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Ok everyone, I know there have been some recent threads about property assessment appeals, but I wanted some specific input based on some "guidance" that I received.
I am scheduled to go in front of the board in the next couple of weeks and I prepared my numbers, statistics and in an effort to better understand what I will be facing with this hearing and how to best prepare my claim, I spoke with the assessor of the town for tools of the trade.
First, some background:
My town went through a reassessment this past year and I was quite surprised when I noticed the value of my house had barely decreased at all ($10k) while the homes and comparable properties around me decreased by a MUCH larger amount (think $60-80k). I recently bought my house this past year, and as an "apples to apples" comparison, the house across the street from me (which is larger) also sold and their assessment reduction was $80k. I mention the latter because I have noticed that sales comparisons are VERY important.
To wrap it all up, my house, which is the 6th largest and on the 11th largest lot (out of 20) on the street has the HIGHEST assessed value. This makes little sense to me, thus my appeal, because with the new tax rate my taxes will increase by over $1k.
So, now the advice given me by the assessor. It was a long conversation, but I will try to boil it down.
+He said that my best bet would be to use recent sales to base your argument (makes sense)
+He said that you should NOT reference assessments. Apparently even though I am challenging my assessment, I should not reference assessments from other similar properties. Only sales prices. +He said that I need to show to the board why the value of my house is LESS than that listed. My question is this- how am I supposed to show that the assessed value of my house is less than listed without referencing other assessments for comparison?
+The most bizarre explanation had to do with me using the comp I mentioned above, the one that is across the street from me, is 600 sq ft bigger, sold a month after mine and is valued at $70k LESS than mine. Let's call this property B and my property is property A. He said I would have a tough time in front of the board because they would use the following logic (values made up).
I bought property A for $125k
The guy across the street bought property B for $105k
My property was reassessed to have a value of $96.7k
The board would stop me there saying the assessment is valid because my house ($96.7k) is less than the larger home sold for $105k. However, this completely ignores the fact that the new assessed value for property B is $40k!!!
By this rationale, they are forcing me to compare my assessed value to other property sales prices, not those other property's assessed values. They are forcing me to compare apples to oranges!!!
Was this advice given to me sound?
Does anyone have any suggestion and tips on how to present a valid argument?
Also, in the information he gave me, he has my house listed as a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom house. My house is actually a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, would that have any effect on my assessed value?
I KNOW this is a long read, but I am REALLY looking for some advice on how I can best prepare for this and whether the information I was given is valid, a crock, or a little of both.
Ok everyone, I know there have been some recent threads about property assessment appeals, but I wanted some specific input based on some "guidance" that I received.
I am scheduled to go in front of the board in the next couple of weeks and I prepared my numbers, statistics and in an effort to better understand what I will be facing with this hearing and how to best prepare my claim, I spoke with the assessor of the town for tools of the trade.
First, some background:
My town went through a reassessment this past year and I was quite surprised when I noticed the value of my house had barely decreased at all ($10k) while the homes and comparable properties around me decreased by a MUCH larger amount (think $60-80k). I recently bought my house this past year, and as an "apples to apples" comparison, the house across the street from me (which is larger) also sold and their assessment reduction was $80k. I mention the latter because I have noticed that sales comparisons are VERY important.
To wrap it all up, my house, which is the 6th largest and on the 11th largest lot (out of 20) on the street has the HIGHEST assessed value. This makes little sense to me, thus my appeal, because with the new tax rate my taxes will increase by over $1k.
So, now the advice given me by the assessor. It was a long conversation, but I will try to boil it down.
+He said that my best bet would be to use recent sales to base your argument (makes sense)
+He said that you should NOT reference assessments. Apparently even though I am challenging my assessment, I should not reference assessments from other similar properties. Only sales prices. +He said that I need to show to the board why the value of my house is LESS than that listed. My question is this- how am I supposed to show that the assessed value of my house is less than listed without referencing other assessments for comparison?
+The most bizarre explanation had to do with me using the comp I mentioned above, the one that is across the street from me, is 600 sq ft bigger, sold a month after mine and is valued at $70k LESS than mine. Let's call this property B and my property is property A. He said I would have a tough time in front of the board because they would use the following logic (values made up).
I bought property A for $125k
The guy across the street bought property B for $105k
My property was reassessed to have a value of $96.7k
The board would stop me there saying the assessment is valid because my house ($96.7k) is less than the larger home sold for $105k. However, this completely ignores the fact that the new assessed value for property B is $40k!!!
By this rationale, they are forcing me to compare my assessed value to other property sales prices, not those other property's assessed values. They are forcing me to compare apples to oranges!!!
Was this advice given to me sound?
Does anyone have any suggestion and tips on how to present a valid argument?
Also, in the information he gave me, he has my house listed as a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom house. My house is actually a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, would that have any effect on my assessed value?
