How To Lower Your Property Taxes
Posted on: 5 November 2020
Did you recently get your property tax bill and feel as if you are paying too much money? This is a real possibility, and thankfully, there is something that you can do about it. Here are some tips for how you can lower your property taxes.
Verify Your Property Information
The first thing that you should do is verify that all your property information is correct. You can do this by looking up your property with your tax assessor's office. This lists everything about your home that is used to assess your property taxes. It has a lot of basic information that could be incorrect, such as the number of bedrooms, the number of bathrooms, and the overall square footage. Since assessments are only made on this information and not getting an actual appraisal of your home, it is possible that some wrong information is causing your home to be assessed and taxed at a higher rate. If you do find inaccurate information, you'll need to have your property reassessed.
Compare Against Other Homes
The best way to lower your property taxes is going to be to prove that your home is overvalued. This can only be done by comparing your home to similar homes that are sold in the area over the past few years. The key is that it must be homes that have sold, not based on list prices for homes that have not been sold. It will require quite a bit of digging to find this information since you have to dig through real estate listings over the past few years that have recently sold. However, if you can find homes that are similar to yours, and see that your home is priced as little at 5% more than those homes, this can be enough to justify an appeal for your home's assessed value.
Present Your Findings
While each state has its own laws, there is a process to submit your findings through a formal written appeal. Be aware that this is not a situation that you apply for and simply have your appeal approved or rejected. There is an extensive appeal process that you can use to eventually have your real estate property taxes reduced. If you feel like you are paying too much money, you can keep appealing that decision to higher courts until you get the results you are looking for.
Work with a property tax services company in your area for help with researching and submitting your findings.
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