Do I Need an Appraisal For Residential Property Tax Appeals?
Residential property tax appeals can make it possible for you to lower the assessed value of your property. This, in turn, can reduce the amount that you owe in taxes. Appeals can be a success, but you need to make sure that you are prepared to make a strong and compelling argument for why your property is not correctly valued.
An experienced Conshohocken, PA real estate lawyer can provide you with assistance during the appeals process. Your attorney can help you to assess whether appeal is likely to result in reduced taxes and can assist you in completing the required paperwork and navigating your way through the appeals process. Curley & Rothman, LLC has successfully helped many homeowners to get their property taxes lowered so they can reduce the amount they have to pay.
One of the issues which may arise when you are going through the appeals process is whether you need to have your home appraised or not. The answer to this is going to depend upon the specifics of your situation, but an appraisal is often advisable.
Do You Need an Appraisal For Residential Property Tax Appeals?
Within Pennsylvania, property taxes are determined by the assessed value of your home and the millage rate where you live. There is a table online providing the Montgomery County millage rates, including the millage rate for Conshohocken.
You cannot alter the millage rate, which is set for county taxes, municipal taxes, and school taxes. As a result, the only way you can lower your property taxes is to argue that the assessed value of your home is higher than it should be.
In general, a home is assessed only at specific times. Your home will be assessed to determine its value when it is newly built and completed. Homes are typically re-assessed when a sale occurs and new people move into the house. When you do home improvements and pull permits, this can also result in a reassessment of your home to account for the higher value due to the improvements.
Once your home is assessed, you pay taxes based on the millage rate, and can only lower the amount of taxes due through residential property tax appeals. The appeals process involves trying to show that your house is actually assessed at having a higher value than the home is worth.
To be successful in an appeal, you therefore must show, with concrete evidence, why you believe that your home is worth less than it was assessed for. You can do this in a few different ways. One option is to try to find comparable sales to show that houses are not selling for as much near you. If the market is in decline and homes are selling for a lower value, this can sometimes be effective.
Unfortunately, doing the research to find comparable homes can be complicated for many people, as you may not have access to data on sold homes and it may be difficult to determine what would be considered comparable and how to adjust for differences based on home features and conditions.
Another option that you have instead of trying to use comparable sales is to get a home appraisal. Getting your home appraised is not legally required for a successful property tax appeal. However, if you get an appraisal done by a professional, and if the appraiser indicates that your home is worth less than the amount it has been valued at, this can be very strong evidence to use in residential property tax appeals.
There is limited opportunity to appeal your property tax assessment, and if you are not successful, you will have to pay the annual taxes based on the current assessment and will not get another chance to try to appeal until the following year. A lot of money is at stake. As a result, you should speak with experienced real estate lawyers about whether an appraisal is advisable and about how you can put together the strongest possible case to get your home reassessed for less.
How a Conshohocken Real Estate Lawyer Can Help You Appeal Your Property Taxes
Property taxes in Pennsylvania are high, and are only likely to get higher. You need to ensure you do everything you can to avoid paying more than you need to in property and school taxes. Lowering the assessed value of your home is the best way to save a significant amount of money on your property taxes. A Conshohocken real estate lawyer can help.
Curley & Rothman, LLC will assist you in putting together your argument for appeal, so reach out to us as soon as you can. Give us a call at 610-834-8819 or contact us today to schedule your consultation and learn more about how we can help you to save money on your home taxes.