Real Estate-Education Center

California Homeowners are Being Over-taxed

Due to recent decline in real estate value, California homeowners are paying hundreds or thousands of dollars extra in property taxes. Homes bought between 2004-2007 are most likely to be effected by this problem. If you purchased your home within the last four years, you are probably paying more property taxes than you should, based on your original purchase price. Now’s the time to file an appeal to the Clerk of the Board to reduce your yearly property taxes.

Your Taxes Do Not Automatically Decrease

As property taxes decline, your taxes do not automatically decrease. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to file an assessment appeal to the Clerk of the Board to readjust your yearly taxes accordingly. The deadline to file appeals is usually 30-60 days after you receive your property tax notice from the assessor’s office. Appealing early, ensures that your application is received on time and increases your chances of getting approved for a tax reduction. Although the County Assessor’s Office is promising tax reductions to 128,000 homeowners, greater tax reductions can be granted to homeowners who individually file their own re-assessment appeals to the Clerk of the Board. Here’s why? The County Assessor’s Office only gives a limited tax reduction ranging from $200-$600 becauuse it assesses your property, rather than appraise it. This assessment is based on a national average, but the value of homes in some neighborhoods have declined by more than 50%; homeowners in these neighborhoods should recieve more in tax reductions. If you hire an expert to file the appeals application for you for a reasonable amount of money, this is the best way to go. These experts are real estate appraisers who know how to evaluate and compare the final sales in the immediate neighborhood with an unbiased opinion. I recommend Pacific Coast Securities, an Orange County- based tax reduction company to file the application for you. I’ve searched around and this company is the cheapest, charging only $79 for their services. Visit their website at pcsappeals.com.

The Appeals Process Can Be Difficult

When filing an appeal, the homeowner needs to know a great deal about the current market conditions, the value of his or her property and extensive knowledge of comparable properties. This information serves as evidence that you are being over-taxed. Filing the appeals application on your own can cause your application to be denied and force you to pay higher property taxes than you should. The No.1 reason County Assessors deny appeals applications for re-assessment and summon homeowners to court hearings is because applications not completed by professional real estate appraisers often contain mistakes and inaccurate market information.

You’re Not Alone

Real estate appraisers and attorney can help you file your appeal application to make sure you are approved. However, there are companies that are charging up to 50% of your savings to file the application which can average to as little as $1000. A company that I used this year to reduce my property taxes is Pacific Coast Securities, The Tax Reduction Specialists. They were very affordable and efficient. They only asked for a one time fee of $79 to file the application. I saved about $1300 in property taxes with their company.
 Their website address is http://www.pcsappeals.com

Harris County Appraisal District – Tips for a Successful Property Tax Protest

Harris County Appraisal District assesses property and that value sets your property tax amount. Reducing your property taxes is relatively simple but requires a modest commitment of time. Your other option is to hire a property tax consultant. Basic steps to reducing the property tax assessment set by Harris County Appraisal District include appealing both market value and unequal appraisal annually, obtaining the Harris County Appraisal District evidence, preparing for the hearing(s) and attending the informal and/or appraisal review board hearing. Few property owners are aware of the option to obtain the HCAD evidence. Sometimes referred to as the House Bill 201 package or 41.461 package, this information in invaluable in preparing for your property tax hearing. This article focuses on the hearing process.

There are two options for the “administrative” hearing process at Harris County Appraisal District: 1) the informal hearing and 2) the appraisal review board (ARB) hearing. Neither the property owner nor Harris County Appraisal District is required to attend the informal hearing. About 80% of property tax protests are resolved by agreement between the property owner/property tax consultant and the Harris County Appraisal District appraiser. The second option, which typically occurs if you are not able to reach agreement with the Harris County Appraisal District appraiser, is the ARB hearing. The property owners often receive some property tax relief at the ARB hearing.

Harris County Appraisal District appraisers seldom reduce the assessed value for a home by $100,000 or more. If you are seeking a reduction of more than $100,000 for a home, you should probably skip the informal hearing with the Harris County Appraisal District appraiser. There are several reasons for skipping the informal hearing at HCAD if you are seeking an increase of $100,000 or more. It will likely be a waste of your time. Further, you spend your time helping the HCAD appraiser to prepare their file for the ARB hearing.

