Archive for the 'Real Estate News' Category
Appeal your property tax bill!
March 3rd, 2010 categories: Real Estate News
The key is identifying properties that are very similar to your own in terms of size, style, condition, and location. Image: Ideal Roofing Co./Metal Roofing Alliance
Owning a home is an expensive proposition. There’s maintenance, landscaping, utilities, renovations, and, of course, taxes. It’s your civic duty to pay the latter, but it’s also your right not to yield a penny more than your fair share.
It’s possible to trim your property tax bill by appealing the assessed value of your home. But making a case against your real estate assessment, the basis for your property tax bill, requires doing a bit of homework. Initial research can be done online or by phone over two or three days, but the process can stretch out for months if you’re forced to file a formal appeal.
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
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. 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.
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.
Barbara Eisner Bayer has written about mortgages and personal finance for the past 15 years for Motley Fool, the Daily Plan-It, and Nurse Village, and is the former Managing Editor of Mortgageloan.com and Credit-land.com. She has successfully challenged her real estate assessment.
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Western North Carolina Sales up 18%
February 9th, 2010 categories: Real Estate News
I have great news to share about Western North Carolina Real Estate. The number of homes sold in January 2010 was up 18% over January 2009, with many counties experiencing greater overall growth. Asheville homes for sale experienced a 26% increase while Hendersonville homes for sale showed a 28% increase over the same time last year.
While the second home market remains soft, preliminary data indicates home prices are stabilizing in some price points. Many consumers are taking advantage of the historically low interest rates, oversupply of inventory, and the extended tax credit for first time homebuyers.
If you would like for me to assist you in analyzing a specific market or market segment, please do not hesitate to contact me at 828-989-5443, or email: Sandy@AshevilleRealEstateVoice.com.
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2009 Annual Real Estate Report
January 29th, 2010 categories: Real Estate News
Is your price range up or down?
Here it is!
Click this link to see the complete report. The Beverly-Hanks Annual Report for 2009. This is a comprehensive report on statistics for all sales in seven Western North Carolina counties. Here you will find the number of homes sold, average home selling price, lot/land sales, Housing trends and much more information.
To paraphrase Neal Hanks, President of Beverly-Hanks & Associates personal message: “The good news is our local market has in fact reached the bottom of a downward slide that lasted almost two and a half years. However, while the real estate market is improved it may be a little early yet to proclaim we are “out of the woods” so to speak. Inventory levels remain high even considering increasing demand. It will take a while longer to reach the balanced level of supply & demand. But, we are headed in the right direction”.
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Asheville North Carolina Snowstorm – Fun!
December 20th, 2009 categories: Interesting Tidbits, Real Estate News
Me & Summer on the way to play in the snow with "Cooper"
Yep, we got it good! I estimate we’ve gotten 18 inches of snow in Weaverville and Asheville since yesterday. It just isn’t stopping, but it’s sooooo beautiful. This is a rarity here, usually we get 1-3 inches during a snowfall and it’s gone in two days time. Prior to this snow, it was 1993 that produced this kind of snow and before that 1971. So I say, let’s enjoy it while it’s here!! Here I am standing in front of our house with “Summer” on the way to go play with little “Cooper”. Plowing? What’s that?
This is “Cooper” our neighbors new puppy.
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Buncombe County passes zoning ordinance
December 8th, 2009 categories: Real Estate News
Wow! It looks like Buncombe County is actually moving into the modern world by adopting zoning. For those of you who don’t live in our beautiful part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, zoning has been a hotly debated subject since the beginning of mankind . . . Why? Because people who have lived here for generations just don’t like being told what they can do with their property. Zoning means change and, frankly, most of these folks feel things were better around these parts before Asheville started showing up as a regular on the “Best Places to Live” lists.
Well, the time has come to implement zoning maps and districts, rules to govern district boundaries and in plain talk, have a plan! It’s been a long time in coming and will certainly help provide the protections property owners need to ensure orderly growth and development.
