Appealing Possibilities: If the Housing Slump Doesn't Lower Taxes, a Challenge Might
If you are like many people in Montgomery County, you have recently received a property tax assessment. Some homeowners were stunned by what they saw prompting them to adopt new strategies and question their assessments.
In Maryland, assessments are rotated among neighborhoods every three years, so those receiving notices this year have not been assessed since 2004. The lag time means some residents will see an increase in their assessments despite a recent drop in local home prices.
This year, the state issued assessments to 728,185 homeowners, who will see an average increase of about 33 percent. Meanwhile, in other parts of the Washington region, assessments may not be declining as quickly as some homeowners expect.
In Maryland, for the first time, homeowners have also received an application for their homestead exemption along with their property tax assessment. They must return the application to document that their home is their principal residence and not a vacation or rental property. The homestead-exemption qualifies homeowners for a cap on property tax increases.
Homeowners who want to appeal their assessments have limited time to act; the deadlines are set by law. There are a few things that you can do to get the ball rolling.
Begin by making sure the local assessor has the correct physical description of the home, including the proper square footage and the correct number of bathrooms and bedrooms. Mistakes can happen, and they can change the assessed value of a property significantly.
Homeowners should also compare assessments and sales records for nearby homes. It's all public information and is usually available online.
The trick, experts say, is to present the assessors with facts and not emotional complaints about the numbers. Sometimes the assessments may have been set before a recent spate of sales in the neighborhood that illustrate further declining prices.
This is just a small excerpt from Renae Merle's Washington Post Article that appeared in the Saturday, February 2, 2008 issue.
Click Here to read the entire article
"Appealing Possibilities: If the Housing Slump Doesn't Lower Taxes, a Challenge Might"
Angela Jones
www.AngelaJonesRealEstate.com
In Maryland, assessments are rotated among neighborhoods every three years, so those receiving notices this year have not been assessed since 2004. The lag time means some residents will see an increase in their assessments despite a recent drop in local home prices.
This year, the state issued assessments to 728,185 homeowners, who will see an average increase of about 33 percent. Meanwhile, in other parts of the Washington region, assessments may not be declining as quickly as some homeowners expect.
In Maryland, for the first time, homeowners have also received an application for their homestead exemption along with their property tax assessment. They must return the application to document that their home is their principal residence and not a vacation or rental property. The homestead-exemption qualifies homeowners for a cap on property tax increases.
Homeowners who want to appeal their assessments have limited time to act; the deadlines are set by law. There are a few things that you can do to get the ball rolling.
Begin by making sure the local assessor has the correct physical description of the home, including the proper square footage and the correct number of bathrooms and bedrooms. Mistakes can happen, and they can change the assessed value of a property significantly.
Homeowners should also compare assessments and sales records for nearby homes. It's all public information and is usually available online.
The trick, experts say, is to present the assessors with facts and not emotional complaints about the numbers. Sometimes the assessments may have been set before a recent spate of sales in the neighborhood that illustrate further declining prices.
This is just a small excerpt from Renae Merle's Washington Post Article that appeared in the Saturday, February 2, 2008 issue.
Click Here to read the entire article
"Appealing Possibilities: If the Housing Slump Doesn't Lower Taxes, a Challenge Might"
Angela Jones
www.AngelaJonesRealEstate.com
Labels: appealing propery tax assesments, DC area property tax assesment, homestead exemptions
posted by Real Estate Girl @ 3:54 PM
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