Make sure you arrive early for the hearing and try to project a cheerful, cordial and relaxed attitude, even if you are nervous. After you check in with the Harris County Appraisal District clerk, you will likely wait for 30 – 60 minutes. Bring a book, newspaper or work to pass the time. Greet the Harris County Appraisal District appraiser cheerfully and enthusiastically. His goal is similar to yours; reach a compromise quickly. At Harris County Appraisal District, the appraisers are encouraged to make changes if there is evidence to support the change. The exception is unequal appraisal. Most Harris County Appraisal District appraisers are reluctant to make changes on unequal appraisal evidence. HCAD’s approach on unequal appraisal is in flux. However, if your appeal is on unequal appraisal, you will likely need to attend the ARB hearing.

After you exchange and discuss evidence with the Harris County Appraisal District appraiser, he will likely make you an offer to settle the property tax protest. You can accept the offer or continue the appeal with the ARB hearing. In most cases the value offered informally will also be suggested by the Harris County Appraisal District appraiser at the ARB hearing.

Property owners are often reluctant to attend the appraisal review board (ARB) hearing because they think they are wasting their time with such a small property. This is not the case. Harris County ARB members are courteous, respectful and want the property owner to feel good about the ARB hearing.

Players at the ARB hearings include the 3 ARB members, property owner (or property tax consultant) and the Harris County Appraisal District appraiser. After introductions and a brief explanation of the process:

Property owner presents evidence

Questions from ARB members

Harris County Appraisal District appraiser presents their evidence

Questions from the ARB

Property owner rebuttal

Questions from the ARB

ARB panel deliberates and announces a decision

In most cases, property owners believe the decision was reasonable. The decision is not subject to negotiation. Thank the ARB members for their time and service. If you are not satisfied with the decision, you can pursue binding arbitration or a judicial appeal.
The appraisal division of O’Connor & Associates is a national provider of investment real estate appraisal services including. Business valuation ,market studies , feasibility studies, real estate consulting, income tax, HCAD, Property tax, Cost segregation, Commercial real estate appraisal, Due diligence

Patrick O’Connor

Depending on the property you own, you will be need to pay the Minnesota property taxes. These taxes are basically determined based on three little things:

1. how much the local government spends to provide your community with services
2. market value of the property that is estimated
3. how your property is classified

The way your property is made use of and also the market value of the property you own will be assessed by the local tax assessor. This will be used with the mileage rate of the current year. This is determined by the budget of the local government who decide how much your tax bills amounts to.

Funding local areas are done by the property taxes of Minnesota. They also fund local government budgets, schools, police, fire support, roads and other issues at the local level. Very little of this property tax is used by the state. The property tax of Minnesota falls in between the rest of the country. This is from 7.08 percent every $1000 till 9.38 percent every $1000.

You will be receiving a notification once your tax has been determined. You can also appeal if you feel you are being wrongly judged. Appealing will reduce the tax you will need to pay many a times.

There are also exemptions on certain property taxes. A regular exemption called the homestead exemption is available for all owners of primary residences. You can however have only a single homestead. This lowers the tax. If you meet certain property tax conditions, you may also be able to qualify for certain redemptions.

1. limit of $91120 for houses with no dependants
2. Increase in limit increases with size of family. For houses with more than five dependants $110920.
3. Disabled or senior home owners are eligible up to $114220 with about five dependants or more.

There are also special tax exemptions for Minnesota. If you are a home owner with more than a 12% increase in taxes regarding Minnesota property, you will have certain reductions. There is however no limit. You will need to have stayed in your house since the first of January, 2006 till date to qualify for this. Check your tax office at the local level for this tax exemption.

Most of the property taxes in Minnesota are like other countries. However, a few tax redemptions are available here. It is better you consult some one to find out if you are receiving all these in the right manner.

