Tips and Tricks for a Successful Appeal

Appealing your property tax assessment can be complicated.  Here are a few tips that may save you time and help you succeed where others have failed.

Assessment Uniformity is another basis for appeal
A home may be valued correctly, but others around it might be valued much lower. Assessment Uniformity, also called Asessment Equity, issues crop up most often in subdivisions or dense urban areas where there are a lot of similiar homes of the same size and condition.

Don’t only search for the lowest priced comps
To win your appeal you must submit three to five comparable properties, "comps" that sold for less than your home is assessed for PRIOR to the assessment date. (Some counties allow comps that sold up to 90 days past the assessment date, but not more) A home that is much nicer than yours that has a similar property tax valuation could be as strong a comp as a home that is not as nice as yours and has a lower valuation. 

Read our full blog post on this topic: Lowest Price Comps Aren't Always Best

Don’t get emotional in front of the Appeal Board members
Your presentation should be clear and concise and not rely on anyone’s opinion. Don’t present trivial or nonessential material just because you have it. Stick to the script you received from ValueAppeal, we've given you very strong evidence.

The Appeal Board members didn’t create the system and can’t change it.
Don’t attack the tax assessors or the tax system. The appeal hearing is not the time for a discussion of tax philosophy or politics. Stick to the key facts that show your home’s valuation is too high compared to other similar homes.

A property’s need for routine maintenance isn’t enough to win your appeal.
All property suffers from normal wear and tear; thats not enough to warrant a reduced assessment. However, you should certainly provide picture of out of the ordinary damage to your property that reduces its value. If you have cracked foundation, fire damage, oddly shaped lot, etc you should certainly speak up. ValueAppeal will prompt you with these types of questions with our report creation tool and include your custom answers in the ValueAppeal Report.

Only rely on the facts
Don’t base your appeal on personal judgments of your friend in the real estate business. Refrain from starting any sentence with “My friend the real estate agent thinks that…” You must rely on facts only; thats why you're buying a custom comp report from ValueAppeal!

Problems in the national economy are not relevant to your appeal.
You may include a statement in your appeal on how recent changes in your immediate neighborhood may have affected your assessment. (A school closure, loss of a major local employer, etc.) However, don’t base your appeal on national or even regional economic conditions you hear about on the news at night. General statements such as "property values have fallen everywhere!" will not get you anywhere in your appeal.

Construction costs don’t count for much in an appeal hearing.
Don’t base your appeal only on how much your house cost to build. Properties are rarely assessed at what they cost to build. The assessor will assume you may have paid too much and construction costs vary widely over time. Finding the right comps will always be a better argument.

Read our full blog post on this topic: Construction Costs And Property Tax Assessments Don't Mix

Construction permits will often trigger a reassessment of your home
Painting your home or weeding your garden probably won’t affect your assessment. Obtaining a construction permit to remodel your home, add a new room, or build a new garage will usually trigger an increased assessment during the next assessment cycle.

Always appeal on both Market Value and Unequal Assessment

Even if your property is assessed for less than market value you can probably reduce your property taxes. The Unequal Appraisal method compares the assessed value of your property to the assessed value of similar properties. Many, if not most, property tax appeals focus on Unequal Appraisal in addition to or instead of Market Value.

Assessment Ratios are evil an used to confuse you. Don’t be fooled
Many counties assess properties at an amount less than 100% of market value. For example, your county may assess properties at 75% of market value, so a $300,000 home may be assessed at only $225,000. When the unsuspecting homeowner receives their notice of a new assessment of $225,000 in the mail they mistakenly assume that means the county thinks the market value of their home is $225,000. If the true market value of the home is actually only $225,000, then the assessed value should actually be $168,750. Using unequal appraisal, the county tricks homeowners into accepting a higher valuation without challenging their property tax bill.