Property assessments prompt confusion, anger

Maybe it's time to change the old way of doing property value assements to a more accurate one- What can you sell it for this year.

Raising values when the true sales value drops is nothing more the fraud and gouging by the city to get funds to cover cost over runs as a reslut of ineffective fiscal management.

Virginia needs a proposition 13 to freeze home values until they are sold.

It's nothng more than greed, since you aren't getting more or betters city services.

emotion

This is also part of the mortgage problem right now. Communities throughout the nation raised property assessments to collect more taxes. Now the communities have over priced homes that will not sell and a budget that is based on false property assessments. The question now will be, "if we lower the property assessments where will we get the money to replace what we have already budgeted"? While home owners were sitting back and enjoying the new assessments and taking advantage of tax breaks on their yearly income tax filings dreaming of the windfall they would recieve "if" they could sell their home. The fact is they were sitting on fools gold and paying the head fools that sold them the pipe dream.

As property taxes continue to rise for the forseeable future to pay for all the new programs the communities created when the money began to flow in, home owners will find themselves, upon retirement, having to sell their homes. Rising property taxes and the expected doubling of heating and cooling costs in the next 6 years will force most retired homeowners out - with few buyers for their older properties.

One thing we can do to help reverse the trend:
Buyers: Your home ain't worth what your'e hoping to get for it...the ridiculous housing boom is OVER...
Sellers: Hold of as long as you can so buyers are forced to reduce the sale price...also look at york county property informatin system and just see or yourself what these homes sold for BRAND NEW within the last few years...

The Assessment Office in York County was set up behind the backs of citizens to begin with. All of a sudden one day there it was. It's been up, up and away ever since.

Its all about the Benjamins

Coventry Res - York Co wrote:

One thing we can do to help reverse the trend:
Buyers: Your home ain't worth what your'e hoping to get for it...the ridiculous housing boom is OVER...
Sellers: Hold of as long as you can so buyers are forced to reduce the sale price...also look at york county property informatin system and just see or yourself what these homes sold for BRAND NEW within the last few years...

Don't you have this backwards?

As long as cities use assessd value for tax revenue, and a city employee is doing the assessments, it's never going to be fair or accurate.

and to think that the board of equalization is made up of unbiased, experts in the field of real estate is questionable. Wouldn't a real estate agent have something to gain by higher home values as long as it wasn't his???

Mister Grumpy wrote:

As long as cities use assessd value for tax revenue, and a city employee is doing the assessments, it's never going to be fair or accurate.

Many of the assessor's are real estate appraisers who are governed by very specific state and federal laws, and since many of them still perform fee appraisals, most, if not all are not willing to compromise their state licensing to inflat real estate assessments.

In other words, most, if not all, worked very hard to obtain their licensing from the state and are not willing to break the law to jack up real estate assessments to appease the cities and counties they are employed by. Not a one looks forward to losing their jobs/careers to spend quality time in the federal pen. Assessors have been known to leave localities with little to no notice if the city/county requested they violate the USPAP laws.

So, no, just because and appraiser works for a locality does not mean the assessments will be inflated to appease the board or council.

Most assessments are fair and accurate and follow the laws set by the state, not some devious, convoluted plan that the locality is brewing to steal your money!!!!

These assessors are living in the same locality as you and are paying the same in taxes!

Yorktown resident wrote:

and to think that the board of equalization is made up of unbiased, experts in the field of real estate is questionable. Wouldn't a real estate agent have something to gain by higher home values as long as it wasn't his???

I am not a realtor, but I would think higher home volumes means less sales. A home valued at $15,000 dollars more than it should would only bring in an extra $450 gross for an agent. Just my two cents worth.

I still think it's a scam.

Taxes wrote:

<quoted text>
Many of the assessor's are real estate appraisers who are governed by very specific state and federal laws, and since many of them still perform fee appraisals, most, if not all are not willing to compromise their state licensing to inflat real estate assessments.
In other words, most, if not all, worked very hard to obtain their licensing from the state and are not willing to break the law to jack up real estate assessments to appease the cities and counties they are employed by. Not a one looks forward to losing their jobs/careers to spend quality time in the federal pen. Assessors have been known to leave localities with little to no notice if the city/county requested they violate the USPAP laws.
So, no, just because and appraiser works for a locality does not mean the assessments will be inflated to appease the board or council.
Most assessments are fair and accurate and follow the laws set by the state, not some devious, convoluted plan that the locality is brewing to steal your money!!!!
These assessors are living in the same locality as you and are paying the same in taxes!

