I just formally protested my assessed value with the Equalization board and will have a hearing in May, can anyone tell me what I signed up for? [:)]
I didn't ask any questions, probably should have, but was sure someone could give me some guidence.
Thanks!
Based on what did you protest? If your house assessed way above your neighbors?
I know someone that won a couple of years ago. Make sure you take photos of any defects at the house -- bad roof, bad siding, cracks, etc. Hell, if you have trashy neighbors, take pics of that. Anything that would have a major impact on the value that isn't noticeable on a drive by inspection. (If they even drove by it at all, that is.)
Most assessment adjustments are done on a blanket basis. That is to say, all of Tulsa went up 3%, but this area is doing better so lets raise it 4.9%. 3 bedrooms are really popular now, add .5% to those.
It usually has nothing to do with your actual home. So this is probably a fresh start to argue for what your home is really worth. Though Im not sure the city is really interested in what its worth, its more a comparison to your neighbors.
I guess I am of no help. Sorry.
My friend won his case because of defective wood siding that was put on his house several years before. He was suing the siding company for the replacement value and could not change it until it was settled. The board found the house was appraised incorrectly due to the failure of the wood siding.
Thanks. It's a new construction house, and we bought the lot two years prior to building, so they pretty much were going blind. I didn't even think of arguing that the house was a mess, which it is, because our builder did a horrible job. Make sure if you choose a builder they are actually experienced in CUSTOM builds. Ours was not and we are paying a very high price for their poor work.
Based on Comps they are extremely high on their assesed value and based on the poor construction, that makes it even lower!
Do you still just meet with one person like the informal protest or is it a bigger deal?
Thanks again!
A buddy of mine won his case. Said it was very easy. He simply took the assessed rate and divided it by the square feet of his home. Came up with a number that was a little high. He went to the board, represented himself, showed what houses were selling for in the neighborhood based on price per square foot, and they knocked of $30K just for the asking.
You get taken to a little room and worked by two big guys. If you start whimpering they up the tax and cut you loose.
Not sure on the angle with new construction, but the same holds true. Take any photographs and structual report or whatever you have downloaded from www.bogushomereports.net and plead your case.
It'll be one Dude and Fridays are the best days to get lower rates.
I contested my joint twice. Came up roses both times - if I can you can, jdb
Just be careful not to piss off the County Assessor Ken Yazel.
He shot a man in the butt back in 2005.
quote:
Originally posted by recyclemichael
Just be careful not to piss off the County Assessor Ken Yazel.
He shot a man in the butt back in 2005.
of course, you could move to his neighborhood...I'm sure they dont assess very high :)
Despite Yazel's occasionally shootings (we let the VP do it) he has done a lot of cleaning up the GOB stuff his predecessors didn't. The old Mayor's house on riverside which is a large lot in an affluent neighborhood, was zoned "farm."
Well, it's over. It was NOT one person, it was a three person board, some computer guy, the assessor, Ken Y, some other assessor, and two other staff members, it was on a room like you see on the TV meetings. I was flipping out! I knew I had a good case, but still had no idea it was so formal (this was the second appeal, I was out of the country when they scheduled my informal appeal) the people that went in front of me all lost. One of them I thought had a fair case and they didn't lower it a dime. My heart was racing, I really thought about walking out (and I am no whimp!) Anyway, once I got up there and started talking it was no big deal. For whatever reason no one from the assessors office made a peep, I guess they couldn't really argue what I said. Plus the made a pretty big mistake. They listed the house at 2600 sq ft when its actually over 2900. The way they would check it is via walking the outside which should have put it higher, that seemed to bug the board more than anything, so I guess they couldn't argue anything when that was so wrong. Anyway, they gave me exactly what I asked. I was shocked! I expected a meet in the middle deal, so I asked for the lowest I thought I could somewhat defend, and GOT IT! :) Anyway, hopefully Ken won't come looking for me with a gun, it wasn't personal, they were way high on the appraisal, but I live in a hard neighborhood. There are no comps in the last two years, and most everything in here is custom build so there aren't many records.
Anyway, no reason to blab, just in case anyone was on the edge of their seat wondering what happened . . . . . [:D]