Unconstitutional Property Tax -- what to do next? (Santa Fe, House: sale, real estate market)

[lisdol]

Originally Posted by RamblinRoseRanch

Lisdol- it's in Santa Fe county, but in the huge metropolis of Stanley. For the acreage and what the house is, it's not a bad tax (especially going off what we paid in TN- 6bed/4bath 3800 sq ft on seven acres for 1600 a year) but when you KNOW the soon to be previous owner paid far, far less.......
After it's a done deal, i'll shoot ya a message with the particulars. Now i'm just tryin' hard to not to jinx it, lol!

LOL are you buying ALL of Stanley?

BTW you know the Kings own most of Stanley, right? Make sure you are getting a fair deal. And be aware of your water rights (or lack of) b/c there are a few families that own much of the land and much of the water rights in our area.

Editing to add: oooooh depending on where you are buying, your kids might get zoned to my school zone. We have Stanley people in our school. This is my hometown pride showing but I think we have the best elem school in the district.

[santafescribe]

Originally Posted by Santa Fe

I heard from some one in the assessor's office that it is possible to still contest your 2009 values in court. There is apparently a specified time period to do this and I believe it is November. At that point you may be asking for a partial refund. So you still have plenty of time. I have already started talking to a lawyer about contesting.

Caveat -- I heard this verbally and I am not counting on it until I find a written reputable source. But it something to think about if the value of your house has depreciated.

I started that process, mainly because I got so annoyed seeing the taxable values of other homes in my area (South Capitol). However after going part way through the process (I found the assessor's office very helpful) I withdrew the appeal. Two reasons I did that: the first was that the office will not accept your neighbors' lower valuation as a factor in your own valuation. Secondly, they base their assessment of valuation on comps of similar homes sold in the previous 12 months. Well if nothing very comparable sold, that puts the lid on that option!

A couple of my clients did protest their valuation and were successful, because they were in areas where there was a good turnover of homes.

[GreatSantaFe]

Originally Posted by Santa Fe

I heard from some one in the assessor's office that it is possible to still contest your 2009 values in court. There is apparently a specified time period to do this and I believe it is November. At that point you may be asking for a partial refund. So you still have plenty of time. I have already started talking to a lawyer about contesting.

Caveat -- I heard this verbally and I am not counting on it until I find a written reputable source. But it something to think about if the value of your house has depreciated.

Hmmm, when I got my notice of assessed valuation from the County earlier this year it said I had to file an objection by a certain date - I think it was by June 1st, but I don't remember and I'm not where my files are. I just tried calling the assessor's office and just got an answering machine so I can't provide any definitive info about this question.

[lisdol]

Originally Posted by Santa Fe

Thus it is conceivable that a property purchased in 2006 may not have been hit by Tax Lightning yet.

Ours was new construction. The first year, we paid taxes only on land.

The second year we had an assessed value of house and land. It was about 75% of what we paid for the property. Do the funky Santa Fe County math of the 33% and then plug in the mill rate, and that is where the $1200 comes from for us.

So, for us at least, the assessing is somewhat up-to-date.

[GreatSantaFe]

Important to know - Under new rules, a person making an offer on property in Santa Fe city/county cannot submit that offer without either (1) receiving an official estimate of property taxes from the assessor's office based on the list price, or (2) waiving that right prior to making the offer. I provide that official estimate to anyone thinking of making an offer, and base it on both the list price as well as the offer price. Most other Realtors probably do the same and anyone can go on the assessor's website and do it themselves too. This way there are no "lightning" surprises anymore - disappointment? perhaps, but no surprises!

[WEisMD]

Originally Posted by GreatSantaFe

WEisMD - I am bemused over your stance. What I hear you saying is -" I don't care if prices are low...I don't care that mortgage rates are low...I don't care that property taxes are low. What I do care about is that the person who owns the house bought it for less and I don't want to pay more than he does, and I really don't want to pay 2 or 3 or 4 times what he does." Well, gee, who does? But does that stop smart shoppers from buying? Hell no.

Point taken and I understand your viewpoint. Perhaps I am just a bit annoyed with the unfair governmental tax policies. Trust me, I have paid more than my share over the years!!

