Have you ever overpaid for something? None of us like to admit when we spend too much money on something, but occasionally it happens – whether it’s a hyped-up gadget, hot toy during Christmas or even a piece of real estate.

Overpayment Conversations: I get phone calls periodically from property owners who think they overpaid for a house or parcel. After all, purchasing real estate often involves a combination of logic and emotion, and it’s usually the emotion part that drives us to pay too much.

Scenario 1: Most home owners I speak with about overpayment tend to say they overpaid by $5,000 or so to get the deal done. Honestly, even if there was an overpayment of $5,000, that’s an extremely minimal tax savings (about $50) that probably isn’t worth the time to pursue. In truth, don’t waste your time. Moreover, when a sale was on MLS and exposed on the open market for a reasonable time period, and there were other sales at a very similar level, the overpayment argument doesn’t have much support.

Scenario 2: However, there are cases where owners really do overpay by quite a bit. This tends to happen more frequently with unique properties, parcels, custom homes and all cash private sales off MLS that are not subject to an appraisal or strict lending guidelines to evaluate risk. Sometimes buyers and investors will overpay by tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. It happens and there are huge tax consequences too (overpayment).

How long can you appeal your “base year” value? In the case of legitimate overpayment, there can be tax relief for the property owner, but the owner can only appeal the “base year” value within four years of the date of purchase. After four years, there is nothing the owner can do to correct the base year value. In California the “base-year” or “Proposition 13″ value is the assessment level the Assessor assigns to a property when it is first purchased. All other years of taxation are “based” on this original assessment, so it’s definitely an important number. For example, if you bought a property for $500,000, and the Assessor determined market value was indeed $500,000 at the time, then your property taxes should not exceed that level in the future beyond an allowable 2% increase for inflation each year. Of course if property values decline, then your property should receive a temporary “Prop 8″ assessed value where your assessment is temporarily lowered each year to reflect the current market instead of the $500,000 market in the past when you purchased.

Money leaving your wallet: All things considered, if a property owner overpaid by $100,000 and the Assessor did not catch the overpayment, the property owner would basically be overpaying by $1,000 each year. Imagine doing that for 25 years in a row (that would equal 25-30K in overpayment). That’s why it’s important to act within four years in case there was a significant overpayment. All you would need to do is fill out the proper appeal form and supply support for a lower opinion of value for the base year between July 2 to November 30 of the calendar year (if relevant, this is what I can help you with).

I hope this was helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions, stories or scenarios to share with me (in comments below or feel free to call or email me).

When have you seen people overpay in real estate or retail? Are there are specific retail examples you can think of?

If you have any questions or Sacramento area real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs, contact me by phone 916-595-3735, email, Twitter, subscribe to posts by email or “like” my page on Facebook

When will you hear back from the Assessor? It could be a matter of months, but ultimately it can take up to two years. The County of Sacramento states “The time limit for the Assessment Appeals Board to act on an application is two years from the date of filing.” In my experience it seems The Appeals Board typically gets back to owners within a year, but sometimes longer and others times only a matter of months.

Do you still have to pay your property tax bill at the higher level during an appeal? Unfortunately yes. This is often frustrating for home owners, but it’s the way the system works. Verbatim from the Assessor’s Office, “You must pay the original bill timely to avoid penalties, pending the outcome of the review or appeal.” Keep in mind Sacramento County will issue you a refund from your overpayment if your property taxes get lowered through the appeals process.

How long does it take Sacramento County to issue a refund after a successful appeal? Your refund should come within 95 business days. Don’t expect to be the exception either. You’ll get between $100-125 back for every $10,000 in property reduction. If you were overassessed by $50,000, for example, you would get $500-625 back in your pockets. From the Assessor’s website:

All offices involved in the property tax process (Assessor, Auditor-Controller and Tax Collector) are experiencing a historically large volume of these reductions. When the Assessor’s Office determines a reduction in assessed value is appropriate, a roll change is processed and certified to the Auditor-Controller, typically within 15 business days. The Auditor-Controller will issue a corrected tax bill within 20 business days and deliver it to the Tax Collector for further processing. If a refund of paid money from the original bill is required, it is normally issued within 60 business days after the corrected tax bill has been calculated. You should anticipate the assessment changes will take up to the full 95 business days to be processed.

Is it still worth it to appeal despite having to wait? You have to answer that question for yourself. I think if there is money to save, it’s absolutely worth it in my opinion, and the appeals process is the only way to obtain a reduced value (unless the Assessor reduces your property value automatically due to their own research). It may be frustrating to wait, but the alternative is to overpay taxes. I have successfully appealed my property’s taxes three times and I always enjoy getting a refund to check to keep my hard-earned money in my pocket. If I have to wait a while to get money returned to me, I can live with it.

I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions, check out other articles on property taxes and visit my property tax appeal website for additional information.

If you have any questions or Sacramento area real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs, contact me by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to posts by email.

