Lower values for single-family homes come as no surprise to Assessor-Appraiser Barbara Erickson, but homeowners should not expect lower tax bills. Erickson said the average value of a single-family home dropped by 5 percent this year from last year, condominiums dropped 8 percent, and multi-family homes dropped 1 percent. Commercial properties not only retained their values but rose by 7 percent, Erickson said. Erickson said despite lower values, most homeowners will see an increase in their tax bills.

Read the rest of the story on EnterpriseNews.com.

According to Ken Burke, Clerk of the Circuit Court for Pinellas County, as of Monday, August 31, 2009 property owners who disagree with their property value assessments can file petitions to go before the Value Adjustment Board (VAB) online via the Clerk’s website www.mypinellasclerk.org. Along with the online petitioning feature, the Clerk’s website will now offer petitioners the ability to submit any supporting documents online.

Property owners who disagree with their assessments are given the opportunity to meet with the property appraiser’s office to further discuss their notices. If the outcome of this meeting is still to the dissatisfaction of the owners then they may file a formal challenge with the VAB.

The Value Adjustment Board acts as the decision-making authority between the property owners and the property appraiser when a disagreement arises over exemptions, valuations and classifications. Once this petition has been filed, a quasi-judicial hearing is scheduled with a special magistrate.

Previous methods of petitioning to go before the VAB are still available however the forms can now be easily accessed online and then mailed or filed in person at the Clerk’s Board of Records department. The forms can also be dropped off at any one of the following three Clerk branch offices: the St. Petersburg Branch at 545 First Ave. N., St. Petersburg; the Tyrone Branch at 1800 66th St. N., St. Petersburg or the North County Branch at 29582 U.S. 19, Clearwater.

On Monday, August 24, 2009 the property Appraiser’s office mailed the Truth In Millage (TRIM) notices, giving property owners until Friday, September 18, 2009 to file a petition challenging their property tax notice.

The TRIM notice will include the homeowner’s property taxes, property assessments and proposed millage rates set by the various taxing entities. According to Pam Dubov, Property Appraiser the market values shown on the 2009 TRIM Notices are based on the current market conditions and ownership status of the property as of January 1, 2009 which is determined by analyzing sales that took place in 2008.

The st. petersburg foreclosure and bankruptcy attorneys at Yesner & Boss, P.L. can answer any further questions you may have before or after after you file a petition for the VAB. Contact us today for a free consultation.

As more and more Americans start to struggle through this tough economic time we all are looking at ways to save money. Your house taxes may be one way to pinch a penny. Property values over the years have sky rocketed and your home may not be worth what it was just a few years ago. This can be good if you don’t plan to sell and in the mean time need to save a little on your property taxes. So what can you do about it?

1. Start at the county assessor’s office. You want to look at appealing your property tax assessment, which is usually done by the county tax assessor office. In some areas, you may be able to appeal online; others might require you to go down to the assessor’s office. Some areas might require an inspection of the property; others might rely on computer programs that they have locally.

2. Know what homes in the neighborhood have sold for. Prices of comparable homes that have sold in the past six months to a year in your direct area (within a mile or two) will be most helpful to build a case. You can usually find this available online, or you can call a local real-estate agent to do a quick search for you. Remember, the assessed value of your home is often not equal to market value.

Winnipeg area cottagers shocked over property assessments.  It is possibly the biggest assessment increase ever for these cottagers and one that will likely have a big impact on their 2010 tax bills.  Click here for the full story.

www.propertyassessmentdirectory.com

It’s not the prettiest site, but it has the goods.  This site is a large link directory to property assessment sites around the country.  Most are county sites, but there are a few aggregate sites as well.

If you are a homeowner, you must complete the Homestead Tax Credit application in order to be eligible for the Homestead Tax Credit.  If you have filed previously, then you are still eligible for the tax credit and do not need to file again.  However, if your primary residence has changed, you are a new property owner or have never filed for the tax credit, then you need to do so.

