Do you think you are paying too much in real estate taxes? If you have purchased a house recently this most likely is the case. I have many clients who purchase foreclosure type property and when they close the house is valued at a much higher price than they pay.
For example: I had a client who purchased a house for $22,000 that was taxed at $175,000 by Franklin County. The taxes he was paying on the $175,000 value totaled $2700. After dividing the new price into the old price he was overpaying by $2350!!!! I am in the process of helping him file with the Columbus Board of Revision to lower his tax assessment. I have helped 5 clients lower their tax assessment in the past year. It isn’t that hard of a process, but you need to have some important documents.
The first thing that the Board of Revision will try to establish is an arms length transaction. Did you purchase the property on the open market. Did it have time for the market to bear a price? You will need the MLS printout showing how many days it was on the market and you weren’t related to the seller. You will also need the HUD-1 closing statement for that property. You must file your forms before March 31st for 2008 taxes. One bonus is that if you have been escrowing your your monthly taxes you will receive a refund from your escrow account for the amounts of overpayment for 2008. Your current escrow payment will go down as well.
Make sure you don’t advertise to the Board of Revision that you have done any major work to fix the property up. They will try to prove you have put a bunch of money into the house after you bought it for a depressed price. You might have to show inside pictures when you bought the house to show it wasn’t totally trashed.
You can also try to lower your tax value eve if you didn’t just buy your house. If you have seen houses selling for much less than normal lately, you can use those as comparable sales for your complaint.
Please contact me for the correct forms for your county. Visit www.ChadMillerHomes.com for all my contact info.
Chad Miller
Chad@ChadMillerHomes.com
Posted by crmhomes 