It’s always nice to get good news for clients. Recently I got wind that the Assessor’s Office in Sacramento County ended up agreeing with my opinion of value for a client, so the client will now have their property taxes reduced by $190,000. That’s a saving of about $2,400, so my client should get a fat refund check in the mail soon. That should help with rising gas prices, huh?

NOTE: The image above is a snippet of the ”Tax Change Withdrawal” form in Sacramento County. These forms sometimes leave home owners confused because property owners are fearful of what the form really means. After all, nobody wants to sign the wrong form and accidentally stop an appeal. But in this case the withdrawal at hand is something good because the purpose of signing the withdrawal form is to formally accept the revised value and thereby pull out from the appeals process. Read more here if you are wondering about signing the Tax Withdrawal form.

If you have any questions or Sacramento area real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs, contact me by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to posts by email.

This is a great example of what happens when a home owner purchases a property, the real estate market has a major shift, and the home owner does not pay attention to property taxes. This is a real scenario and unfortunately it’s all too common.

I just finished a tax appeal report for a home owner in Fair Oaks. His property is assessed at $281,873 and has been assessed at that level for the past three years. He originally purchased the property in 2003 for $292,000. All things considered, after a detailed analysis, market value on January 1 was actually $150,000, which is $130,000 less than the assessed value. This means the owner was scheduled to overpay by $1,648 this year (he easily overpaid these past two years also by $2,500).

Life is full and there are so many things to stay on top of, so it’s understandable to not pay attention to property taxes. However, think in terms of the exodus of greenbacks from your wallet that should be staying comfortable in your pocket. This home owner easily overpaid $2,500 over the past two years and was scheduled to overpay another $1,648 this year had he not contacted me. How does giving the county $4,000 of YOUR money sound to you?

Remember the deadline to dispute property taxes in Sacramento County is November 30, 2011. Contact me and I’ll be glad to explain how the process works and take a preliminary free look into your property to give a professional eye to your situation. By the way, you can look up your property HERE to see how the county has assesed you (your value should be based on January 1). The tax appeal world often feels like foreign territory for many home owners, so let me at least give you insight into what to do and how to do it. I typically charge $99 for a very solid appeal report that includes multiple trend graphs of your neighborhood, a market analysis, the best comps and the worst comps too if need be. You should only hire me or someone like me if there is a savings to be had though. Don’t waste your money on a report that is not needed. Whatever you do, pay attention.

If you have any questions, or real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact Lundquist Appraisal by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to posts by email.

I got some great news recently that the Assessor’s Office in Sacramento County agreed to lower property taxes by roughly 1.5 million on some acreage that one of my clients owns. The detailed appeal I put together for his 2009 property taxes revealed a total value of $340,000, but the Assessor had this parcel assessed at $1,804,053 (just a little bit of a difference, right?). I’m so glad the Assessor agreed with my research. The tax savings for my client is almost $20,000 for the year. 

NOTE: In case you were wondering, there was previously a tear-down structure on the property valued at $53,060 by the Assessor. This structure was removed a couple years ago, so that’s why there is currently no value for it.  

If you have any questions or a need for an appraisal or property tax consulting in the Sacramento area, give me a call at 916.595.3735, send me an email, or catch me on Facebook.

“Hi ho Silver”, let’s take a closer look at an Elk Grove property tax situation. This is a real life example I just completed for a home owner in Sacramento County (Elk Grove). Acting in the role of a property tax consultant, I pieced together the best available comparable sales and put together some very solid trend graphs to help illustrate what the specific neighborhood real estate market was doing. 

The Assessor had valued the home owner’s property at $314,000 as shown with the blue dot in the graph below. When looking at the graph, you can see very clearly that this is a “lone ranger” assessment. There is nothing in the neighborhood that has sold even close to $314,000 for quite some time. It’s very clear that the market was not supporting values above $250,000 for much of 2009 and particular on January 1, 2010, the date of assessment. By the way, this is a typical tract subdivision, so there is nothing about the subject property that would warrant an assessment way above all other sales.

You might think $64,000 in property taxes is not that big of a deal, but this equals about $800 in property taxes. Breaking things down further, that is overpaying taxes by $67 per month. If you have questions about property taxes or would like my property tax consulting company to investigate your property, call 916.595.3735 or visit www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com. Remember, the deadline to appeal your property taxes in Sacramento County (and many surrounding counties) is November 30, 2010.

What do you think of the “lone ranger” assessment?

While delivering a property tax appeal to the Sacramento County Appeals Board today, I took out my Flip camera to say a few words. It’s very important for locals to understand that November 30, 2010 is the deadline to dispute property taxes in Sacramento County (and many surrounding counties). Enjoy a short video.

FYI: The deadlne of November 30, 2010 is for typical “decline in value” reassessments. There are other types of appeals that do not have this deadline. 

Let me know if you have any questions. Call me at 916.595.3735, catch me on Facebook or visit my property tax appeal website.

