Has anyone successfully contested a home reassessment?

[rockfan4]

This is for the kid's house in Iowa. We bought it about 2 years ago during peak real estate pricing, so of course that's the number they're going to use. The thing is, the house right next door was built off the same plans, has a newer roof and brand new siding, and it's assessed $14,000 lower. There's also the same house across the street, massive remodel last year, still $9000 lower than our house. There's about 16 or 17 houses with identical floor plans in this neighborhood, so it isn't that hard to compare them.

I talked to someone in the assessor's office today, and he said they went off ours being nicer on the inside. I've never been inside either of the other houses, but they can't be much worse than this one. All they did before selling this one was paint everything gray, and lay down some LVP flooring in the kitchen, living room, and the rec room in the basement. The cabinets are unchanged. Maybe the countertops were replaced, but they're laminate, there's nothing "luxury" anywhere in this house. He's going to send a guy out to look at it, but I'm not expecting anything to happen.

[Tobra]

Good luck

[javadog]

I used to contest mine every year, because every year they raised it 5%, no matter what. They generally have nothing to go on other than the statutory language limits them to a 5% raise, per year, where I used to live. They knew absolutely nothing about the house, apart from where it was, and what it looked like on the outside.

I did my research, found comparable sales in the area that were favorable to my case, and generally won.

[KFC911]

Yes, and it happens all the time. One of my houses had been over-valued tax wise for years, but I was reluctant to "get on their radar", figuring they would just "get me back" on the acreage it was on. Then, two years ago, they bumped it another 30K (just the house) and some "out buildings" doubled. After contacting the county's guy, all it took was sending him some pics, and he reduced the house value by 100K .... he was awesome and it was painless.

That was in a more rural county .... my houses (two I recently sold) that are "in cities", shot up in tax value last year, but still lag behind the "real market value" by a significant amount. Shhhhhh ...

Good luck!

[LWJ]

I think the answer is "it depends." I have heard of people winning this argument here in Oregon, but very very few do.

If you are concerned about a 14K value difference, I am not certain it is worth your efforts.

Me? Somehow my home was assessed missing two bedrooms and 400 sq feet. I have been winning the assessment game every year since I moved in 18 years ago.

[Alan A]

We grieve most every year. There are attorneys here that do it for you on a no reduction in tax, no fee basis. You give them 50-60% of the first years savings.

My taxes are lower than they were 15 years ago….

[KFC911]

^^^^^ This! For 14K in tax value ..... meh. My uncle was irate about his house's tax assessment increase in that rural county.... but it was still based upon decades old info too .... I told him "let it go".

I was getting ready to pay my primary house's annual ins. premium which had additional "riders" for some of my other houses.... contacted them to drop a house I just sold .... expecting a reduction. The new total premium increased 2x the amount of the rider I removed .

Bastids !

[Googam]

I've protested assessments on my home & rental properties. Gather up your comps & research on any recent sales, not just in your neighborhood, but throughout the market area. Any pictures you can add are helpful. Assessors are not all ***holes. Be nice & friendly. Hear him out & try to counter his assumptions. It's worth a shot.

[john70t]

"Sale price through a third-party Realtor(tm)" = "Arm's length transaction" = "Fair market value"

The fair basis upon which taxation should occur.

Even if your area doesn't have caps, and is dynamic, the one across the street should have been re-assessed.
That is favoritism, discrimination, and fraud.

Get a real-estate lawyer. Get an independent appraisal or two.
Do a LOT of research for past sales nearby.
I had to go to from local board of review to state tax tribunal level three times to get fair taxation.
One involved an expensive lawyer. It paid for itself within two years.

A thousand fleas upon local tax boards.
I will pay $1M over the next 40 years for two small houses..owned over a decade
Yeah. I did the math.

Does anyone wonder why rents are so high? That's why!

[Superman]

Assessed value always lags behind appraised values, often way behind. Why? Simple. Because if assessor offices assessed at appraised value, half of homeowners would lawyer-up and the assessor's office would need a legal staff of thousands.

[john70t]

Here:
'Assessed value' is what the current market valuation is supposed to be. Whatever they decide to put on paper. Vaporware numbers.
'Taxable value' is capped and limited to a small multiplier each year. About 1% here.

[Rick Lee]

How does an assessor know what the inside of your house looks like? I've never heard of an indoor inspection.

[john70t]

Check with local laws, but I believe assessment should legally be based on sales comps, bedrooms, bathrooms, sq ft, lot size, other structures.....only.
(that's iirc from the 2nd gen professional family assessor)

Landscaping, interior decor, etc might not be permissible by law. A golden toilet counts the same as paper mache.

[devodave]

Ours went from 97,500 (which it has been since 1997) to 244,500 this year!

[KFC911]

^^^^ Ouch! That might be a legitimate current assessment tho' ..... considering the time. Houses in this area have never had huge increases historically.... but the past few years prices have skyrocketed in comparison. Long periods since the last tax evaluation then become "sticker shock". Is that a realistic assessment based upon the current housing market in your area?

[asphaltgambler]

We contested the county's valuation last year and hired our own appraisal, scheduled a meeting with them. We explained the situation, presented his valuation which was @$15k less. They accepted with no drama. Our real-estate taxes were lower this year. Our tax advisor couldn't believe it.

[jhynesrockmtn]

Originally Posted by devodave

Ours went from 97,500 (which it has been since 1997) to 244,500 this year!

The assessment for my apartment building jumped big time a year ago. I was gearing up for a fight, collecting data, etc. I emailed the assessors office to get the process down. A guy called me back and asked a few questions about the building. Oops, he said. We used the wrong bedroom/bath combos. It was listed in the system as 3 bed/1 bath units when our software changed. Nope, all 2 bed/1bath. Fixed, sorry.

[rockfan4]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

How does an assessor know what the inside of your house looks like? I've never heard of an indoor inspection.

We just bought this house in June of 2021. That was pretty close to peak market at the time, and we paid over the listing price. Having a new granddaughter, and not wanting her to grow up in a s-hole house will lead you to doing things like that.

The assessor's office saw the same photos I did on the realtor's website, they're still out there, and from the pictures it looks really nice inside. But if you see it in person, you can see it's just a coat of paint and some other cheap updates to make it look nice.

Someone from the assessor's office is stopping by around noon today to look at the house in person. Maybe the son-in-law's fits of rage or whatever will pay off, since there's broken siding now by the front door, and somebody kicked out the center of one of the cabinet doors under the sink.

Are the guys saying to not concern myself with a $14k assessment the same guys complaining about the price of haircuts? 14k on the assessment is a couple hundred in property taxes. That buys a few haircuts.

[Bill Verburg]

Each jurisdiction will have their own regs, but they don't always follow their own laws

After fruitlessly battling the local tax authorities on my own i hired a lawyer , we went to court where the judge told them to follow their own regulations, saves me thousands a year

[island911]

That's the way to do it. ^

Originally Posted by Superman

Assessed value always lags behind appraised values, often way behind. Why? Simple. Because if assessor offices assessed at appraised value, half of homeowners would lawyer-up and the assessor's office would need a legal staff of thousands.

This is right, for around here. But it does happen and is is sad when greedy counties decide to experiment with squeezing harder.

It's always bad enough getting mugged, but when they demand your shoes too...