Challenge Your Property Tax Assessment

[Alex Sanfilippo]

I just finished reading this blog post here on BP:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/04/2...

Point number 3 really caught my eye:
Challenge Your Property Tax Assessment

Here is what it says:
"I do this on just about every property I purchase. I have found that the local property assessor’s values are often tilted towards the high end. After all, their unstated goal is revenue. If you buy properties at a discount like I do, you can use your purchase prices to significantly reduce those assessed values, thus reducing your property tax bill and increasing cashflow. Be forewarned, this is a time consuming, bureaucratic process, but it can be very rewarding, as the new value will likely be in place for several years."

This is an interesting concept. I have not heard this one before. The blog post was great, I am not trying to take that away from it. But I am wondering HOW to even begin this process...

Does anyone have any links to other blog posts about this or feedback?

[Carrianne Mucho]

Originally posted by @Alex Sanfilippo:

I just finished reading this blog post here on BP:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/04/2...

Point number 3 really caught my eye:
Challenge Your Property Tax Assessment

Here is what it says:
"I do this on just about every property I purchase. I have found that the local property assessor’s values are often tilted towards the high end. After all, their unstated goal is revenue. If you buy properties at a discount like I do, you can use your purchase prices to significantly reduce those assessed values, thus reducing your property tax bill and increasing cashflow. Be forewarned, this is a time consuming, bureaucratic process, but it can be very rewarding, as the new value will likely be in place for several years."

This is an interesting concept. I have not heard this one before. The blog post was great, I am not trying to take that away from it. But I am wondering HOW to even begin this process...

Does anyone have any links to other blog posts about this or feedback?

 It is easy to get started.  Contact your local County Assessor's office and tell them you think your value is too high and you would like to challenge it.  Here in California, most counties will offer an informal property tax assessment review but if they do not, or if you disagree with their findings, you have the right to appeal your value.  You may even find information by searching the word "appeal" on the county website.  Be prepared for a property inspection to verify things like condition and to provide supporting documents to show any deficiencies or obsolescence which would contribute to a lower value.  Generally, when assessments are too high, it is because the county appraiser has not visited the property since they have too much volume for that.