When should a home owner formally appeal his/her property taxes? How do you know if you should dispute the Assessor’s value? The rule of thumb is really simple. If there is enough savings left for you after you have paid someone to help you appeal, then it’s absolutely worth it. If there really isn’t any potential for money to come back to your wallet, then don’t even bother.

Have a look at the video below (or HERE) and see how a home owner in Sacramento County paid me $89.00 to save $1,016. Not a bad deal, right?

I act as a “tax appeal consultant” instead of a real estate appraiser when I do tax appeal work. See www.SacramentoTaxAppraisals.com or call 916.595.3735 and I’ll check out your property for free to see if it looks like there is any potential savings to be had. This offer is good for residential property owners in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Solano & Merced Counties.

I’m a fan of good news, so I wanted to share something with you. A property owner I helped last December just got word that the Sacramento County Assessor has agreed with my opinion of value for his property. They had previously assessed his Elk Grove home for 2009 property taxes at $945,000, but my company provided detailed support to show his assessed value should be at $750,000. The Assessor’s office agreed!!! This means the home owner will receive a refund check around $2,000 because he overpaid on property taxes in 2009.

This particular home owner contacted me literally a couple of days before the deadline to dispute property taxes last year. It’s a good thing he reached out too because otherwise that $2,000 refund check wouldn’t be showing up in the mail.

As a side note, when an appeal is filed and the Assessor ends up agreeing with the appeal, they’ll send you a “Tax Change Withdrawal of Application for Changed Assessment.” Basically this means they are asking you to formally agree to the new opinion of assessed value and simultaneously withdraw your appeal. Usually home owners I help have some questions during this phase because nobody wants to sign something that sounds so unfamiliar. But if the value looks good, you should sign off. There is no reason to keep the appeal in process or pursue an appeals hearing if the Assessor has already agreed to an accurate reduced value. 

I love stories like this and I’ve been hearing quite a few of them lately too. It never gets old to hear a home owner will get a refund check of $2,000. Keep me posted if it looks like you might need help or if you simply want me to check out if there is a potential savings for you. Call me at 916.595.3735 or see www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com.

If you live in the Greater Sacramento Region and you’re wondering how to lower your property taxes, you’ve come to the right place. Here is my advice though. Before you make a decision to hire someone to help you reduce your property taxes (including my tax appeal company), wait until new assessments come out to determine if there is a real savings to be had. If you live in Sacramento or Placer County, for example, the Assessor has not yet posted their latest assessments yet, so it doesn’t make much sense to dispute your taxes until you know what their assessment is going to be for 2010.

Why am I telling you this? Because I am committed to being honest with you about the property tax appeals process and how you can save money. If it looks like the Assessor has your value wrong, I am glad to partner with you to help the Assessor understand true market value. My company’s fees are very reasonable too. On the other hand, if it looks like the Assessor has your property assessed accurately, you don’t need to do a thing.

If you want me to send you an email reminder when new assessments come out, click “contact” in the upper right hand corner of my tax appeal website, and I’ll get in touch with you soon. For now, if you have any questions about appealing your property taxes, or if there is anything I can do for you, let me know. Thank you.

By the way, the Sacramento County Assessor’s Office typically publishes their new assessments in the month of May, but right now they are expecting to get this information out at the very beginning of July. You can expect Placer County to get their information out in July also.

Sacramento Region Property Tax Appeals
TEL: 916.595.3735
FAX: 916.361.1964
www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com
info@SacramentoTaxAppeals.com

NOTE: This advice is good for a traditional “decline in value” tax appeal only (it’s not applicable to a base year appeal or calamity reassessment….).

As you may know, I run a property tax appeal website for property owners in the Greater Sacramento Region. I help home owners dispute their property taxes when it makes good economic sense for them to do so (only if there is a savings to be had). I mention this because I am very pleased to have learned last week that the Sacramento County Assessor reduced my own property taxes by $36,622 after viewing the evidence I presented for a lowered opinion of value. They agreed with my value and the tax refund will be roughly $350. 

This is not a huge sum of money. There are certainly clients that will save $10,000+ because of the work my company provides. Yet at the same time, every dollar counts and I’d much rather save $350 than relinquish my hard-earned greenbacks to the local Assessor.

The wild thing is that these were property taxes for 2008. I turned in the Application for Changed Assessment in November 2009 and the Assessor just got back to me about these taxes last week - sixteen months later.

If you think you are a good candidate for lowering your property taxes, then it’s important to take action before the deadline for appealing property taxes comes (that’s either September 15 or November 30 depending on which county you live in). Had I not actually formally disputed my own taxes in November 2009, I would have been out of luck, and the Assessor would not be cutting me a check. I don’t know about you, but I’m a big fan of getting checks in the mail.

I’m happy to answer any questions. Give me a call at 916-595-3735 or shoot me an email at ryan@SacramentoTaxAppeals.com.