Now is the time for homeowners to appeal their property tax assessment! We all know that the real estate market has gone down in most every part of the country. It’s not the fault of the homeowner, nor is it the fault of the agent who sold them the property. It’s just a fact of life today. At the same time, property assessment values continue to go up…unless the homeowner appeals the current assessed value of the property they own. The homeowner must initiate this action and the agent should let them know this option is available as it will help nurture a long-term professional relationship!

The general process involves filling out necessary paperwork required by the county to hear your appeal. It may take a little research but you can usually get information on the Internet using the following keyword phrase “(Insert county name) County Tax Assessment Appeals (Board)”.  For example, the county might be Fulton, so your keyword phrase would be “Fulton County Tax Assessment Appeals”. In that appeal, you must state the reasons your taxes should be lowered. Right now, the general reason is that market values have gone down and here is the supporting evidence to prove it. That evidence is current sales information or perhaps an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) estimate. These are available from www.homesmartreports.com and you can pick through the information to use the data that helps you make your best case.

For example, my property taxes are around $5,000 per year and if I can obtain a 10% reduction because I do some homework and make a solid case, that’s a $500 savings per year! If I’m in the home for 10 years, you get the idea; it can save me a great deal of money. That’s money worth saving but you have to take the initiative.

I actually haven’t gone through this exercise since the real estate down turn in the early 1990’s, but I’m going to do it again and I’ll make a later post on this blog to let you know the outcome.  The government gets all the upside of run-ups in real estate value and it seems fitting they should share some of the pain of the downside.