Property Tax Assessment - massive decrease??? (Atlanta: sale, real estate market, apartment)

[oakhurstlauren]

Originally Posted by JPD

Yeah, sorry, I misread.

In that case I take back my and raise you a

[JPD]

Originally Posted by oakhurstlauren

In that case I take back my and raise you a

[plessthanpointohfive]

I called this morning and left a message with the staff member assigned to my account number. Hopefully he'll call back soon, but I will try to call again later today and then try twice a day until I talk to someone.

I checked a few properties around me and some have had the same sort of decrease and others haven't.

The most logical answer is a computer glitch, though.

[jpatlanta]

Just got my new assessment in Brookhaven reduced 26%. Local realtor says in reality its barely 5%...........

[Eunomia]

The county appraised value of my home dropped by 50% and I expected that. I'm in unincorporated Stone Mountain and last year all sales in my neighborhood were distressed sales. In fact, the average sales price was even lower than the county appraised value.

I am surprsied by the county appraised value of your home. I would have expected homes in Candler Park to retain most of their value. Although I also think the recession and housing problems are impacting home values by reducing the inflated values of the past decade. However, since I don't live in Candler Park and don't know specific details about home values there, I would urge you first to gain enough necessary information before taking action.

Since you said your home is classified as a duplex, you should determine how that affected your county appraisal. Do you have two separate house numbers? You should also collect sales data for homes in your neighborhood and throughout your zip code. Maybe home sale prices remained high, or maybe you'll be surprised by the numbers. You can check all this for yourself by using Zillow and the DeKalb Property Appraisal web sites. You can always contact a real estate agent who can provide additional information on sales and values, since they have access to databases to which the public does not.

It is also very likely that the county appraised value is incorrect. They got things wrong in the good times and they will probably get things wrong in the bad times. The mass appraisal system is far, far from perfect. One example I know about is someone who lives in a nice neighborhood in north DeKalb. County appraisers reduced most home values there by 20% last year, even though homes were selling above the previous appraised values.

If after researching everything you determine that the county made a mistake, it seems you have two options: 1) Since you're that rare bird that is willing to pay more for good services, you can appeal your appraisal. If you're in Atlanta then most of the taxes you pay are for city services, so I bet Atlanta authorities would be very interested to know if DeKalb is lowballing values. 2) You don't do anything. Enjoy the lower taxes, but you should also be fully prepared to pay more, not just next year but maybe this year if the county realizes its mistake. Either way I'd set aside the higher amount (which is probably already done for this year if you have an escrow account) for next year.

Good luck and keep us informed.

[gumboula]

I received an assessment with an equally shocking decrease of over 100k. Last year I had to fight Dekalb County tooth and nail just to get them to lower the assessment to the price I paid for the house mid-year. In preparation for another fight this year, I had asked my former realtor to pull sold comps to use in an appeal. So I am certain that the assessed value is lower than what it probably should be. I am not going to complain, but I do wonder about some master plan here... Use the lowered tax base to justify increasing the tax rate which will not go down once assessments start going up. Sounds like business as usual in Dekalb County.

[plessthanpointohfive]

Originally Posted by Eunomia

The county appraised value of my home dropped by 50% and I expected that. I'm in unincorporated Stone Mountain and last year all sales in my neighborhood were distressed sales. In fact, the average sales price was even lower than the county appraised value.

I am surprsied by the county appraised value of your home. I would have expected homes in Candler Park to retain most of their value. Although I also think the recession and housing problems are impacting home values by reducing the inflated values of the past decade. However, since I don't live in Candler Park and don't know specific details about home values there, I would urge you first to gain enough necessary information before taking action.

Since you said your home is classified as a duplex, you should determine how that affected your county appraisal. Do you have two separate house numbers? You should also collect sales data for homes in your neighborhood and throughout your zip code. Maybe home sale prices remained high, or maybe you'll be surprised by the numbers. You can check all this for yourself by using Zillow and the DeKalb Property Appraisal web sites. You can always contact a real estate agent who can provide additional information on sales and values, since they have access to databases to which the public does not.

It is also very likely that the county appraised value is incorrect. They got things wrong in the good times and they will probably get things wrong in the bad times. The mass appraisal system is far, far from perfect. One example I know about is someone who lives in a nice neighborhood in north DeKalb. County appraisers reduced most home values there by 20% last year, even though homes were selling above the previous appraised values.

