Do you feel like you were recently given an unfair assessment with your home's property taxes? If so, you'll likely try to fight it by submitting a formal appeal. Part of this process is that you need to find a comparable property to compare your home to, which will show that your home is actually worth less than the assessed value. Here are some tips for finding those comparable properties.
Look At Recently Sold Homes
The key to fighting your property tax assessment is to find properties that have recently sold since the last assessment was performed. If you use comps from properties that were sold too far in the past, the sales price will likely be irrelevant. Start by looking at your local real estate search engine that will allow you to filter by recently sold properties. This will give you an easy list to start sorting through in order to find those properties that can prove your case.
Find Homes With A Similar Amount Of PINs
It should be no surprise that homes are built on different sized properties. However, when you actually look at the property PINs, you'll discover that the land is portioned off into similar sizes. It is possible that there are homes that are built on one, two, or three sections of the property, which greatly affects the property taxes. Try to search for homes that have the same amount of PINs as your home. This will help the price be much easier to compare to anyone that is looking over your paperwork. While it is okay to use homes that are on more or less land, only use them if you're struggling to find similar properties.
Focus On The Same Part Of Town
It is not enough to find similar properties that are located within your city. There can be great differences by simply moving from one part of town to the other. Try to focus on homes that are as close to your current home as possible. This will ensure things like having both homes being in the same school district.
When you find yourself struggling to appeal your property tax assessment, work with a property tax consultant in your area that can help fight them. They have the experience in this type of work, and sometimes simply having their representation makes it more likely that your property tax assessment appeal will be approved.
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