subject: Are There Ways To Fight A Property Assessment? [print this page] In this day and age, the real estate market is not strong. Homes are still losing their value quite rapidly, despite there being hope that soon the market rates will increase with a strong economy. It's an unfortunate situation, but there is a silver lining. A drop in property values means your property assessment should also be lowered, decreasing the property taxes you would owe in a particular year.
What should you do if you feel like you received too high of an assessment? Is fighting your property assessment even worth the trouble? It very well might be.
Firstly, it is useful to know how the county assesses the value of your property. You may choose to do this by viewing comparables and replacement or rebuilding values. You may have heard them called "comps," which are just a comparison between your homes worth and what other similar properties in your community sold for. Assessors value your home based on how much each of these other houses sold for. Based on how much it is presumed to cost to rebuild your home, a bank can value your home based on replacement or rebuilding value.
If you think your home was valued too high, you have to first make a case for a lower property assessment. If you meet with an assessor and tell him or her of your think that you were assessed too high, you're part of the way there already. Your next step is to file an appeal. A time limit for filing an appeal should be noted, because the majority of locations have something similar to this. 60 days tends to be about average, but it varies, so make sure to check what the real time restriction is where you live so you don't miss out. During the appeal, you will go through an appeal board and provide an eight to ten minute presentation. Bring as much evidence as possible, including photos with comps, and all the information you have that supports your case, like floor plans for the comps you have researched.
While there are additional ways to fight your property assessment, doing your research and filing an appeal is the most straight forward and uncomplicated. You should dress to impress, act professionally and make sure your presentation is straight forward and unambiguous. You have a great shot, if you've done your research. In that case, fighting your assessment and therefore reducing your annual property taxes is definitely worth the time and effort.
