Property AssessmentsWhen to Fight and When Not to! When you first look at a new Property Assessment, it is easy to think that the value is too high and jump in to action to fight the expected increase in taxes. STOP!!! Before you file any complaints or try to get a reassessment take some time to understand the assessment. First, your taxes may not increase as a result of the increased assessment. Secondly, if you rush into a fight you may find that your assessment goes up even more. What is Your Property Being Assessed On Many people start the reassessment process only to find that the people in charge of assessments did not know about the basement they finished even though they had all of the required permits. It could be a fence, a deck, an extra bathroom, or any upgrades ever done to the property over its lifetime. I have heard a lot of stories of people who expect their assessment to decreased, until the assessor says "Oh, I didn't know you had one of those". The rules have changed on procedure for fighting tax assessments. Now you much file a request for a re-evaluation of your assessment within the first 3 months of each year. Also you much make this request in order to find out what the assessment is based on. The important point to make here is that if you do not see good reasons for your assessment to go down, based on items on the assessments criteria that are not in your home, then you need to call and cancel your request before they send someone out to your home, because once they are at your home they have to make any changes that they see whether it decreases your assessment or increases it. In any situation it is important to know as much as you can before taking action. If you need more information or have questions related to real estate, I am glad to provide you with answers. Get a Free Home Evaluation, or Find Your Next Home |