If after researching everything you determine that the county made a mistake, it seems you have two options: 1) Since you're that rare bird that is willing to pay more for good services, you can appeal your appraisal. If you're in Atlanta then most of the taxes you pay are for city services, so I bet Atlanta authorities would be very interested to know if DeKalb is lowballing values. 2) You don't do anything. Enjoy the lower taxes, but you should also be fully prepared to pay more, not just next year but maybe this year if the county realizes its mistake. Either way I'd set aside the higher amount (which is probably already done for this year if you have an escrow account) for next year.

Good luck and keep us informed.

Well, it's funny, in the property tax they have the property as, for example, 1111 A and B Some St, Atlanta, GA 30307. But they don't have separate assessments for each unit.

As for property value...it's hard to assess our place because there are so few like it anywhere in the neighborhood that have sold in the past year, or even 5 years.

While I DO believe in paying taxes for services, my main concern is a systematic budgetary disaster for the county. That sort of catastrophic damage can have widespread impact and I don't want to be complicit in it. Also, as you mentioned, personally, I don't want the hassle of having to pay it up later when they realize their mistake and come demanding it all in one single payment...

[jematl]

Even though our assessment was lower this year, it's still way, way too high. We've decided to appeal. Does anyone have any advice for finding comps? Where do you find them... Zillow? What is the typical radius around your house to look at?

I did notice when I went to the Dekalb County tax site and searched our parcel ID, it has our house listed as having more bathrooms than we actually have, and also has us listed as having three fireplaces, when we only have one. I have never noticed that mistake. I will include the corrected info in the appeal.

[VJP]

Originally Posted by jematl

Even though our assessment was lower this year, it's still way, way too high. We've decided to appeal. Does anyone have any advice for finding comps? Where do you find them... Zillow? What is the typical radius around your house to look at?

I did notice when I went to the Dekalb County tax site and searched our parcel ID, it has our house listed as having more bathrooms than we actually have, and also has us listed as having three fireplaces, when we only have one. I have never noticed that mistake. I will include the corrected info in the appeal.

There are SO many discrepancies on the tax assessors website. The only comps they will accept with credibility will be from:
DeKalb County Tax Commissioner

Or you can get paper copies of transactions and deeds if you need. I searched for comparable neighborhoods within about 3 miles. In fact, I went iteratively, because you've got to use information from the tax year you are appealing. I clicked "view property map" and opened up the map in one browser and hit every address on ever block looking for "for sale" dates and comps that matched the dates in question.

Expect the appeals process to take upwards of one year.

[gumboula]

Originally Posted by jematl

Even though our assessment was lower this year, it's still way, way too high. We've decided to appeal. Does anyone have any advice for finding comps? Where do you find them... Zillow? What is the typical radius around your house to look at?

I did notice when I went to the Dekalb County tax site and searched our parcel ID, it has our house listed as having more bathrooms than we actually have, and also has us listed as having three fireplaces, when we only have one. I have never noticed that mistake. I will include the corrected info in the appeal.

The first thing you need to do is look at the properties they used in your assessment. Go to the link posted above and enter your address. At the bottom of the page with the information on your address, select the button "Additional Property Data." On the next page, select the button "Sales Data Search" at the bottom left. On the new screen, set the sales date to all of 2010 and select "Residential Only." This will give you the properties that the assessors supposedly used to assess your property. However, if you are in an area where there were few sales last year, there may be few properties listed. (When I appealed last year, the only property listed was the one I had bought!)

You do not have to limit your appeal to the homes listed here. If you live in an area that has identifiable neighborhood boundaries (e.g. Candler Park) you can look at properties in that entire area (I have done that before). I don't think there is a set area within which to draw properties. When I appealed last year, the county responded with properties that were a couple of miles and on the other side of 285 from mine (not what I would consider the same neighborhood).

The easiest way to get data is to find a real estate agent willing to pull comps for you. The agent you used to buy your house would probably be willing to do it (ours did it from us). You can also go down to the assessors office (in Decatur) and have them print a list of sales for you. You could likely also use zillow (or other such sites) to identify sold properties, just don't rely on zillow's property valuations or anything. And it is best to use homes as comparable to yours as possible (size, location, condition).