Contesting Property Taxes? (updated in comments)

[k3am]

Anyone have any experience?  We bought our house in 2018 at the height of the market (VHCOL) and property values have since dropped pretty significantly. We just got notice that they're increasing our assessment above what we were previously at (not huge - a 4% increase over what we paid.)

Comps in the last 6-12 months are about 10-15% lower than what we paid, but we did do some improvements - drainage under the house, bathroom reno.

Would you contest this? If so, any suggestions on the best way to do it?

[lolalolalola]

I feel like this is super #regional.

We protested ours a few years ago. We included recent sold comps and they accepted them based on our submission. We expected to have to go in and defend our position and we’re thankful we didn’t have to.

[winecat]

I contested mine when it went up an obscene percentage. The comps they gave as justification for the increase weren't at all the same so I contested with comps that were closer to my house. The comps they gave were brick construction, more beds or baths, a garage or a basement. I got the amount reduced by a decent amount.

[carmenere]

The process varies by location, but yes I think it's worth trying. I would start by asking for advice on Nextdoor or a local facebook group.

[k3am]

I emailed our realtor to get his thoughts.. Not sure if he's the right person to ask, but I figured he's a good person to go to for determining comps. And his commission on our sale and purchase were high enough that I don't feel bad about asking.

We have a few houses in our neighborhood that are the exact same floor plan and relative quality that have sold or $200k-$250k+ less than we purchased ours for, so hopefully he can lead us in the right direction.

carmenere, Nextdoor is probably a good option, but those people.. terrify me.

[sdlaura]

We’ve never contested but friends have told me that they do it every year and can often get a break - so seems like the kind of thing that might have no real downside beyond whatever time you put into doing it.

[sandandsea]

We protested ours in the 2008 downturn and they agreed and lowered it. It’s worth a shot.

[pinkalicious]

Jul 1, 2020 16:25:37 GMT -5 k3am said:

I emailed our realtor to get his thoughts.. Not sure if he's the right person to ask, but I figured he's a good person to go to for determining comps. And his commission on our sale and purchase were high enough that I don't feel bad about asking.

We have a few houses in our neighborhood that are the exact same floor plan and relative quality that have sold or $200k-$250k+ less than we purchased ours for, so hopefully he can lead us in the right direction.

carmenere, Nextdoor is probably a good option, but those people.. terrify me.

As a Realtor, I’d happily get you comps, but I’d also send you to an attorney that deals specifically with contesting property taxes.

[Accountingcat]

I contest my property taxes every year (very common to do where I live). This is such a regional issue though. Around here you can hire a RE lawyer to help you, file yourself using an appraisal, your sales docs, or using comparisons. Sales docs and appraisals have a 100% success rate but our rules state that they must be from the last 12 months. When I've contested using comps, I had to fight tooth & nail and my comps were the exact same floor plan. My county has an online portal to contest and it's very easy to do yourself. I've heard a RE lawyer or independent appraisal cost around $400 (but again I live in a state where contesting means I could save $2-3k year).

[k3am]

Jul 2, 2020 8:01:31 GMT -5 Accountingcat said:

I contest my property taxes every year (very common to do where I live). This is such a regional issue though. Around here you can hire a RE lawyer to help you, file yourself using an appraisal, your sales docs, or using comparisons. Sales docs and appraisals have a 100% success rate but our rules state that they must be from the last 12 months. When I've contested using comps, I had to fight tooth & nail and my comps were the exact same floor plan. My county has an online portal to contest and it's very easy to do yourself. I've heard a RE lawyer or independent appraisal cost around $400 (but again I live in a state where contesting means I could save $2-3k year).

Thanks for this! I didn’t even think about appraisal. We refinanced in November and it appraised for $150k less than we paid.. which is still higher than recent comps in March (our cutoff for the tax year).

The appraisal amount would be better than an increase on our purchase price reflected in out taxes.

[simpsongal]

Definitely regional. Our assessment went up like 20%, but it was still probably lower than comps. Despite the huge jump the county folks basically said there's no way they'll change it and don't bother asking b/c they might increase it.

If you have the data to back it up, go for it.

[tripleshot]

I’ve done it twice, both times by getting a bank appraisal through our mortgage company and I then sent the report to the county.

[k3am]

We submitted an appeal. Gave them our appraisal from November (highest value of what we submitted) and some comps that our real estate agent provided. Paperwork came back today, and the corrected value is at the lower end of the comps, at about 85% of what we paid.

It's hard seeing the decline in value, but nice knowing we'll pay a bit less in taxes at least.