Completing the application may save you money on your property assessment tax bill.  In 2007, the State of Maryland passed the Homestead Tax Credit law.  The law places a limit on the amount property taxes may increase each year.  The law was designed to help homeowners, so the property must be your principle residence.

If you have not received or filed an application, you can download the form at the Homestead Tax Credit Division webpage.  You may also complete the application online.  You just need your real property account number and the access number assigned by the Maryland’s Department of Assessments and Taxation

If you have questions regarding your tax assessment or feel that it is incorrect, you can appeal the assessment by contacting your local assessor’s office.  You can also file an appeal online at the Online Real Property Assessment Appeal Form webpage.   Appeals must be made no later than February 13, 2009.

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY
Tax Bills: (410) 222-1144
Anne Arundel County Citizens Information Center
 
CALVERT COUNTY
Phone: (410) 535-1600 x 2272
Calvert County Home Page

CHARLES COUNTY
Tax Information: (301) 645-0686
Charles County Home Page

ST. MARY’S COUNTY
Phone: (301) 475-4472
St. Mary’s County Home Page

Southern Maryland real estate
Homes for sale in Southern Maryland
Southern Maryland Realtor® Bonnie Augostino

Oh, there’s plenty of things to watch out for in 2009.  As Will Rogers said, “This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer”.

But that’s not exactly what I wanted to talk about (though I could).  This is a warning to “watch out” when you begin to see all the distressed real estate begin to sell at steep discounts.

Watch out for what?  I’m not a finance guy, so I can’t speak to that end of the deal.  I’m in the environmental and property condition due diligence business and I can speak to that end.

A couple of days ago a banker friend and client called me regarding a building – a 10 story office building – that one of his customers was considering buying.  The customer had been given reports from 2007 about the environmental and physical condition of the property.  He e-mailed them to me and had me look them over in preparation for a meeting on-site with his borrower.

The reports were OK taken at face value.  However, there were some conflicts about the property descriptions in the separate reports.  They came from the same office of the same company on the same date, but they did have different authors.  Not good, but unfortunately not uncommon.

Then we go to the building.  Yes, it’s 10 stories, but it has a basement that wasn’t mentioned in either report.  The property condition assessment had N/A for vertical conveyance (you call them elevators), that is, there weren’t any elevators according to the report.  There were four.  There was no natural gas service to the building reported in the PCA.  The environmental site assessment (ESA) said the emergency generator was serviced by natural gas.  It wasn’t, it had a diesel fuel tank .  The PCA said it had a built up roof that was in good condition; neither was true.

And those reportedly non-existent elevators needed over $100,000 apiece in upgrades and maintenance to be put back in service.

And on and on.  So, Watch Out.  Information generated at the height of the construction and lending boom may be VERY suspect.  Don’t trust it.  Get your own information from consultants you know and trust.

Many of you may be in the same shoes as I and many of my clients. We have received the tax assessment for the year 2009. According to the Municipal  Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) my house went up $70,000.  In reality my house went down approximately 5% from last year. A lot of my clients have been calling me to verify whether their assessments are inline with actual market values. The most extreme case that I have seen was MPAC assessing a home at $2 Million when comparable homes in the area were nowhere near that value.  So I enlisted the help of a real estate appraiser and his appraisal value came out to $1.5 Million. We are now taking this report to challenge MPAC’s value and reducing my client’s property tax. In the end he will be paid for his troubles, saving approximately $4,000.

If you would like to challenge your MPAC value, you are not alone because I am here to help you. I can analyse your home with you on the phone or by email and we can establish whether or not your assessment is over assessed. There are no costs for this initial service. Areas that I service are: Toronto Real Estate, Mississauga Real Estate, Brampton Real Estate, Oakville Real Estate, Richmond Hill Real Estate, Markham Real Estate, Aurora Real Estate, Newmarket Real Estate and Vaughan Real Estate.

Please call or email me to discuss.

