It is very important to ask the tax assessor what homes they will use to compare yours to. You need to do this since they are looking to set you up and use those comparable choices against you. You’ll need to poke holes into their argument and show false values they may attach to those comparables. Introduce your more favorable comparable and shed a more logical light using principles found in our resource and it becomes a slam dunk.
Make a written request via a fax to the appraisal district. Get that information in advance so you are prepared. Show how those homes do not compare to yours. This is an adversarial confrontation and you need to be armed with the evidence that the opposition is using. The Freedom of Information Act allows you to get this information.
Use photos to prove your point. Show how the tax assessors chosen comparable is not similar to yours and how the comparables you choose are comparable. Make any adjustments you need to make for differences in location, sq. ft. size differences, condition, age of the home or similar type adjustments
Hunt for those comparables that sold and are in your own neighborhood. Location is the most important valuation feature since different neighborhoods have different price points.
Next, focus on similar square footage of living space, number of rooms, bedrooms, baths, sold preferably within 4 months of assessment date you are appealing for, sales price within general market price of your home, quality of construction, style of house, age of house, condition of house, property site and view, functional utility (deficiencies or overbuilt features), number of garages, swimming pool, fireplace(s), remodeled kitchen, kitchen equipment, etc., storm windows or replacement window or thermopane windows, basement i.e. finished, unfinished or none, deck, patio, porch, etc. and landscaping differences.
There will be differences in square footage, number of garages, with or without decks, patios, swimming pools, etc. and you need to make dollar adjustment to equalize features that are not similar to your home. These are simple plus or minus adjustments.
When you’re comfortable with the value conclusion you have reached, approach your tax assessor and present your case. The tax assessor not deviate from his value conclusion since they have a built in bias to stick to their figures. They are there to raise money for the town government to spend. You then have to take your case to the next level of appeal.
Even with tax cuts, towns are still asking for tax hikes and are forcing many who are on the edge into foreclosure. If you can find sales of homes for the tax year you are appealing whose market value is less than your home, you’ll have savings for many years in the future. Seems like few people want to go through the work it takes to appeal their property taxes. When one looks at the money they will save over the period of time before the next blanket reassessment (which may be 10 or more years in the future), appealing an unjust property tax makes more than enough sense.
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