Tax officials are supposed to assess the value of a property by comparing it to other properties in the same location. To reduce your property tax, it’s a good idea to first learn why tax officials make incorrect assessments of property value. Unfortunately, property tax assessment is a difficult task, because tax officials often have a heavy workload and inadequate resources. These challenges are behind many of the inaccurate assessments of property values.
You may think that only a small number of properties require a reassessment, but unfortunately that is not the case. According to research published in the WSJ in August 2011, roughly half of Americans may be paying more taxes than are applied to their property. This means that there is a 50% chance that you are overpaying.
With these factors in mind, it’s important to think about how much you’re paying in taxes on your home. If you can determine that you are being overcharged, you can apply for a lower property tax and reassessment. So how can you find out what the property’s current market value is?
Well, there are different ways to do this. You can check the prices of similar properties in your area and try to determine whether or not you need to file an appeal with the tax office. Another option you have is to use a value appraisal service. These are the benefits of using an evaluation service.
Opting for a DIY approach has the obvious benefit of saving money, but hiring a service to do the job has more than one benefit. First, it will assess your property by reviewing housing data from multiple databases and comparing the values of recently sold properties.
This will mean that you will have well researched information on whether or not you need to request a reevaluation. When you are making your case, you first need to make sure that you really have one. A thorough investigation of recently sold properties in your area will allow you to determine this.
Second, you’ll get a report on comparable properties that you can then provide to the authorities when you file your appeal to reduce the property tax on your home. Therefore, using a value appraisal service can actually help you save money, as you will have the knowledge and written evidence to make a strong claim.