Got our tax bill... Assessment went DOWN! :D (sales, real estate)

[Faerunner]

...yeah, I might be bragging. It feels good though when your real estate tax bill shows up and your house assessment actually dropped. I've heard from others in nicer areas that the assessments are going way up this year so I have no idea what happened... we live in a crappy neighborhood so I guess that helps! I'm not one to question the judgement of the "authorities" when it's in my favor!

Anyone else see their assessment change?

[XRiteMA98]

Happy for you. Mine too... a little bit. Some other people I know went down considerably. Cool. But they'll cath up n the future. This is what Im thinking. There's no free lunch.

[Velvet Jones]

Originally Posted by Faerunner

...yeah, I might be bragging. It feels good though when your real estate tax bill shows up and your house assessment actually dropped. I've heard from others in nicer areas that the assessments are going way up this year so I have no idea what happened... we live in a crappy neighborhood so I guess that helps! I'm not one to question the judgement of the "authorities" when it's in my favor!

Anyone else see their assessment change?

This was the whole point of the reassessment. Many older areas were over-assessed while newer homes were under-valued. This, bundled with the fact that the millage went down, should be a big bonus for many. Then again some people that were getting a free ride for decades will now pay the piper.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Velvet Jones

This was the whole point of the reassessment. Many older areas were over-assessed while newer homes were under-valued. This, bundled with the fact that the millage went down, should be a big bonus for many. Then again some people that were getting a free ride for decades will now pay the piper.

Bingo!!!

[eschaton]

The assessed value of my home jumped from $23,500 to $67,000. Previously the value was so low I paid almost no property tax after the homestead exemption. Considering I hope to sell it for somewhere between $100,000 and $150,000, I still think it's undervalued.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The assessed value of my home jumped from $23,500 to $67,000. Previously the value was so low I paid almost no property tax after the homestead exemption. Considering I hope to sell it for somewhere between $100,000 and $150,000, I still think it's undervalued.

Shut up, the County may be watching.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Shut up, the County may be watching.

They'd have to know my address for that. And while I've mentioned a few times what street I live on, there's enough houses on I'm guessing no one (unless I have a stalker) could tell where I live.

Honestly, I don't understand why PA can't go to a system where you just pay taxes on whatever price you bought the house for (discounting non-arms length sales between family members). There can still be periodic assessments, but only for those houses which don't change hands within a ten-year (or whatever) period. Not only would it be more fair, it would save the assessors a buttload of time. I suppose it might making budgeting from year to year a bit more difficult for local governments however.

[jimmyev]

Originally Posted by eschaton

They'd have to know my address for that. And while I've mentioned a few times what street I live on, there's enough houses on I'm guessing no one (unless I have a stalker) could tell where I live.

Honestly, I don't understand why PA can't go to a system where you just pay taxes on whatever price you bought the house for (discounting non-arms length sales between family members). There can still be periodic assessments, but only for those houses which don't change hands within a ten-year (or whatever) period. Not only would it be more fair, it would save the assessors a buttload of time. I suppose it might making budgeting from year to year a bit more difficult for local governments however.

Fair would be requiring all counties to do a credible reassessment every year. Fair would be you can only sell your property for the assessed value, no more or no less, and if no one will buy it (i.e., it's over assessed by the county) the county would be required to buy it for the assessed value.

[ML North]

Originally Posted by jimmyev

Fair would be you can only sell your property for the assessed value, no more or no less, and if no one will buy it (i.e., it's over assessed by the county) the county would be required to buy it for the assessed value.

First, if properties could only be sold for their assessed values, which are based on sales of other properties (comps) and which in your system would be updated to help a property sell, then there would be no reason to reassess annually. Right?

Second, I don't think that having the county government set all prices via a somewhat controversial assessment process is fair, effective, or probably even legal. The term "housing cartel" comes to mind.

[PreservationPioneer]

Must be nice for those who had their assessments go down. I live in a crappy neighborhood and mine doubled, even though I paid less than what the house was previously assessed for in 2009.