As for mortgage rates, you are correct as I am a cash buyer that will require very little if any financing. Therefore, price is more important to someone like me.

In reality... The value of real estate is an illusion, based on the ability to borrow using fractional reserve money practices (money created out of thin air). So, as long as "easy" money/credit is available with low interest rates, you are correct prices will stay high.

It is my opinion (speculation) home values will continue to decline over the next year (10-15%). Given the demographics, employment and economic factors of the US, it all points that way.

On thing that may make Santa Fe a bit different, is the fact that approx: 50% of our population is now over the age of 50. Santa Fe is a very attractive place for retired people and this is obviously an important factor.

If you can prove me wrong on my opinion/s, I am open minded and all ears.

[RamblinRoseRanch]

Originally Posted by lisdol

LOL are you buying ALL of Stanley?

BTW you know the Kings own most of Stanley, right? Make sure you are getting a fair deal. And be aware of your water rights (or lack of) b/c there are a few families that own much of the land and much of the water rights in our area.

Editing to add: oooooh depending on where you are buying, your kids might get zoned to my school zone. We have Stanley people in our school. This is my hometown pride showing but I think we have the best elem school in the district.

Nope, just a small corner thereof.

The Kings are my neighbors here (well, their cattle are anyways) and they'll be my neighbors there as well. No water rights, other than domestic but i've honestly come to expect that if I want to stay in this area. As long as I can water my critters and my house (and according to the disclosure, I can) then i'm good.

I already checked the school district and we'll still be in Moriarty district. I don't know exactly where that changes, but it's beyond this place, anyway.

It actually works out well, though. I can drop all three kids off on my way to work (just started today) and pick 'em up on my way home.

[Santa Fe]

Originally Posted by santafescribe

I started that process, mainly because I got so annoyed seeing the taxable values of other homes in my area (South Capitol). However after going part way through the process (I found the assessor's office very helpful) I withdrew the appeal. Two reasons I did that: the first was that the office will not accept your neighbors' lower valuation as a factor in your own valuation. Secondly, they base their assessment of valuation on comps of similar homes sold in the previous 12 months. Well if nothing very comparable sold, that puts the lid on that option!

A couple of my clients did protest their valuation and were successful, because they were in areas where there was a good turnover of homes.

If you got hit by tax lightning and got an increase greater than 3% in a single year then you would have a constitutional argument that would not depend upon other valuations. You would have lost, but then the statute of limitations would not apply if the recent court decision is upheld.

I say this with the advantage of hindsight -- I never had the brains to protest my assessment.

[mortimer]

Originally Posted by RamblinRoseRanch

A home we're looking at buying had a tax bill last year of about 900.00.
If we buy at asking price, our taxes would be over 3500.00.
All things relative, it may seem a low tax bill, but ...

You should buy what you want and can afford.

The fact that we pay twice what our ( better-off ) neighbors pay isn't
relevant to our being able to afford this ( our ) place. I'd like to see the
discrepencty fixed, but it shouldn't break anyone or make them change
their decision to buy a place.

The difference in property taxes is far less than 1% of the total value
of the property anyone is buying. I want my money back and my taxes
to be "fair" but if someone is making buying decisions such that 1%
breaks them, they are living too far on the edge.

Getting an interest rate break of 0.25% on a 30-year 80% mortgage
is far more of a benefit than the cost of Tax Lightning. Buying
conditions are pretty favorable right now. It's too bad ( for me )
that I didn't wait a year in hindsight.

[Santa Fe]

Originally Posted by WEisMD

Point taken and I understand your viewpoint. Perhaps I am just a bit annoyed with the unfair governmental tax policies.

Frankly, that is a big part of what bothers me. You don't know the worst of it until you get here and discover how corrupt and incompetent the government is. People are hired because of family and friends even though they lack even the minimal qualifications for the job. They screw everything from little to big. A little example. They paved about another half mile of my road putting in two new culverts. Both culverts are about a foot above the bottom of the arroyo. At one culvert the water backs up every time it rains and forms a mosquito infested pond. At the other the water has cut its own channel and is slowly washing out the road which will someday collapse. You can already see the cracks in the asphalt.

Now I ask you -- who is so incompetent to build culverts this way? Answer: Santa Fe County officials.