Low Tax Assessments (McLean, Oakton, Fairfax: sale, foreclosure, houses)

[Fallout Zone]

FairfaxGuy73,

The assessment system just isn't good enough to handle all of the intricacies of the housing market in the county. The assessments are inferior to actual appraisals, and if you really have been on top of the comps in your area, then you probably know more about what your house is worth than the county does.

I bought in '09, so I had an appraisal. It came back $40k over the '09 assessment. After I bought, a bunch of houses like mine in my neighborhood went for several percent more than my purchase price. And yet, the '10 assessment came in $20k less than '09. I'm not complaining because I'm not selling and it means my taxes are lower. So yes, the assessments are not very good, and you should be thankful your property taxes aren't higher.

[ngadude]

Assessments lately don't seem to correlate much with what a house can sell for. I just sold my former townhouse in Manassas at the end of March for 20% higher than it was assessed at as of January 1.

Similarly, in my new neighborhood in Gainesville - I've seen houses selling at 10% to 20% above their assessed value.

This may be PWC and Manassas and how they do their assessments, but it might in some cases hold true for other local jurisdictions as well. It doesn't really seem lately in PWC and Manassas that the assessed value has that much bearing on what the market price of the house is.

[car54]

[quote=FairfaxGuy73;14041790]Wow, I'm still amazed that Fairfax raised taxes by 5 cents, when they had been talking about 1 cent for a long time./QUOTE]



I never heard that...the proposals that I did hear about was for an increase to $1.09 or $1.12...$1.09 was what they adopted.

For a little historical perspective....during much of the '90s, the Fairfax County RE tax rate was $1.23.

[FairfaxGuy73]

Originally Posted by ngadude

Assessments lately don't seem to correlate much with what a house can sell for. I just sold my former townhouse in Manassas at the end of March for 20% higher than it was assessed at as of January 1.

Similarly, in my new neighborhood in Gainesville - I've seen houses selling at 10% to 20% above their assessed value.

This may be PWC and Manassas and how they do their assessments, but it might in some cases hold true for other local jurisdictions as well. It doesn't really seem lately in PWC and Manassas that the assessed value has that much bearing on what the market price of the house is.

Thanks for the info and Fallout Zone too. Yes, it makes sense that they would not be as accurate as an assessor. It's just disappointing that they have my house valued for less, but I'm actually paying more in taxes due to the rate increase.

[Denton56]

I think assessments are usually a bit lower than what the house might actually sell for. It the county didn't do that, and assessed at slightly more, they would have too many people screaming and appealing their assessment. Slightly under is better for them.

If you go to FranklyMLS.com, you can see how much over/under assessment houses have sold for, by neighborhood. In most cases houses sell for 85% to 115% of assessed value. That tells me that the county is assessing pretty close to market value.

Originally Posted by ngadude

Assessments lately don't seem to correlate much with what a house can sell for. I just sold my former townhouse in Manassas at the end of March for 20% higher than it was assessed at as of January 1.

Similarly, in my new neighborhood in Gainesville - I've seen houses selling at 10% to 20% above their assessed value.

This may be PWC and Manassas and how they do their assessments, but it might in some cases hold true for other local jurisdictions as well. It doesn't really seem lately in PWC and Manassas that the assessed value has that much bearing on what the market price of the house is.

[Yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by FairfaxGuy73

Thanks for the info and Fallout Zone too. Yes, it makes sense that they would not be as accurate as an assessor. It's just disappointing that they have my house valued for less, but I'm actually paying more in taxes due to the rate increase.

The responsibility for that lies with your supervisor, if s/he voted to raise the rate -- which your supervisor did.

[Denton56]

Same thing happened in Loudoun. While they decreased house values, they didn't decrease them enough to make up for the huge tax hike, from $1.23 to $1.40. So we get to pay more in taxes each year! I'm still looking for the services we get in Loudoun that FC doesn't get, to make up for having the highest real estate taxes in Virginia and in the region and in the south!

The good news is, next year we get to throw the bums out of office in Loudoun and in Fairfax!

[FairfaxGuy73]

It is a weird phenomenon. If I go on a particular website (don't think I'm supposed to mention any names) and type in the zip code, the values for where I bought and where I sold hit rock bottom at the beginning of 2009. But when I look at other zip codes, I can definitely see where the values continued to drop through 2009. I knew that certain areas in the outer exburbs like South Riding got hit especially hard, but it's actually a pretty complex picture. This might add to the difficulty for county tax assessors. I guess the lesson is just to not put too much stock in what they say a property is worth.

[Denton56]

They assess based on what sold in your neighborhood, streets right around your house. At least that's what they how for each particular house, neighborhood sales.

You're right, assessments are not exactly the value of the house. They are usually somewhat lower than the fair market value but not wildly off. People shouldn't expect to ask 140% of assessed value and get that price on the market.

Here's an example of sold houses in Vienna, with a column (%TA) that shows what percent of assessed value the house sold for. FranklyMLS.com Virginia & DC MLS via Keyword Search & Wiki. Homes for Sale As you can see, most houses there sold for slightly over the assessed value which means most of the assessments are slightly under fair market value. Of course there are always outliers. On the bottom of the page it shows the averages, by column. That shows that the average house in Vienna sold for $584,223 and was assessed at $562,940, 118% of assessment. Other areas may be different, for instance, Reston, which is selling a bit lower at 112% of assessment: FranklyMLS.com Virginia & DC MLS via Keyword Search & Wiki. Homes for Sale That's very close to assessed value, only $10,000 difference on average.

Plug in your town plus your neighborhood and see what you get. I bet houses are selling for closer to assessed value that you might know.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by FairfaxGuy73

It is a weird phenomenon. If I go on a particular website (don't think I'm supposed to mention any names) and type in the zip code, the values for where I bought and where I sold hit rock bottom at the beginning of 2009. But when I look at other zip codes, I can definitely see where the values continued to drop through 2009. I knew that certain areas in the outer exburbs like South Riding got hit especially hard, but it's actually a pretty complex picture. This might add to the difficulty for county tax assessors. I guess the lesson is just to not put too much stock in what they say a property is worth.

They don't assess by using housing county wide. The assess by what has recently sold in your neighborhood, streets right around your's. Look at your own tax record and click on the little house icon.
Plug in your address here, Fairfax County Then click on the little house icon to see where they came up with your assessment, based on recent sales in YOUR neighborhood, not county wide.