I KNOW this is a long read, but I am REALLY looking for some advice on how I can best prepare for this and whether the information I was given is valid, a crock, or a little of both.
Thanks!!!
Your next to last statement says it all. They have your house assessed as something that it isn't which would increase your taxes.
Also, in the information he gave me, he has my house listed as a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom house. My house is actually a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, would that have any effect on my assessed value?
This is your problem. 3 to 4 bedrooms and an extra half bath are huge extras. Did you tell Rick this? Also he can email you the info on your house so you can make sure everything else is correct...sq ft etc.
Also, in the information he gave me, he has my house listed as a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom house. My house is actually a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, would that have any effect on my assessed value?
This is your problem. 3 to 4 bedrooms and an extra half bath are huge extras. Did you tell Rick this? Also he can email you the info on your house so you can make sure everything else is correct...sq ft etc.
I did tell Rick this- he said that he would update the record but that it will have little to no effect on the assessed value of the home because they consider "livable square feet," not necessarily number of bedrooms and number of bathrooms. Didn't really seem to make sense to me.
Is this something I should bring up at the hearing? Because the data he submitted to the board (due a couple of days ago) is 4/2.5 and is incorrect.
Also, there might be the possibility that he may think my property is waterfront. I back onto a pond, however, none of my property actually touches the water. I have water views, but not waterfront. The fact that he had the number of bedrooms and bathrooms wrong makes me wonder if he is crediting me for having waterfront property when I do not.
I use to work in an assessors office in NJ and have sat in on the tax appeals. Here is what I know. You do need recent sales that are more specific to your home, however some of these sales may not be that easy to get if the land sizes vary. My suggestion to you is to break it down. You have (example) 50x100 lot size and your land value is assessed at 100K, your neighbor also has the identical lot of 50 x 100 but is assessed at 75K, continue down the block and compare lot size with values, hopefully you'll see a pattern and they should all be the same.... Obviously your value, in my senerio is not correct and this should be a reduction right off the bat. The way its suppose to work is same lot size same street same values. The improved value works pretty much the same except you can only go by the actual mls price it sold for. There is a formula that is used for reducing home B to equal home A or visa versa this has to do with number of bedrooms etc,therefore allowing the assessor to come up with a more accurate improved value. Hope this helps.
I use to work in an assessors office in NJ and have sat in on the tax appeals. Here is what I know. You do need recent sales that are more specific to your home, however some of these sales may not be that easy to get if the land sizes vary. My suggestion to you is to break it down. You have (example) 50x100 lot size and your land value is assessed at 100K, your neighbor also has the identical lot of 50 x 100 but is assessed at 75K, continue down the block and compare lot size with values, hopefully you'll see a pattern and they should all be the same.... Obviously your value, in my senerio is not correct and this should be a reduction right off the bat. The way its suppose to work is same lot size same street same values. The improved value works pretty much the same except you can only go by the actual mls price it sold for. There is a formula that is used for reducing home B to equal home A or visa versa this has to do with number of bedrooms etc,therefore allowing the assessor to come up with a more accurate improved value. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the help!! So you are suggesting that I DO use assessed values of other homes for my comparison? That would be great- I was told not to and it made little sense.
Also, like I mentioned above, the assessor had the wrong number of bedrooms and bathrooms for my house. Is that something that is worthwhile mentioning at the hearing?
Thanks for the help!! So you are suggesting that I DO use assessed values of other homes for my comparison? That would be great- I was told not to and it made little sense.
Also, like I mentioned above, the assessor had the wrong number of bedrooms and bathrooms for my house. Is that something that is worthwhile mentioning at the hearing?
If you know that the assessed values are recent then I would also use them but have your recent sales figures as back up, (the only way you can really compare land values is by assessed values unless you have a vacant piece of land that just sold in your area) And definetly mention the information on your property record card is not correct.
Looking at the assessments of other similar properties is pointless. They will not accept this as evidence. There are very legitimate reasons for a house right next to you, with the same layout and and lot size to have a different assesment(example, the person owning that house could be a disabled veteran which qualifies them for a decreased assessment value). You have to prove to them that your house's value is less than the assessed value(with respect to the common level ratio of the town). It is all explained very clearly in this brochure(well, you will probably need to read it several times before you completely understand it.
Looking at the assessments of other similar properties is pointless. They will not accept this as evidence. There are very legitimate reasons for a house right next to you, with the same layout and and lot size to have a different assesment(example, the person owning that house could be a disabled veteran which qualifies them for a decreased assessment value). You have to prove to them that your house's value is less than the assessed value(with respect to the common level ratio of the town). It is all explained very clearly in this brochure(well, you will probably need to read it several times before you completely understand it.
I understand that, but how do I show that my assessed value should be less when I cannot use other assessed values for comparison???? My argument would be my opinion and baseless.
Also, what do you mean by "common level ratio?"
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