In my last blog, "Property Tax Appeal… Questions to Ask Your Expert, or Yourself" I posed a list of questions. One of them was:
A comparably sized condo sold in your building for $10. Can you use that sale to bring down your valuation?
As you have probably guessed, that comparable sale is not usable. If this is one of 3 comps you used, the assessor will disallow your appeal.
There are many types of comparable sales that are not usable, primarily because they do not reflect the true value of the property sold. These could include a house you bought from your relative which is not at "arms length," a short sale, or a foreclosed property. These have been historically disallowed, and they will continue to be. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Can you figure this out on your own? ABSOLUTELY!! If you use a software, it will have it figured out for you. Easytaxfix claims they have overlaid all this data from the SR1A database. But wait, what if I tell you, you don't even need to go to another database? You have this info staring at you in the same database that has all property records. Simple huh? There is no risk in that.
With a pair of keen eyes, and with some help from Google, anyone can weed out comp killers.
Kathy Zucker wrote a new blog about the appeals process today. Thanks for the plug Kathy. For those seeking personal help, I charge $100 (for high rise condos) to $150 for (1-2 bedrooms), and slightly higher for unique properties and single family homes. I don't want to compete with the lawyers, realtors, appraisers and software, my goal is financial education and consumer empowerment. My personal sessions are conducted as workshops.
Good luck with those property tax appeals. Less than a month to go.
Property tax posts
Property Tax Appeal… Questions to Ask Your Expert, or Yourself
Hoboken Property Taxes Due (Feb 2011)
Property Taxes Going Up or Down? (Oct '10)
Appeals... the Next Steps (May '10)
A comparably sized condo sold in your building for $10. Can you use that sale to bring down your valuation?
As you have probably guessed, that comparable sale is not usable. If this is one of 3 comps you used, the assessor will disallow your appeal.
There are many types of comparable sales that are not usable, primarily because they do not reflect the true value of the property sold. These could include a house you bought from your relative which is not at "arms length," a short sale, or a foreclosed property. These have been historically disallowed, and they will continue to be. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Can you figure this out on your own? ABSOLUTELY!! If you use a software, it will have it figured out for you. Easytaxfix claims they have overlaid all this data from the SR1A database. But wait, what if I tell you, you don't even need to go to another database? You have this info staring at you in the same database that has all property records. Simple huh? There is no risk in that.
With a pair of keen eyes, and with some help from Google, anyone can weed out comp killers.
Kathy Zucker wrote a new blog about the appeals process today. Thanks for the plug Kathy. For those seeking personal help, I charge $100 (for high rise condos) to $150 for (1-2 bedrooms), and slightly higher for unique properties and single family homes. I don't want to compete with the lawyers, realtors, appraisers and software, my goal is financial education and consumer empowerment. My personal sessions are conducted as workshops.
Good luck with those property tax appeals. Less than a month to go.
Property tax posts
Property Tax Appeal… Questions to Ask Your Expert, or Yourself
Hoboken Property Taxes Due (Feb 2011)
Property Taxes Going Up or Down? (Oct '10)
Appeals... the Next Steps (May '10)
