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I am in the process of buying a house in Nassau. The house is quite large in size but all the other houses on the block are about the same since they are all the same style. The taxes on my house does appear to be higher than the other houses according to public records.
I plan to grieve the taxes to match the neighbors.
Now this is my issue. The house also has an outdated kitchen. Before moving in, I would have to fix it up, maybe take down a few walls to open it up and buy new appliances.
How would these renovations affect my tax grieving process? Nothing is changing on the outside.
By the time you get in, you will be grieving with a deadline of March 2015 for the '16/'17 year and any increase (if you go through permits) won't catch up to you until 2 years after the permits are in anyway. It's safe to say your assessed value by this time next year when you grieve will remain what it is now. That said, interior upgrades don't always mean higher assessed value, which is good for you.
To give you an example, we finished our major renovation in '11 and only had our assessment raised this year (paying more for tax year '13/'14).
Just an FYI- my understanding is that when you grieve taxes, they go by recent sales as comps, not by what your neighbors are paying. In other words, unless you have a neighbor whose house sold recently & has lower taxes, the amount your neighbors pay is basically meaningless. At least that's how it was for my FIL who very recently grieved his Nassau taxes...
Just an FYI- my understanding is that when you grieve taxes, they go by recent sales as comps, not by what your neighbors are paying.
That doesn't sound fair at all. So if the OP claims that his neighbors have the same size/style home and are paying lower taxes, that isn't taken into consideration in determining his taxes? Wouldn't those be the ones that most accurately reflect the value of his own (same block/same size/same style)? Unfair
That doesn't sound fair at all. So if the OP claims that his neighbors have the same size/style home and are paying lower taxes, that isn't taken into consideration in determining his taxes? Wouldn't those be the ones that most accurately reflect the value of his own (same block/same size/same style)? Unfair
No, doesn't seem fair at all but that's how it is...also the price you buy a house for is considered the value and taxes are based on that. So if you buy a house for 500k and your taxes are in line with what they should be for a 500k house, it's hard to then argue that you should get a reduction in taxes, regardless of sold comps. Down the road, yes, you can use this argument, but not when you first buy your house.
If the OP is purchasing this year and is worried about running up against the deadline he/she can have the current owners file the grievance now, also like someone mentioned it's not about the value of your neighbors' homes but more about the comps and since you're purchasing now you should have been given comps for your mortgage to justify the purchase price. You can use those comps for your grievance
What if I don't file for permits for the interior renovations? I am just taking down an interior wall and buying new appliances and retile the floor.
You would be like most other people who do interior work then - if it's not a load-bearing wall which may require re-work, I wouldn't worry about it. Your assessment would then only change if they feel your purchase price affected it. Doubtful it will, but the town did tell me they are re-assessing everyone for '16/'17.
You would be like most other people who do interior work then - if it's not a load-bearing wall which may require re-work, I wouldn't worry about it. Your assessment would then only change if they feel your purchase price affected it. Doubtful it will, but the town did tell me they are re-assessing everyone for '16/'17.
What if it is a load bearing wall?
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