housing tax evaluation

[alien42]

i bought my house at the end of last year and the county has jacked up the appraised value by a significant amount. this is from the county...

Year Total Appraised Value
2007 $141,700
2006 $89,400
2005 $89,400
2004 $86,600
2003 $82,600
2002 $77,200
2001 $61,400
2000 $55,300

the previous owner did add a master bath and small laundry room years ago but that jump seems to drastic and i wonder why it was not re-evaluated then. the good thing is this should help the resale value in the future and the downside is that my taxes are going to be jacked way up this year and following. i have to decide if i want to file an appeal soon.

one thing i noticed when looking for a house was that the county appraisal was usually around 10% to 25% less then the sales value although i am not sure how important this is to the average home buyer.

i also plan on living here for a few years. would you file an appeal?

 

[IronWing]

How much did you pay for it? Was what you paid in line w/ similar recent sales in your area? If the assessment is in the ball park of what you paid and your price was in the range of recent sales then you don't have much hope of getting a reduction at this time.

 

[alien42]

Originally posted by: ironwing
How much did you pay for it? Was what you paid in line w/ similar recent sales in your area? If the assessment is in the ball park of what you paid and your price was in the range of recent sales then you don't have much hope of getting a reduction at this time.

i paid $150 and the mortgage assessor valued it at $158

 

[ponyo]

I don't think you have a chance.

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: alien42

Originally posted by: ironwing
How much did you pay for it? Was what you paid in line w/ similar recent sales in your area? If the assessment is in the ball park of what you paid and your price was in the range of recent sales then you don't have much hope of getting a reduction at this time.

i paid $150 and the mortgage assessor valued it at $158

then quit yer bitchin.

edit: do they have phased-in increases there? maybe you won't be on the hook for the full % increase.

 

[ultimatebob]

Ouch. This is why I didn't let the assessor in my condo when I moved in!

 

[alien42]

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: alien42

Originally posted by: ironwing
How much did you pay for it? Was what you paid in line w/ similar recent sales in your area? If the assessment is in the ball park of what you paid and your price was in the range of recent sales then you don't have much hope of getting a reduction at this time.

i paid $150 and the mortgage assessor valued it at $158

then quit yer bitchin.

edit: do they have phased-in increases there? maybe you won't be on the hook for the full % increase.

i have no idea, will start researching that now. that is kind of what i am hoping for, i want a fair valuation but that jump is too drastic.

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Ouch. This is why I didn't let the assessor in my condo when I moved in!

if you don't let them in, they have to "estimate" on the safe side...

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Ouch. This is why I didn't let the assessor in my condo when I moved in!

if you don't let them in, they have to "estimate" on the safe side...

The previous owner did a lot of improvements, so I was better off with the estimate.

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: alien42

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: alien42

Originally posted by: ironwing
How much did you pay for it? Was what you paid in line w/ similar recent sales in your area? If the assessment is in the ball park of what you paid and your price was in the range of recent sales then you don't have much hope of getting a reduction at this time.

i paid $150 and the mortgage assessor valued it at $158

then quit yer bitchin.

edit: do they have phased-in increases there? maybe you won't be on the hook for the full % increase.

i have no idea, will start researching that now. that is kind of what i am hoping for, i want a fair valuation but that jump is too drastic.

That increase is crazy. Did the previous owner do any other work without permits? There has to be a reason other than market value increase for a jump like that IMHO.

 

[alien42]

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: alien42

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: alien42

Originally posted by: ironwing
How much did you pay for it? Was what you paid in line w/ similar recent sales in your area? If the assessment is in the ball park of what you paid and your price was in the range of recent sales then you don't have much hope of getting a reduction at this time.

i paid $150 and the mortgage assessor valued it at $158

then quit yer bitchin.

edit: do they have phased-in increases there? maybe you won't be on the hook for the full % increase.

i have no idea, will start researching that now. that is kind of what i am hoping for, i want a fair valuation but that jump is too drastic.

That increase is crazy. Did the previous owner do any other work without permits? There has to be a reason other than market value increase for a jump like that IMHO.

both of the add-ons were fully permitted.

 

[Strk]

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Ouch. This is why I didn't let the assessor in my condo when I moved in!

if you don't let them in, they have to "estimate" on the safe side...

There are a few things that can make the price go up considerably on the inside (a kitchen or a bathroom), so it can sometimes be better to go with the estimate.

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: Strk

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Ouch. This is why I didn't let the assessor in my condo when I moved in!

if you don't let them in, they have to "estimate" on the safe side...

There are a few things that can make the price go up considerably on the inside (a kitchen or a bathroom), so it can sometimes be better to go with the estimate.

Yeah. Especially when you are talking to someone about their home built in the early 1900s and they are trying to tell you that everything is original in the home.

 

[Greenman]

Prop 13, the only good thing the voters of CA have ever done.

 

[HomeAppraiser]

Sometimes they are behind and jump the value up in one year. It does not matter that other properties are under assessed, as long as they are at or under your market value you don't have a case.

 

[Homerboy]

wait Im confused
your home is now assessed at $140K
you bought it for $150K
it's FMV is $158K
and your bitching?

This is obviously the first actual assessment done since the previous owner did the renovations. You have to realize that when the city sees somebody pays $150K on a house they have listed for $90K they are going to take a peek at whats going on there.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: alien42

Originally posted by: ironwing
How much did you pay for it? Was what you paid in line w/ similar recent sales in your area? If the assessment is in the ball park of what you paid and your price was in the range of recent sales then you don't have much hope of getting a reduction at this time.

i paid $150 and the mortgage assessor valued it at $158

heh, I thought most cities and counties used the sale value to establish assessment. In that case, your UNDER assessed.

 

[bctbct]

They probably based the assessed value on what it sold for last. Hard for you to argue that its not worth that much, since you paid that much.

Typically assessed value is only determined buy lot size, sq ftage, number of rooms, number of baths/fixtures, and whether it is in avaerage condition. They also look at roof type, ext. finishes and maybe a few other things. They do not care if you have imported italian marble in you master bath.

You usually have a chance at getting some reduction if your percentage of increase is higher that year than similar comps.

That a big ass jump though.