Property tax Valuation?

Question

What is the best way to lower my property tax valuation. They are valuating my home by $30,000 more than it's worth. How do I let them know this house will not sell for that much and needs work?

Answer 1

Your county has an appeals process and it is different all across the country. They are required to help you understand how it works.

In our area I have helped some of my friends challenge their value. One found that they thought he had a pool in his back yard (he never had one), another showed them reports showing his home needed foundation work that he couldn't afford, and another showed them that he had just recently bought the home for much less than the current tax valuation and had the paperwork to prove it.

If none of these work for you then you will often need to show them current sales that prove your point. The best way to do that is to pay for an appraisal (maybe $350). Failing that just bringing in some MLS printouts you got from a friend that is in real estate might help.

Don't go in gripping about your tax bill. These people you are talking to often have no input into that and are frustrated in talking with people about that all day long-instead talk about things they can actually help you with -the valuation of your property.

Answer 2

The property tax valuation is mostly tied to the land and not the structure. Market value and tax value are 100% unrelated, and this is a huge assumption people make.

It is appraised by the county in line with other homes in your area, on the TAX ASSESSED value...not market value.

So, pull up other addresses in your area...if those homes are assessed $30K less than yours, then you have a strong case....but if they are right in line with yours, there is very little you can do.

Answer 3

You will need to check the assessment values of comparable properties within your taxation district. If other properties are similarly over assessed, you have no complaint.

Valuations for taxation purposes are generally irrelevant to actual market values. As long as your assessment falls into the over (or under) valuations throughout the district, you are being fairly taxed.

Answer 4

Good luck! Where I live there are a lot of people in the same situation. Our tax accessors work from a two year average. So you might see a difference in the next year or so.

Answer 5

Property tax is the annual amount paid by a land owner to the local government or the municipal corporation of his area.

Answer 6

Contact your tax assesors office and let them know it needs to be revalued. They'll ask you to pay for it to be appraised to prove the value dropped and then reasses your taxes.