State law does not require a real estate license to be an appraiser.

Taxes wrote:

<quoted text>
Many of the assessor's are real estate appraisers who are governed by very specific state and federal laws, and since many of them still perform fee appraisals, most, if not all are not willing to compromise their state licensing to inflat real estate assessments.
In other words, most, if not all, worked very hard to obtain their licensing from the state and are not willing to break the law to jack up real estate assessments to appease the cities and counties they are employed by. Not a one looks forward to losing their jobs/careers to spend quality time in the federal pen. Assessors have been known to leave localities with little to no notice if the city/county requested they violate the USPAP laws.
So, no, just because and appraiser works for a locality does not mean the assessments will be inflated to appease the board or council.
Most assessments are fair and accurate and follow the laws set by the state, not some devious, convoluted plan that the locality is brewing to steal your money!!!!
These assessors are living in the same locality as you and are paying the same in taxes!

State law does not require a license to be an appraiser for an assessor's office.

Biff wrote:

<quoted text>State law does not require a license to be an appraiser for an assessor's office.

While state law does not require an assessor to be a licensed appraiser, most of the local governments require their assessors to be licensed to appraise by the State of Virginia and many require specific higher level course work in the assessment and appraisal fields. The standards to become a licensed appraiser have become extremely stringent and difficult to acheive, so chances are, now you are dealing with a real appraiser who further specializes in mass appraisals instead of some humpty dumpty who doesn't know a shed from mansion!

Don't get me wrong, there are a few, less than intelligent assessors out there, but MOST of the ones in this area are good at there jobs and extremely qualified. And, most, if not all can justify their conclusions and are happy to assist any homeowner any way that they can.

And the rich get richer and the poor get poorer

Well now, if you don't plan to sell your house you are going to yell that the assessment is too high. If you do plan to sell your house you are going to yell the assessment is too low.
It is not the assessment that makes your tax bill so high. It is the tax rate ... which is in the hands of the county boards of supervisors and city councils. The RATE can be controlled. So don't yell at the assessor.
And if you want to see how your neighborhood sales are going, check out the online property information for your locality. You may be surprised. You may find houses selling way over assessed value because the whole neighborhood has been under assessed for years ... it has happened.
Warning: a house that sells below assessment may be part of an estate settlement, in foreclosure, etc. So use some common sense when you see something way out of line.
Have fun!

All the facts wrote:

Well now, if you don't plan to sell your house you are going to yell that the assessment is too high. If you do plan to sell your house you are going to yell the assessment is too low.
It is not the assessment that makes your tax bill so high. It is the tax rate ... which is in the hands of the county boards of supervisors and city councils. The RATE can be controlled. So don't yell at the assessor.
And if you want to see how your neighborhood sales are going, check out the online property information for your locality. You may be surprised. You may find houses selling way over assessed value because the whole neighborhood has been under assessed for years ... it has happened.
Warning: a house that sells below assessment may be part of an estate settlement, in foreclosure, etc. So use some common sense when you see something way out of line.
Have fun!

Very nice! Very true. Residents scream and cry that a house sold so much below market value that is has to be the market, and then, after much needed research see that the house was sold fast due to a quick military move, a death, forclosure, or divorce. Very often a low sale is a strong indicator of a sale under duress, not a true reflection of the market.

Absolutely, the rate is controled by city council or the board of supervisor, the assessor has no say in the budget planning or rate setting. The job of the assessor is soley to find th ecurrent market value of the property.

Next, the media has been emphasizing the plummeting market for the nation, however, the market in Hampton Roads is only slowed with the normal cycle consistant with winter sales, not in concurrence with some bottoming of the RE market. Keep in mind this area didn't escalate at the same rate as other states, and didn't fall when they did.

High forclosure rates is not due to the demise of the real estate markt, it is due to homeowners not being able to afford the mortgage payments for the home they purchased. Many of them chose an ARM instead of a conventional loan because it made it easier for them to purchase a home they otherwise could not afford. dangerous territory. Research the local market, it's not as bad as the national news would have you believe!

Huh wrote:

<quoted text>
Don't you have this backwards?

Oops - yes...thanks - sellers: lower your expectations and buyers hold off until the prices come down...