Tennessee property taxes which are collected at a local level are primarily the sources of funds for the local government of Tennessee. The counties and cities within the bounds of Tennessee rely basically on the property taxes collected in the locale. Social services like public libraries, public schools, and fire and police support are primarily funded by the collected Tennessee property taxes. The biggest bulk of these funds is channeled to the education sectors or the public schools.

The tax rates collected from residents of Tennessee are determined at the local level; of course, vary according to factors needed to be considered. However, the general tax rate in the place is not high. The rate or amount of Tennessee property taxes that you’ll have to pay, like in the usual cases in most sates, is primarily dependent on two major factors: millage rate and the market value of you home. A tax assessor assigned by the local government will estimate the market value of your home and will also tell you its computed value. After that, the property will be subjected to a reassessment mainly due to tax purposes once in every six years. A much higher value of the Tennessee property taxes at the time of the valuation, however, does not entail an increase in your tax.

At the time the local budget is already created, the tax department will then use the combined property values together with some revenue requirements to determine the accurate millage rate. Frequently, the computed millage rate will be based on 25 percent of the market value computed instead of computing the full market value of the subjected residential property. Meanwhile, commercial properties have 40 percent of the computed market value as the tax rate. When the local government is planning to increase the rates, a public hearing is required before approving the increase; meanwhile, they can opt to lower the rate any time.

Tennessee has the 40th spot on the property taxes paid by the residents, among the different states of the United States. In Tennessee, an average homeowner pays around $794 annually as Tennessee property taxes for having a home worth $114,000.

If you think that the local tax assessor estimated a very high market value of your home, you have the right to question his valuation. The appeals with tax assessors are usually discussed during the motnhs of May and June every year. If you are still resolved with the value presented by the tax assessor, you can bring your appeal to the county commissioners and even to the councilmen of your city in July. If it was proven that the market value estimate was too high, the Tennessee property taxes will be deducted.

Contrary to the ways of the other states, Tennessee does not have the homestead exemption offer for the homeowners. Perhaps, it is because the state does not impose taxes on wages and salaries; although there is a fixed 6 percent rate for bonds and stocks.

There are exemptions in Tennessee property taxes, but are only for the disabled, elderly, and veterans.

Purchasing a home is one of the biggest investments in time as well as money a person has to make during his life. One of the many annual costs a home owner has to pay is the property tax. These collected taxes go to schools, to the government as well as other local and federal programs but this doesn’t have to mean that you should pay or better said, overpay in order to be a good citizen.

The Broward Country property taxes can be reduced in a few ways. One of them is by getting an accurate assessment of the home’s value. Every year a tax assessor will come to your home and evaluate it with the single purpose of noticing the changes that might have occurred on the property ( home improvements, new constructions, restoration/deterioration ) as well as the surrounding properties. This tax assessor will also take into consideration the so-called “fair market value” of the homes that were recently sold in the new vicinity of your home, the estimated cost needed to replace your property and how much money would you get for selling/renting the house.

Don’t be confused as the Broward County property taxes are similar to other local taxes; take for example the Dade County property taxes or any other local governments from all over the country. With this article we just took a concrete example that can be generalized. Getting back to the purpose of the assessment, it isn’t all about raising your taxes but to get the true value of your home in comparison with the other homes in the area. After the value is determined, the annual property taxes will be a percentage of that established value.

If you want to get the most accurate assessment of your home you will need to be up to date with the market value of the homes in the area. To do so you should talk with your neighbors and find out what are their homes valued at and also, how much taxes do they pay every year. You should also have a word with the local realtors to find out at what prices homes are sold in your areas.

You also have the option to use the services of a company that will help you lower your property taxes regardless you pay Dade County property taxes or you live in a different place. If you feel that you are being “robbed” by your local authorities, these companies will prepare all the necessary paperwork to file an appeal and help you save some money that in a normal situation you wouldn’t have to pay. As a plus, if you have the time, you can protest these tax rates at their source: the organizations that create these taxes. You could go to county meetings, school board meetings or other committee meetings that establish the tax rate in your county.

To sum it all up, there are a couple of things you could do in order to reduce your property taxes. We recommend a solid file if you want to make an appeal that is why we recommend using the services of professional that deal with these kinds of problems.