Just got property tax assessment...

[Deleted]

am I going to jump into traffic because the house is assessed at 58% of what we paid in 2007, or am I going to crack open the champagne because I'll be saving ~$3,500 on property taxes for the year? Hmm...

[downtoearth]

If you haven't made improvements (additional bathrooms/new bedrooms converted from unfisnished space, etc.), then no need to contest and just crack open the champagne (and hope you don't want/need to sell anytime b/c it sounds like your market is tanking).

Also keep in mind they do the assessments based on last year, not this current second, so it's a little behind the times. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

[Deleted]

We have made improvements, and they actually send us a supplemental assessment increasing the value a few weeks ago based on the permit. Now we got a new assessment dropping it by >$100K (on top of past decreases). No way am I arguing it higher. I was fully prepared to appeal for a lower value if they tried to keep it the same because I know it was too high, but even I wouldn't have tried to argue this low. One of the few times I feel queasy that someone gave me too much "good news."

No plans to move, so it's not really bad news in practice. It's more psychological. And I'm bummed because this means we'll never be able to refinance, ever.

ETA: OUr values are supposed to be the value of the house as of Jan. 1 of the current year (so Jan. 1, 2012). Which makes finding comps for the appeal almost impossible b/c they have to be between Jan. 1 and March 1. Luckily I don't have to worry about that now!

[ssmjlm]

Tax assessments don't always match market value.

There's a group in my county that is about to start a legal battle b/c the assessments aren't going down, despite the market drops.

[Deleted]

Unfortunately, we have no freaking clue what market value is. We're in a one-of-a-kind sort of neighborhood sandwiched between mansions with water views and one of the worst neighborhoods in the state. Since the start of the crash, I haven't seen a single property here selling voluntarily (a couple of foreclosures). It's a semi-expensive ~1900 neighborhood (no cookie cutter with lots of comps) in HCOL, so I think everyone's just holding steady and waiting for the market to come back because almost everyone can afford to do that. I've tried to get some estimates for refinance, but the banks are saying "we have no idea." Somewhere between $75K and $500K (because we have comps on either side of us in those ranges). The property assessor's guess is as good as mine!