Click this link if you would like to know more about Ordinance #09-12-01?
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Asheville Fall colors and Halloween
October 29th, 2009 categories: Real Estate News
This is our beloved Dakota. He was always willing to do silly things that made us happy and was the best darned dog a person could have. Dakota passed away last December and our hearts are still heavy from the loss, but whenever I come across this photo I feel compelled to share it with everyone at Halloween.
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Are Asheville homes in jeopardy over toxic drywall?
October 17th, 2009 categories: Real Estate News
The latest environmental concern for homeowners appears to be Chinese drywall installed in the US between 2004 and 2007. During these years, gulf coast states experienced significant property damage from tropical storms, with damage to Florida being particularly severe. This created a shortage of sheetrock or drywall, and material was imported to meet consumer demand. Some imported Chinese drywall emits a foul odor, causes plumbing to corrode and may be a health risk. While Chinese drywall was sold in North Carolina, the quantities were very small. As you will read below, 96% of all distribution took place in six states.
Click this link for the latest news about Chinese-made drywall.
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6 things to know about loans in Asheville
October 12th, 2009 categories: Financing Programs, Real Estate News
See this little guy on the fence? I bring him out when I’m going to talk about procrastination or “fence sitting” if you will . . . If you’re still not sure if now is the time to buy, these next 6 items may help you sort it out.
1. Did you know that mortgage rates are the lowest that they have been since the early 1960’s?
2. Did you know that an uptick of as little as one percent impacts the purchaser’s ability to borrow by twenty percent?
3. Did you know that low interest rate loans requiring a zero to five percent down payment are available to homebuyers through FHA, VA, USDA or conventional?
4. Did you know that a qualified buyer can purchase a $200K home with 3.5% down, finance closing costs and have a thousand MORE dollars in the bank when using the First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit?
5. Did you know that your Beverly-Hanks Mortgage loan originator will help your customer tailor a loan today?
6. Did you know that the only person who can take that first step in owning your own home is YOU? Call a professional (like me) and get started!!
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Why Short sales are really “long sales”
October 1st, 2009 categories: Real Estate News
I read a very good article in the Steve Harney Quick Report about short sales today. Any buyer or realtor here in Asheville, N.C. that have been involved with a short sale will always tell you that it’s anything but short. You have to come to the table with the lion’s share of patience. This small article summed up how the process has been doing, and gives us a peek at the change coming down the road.
“For the last few years the joke has been that ’short sales’ should be relabeled ‘long sales’ because of the difficulty in getting them closed. However, things just may be changing. Completed short sales in the first half of 2009 were up 208% over the first half of 2008.
It seems the banks are no longer happy with the alternatives they have been using in place of the short sale – either loan modification or foreclosure. A new study says that over 50% of successful modifications end up in default anyway within six months. The banks are also seeing that bringing a home through the foreclosure process nets them only a fraction of the price a short sale would.
Look for the administration, in the next few weeks, to announce a ’streamlined’ short sale process that should make selling a short sale quicker and easier. We believe the banks will look favorably on the new process and that will lead to tremendous opportunities in 2010.”
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Are all the price points selling in Asheville?
September 29th, 2009 categories: Market Updates, Real Estate News
Is your price range up or down?
There is much discussion about how the real estate market is in the middle of its turnaround based on sales increasing on a year-over-year basis. Though the fact that housing is again moving is fabulous news, let’s not lose sight of which homes are selling.
Here is a closer look at different price ranges and how they are faring in the current ‘boom’:
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0-100,000
100,000 – 250,000 250,000 -5 00,000 500,000 – 750,000 750,000 – 1,000,000 1,000,000 – 2,000,000 2,000,000+ |
sales up 38.8%
sales up 8.7%
sales down 6.2% sales down 8.9% sales down 10.6% sales down 23.3% sales down 32.4 |
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