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On our local news the other night, it was recommended that if your home was built since 2002, you might be able to lower your property taxes because the value of your home has probably decreased. You will need a current appraisal. While this doesn't apply to me, many people might be able to benefit from this.
yep, I've been doing it 5 years in a row. It's simple effective and you can save up to %20 on annual real estate taxes. Most politicians and smart business people do this. It's like the opposite of poorer people taking advantage of food stamps.
I have some experience with property taxes and merely presenting an appraisal or sales data is no where near enough to get the assessed amount changed in Illinois. Further, even you did get that value changed, if another others do the same the millage will just be raised and the total amount you pay may even increase...
If DE is like IL it is a 'game that only one side wins'...
I have some experience with property taxes and merely presenting an appraisal or sales data is no where near enough to get the assessed amount changed in Illinois. Further, even you did get that value changed, if another others do the same the millage will just be raised and the total amount you pay may even increase...
If DE is like IL it is a 'game that only one side wins'...
lol yea pretty much. I've also heard that when your property is going up in value, they run as fast as possible to assess the property however when the property is in decline, they could careless to reassess.
Actually any home owner who feels his/her home is assessed for more than current market rate can contest their property tax assessment. It doesn't matter when the home was built. Just as a rising tide lifts all boats, rising home values have lifted every property tax. You don't even need an official appraisal to make your case. I have helped several clients of mine by providing them with a comparative market analysis for their home and they have successfully had their taxes lowered.
I agree with Chet. Good luck. I have a rental property in CA, and I've been fighting with them for over 10 months now. I'm in my third appeal. We have Prop 13 here to protect us against rising values, and they're loathe to reassess. Especially since we're damm near bankrupt! My taxes are pretty low, so it doesn't matter much to me, but it can be significant for some. But again, good luck with that. It's not as easy as it may seem.
Could a homeowner claim "widowed hardship" (for lack of a better phrase)? The primary breadwinner passed away, and the taxes have become unbearable. Just asking.
You are fighting the government here (whether it's Federal or State), they are both hard to deal with.
In the case of many (but not all....) State and Local Governments, they have "built in policies" not to decrease the amount of revenue by more than 5% that is obtained via property taxes.
So even though your home has decreased by 10-20%, the state is going to keep their assessment and if you fight it (you may be out $300-500 for your own appraisal and even more money by hiring legal counsel). In the end after you've realized you've spent $1000 of your own money to try to get your real estate property taxes decreased by $1000, they deny your request.
I'm trying to get my property re-assessed in Maryland. I paid for my own appraisal. Sent in the paperwork. All they've told me was that they will "re-assess" my property "next year" because they assess properties every 3 years and they have been bombarded with these request.
So I end up having to pay $7000 this year on my property tax when it should be around $6000-6300 and I'm already out $350 for the private appraisal I just did.
Than next year when they reassess my property at a lower value, but they will just raise the mill rate and I'm back where I started.
States are hungry for money and they will do everything in their power to keep the property tax revenue.
Where in the world did the excess revenue collected from raising property taxes during the housing boom go? It surely didn't go to improve schools or roads. They probably just wasted it on useless projects and over-budgeted pet projects.
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