School District Property Reassessment Appeal (lease, condo, how much)

[Paul2421]

Originally Posted by sealie

Let's look at some numbers. 4523 Plummer in Larryville is listed for $300k+, it might even pull that price. It is assessed at 57,000 and has property taxes of $270, according to Zillow, which is just ludicrous. Then look down at 115 45th Street, listed at 265k, assessed at 163500 and taxes of $773. It's that way all over the county. Pick a city block and go house by house on the Allegheny County tax website. I don't blame people for being peeved, but like Copa says, it's not fair and there's not much you can do about it.

that second house has taxes of $3,700 according to redfin which seems about right. it sold for 200k in 2014 and probably got reassessed.

on another note, i am kind of surprised on the lack of appreciation from 2014 on the house. it looks like they put a ton of work in it.

[Paul2421]

Originally Posted by gladhands

I don't know when my house was last reassessed prior to my buying it, but the assessed value doubled a year after I moved in. I dealt with it, because it seemed fair. When the school board appealed the assessed value the FOLLOWING year, I showed up to contest it.

did you buy in 2011? i believe they did a mass reassessment in 2012 so that would make sense.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by sealie

Let's look at some numbers. 4523 Plummer in Larryville is listed for $300k+, it might even pull that price. It is assessed at 57,000 and has property taxes of $270, according to Zillow, which is just ludicrous. Then look down at 115 45th Street, listed at 265k, assessed at 163500 and taxes of $773. It's that way all over the county. Pick a city block and go house by house on the Allegheny County tax website. I don't blame people for being peeved, but like Copa says, it's not fair and there's not much you can do about it.

I did a little research on those properties. 4523 Plummer was sold on 7/15 for 90K and completely rehabbed, still only has about 1300 sq ft of living area.Originally listed for $399,000-then 349K,currently listed for $335,000. Complete with ON STREET parking, woohoo! According to the County Website it is assessed at 85,300 If someone likes city living that much, have at it. I’d be where no one could find me.


115 45th sold in 1/07 for 132K, 5/11 for 165K,6/14 for 200K. Currently UNDER AGREEMENTwith a listing of $265,000. I’m guessing it will sell in the 245-250 range. It is assessed for 163K, not sure why the taxes are so low. Could be a misprint since it’s hard to imagine the SD not being all over that one.


One thing is for sure: Someone looking to move to this area nd help it grow gets a Royal, as our friend from across the pond would say, FU for buying here.

[gladhands]

Originally Posted by Paul2421

did you buy in 2011? i believe they did a mass reassessment in 2012 so that would make sense.

I bought in 2012, probably right before the reassessment.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Cops's tags are broken!

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Lost_In_Translation

Cops's tags are broken!

Seriously, I have no idea what that means.

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Seriously, I have no idea what that means.

Is that some secret basement dungeon sadism-masochism thing, solely for and secretly for certain City officials?

[Lost_In_Translation]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Seriously, I have no idea what that means.

When you first posted, it was a jumble of [/size], [quote] and other tags

[stremba]

You don't always really need a lawyer to appeal an assessment, but you do need some type of hard data to support your claim that your property value is lower than what you've been assessed. I have some experience with this. I bought my home for $79K in 2000. It was reassessed at 180K in the 2002 assessment.


Obviously, home values had NOT appreciated in Crafton Borough at that rate, so I suspected a mistake was made. I looked at comparable properties on the county's site and found that the comparables for my house were all 2000+ sq ft. homes, whereas mine was a 1200 sq ft. house. Further, (and fortunately for me) interest rates had dropped fairly precipitously since my purchase and I had refinanced my mortgage just prior to the reassessment. In the process of that reassessment, I had a professional appraisal done on my home that showed a value of $100K. Appeal hearing was a piece of cake. I showed the hearing officer my $100K assessment and he asked if I'd be okay with a $100K assessment. I said fine, and that was the end of it.


In your case, OP, I'm not sure that you should waste your time. If you purchased your home at market value, then you probably have no evidence to present that would show that your home isn't worth what you paid. If you overpaid, then you could have a professional assessment done (which, if you have a mortgage, that was probably done anyway). Other than that, I see no way you can win the hearing. It does suck that your neighbors have lower assessments for similar houses, but there really isn't anything you can do about it if the SD assessment is actually market value for your home.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

It seems like the OP would want to show up to make sure the appeal isn't to get the assessment increased beyond the purchase price, right? Based on my read, the OP doesn't know what the assessment will be. I wouldn't skip my right to know in the event they tried to use some crazy comps.