paid and feel the assessment is correct, maybe you should just pay the taxable amount and be happy. Not sure what you are looking for. In my case the properties were over assessed and I could prove it. I even know real estate attorneys personally, but I didn't feel I needed one, but if you know nothing about searching real estate and don't understand assessments, maybe one would be beneficial. It is a pretty informal deal down there and not all that big of a deal.