Chicago Taxes ?

[Mitul Gandhi]

I am looking at some multifamily properties in Chicago and I am so confused when it comes to taxes here. I am looking at 2 properties in particular. 1 has taxes of $28K and 1 is $13K and both are in the same zip code both 4 units. Is there an efficient way to find the neighborhoods that have the least taxes?

[John Warren]

@Mitul Gandhi I always tell my clients to check cookcountypropertyinfo.com. That is where you can see the assessed value. The assessed value is something that you try to keep down as an owner, and the market value is not really correlated strongly in a lot of cases with assessed value. This is why you can have two similar buildings with different tax bills. 

A lot of times, you can see that the one with the higher bill has not been contesting taxes for years. This is a huge mistake, and something we can all learn from. It pays to contest your taxes (literally).