It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that assessor’s don’t like property assessment appeals. I mean, who likes being told they’re wrong? I don’t, not that I’m wrong all that often, according to me.
Many people who appeal their assessments end up meeting with someone from the assessor’s office one-on-one. The assessor likes to check the measurements of the home, which makes sense. They might even ask to enter your home for a walk-through inspection. All of that is normal and fine.
Unfortunately, some assessors do more than just inspect the home. Some go out of their way to discourage appeals. They do so with such authority and conviction that sometimes property owners simply believe everything they’re told, and that’s unfortunate.
That’s not to say that everything the assessor tells you is wrong. But we’ve seen enough instances when a homeowner is told wrong information that it’s always smart to be suspicious. I mean, by appealing you already believe the assessor is taxing you unfairly, so it shouldn’t be out of the question that they might not always be completely straight with you.
If you’ve been through the appeal process, this all may be familiar. While inspecting your home, or maybe through a letter, you’re told that your comparable sales aren’t useable. They’re foreclosures! They’re a different style than your home! Your kitchen is much nicer! The county simply has much better comparables, and you will never be successful.
Maybe. Maybe not.
One of the most important instructions we give to clients, and it’s sometimes one that is overlooked, is do not withdraw your appeal under any circumstances. Don’t’ sign any forms. Don’t call the assessor and wave the white flag. Simply smile, nod, and continue on. Simply by being a client of ValueAppeal, you know you have a strong case. We only help about 25 percent of property owners who visit our site, those who really, truly have a legitimate case for an appeal. We take that seriously. We aren’t interested in flooding an assessor with appeals, that doesn’t help anyone. So when you’re told that you are overassessed by ValueAppeal, you can be confident that you really are. Don’t give up.
If you are faced with a situation like this, give ValueAppeal a call. In many cases, we can take another look at your case, take a look at the assessor’s comparables (be sure to request them from the assessor) and determine if the assessor has a point, or is simply using tactics to get you to withdraw. Don’t be intimidated into dropping your appeal. Give us a call and we will be happy to let you know where you stand.
Now on to the customer story of the day.
Brian, a client in Middlesex, New Jersey, had a hearing scheduled and wasn’t sure he could make it. It’s always important to attend your hearing if at all possible, so Brian called the assessor to try to reschedule. We also talked him through some other paperwork issues along the way.
The hearing, as it turned out, wasn’t necessary. The assessor called Brian and made an offer that was accepted. The result? Brian saw his assessed value dropped from $81,300 to $69,400, a reduction of $11,900. He’ll save about $1,000 on his tax bill. How great is that?
“ValueAppeal’s service worked great and led me down the path step-by-step,” Brian said. “I have already referred them to multiple people and am extremely happy and am extremely happy with ValueAppeal’s product. They are awesome!”
This is what we love to hear. Brian followed through with his paperwork, kept at his appeal and in the end, he got a great result. If you think that ValueAppeal might be able to help you save hundreds or even thousands off your tax bill, please give us a call.
