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I'm in Massachusetts. Hypothetical house for sale has all amenities I want but also has an inground pool which I very much *don't* want. If we were to pay to have it filled in, how would that affect appraised value? Would property taxes go up? Down? Stay the same?
Assuming that it's an older pool, and the house isn't "high end", you'll likely get a token reduction in your property taxes. Pools don't generally add much actual cash value to a home, unless we're talking "home of the stars" type properties, where a pool is expected & not having one can lead to a major loss in value.
Not sure of the property-tax situation in MA, but in the areas where I've lived, the property tax system is often biased in favor of long-term homeowners - I.E., even if assessments are "supposed" to be based on true market value, homes that haven't been sold in a long time are under-assessed & that discrepancy is "corrected" at the time of sale. What that means for a new buyer is that you're going to be paying more in property taxes than the previous owner did, and more than your new neighbors are who've lived in their properties for years, even if you bulldoze half the house & set the other half on fire right after closing. I've actually been the "new guy" paying more in property tax on a vacant lot than my neighbors were paying for lots with houses & garages on them.
In my area the property record card is available online. This card shows the assessment including how much value is given to specific items such as a patio, a garage, or a pool. One can go in and see the value of the pool in the assessment. I would multiple this value by the property tax rate and subtract it from the total tax bill.
Your best option is to call the local assessor's or treasurer's office (or whatever it's called in your area). They should be able to tell you more accurately.
In my area all properties are re-assessed yearly so the tax value is often closer to true market value (or at least more fair for longer term and shorter term owners.
if the town has an online tax database you can see what is listed on the properties tax card. i pulled up a home that i was interested in last spring (but didnt buy) and the in-ground pool isnt noted anywhere on the tax card so it might not be a valuation factor.
Here in MA, you can easily find the assessed value of the house you are looking at via the town website or by going to town hall. I just checked all the houses with in ground pools in my neighborhood and the average amount for "extra features" is about $13,000.
In MA, properties have to be reassessed every 3 years and it is based on market value. In the years in between assessments, the assessors office will adjust values based on market values. Keep in mind that the assessments may be a year or so behind. Also, MA has a law called Prop. 2-1/2 which states a the total tax revenue on existing property in a city or town cannot increase by more than 2.5%. Towns also move the tax burden back and forth between commercial and residential as well as adjust tax rates, so your taxes may go up by more or less than the 2.5%.
If you fill in the pool, you are not going to save much based on the above value figures. The cost to remove the pool will take a long time to recoup with the couple of hundred bucks you might save on taxes. That pool has to be broken up and then filled and compacted properly to prevent heaving or sinkholes. You will also have to repair the landscaping that will be damaged by backhoes and dump trucks that need to access the back yard.
I'm in Massachusetts. Hypothetical house for sale has all amenities I want but also has an inground pool which I very much *don't* want. If we were to pay to have it filled in, how would that affect appraised value? Would property taxes go up? Down? Stay the same?
A question like this is really very local and probably better asked in the MA forum rather than the RE forum. For example, if you filled in a pool in FL your property value would probably take a nose dive. Here in MA if you filled in a pool your property value might actually go up.
Depending on the town, the lot size, and the size/location of the pool removing it might actually make your house far more saleable. In my experience, the majority of people in these parts don't want pools. If you don't have one, your house will have much more broad appeal. Anytime you increase the "pool" of buyers (pun intended) for your home then you've increased it's value.
Quote:
Originally Posted by robr2
Here in MA, you can easily find the assessed value of the house you are looking at via the town website or by going to town hall. I just checked all the houses with in ground pools in my neighborhood and the average amount for "extra features" is about $13,000.
In MA, properties have to be reassessed every 3 years and it is based on market value. In the years in between assessments, the assessors office will adjust values based on market values. Keep in mind that the assessments may be a year or so behind. Also, MA has a law called Prop. 2-1/2 which states a the total tax revenue on existing property in a city or town cannot increase by more than 2.5%. Towns also move the tax burden back and forth between commercial and residential as well as adjust tax rates, so your taxes may go up by more or less than the 2.5%.
If you fill in the pool, you are not going to save much based on the above value figures. The cost to remove the pool will take a long time to recoup with the couple of hundred bucks you might save on taxes. That pool has to be broken up and then filled and compacted properly to prevent heaving or sinkholes. You will also have to repair the landscaping that will be damaged by backhoes and dump trucks that need to access the back yard.
While I agree that removing the pool might result in a lower assessed value, I would say that assessed value and market value are merely loosely related in these parts. The town really is just looking for a total value of all the homes and a tax rate that when combined will fund the budget. Assessed values rarely line up with market value and because of how they are calculated by their nature are more than a year behind.
Have to factor in what is replacing the pool tooo...
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikePRU
A question like this is really very local and probably better asked in the MA forum rather than the RE forum. For example, if you filled in a pool in FL your property value would probably take a nose dive. Here in MA if you filled in a pool your property value might actually go up.
Depending on the town, the lot size, and the size/location of the pool removing it might actually make your house far more saleable. In my experience, the majority of people in these parts don't want pools. If you don't have one, your house will have much more broad appeal. Anytime you increase the "pool" of buyers (pun intended) for your home then you've increased it's value.
While I agree that removing the pool might result in a lower assessed value, I would say that assessed value and market value are merely loosely related in these parts. The town really is just looking for a total value of all the homes and a tax rate that when combined will fund the budget. Assessed values rarely line up with market value and because of how they are calculated by their nature are more than a year behind.
I have sold a handful of homes in suburban Illinois that had in-ground pools and even one or two that buyers subsequently filled-in. The key in areas with short swim season is what sort of yard / "outdoor living area" the home has with or without pool. If the existing pool is part of elaborate area that includes space to cook or entertain it can be a very costly mistake to just fill-in the pool. That sort of thing will hurt property resale. OTOH if the home has only a modest yard that is mostly unusable except for the in-ground pool the costs of filling it in may expand the appeal only a little and might not offset the cost of making the yard more conventionally usable...
The hardest part is usually the seller -- to them the pool is very likely seen as some valuable upgrade, they might even have a mindset that this unique "feature" is THE BEST part of the home. It can be a stumbling block in negotiations if they refuse to accept the fact that the pool is really "overly personalized" and the future owner wants a discount to offset the costs of removal...
That was the situation with one home we made an offer on. The pool needed a new liner, there was lots of surrounding decking that was not in the best of shape, and the equipment was not new either. We did not want the upkeep of a pool, but we liked the house and the location.
We looked at comps, came up with what we thought was a fair price, and deducted $5K for removal of the pool and all the half rotted decking.
The owner was a real estate agent and he sent back a terse note about how insulting our offer was.
This was about 6 years ago and there were a lot of homes on the market, so we kept looking. We found a place and just before closing, the guy sent an email to our agent about how his situation had changed and he was wiling to accept our offer.
The house had a for sale sign up for at least a year after that before I quit checking.
Later, we found out that there is more to removing a pool than merely filling it in with dirt.
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Have to factor in what is replacing the pool tooo...
