Sacramento Appraisal Blog | Real Estate Appraiser

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Success Story

Client’s property assessment lowered by $190,000

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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?

tax appeal reduced

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.

How I helped my client save $20,000 in property taxes this year

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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.

Elk Grove home owner gets a $2,000 refund check after I helped him appeal his property taxes!!!

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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.