Fairfax county: House property assessed value? (Arlington: comparable sales, sales, real estate)

[Baike]

What happen if I file appeal to re-assess my house property estimated value, therefore I can pay a little less property tax on my house?

Will they send someone to my house and end up with even higher estimated value?

Thanks.

[Abraham Walker]

It's a possibility.

Get your real estate agent to provide you with favorable comparable sales to help dispute your assessed value.

[gutter2d]

I’m not sure about Fairfax County, but I’ve appealed mine twice in Arlington County (neither time was successful). In Arlington, it is mandatory that the real estate specialist with the County visit your house or condo to inspect the condition of it and make sure all the details on the assessment match (i.e. number of bathrooms). Even if you appealed in the past, they still have to visit.

It’s free, so you don’t have anything to lose unless you’ve had work done to improve your property that was done without a permit and not reported to the County. There’s no chance that the County will agree with you and lower your assessment though. The next step is appealing to the BOE, but they usually side with the County even if the comps you present are a slam dunk.

[Baike]

Originally Posted by gutter2d

so you don’t have anything to lose .

I am worried that they end up increasing the estimated value, if they think current property value is under-estimated.

[ACWhite]

Thanks

Originally Posted by gutter2d

I’m not sure about Fairfax County, but I’ve appealed mine twice in Arlington County (neither time was successful). In Arlington, it is mandatory that the real estate specialist with the County visit your house or condo to inspect the condition of it and make sure all the details on the assessment match (i.e. number of bathrooms). Even if you appealed in the past, they still have to visit.

It’s free, so you don’t have anything to lose unless you’ve had work done to improve your property that was done without a permit and not reported to the County. There’s no chance that the County will agree with you and lower your assessment though. The next step is appealing to the BOE, but they usually side with the County even if the comps you present are a slam dunk.

We had a similar experience with Arl. Co., years ago. Part of the problem is that houses in general tend to be valued lower than today’s market value. If yours is assessed at exactly market value (i.e., what your house would sell for today) it is unfairly highly valued relative to comparables. But AC and the BOE will likely say that because the state law says your house should be valued at its current market value, they will ignore data showing inequity with your neighbor’s assessments.

The Co’s inspection was a joke. Our house was a neglected rental, but the inspector wouldn’t consider the condition because she claimed the Co’s System did not allow for that. But she made a big point of talking about an “updated” bathroom. That bathroom had been redone no later than the early 1980s, and we were appealing the 2000 assessment. The other bathroom was original to the 1940 house.

The BOE made a small adjustment. But what was really annoying was that the case before ours involved a retired couple with an extremely valuable property overlooking the Potomac. The evidence strongly suggested that the county had NOT overvalued it, but BOE seemed much more driven by emotional sympathy toward them, than capable of making fair judgments based on data in both of our cases. The chair of the BOE was a smart and fair guy but some other members seemed simply incapable of understanding the law, equity, and the numbers. As an attorney told me later, these boards typically are volunteers and are not necessarily qualified; some are on power trips.

Preparing and presenting your case takes time, which is a real cost.

[ACWhite]

Originally Posted by Baike

I am worried that they end up increasing the estimated value, if they think current property value is under-estimated.

This is why you should not appeal, unless you are firmly convinced by the numbers that the County has been unfair.

[Hal Roach]

I have seen quite a few discrepancies on how they value the basement. My dad got a 2000 dollar credit. They were counting his in the liveable area, and it was unfinished. And they did visit, but this was done outside of the appeal process because it was a factual error.