Kirby Chan
Real Estate Sales Representative @ Re/Max
info@kirbychan.com
www.KirbyChan.com
416.305.8008

Ever wonder how much your home is really worth?  Well you might be finding out soon as new values — updated from Jan. 1, 2005 to Jan. 1, 2008 — are being applied to all Ontario real estate from small, single family homes and condos to apartment blocks and mansions, from small shops to massive industrial complexes, and property tax bills from municipalities and the province in 2009 will reflect the new values. A high-valued home is great if you’re selling, not so great if you’re the buyer, and certainly not so great when the tax bill arrives as a higher value means a higher bill.

Alarm bells are already being sounded. In cottage country there’s talk of 50 per cent, even a doubling in assessment values and fear that will translate into similar increases in tax bills. Similarly in the hot real estate markets of urban southern Ontario like Toronto, property values have been rising by 10, 20, even 30 per cent a year making for a 50 per cent or more increase over the three years since the last re-assessment quite likely. And this spring and summer’s cooling of the market won’t be reflected in the new values since they’re based on last winter’s selling prices.

Ontario’s Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, the agency responsible for determining property assessment, is bracing for an increase in public inquiries about the new values and how they were arrived at. Actual assessment dollar values, as they have for some time, are based on current market value. And that’s often the bone of contention when people aren’t happy with their assessment. Answering honestly the question of what your property would sell for in today’s market is at times difficult for people to reconcile themselves with. You may have only paid $100,000 for your home, but if the neighbours are selling theirs for $300,000 this year, and the two properties are similar, yours is likely worth $300,000 too and will be assessed, and ultimately taxed, accordingly. There are over 200 factors assessors take into account when setting a residential property value, which is then linked to averages of actual selling prices in the area the property is located in. Five are key and determine 85 per cent of the value — location, lot dimension (in the case of waterfront property, shoreline footage and its nature), building size, age of the building and quality of construction.

The assessment corporation only determines a property’s market value, the tax rate is set by the taxing body — either a municipality or the province, and in some rural areas by roads boards and service boards, and by the province for education taxes. Neither has any control or influence over the other and that is something people need to keep in mind. When property assessment notices arrive in the mail this fall, concerns and questions need to be directed to the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, not your local municipality. When talk turns to budget setting and tax rates, that’s the time to call your municipal councillor.

Visit: KeyCanada.ca
Real Estate Canada Homes for Sale

Did you know that as of April 1st we now have a new property assessment regime OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE MUNICIPALITIES?

We knew in 2006 that the province was planning this change and warned about it in this post. We weren’t too happy about it given the problems experienced in other jurisdictions and the opportunities it offered for more tax siphoning by municipalities. What it does is put the fox in charge of the hen house.

Assessments should be at arms length from the municipalities because the municipalities, wrongly and dishonestly, have hidden behind rising assessments and reaped tax windfalls by “maintaining the tax rate” and fooling ratepayers by blaming higher taxes on assessment increases -while in fact there should be no connection between increased assessments and increase in taxes. At the same time some towns pressed the assessment office to encourage higher assessments for some properties- certain properties hand picked by town staffers. This improper collusion has now been completely “legitimised” with the new assessment regime, it seems to us. The assessment function has been taken out of the supposedly independent hands of the province and given to the municipalities. We think this a conflict of interest.

If you go to the Service Nova Scotia website you see this message:

As of April 1, 2008, responsibility for property assessments has been transferred to the Property Valuation Services Corporation, a not for profit organization owned and managed by Nova Scotia’s municipalities.

We were told with much fanfare about the new clear bag waste management regime well ahead of April 1st. Big ads in the paper, articles and press reports … but has there been anything in the press about this radical change? No, not a word and yet it is great importance to every property owner and taxpayer. They don’t want us to know, it appears.

The Property Valuation Services Corporation will be “municipally controlled”

Board members are appointed by the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities (UNSM)

Guess who from Wolfville had a big hand in this?

We will be writing more about this as we investigate the implications further.

In the meantime you can read this recent article on the Ontario Assessment Corporation. It is still absolutely mindboggling to us that everyone misses the point that municipalities are still in charge of the tax rate and the lavishness of their budgets. Assessment fairness and unreasonable tax increases should be two separate issues.