If you are a homeowner, there is a high probability that you are paying more property taxes than you should. So it makes sense that you want to learn how to reduce those taxes, specifically your own.
The amount of property taxes you owe in the United States or Canada is assumed to depend on the market value of the property. In an ideal world, the value of a given property would be black and white, in other words, perfectly easy to determine precisely.
However, the reality is that there are many variables that affect the true market value of a property, and the appraisal process is fraught with the possibility that property tax assessors can make mistakes. Learning how to lower your property taxes on your property is first a matter of identifying the mistakes that have been made and then challenging them.
Historically, there have always been a large number of homeowners who fall victim to these inaccurate assessments. However, with the large-scale turmoil in the real estate markets in the United States and Canada of late, this disparity is even more apparent.
The bottom line is that if you are a property owner, you need to understand how to reduce property taxes on your property and keep an eye on this value from year to year. (Unless, of course, you are willing to donate extra tax money to your municipality each year.)
Once you suspect that your property is appraised incorrectly, the next step in reducing your property taxes is to determine what the current market value of your property really is. You then need to compare this to the assessed value on the current records.
You can determine the market value of your property for yourself by comparing the official appraised values of homes similar to yours, adjusting these valuations for obvious differences that could affect the value.
For example, if a house that is identical to yours in terms of style, age, living room, build quality, etc., is located on a lakefront property and yours abuts a pig farm, you would expect that are evaluated differently. You will need to adjust the value of your home relative to comparable homes accordingly.
If you know of a real estate broker who could help you, chances are they are aware of similar properties, including recent sales of properties similar to yours. This information can be used to support your property tax reduction case.
If you determine that your property is, in fact, overvalued, you should present your findings to the local tax assessor (sometimes a board of appraisers) at your town, city, or county tax authority. It is always better to stick to the main point, that is, that you believe that there are other properties very similar to yours that are being evaluated much lower than your property.
Be professional and don’t let your emotions get the best of you. Simply present your findings and request that the value of your property be adjusted to reflect these findings.
Be sure to find out what the property tax schedule is for the tax authority, to ensure that you are submitting your tax reduction request in a timely manner. Otherwise, even the best arguments will be worthless, for the current fiscal year anyway. If you miss the deadline, be sure to submit your application in time to challenge next year’s property tax assessment.
Learning how to reduce property taxes on your property is not difficult and can save you hundreds and even thousands of dollars in unnecessary tax overpayments each year.
