why isn’t it an invasion of our “right to privacy” for government to appraise our homes & tell us what the value of OUR property is. Doesn’t the owner decide?
I'm just now going down the 'disabled' path and am going to have to deal with the county on taxes eventually since I own this property outright, except what I pay to the shakedown racket government.
Thanks for asking that question and I'll watch this thread.
/johnny
why does government tax as an “asset” something that people need to live in that’s worth only that much if you sell it & leave yourself homeless? Isn’t homeownership more of a liability than an asset that earns you a cash flow? You make mortgage payments, pay for insurance, utilities, furnishings, appliances, maintenance & upkeep...yet you get taxed on the value of the property “if” you chose to sell it on the market?
Philosophically, it makes more sense to tax the furniture, washer & drier & lawn mower than to tax the home & property you’re paying off over 15 years or 30 years, doesn’t it? And what about those wealthy folks who own “property” such as Picasso paintings or antique furniture purchased at Sotheby’s auction, etc? People own some pieces of furniture or artwork worth far more money in value than middle class homes in most parts of the country....but do they pay “property tax” on an Queen Anne antiques worth $500,000 at auction...or Picasso paintings insured for $12 million dollars?
Property tax is a bad, unfair, regressive tax on the middle class which the Marxist press tries to sell as a ‘fair “ tax on wealthy property owners which helps the poor & pays for education. Better to tax all property “per acre” & apply state sales taxes to food & gasoline than let government appraise the value of our property & tax what in effect is a cost & liability as if it’s an asset.
1.Get a list of comparable home sales from the same neighborhood that are close tor same square footage or with similar property characteristics. In my situation I found that my square footage was lower and that they had assumed I had a pool in my backyard. Wrong. That lowered my taxes immediately. Some counties have sales information online. In reference to home sales in your neighborhood. If you can find out what the original asking price was and how low they had to go to get it to sell for that helps.
I downloaded a list of the comparable properties and put them into a spreadsheet then went back and noted the livable square footage, if there was a pool, or any detached buildings (quite a few in my area). If you examine the spreadsheet it becomes pretty apparent that my evaluation was too high for the sq footage and the fact Imhad no pool or detached buildings.
2. If your home is in need of repairs or not in the best of shape they can reduce the estimated assessed value.
3. Check to see if you qualify for exemptions you may not have thought of - homestead, disabled, over 65, etc...
4. File a protest online and put any other comments tha might help. In our situation I stated that we had had a significant decrease in income and stated that I could prove it with bank statements and income tax returns.
That’s what I did anyway...
Unless you have a defined error in your market value, one of the below would apply. Basically you would have to show that the house is worth less than their market value determination.
““value is over the market value, value unequal compared to other properties”
The below are exemptions. There is a separate process for applying for exemptions.
“Neither are the ones in the info sheet they send, such as “are you disabled for social security purposes, are you over 65, are you surviving spouse of owner over 65, are you disabled veteran, surviving spouse of disabled vet, etc”?
I could suggest hiring a property tax challenging attorney who takes half of what he saves you.
Alternatively, for a do it yourself route:
Watchdog: My guide to lowering your 2014 property taxes
http://www.dallasnews.com/investigations/watchdog/20140508-watchdog-my-guide-to-lowering-your-2014-property-taxes.ece
I’m in a different state, but about ten years ago I was successful in getting a tax break when my house was in need of repairs and I was between jobs.
• I took photos of all the problem areas,
• put them in a PowerPoint presentation,
• took a few comparison shots of my neighbors’ better-condition exteriors, and
• a swiped a few digital images of neighbors’ better-looking interiors from houses for sale on Realtor.com, and
• made an appointment with the tax guy.
Took my computer in and ran through the PowerPoint, and he gave me a percentage off of the tax increase.
It took me about 6 hours all told, including the tax appointment. Well worth it.
Look for mistakes on your property appraisal card and chart, e.g. too much square footage, incorrect number of fixtures, etc., and locate comparable properties in the public records (got a 3 BR ranch w/o two Bath, 1500 square. feet? Drive around and locate what appear to be similar homes and write down the addresses) and don’t miss deadlines.
-PJ
One thing you will notice on your tax appraisal is the market value and the taxable value. The market value is going to be considerable higher. You will have to show that comparable houses in your area sold for less than your taxable value before you can get it lowered.
My property/school tax on 1600 SqFt 3BR brick on 20 AC is slowly creeping up to $1000.
I got mine rolled back to lowest in 7 years by finding a local property purchase made by a builder that was abnormally low.
you pay the lower of the appraised value or of a property comparable to you won.
My property taxes jumped up a lot last year. We recently received a notice of another increase. I went to the appraisers office and they explained the increase in building costs caused our value per square footage to increase.
I contacted my Realtor and asked her to run some comps (comparisons - homes that sold recently in my area). There were several similar homes nearby that held a lower square footage value. I took them to the appraiser and she lowered my tax bill.