Dave Harbison's Long Beach CA Real Estate Update

Read your assessment letter

A real estate assessment is conducted periodically by the local government to assign a value to your home for taxation purposes. An assessment isn’t the same as a private appraisal, and the assessed value of your home isn’t necessarily how much you could sell it for today. Real estate assessment letters are mailed to homeowners annually, or perhaps every two to three years, depending where you live.

The letter will include some information about your property, such as lot size or a legal description, as well as the assessed value of your house and land. Additional details—number of bedrooms, for example, or date of construction—can often be found in the property listing on your local government’s website. Your property tax bill will usually be calculated by multiplying your home’s assessed value by the local tax rate, which can vary from town to town.

If you think your home’s assessment is higher than it should be, challenge it immediately. The clock starts ticking as soon as the letter goes out. You generally have less than 30 days to respond, though the time frame varies not just between states, but within each state. Procedures are often outlined on the back of the letter.

Gather evidence

Zillow.com

Start by making sure the assessment letter doesn’t contain any mistakes. Is the number of bathrooms accurate? Number of fireplaces? How about the size of the lot? There’s a big difference between “0.3 acres” and “3.0 acres.” If any facts are wrong, then you may have a quick and easy challenge on your hands.

Next, research your home’s value. Ask a real estate agent to find three to five comparable properties—“comps” in real estate jargon—that have sold recently. Alternatively, check a website like Zillow.com to find approximate values of comparable properties.  Today, there are a number of web sites that will provide key information about an area.  Keep in mind, these sites do not take into the consideration, key intangibles like, location, updates and upgrades. The key is identifying properties that are very similar to your own in terms of size, style, condition, and location. If you’re willing to shell out between $350 and $600, you can hire a private appraiser to do the heavy lifting.

Once you identify comps, check the assessments on those properties. Most local governments maintain public databases. If yours doesn’t, seek help from an agent or ask neighbors to share tax information. If the assessments on your comps are lower, you can argue yours is too high. Even if the assessments are similar, if you can show that the “comparable” properties aren’t truly comparable, you may have a case for relief based on equity. Maybe your neighbor added an addition while you were still struggling to clean up storm damage. In that case, the properties are no longer equitable.

Present your case

Once you’re armed with your research, call your local assessor’s office. Most assessors are willing to discuss your assessment informally by phone. If not, or if you aren’t satisfied with the explanation, request a formal review. Pay attention to deadlines and procedures. There’s probably a form to fill out and specific instructions for supporting evidence. A typical review, which usually doesn’t require you to appear in person, can take anywhere from one to three months. Expect to receive a decision in writing.

If the review is unsuccessful, you can usually appeal the decision to an independent board, with or without the help of a lawyer. You may have to pay a modest filing fee, perhaps $10 to $25. If you end up before an appeals board, your challenge could stretch as long as a year, especially in large jurisdictions that have a high number of appeals. But homeowners do triumph. According to Guy Griscom, Assistant Chief Appraiser of the Harris County (Texas) Central Appraisal District, of the 288,800 protests filed in his Houston-area district in 2008, about 58% received reduced assessments.

How much effort you decide to put into a challenge depends on the stakes. The annual U.S. median property tax paid in 2008 was $1,897, or 0.96% of the median home value of $197,600. Lowering that assessed value by 15% would net savings of about $285. In some parts of New York and Texas, for example, where tax rates can approach 3% of a home’s value, potential savings are greater. Ditto for communities with home prices well above the U.S. median.

There are a few things to keep in mind as you weigh an appeal. The board can only lower your real estate assessment, not the rate at which you’re taxed. There’s also a chance, albeit slight, that your assessment could be raised, thus increasing your property taxes. A reduction in your assessment right before you put your house on the market could hurt the sale price. An easier route to savings might lie in determining if you qualify for property tax exemptions based on age, disability, military service, or other factors.

"Changes to stipulated local, city and county tax codes for property are ongoing.  So we recommend investigating procedure and process prior to taking any action to save time, energy and money!"  -- Dave Harbison 

This article provides general information about tax laws and consequences, but is not intended to be relied upon by readers as tax or legal advice applicable to particular transactions or circumstances. Readers should consult a tax professional for such advice, and are reminded that tax laws may vary by jurisdiction

About the author: Barbara Eisner Bayer has written about finance for Motley Fool, Daily Plan-It, and Nurse Village, and is the former Managing Editor of Mortgageloan.com and Credit-land.com. She splits time between a beachfront condo and a mountain retreat
Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/property-taxes/property-tax-appeal/#ixzz1rYn4snuX

 

The Difference Between Conventional treatment and IPM

The convential approach is extermination (shoot-to-kill) with chemicals.  This process often starts by toxic pesticides, then reapplying them on a regular schedule to prevent future infestations. In truth, the homeowner is paying for treatment whether insects are there or not.

The biggest challenge with the conventional approach is the risk of unnecessary exposure to toxic pesticides.  Although proven to be effective in the short-term, pesticides can be linked to long-term  adverse effects on the endocrine, reproductive, and nervous systems of people and animals. Smaller children can be more sensitive to the toxins found in many pesticides because their immune systems, organs, brains, and nervous systems are still developing.

Even with Environmental Protection regulating all pesticides, they remain potentially deadly to humans and harmful to the environment - especially if misapplied.

An alternative is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

IPM uses a combination of strategies to control pests and includes homeowners as partners in the process.  IPM consists of three basic steps:

1. Identifying Pests
   
   Knowledge of the termites/pests is key to drawing up a plan to combat them.  Any termite/pest control rep should be able to tell different insects/termites apart and understand everything -- their habits and habitats and how to best neutralize them
   
2. Preventing Pests from gestation and spreading
   
   This strategy stresses prevention by denying food, water and access to livable habitats.  However, immediate action to treat an existing infestation may include call for low toxic or natural (but effective) alternatives to neutralize the bugs/termite
   
3. Continual Treatment
   
   No matter what the circumstances, active continual treatment is almost always recommended.  The exterminator should consider using low toxic products - applying as little as possible and treat the smallest area possible (i.e. cracks and crevices)