Best practices in having property tax value reassessed?

Question

I live in San Diego and I'm considering submitting an 'Application for Review of Assessment' of my property taxes. Should I submit comparibles based on the exact same square footage house in my neighborhood, or consider using larger homes where the average price per square foot is much lower?

The city assessed my house value much higher than what I paid 2 years ago. As a result, my property taxes are higher than they should be. There's no way I could sell the house for the assessed value. Proposition 8 is what I'm working towards.

Answer 1

picket your neighbors. raise a ruckus downtown! petition the governator to repeal proposition 13 (from 1977) that got us into this mess! yo, wud up dude?

Answer 2

You are in California and benefit from Prop 13. What is the issue? Did you just buy the house? If so the county will assess it at the purchase price and Prop 13 will kick in from there. To get an assessed value lower than the purchase price you will have to show you paid for intangibles and not real estate.

Have you been in the house for years and you think the value has dropped below assessed value. Then that is a Prop 8 reassessment for which you will have to show that comparable sales have declined over time.

Based on your revised comments above you may still have an opportunity to appeal your Prop 13 value. I found the attached on the California BOE's website. You have four years after the initial entry on the rolls to make a correction. Not sure though it will be retroactive.

Contact the San Diego County Assessor's office and ask. They have specific periods of time when they will process role corrections but I would go to a local office and get some more info and the required forms.

Answer 3

First find out how the city or county of San Diego develops its baselines and then drills down to separate developments, say for example, Mira Mesa or Scripps Ranch or La Jolla. It is a standard that the municipality develops a baseline based upon the total sales for the previous year. I know all about San Diego, which is why I lived in Escondido before moving here to Virginia, which is the new California when it comes to real estate valuation. I recommend knowing what the assessor's office does before completing that application. It is not the same as a the valuation done when purchasing home. Here's the home-run question you most likely face: "Do you believe you could not sell your home for at least the amount appraised?" That will be asked and that is why you have to know what rules they are really playing by. Good luck!

Answer 4

this property tax is WRONG, they tax you on the value. it not right it's just the easiest way for them to get money. when you call for help their trucks don't know what to expect when it get there, but everyone pays a different amount for the same service. and that is wrong. anyway back to your question. I went to the city and checked on the taxes of my neighbors and found there were 3 that had bigger homes and was paying less in taxes than me so i went and asked for a review, what they did was not lower them, they froze them, that was 2 years ago last year I went and asked for a review and they denied it. so I too would really like to know also!!