How to Grieve Your Real Estate Taxes
Owning a home is an expensive proposition. There’s maintenance, landscaping, utilities, renovations, and of course taxes. It’s your civic duty to pay the latter, but it’s also your right not to pay a penny more than your fair share.
Your local government needs every dime it can collect to pay for all of the services you expect as a resident: schools, libraries, hospitals, and so on. A healthy chunk of that revenue is raised from homeowners via property taxes. In normal times real estate values climb steadily, allowing local governments to take in a little more every year to keep up with inflation and perhaps even add a few services. Property tax bills usually come due twice a year. The situation gets stickier when real estate values are in decline. If that occurs, local governments generate less revenue from property taxes, meaning the tax rate needs to go up, the money needs to come from somewhere else, or spending on services needs to go down. According to a 2009 survey conducted by the National Association of Counties, 62% of counties polled say declining property taxes are a major source of revenue shortfalls. Forty-two percent of counties have cut services, and 11% have raised property taxes.
If you're suspicious that your property taxes are too high, you can check for errors by calculating the value of your property tax. You might not think too hard about your real estate assessment, the dollar value the local government puts on your house and land. You should. The assessment determines how much you shell out on property taxes.
If you have a mortgage, your home lender is probably paying your property taxes out of an escrow account. Odds are you don’t even know how much gets collected. Devote an hour of your time to becoming better informed. Once you understand your real estate assessment, you’ll understand your property tax bill—and more importantly, whether you’re paying the right amount.
It’s possible to trim your property tax bill by appealing the assessed value of your home. But making a case against your real estate assessment, the basis for your property tax bill, requires doing a bit of homework.
Read your assessment letter
The letter will include some information about your property, such as lot size or a legal description, as well as the assessed value of your house and land. Additional details—number of bedrooms, baths and date of construction—can often be found in the property listing on your local government’s website or in Town Hall. Your property tax bill will usually be calculated by multiplying your home’s assessed value by the local tax rate, which can vary from town to town.
If you think your home’s assessment is higher than it should be, challenge it immediately. The clock starts ticking as soon as the letter goes out. Gather evidence - Start by making sure the assessment letter doesn’t contain any mistakes. If any facts are wrong, then you may have a quick and easy challenge on your hands.
Next, research your home’s value. Ask a real estate agent to find three to five comparable properties—“comps” in real estate jargon—that have sold recently. Alternatively, check a website like Zillow.com to find approximate values of comparable properties. The key is identifying properties that are very similar to your own in terms of size, style, condition, and location. If you’re willing to shell out between $350 and $600, you can hire a private appraiser to do the heavy lifting.
Once you identify comps, check the assessments on those properties. Most local governments maintain public databases. If yours doesn’t, seek help from an agent or ask neighbors to share tax information. If the assessments on your comps are lower, you can argue yours is too high. Even if the assessments are similar, if you can show that the “comparable” properties aren’t truly comparable, you may have a case for relief based on equity. Maybe your neighbor added an addition and you're paying the same amount of taxes. In that case, the properties are no longer equitable.....Present your case
Once you’re armed with your research, call your local assessor’s office. Most assessors are willing to discuss your assessment informally by phone. If not, or if you aren’t satisfied with the explanation, request a formal review. Pay attention to deadlines and procedures. There’s probably a form to fill out and specific instructions for supporting evidence. A typical review, which usually doesn’t require you to appear in person, can take anywhere from one to three months. Expect to receive a decision in writing.
If the review is unsuccessful, you can usually appeal the decision to an independent board, with or without the help of a lawyer. You may have to pay a modest filing fee, perhaps $30. If you end up before an appeals board, your challenge could stretch as long as a year, especially in large jurisdictions that have a high number of appeals. But homeowners do triumph.
If this sounds like a lot of work…that’s because it is. If you choose to hire a professional Tax Grievance firm……Click Below
