FACT: Appealing your property tax assessment can save you hundreds of dollars on your residential property tax bill.
This new, informative book provides clear step-by-step instructions about:
- The property assessment process
- Why it is important to investigate your property assessment
- How to gather the freely available information you will need
- How to organize that information and
- the authors show you how to prepare a compelling case for the Review Panel, complete with a presentation format and suggested wording.
Attainment Press is releasing this up-to-date 65 page ebook written by Peter Morris and Tim Down.
Mssrs. Morris and Down both have impressive real estate credentials to undertake this project. Mr. Morris has more than 30 years of real estate experience and has successfully appealed his own assessment on a number of different properties; while Tim Down, AACI, P. App, CAE, RI is a professional appraiser and licensed real estate agent with over 26 years of experience as an appraiser, assessor, property tax agent, consultant and realtor. He worked as a senior assessment supervisor at the BC Assessment Authority for 11 years.
“Less than 2% of all assessment notices are appealed each year, and most of those are related to commercial property,” said Morris, “our book only deals with residential property and is a step by step guide in seven short chapters.” Down explained that commercial property assessment appeals are far more complicated and technical so it is best to engage a professional for all commercial appeals; whereas most homeowners can conduct their own appeal if they understand the process and what is needed for a successful appeal and how to craft a compelling case.
What is Holding You Back?
You may wonder why someone wouldn’t appeal their assessment if it could reduce their property tax bill each year.
According to both Down and Morris, there are several unfounded reasons so few homeowners attempt to appeal their assessments.
One of the biggest misconceptions is that the process is difficult,” Morris stated. Both authors believe that the process is relatively simple if the homeowner knows the principles and structure of the annual property assessment valuation process. They have dedicated almost half their book to explaining this assessment process in BC. Morris claims the biggest fear is not knowing how to appeal an assessment notice, which is why their book was written.
Another common misconception is an increasing assessed value is a good thing for their house value on resale and that appealing the assessment actually hurts the homeowners net worth. There are three reasons why this shouldn’t be a concern for over 95% of homeowners. The first is that the value of the property is set as of July 1 (October 31 in the case of newly built and substantially remodeled properties) whereas the notice is provided 6 months later. That time lag means the value of the property at sale wouldn’t be same as the assessed value set six months or more previously.
The second is if the homeowner is looking to refinance their house. The lender will obtain a current appraisal and will not rely on the assessed value alone because of the time lag.
The third reason why homeowners shouldn’t be concerned that appealing their assessment is because most people live in their homes for many years and are not actually anticipating selling their property.
The Benefits Potentially Outweigh Not Appealing
The authors both see long term benefits of successfully appealing your residential assessment, such as the potential property tax savings that may amount to hundreds of dollars annually.
As a bonus for buying this e-book today you will receive a FREE detailed spreadsheet you can use to record and organize the information you need.
BUY NOW