Dormont Property Assessment Appeal (Keystone Oaks SD) (sales, real estate)

[monczao]

Hello,

Yesterday I received a letter from a law firm informing me that they filed an appeal on behalf of the Keystone School District against the property assessment of a property I bought last year.

It is my first house and I don’t know too much about how these things work so wanted to ask a question here. What should I expect? Would it make most sense to hire a lawyer or just let the appeal go through?

Not sure if this will be helpful information, but I purchased the home for $125,000 and the current Assessment is $76,000.

I will appreciate any insight!
Thanks!

[guy2073]

This is common because you set the market rate for your house when you purchased it. Anytime I buy a property I figure to pay taxes on the sale price and not the current assessment.

[gg]

You could hire an attorney, but in your case, I think it would be a waste of money. If you don't fight it, they will probably go for your purchase price of $125K. If you do fight it, you can do a search on Zillow or whatever and see if you can find sales in your area in the past year that are similar to your home that sold for less than you paid and use them as compatibles. If you have some time that is the route I would go and try and pick homes very close to yours. Also, look at the county website and see if they have your home correctly represented. Correct bedrooms and somewhat correct sq. ft. They make mistakes.

You are going to be reassessed at a hirer rate for sure, but if you can come up with some comparable properties that sold for less than yours, I would fight it. Relax, this process is very informal and not a big deal. Be polite and kind to everyone and look worried. Don't wear your Rolex if you know what I mean. If you cannot find some compatibles within a year, you can go back a little further, but this isn't ideal. Actually ideal is 6 months. I have fought schools in a few districts for various properties and always won, but I was super prepared and have 20 years real estate experience, so that doesn't hurt, but I really feel anyone can fight. Worse case you get hit with the full $125K, but usually they might drop it a bit. Good luck.

[Copanut]

You would be hard pressed to prove your home is worth less than 125K. A lawyer will only take your money and tell you the same thing, if he's honest.

[sky329]

your taxes will go up to around 4221.00$ because of dormont's high 33.7771 milage rate

[Lost_In_Translation]

They appealed my house at 90% of purchase price, which in your case should be 113k. I think it’s pretty usual and makes sense.

[gg]

Originally Posted by sky329

your taxes will go up to around 4221.00$ because of dormont's high 33.7771 milage rate

Well the difference is about $1,650 a year.

I would do as I already stated since I am someone that has done this often and won. You need to find the comparable properties on Zillow or whatever and use that and state you feel you overpaid. Another idea is contact the realtor that sold you the property and ask then if they could just do a quick search for you and provide some properties that could prove your case. I would have done that for a client. Is it worth $1,650 a year for you to fight it? I think it is. Would I pay an attorney for something as easy as this? No.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

Originally Posted by sky329

your taxes will go up to around 4221.00$ because of dormont's high 33.7771 milage rate

You have to multiply by the common ratio for the year of assessment, as well. I believe the common ratio to be around 0.91. The common ratio is used to normalize new assessments to the assessment year, which is 2012 for Allegheny County. The math is 125,000 x 0.037771 x 0.91 = $3,842 assuming my common ratio and Your mill rate are correct. This also assumes no homestead exemption.

Originally Posted by Lost_In_Translation

They appealed my house at 90% of purchase price, which in your case should be 113k. I think it’s pretty usual and makes sense.

Likely they appealed for the purchase price times the common ratio.

[monczao]

Thank you all for your insights. I was able to find several comparable homes in area that have sold for less than mine within the last 6 months.

WhoIsStanwix? - do you know if there is any way I can find out what is the value the SD appealed for?

[Doowlle34]

You can call the school district's attorney and ask -- this is what I did, and they had no concerns about sharing that information (I purchased a home in Dormont a few years ago, and the same thing happened to me -- i.e., reassessment). I suspect there may be an online source of this information as well, but I'm not sure of the location.