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Tax Appeal Services
Did you receive a post card in the mail from us? If yes, you received it because you live in a neighborhood of significantly over assessed homes. If you’re wondering how I could know this, it’s because I have created a niche appraisal service that helps over assessed homeowners appeal their property taxes.
There’s no rhyme or reason as to how Bucks County assesses real estate. What is clear is that for some unknown reason certain subdivisions are significantly over assessed. As an illustration, I live in a 10 year old neighborhood of homes in Lower Makefield. They are all significantly over assessed. A quarter mile up the road is a similar neighborhood of homes that were built at the same time, they are the same style, same size, and on similar lots. This neighborhood is predominately under assessed. As I stated, there is no rhyme or reason.
The good news is that PA law mandates that any property owner can appeal their taxes on a yearly basis. And believe it or not, it’s quite simple. There is not an appeal fee and you do not need an attorney. The only thing you need to do is complete the tax appeal form on the board’s web site, demonstrate the current market value of your home, and submit the appeal by August 1st.
This is not some marketing scam. I can help you save significant money assuming that your house is indeed over assessed. On average, we have been able to help people save $1,500 a year, and in some cases, up to $4,000 a year. Take a minute to read the rest of this page, I can assure you that you will be glad you did.
The Board allows three different methods for you to demonstrate your home’s current market value.
- If you bought your house in the last 18 months you can submit your settlement sheet from that purchase. Or if it was appraised in the last 18 months, you can submit that appraisal. This is the easiest method assuming your house has not declined in value since that purchase or last appraisal.
- You can engage a certified appraiser from my company to do a full appraisal.
- You can provide the Board with three recent comparable sales that have settled in the last 18 months.
This third method can prove to be problematic. The Bucks Board relies on its own public records to help it determine your home’s market value. Bucks County often improperly inflates the square footage of homes. They often include open 2nd floor areas like a 2-story family room or foyer and finished basement areas. Or they may have simply incorrectly estimated the square footage of your home. In addition, one of the Board’s appraisers will then either adjust those comps you provided how he or she sees fit or substitute your comps with what he or she considers more appropriate comps. This includes utilizing comps that may have settled 12-18 months ago and are no longer indicative of current value, due to a declining market. People who opt for the third method historically save less money on their taxes, and sometimes flat out lose their appeal.
Do yourself a favor, engage my appraisal firm to do a full appraisal of your home. Your appraisal fee investment is just that, an investment in ensuring that your tax appeal is based on your property’s actual market value. Keep in mind, tax appeal appraisal work is a specialized area of appraising. I would estimate that less than 5% of appraisers have experience with tax appeal work. To see a recent sample tax appeal appraisal click on the link below.
Tax Appeal Sample.PDF
Bucks County public records had this property’s square footage at 6,090 SQ’ when in actuality it had 3,983 SQ’. In this instance the County’s assessed market value was $887,472. I appraised it for $775,000. Assuming their appeal goes through, and it will, these people are going to save $1,804 a year in taxes, based on millage rates as of May 2008. $300 spent in order to save $1,804 the first year alone, obviously a good deal for these folks.
Click on the link below to go to the Bucks County Board of Assessment’s web page.
http://www.buckscounty.org/government/departments/Finance/BoardofAssessment/index.aspx
If you’re having trouble on the Board of Assessment web site you can phone them directly at 215-348-6219. They are typically very pleasant and helpful. You can also complete the “Are you paying too much in property taxes” section at the bottom of this page and submit to us, we will respond in a timely manner. Contact us and we will be happy to do a “what if” scenario where we can tell you how much your taxes would be if your house was worth X amount of dollars and what type of savings that would translate into. Keep in mind that scenario is not a promise to appraise your house at a predetermined value.
Please note: according to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), we are not allowed to take "shortcuts" -- i.e., your research -- and use it on its face as part of our independent evaluation. When you hire us for an assessment appeal, you're commissioning an independent, third-party professional appraisal report. As such we do our own evaluation, beginning to end. If you're right that your property has been overvalued, an independent report such as ours will be even more persuasive than any other evidence you can marshal on your own. But it depends on our ability to do the work independently.
Browse our website to learn more about our qualifications, expertise, and services offered. Contact us with any comments, questions, or concerns.
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