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When I received my tax appraisal I was fine with the result being $416k. Having bought my house in WO 2 years ago for about the same amount I was initially paying 11K in taxes. I am now facing a 14,500 bill after the appraisal.
I decided to refinance in order make ends meet. I did not anticipate that the bank appraiser would use only one comparable , a foreclosure flip, to come up with his market value of $380k for my house.
The bank, Weichert Financial, refused to order another appraisal, even after offering to pay it on my own (again). I am now out of my application fee and stuck with no options. For a tax appeal this bank appraisal is not acceptable and the next bank appraiser might just be as inexperienced.
Any thoughts?
When I received my tax appraisal I was fine with the result being $416k. Having bought my house in WO 2 years ago for about the same amount I was initially paying 11K in taxes. I am now facing a 14,500 bill after the appraisal.
I decided to refinance in order make ends meet. I did not anticipate that the bank appraiser would use only one comparable , a foreclosure flip, to come up with his market value of $380k for my house.
The bank, Weichert Financial, refused to order another appraisal, even after offering to pay it on my own (again). I am now out of my application fee and stuck with no options. For a tax appeal this bank appraisal is not acceptable and the next bank appraiser might just be as inexperienced.
Any thoughts?
I'd suggest do your own appraisal - follow the procedures and find your own comps. All assessment data is available online. If you come up with reasonable analysis on how much your house is worth, the appeal officer probably would reconsider your assessed value.
Read the FAQ's in the first link, then download the petition of appeal in the second link (legal 8.5x14 paper only!). Ask your local realtor for comp sales. (depending where you are in WO, I might be able to help) Fill out form and file before April deadline. I think you are past the time period when you can deal directly with the assessor's office.
I'm not in WO. I'm in Hawthorne, my issue is that in our town assessed values of houses are lower than actual value and the tax percentage is high. For instance I pay about $9,800 in taxes on an assessed value of $202,300 when actual home value is probably $375K-$400K. Is there any way to actually question this if I think my taxes are high compared to neighbors?
You want to find your town tax ratio and apply it to your assessed value to see what they are saying the market value of your home is. (if your ratio is 75% and you are assessed for $200k, the implied market value is 200/ .75= $267k) If the market value then seems low based on sales in the area, you want to appeal and appeal at least 15% lower or they will chalk it up to "reasonable margin of error" or some such language. For a quick fairness check, you can just look up your neighbors taxes and if yours seem higher, then go through the above exercise. Keep in mind my experience is with Essex not Passaic County, but assume they are similar.
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Appraisal Nightmare
