Property Tax Attorney

Don’t wait for that next property tax bill - it’s time to appeal now!

Most property owners don’t consider an appeal of their property tax assessment until they receive their tax bill and are blindsided by the increase. The problem is that once the bill comes, it’s too late. Appeals are based on assessments, and the governing authorities (usually counties) provide you a short window in which to file for an appeal. The amount of your tax is calculated on the assessment and the size of the tax levies.

Unless the assessor performs a wholesale re-assessment for all properties in their jurisdiction, it’s up to you to make sure your property value is correct. Even when the assessor does change your valuation, in many cases, their value is incorrect.

“An overvalued, over assessed property is one of the most common and successful grounds for challenging your tax bill,” according to Eric Cunliffe, senior vice president at www.RealEstate.com.

As we all know, real estate prices have taken a hit in the last few months. Undoubtedly, valuations will be down. Unless a county-wide reassessment is in the works, your value will likely be higher than it should. Even if the county reassesses all their properties, that doesn’t mean their tax levies will stay the same. In fact, they will likely increase - to make up for the reduced overall valuation of all properties - such that your total tax bill will be even higher than before.

According to the National Taxpayers Union, as much as 60% of all properties are assessed at higher amounts than their true value. There are numerous clerical mistakes as well according to the American Homeowners Association.

Look for the tell-tale signs of assessment errors:

• Drop in selling prices of homes in the neighborhood.
• Errors in the real estate description on your property tax statement.
• Neighborhood changes that affect all property values such as storm and sewer problems, increased traffic, rezoning, and so on.
• Depreciation of your property, including roof aging, foundation cracks, HVAC needs or other defects.

For more information on property tax information, bookmark www.PropertyTaxAttorney.info

Author: Michael Korbe

A property tax attorney can be an amazing investment in ensuring that you are not overpaying your property taxes.  Why?

Recent values of property and homes have plummeted in some areas across the US, losing an incredible amount of value.  Your property taxes need to reflect that revised value.  When property values are on the rise, does the tax man wait to collect those additional taxes?!  However, when those property values are on the way down, the tax man does not act as quickly to revise your taxes down!

This is where a property tax attorney can assist you, make sure that the assessed value of your property and or home is accurate and assist you in making the appeal to lower your property taxes accordingly.  I recently had a shocking conversation with someone who is a small business owner and very smart, savvy person.  She and her spouse had not yet appealed nor revised their property taxes.  Why?  They simply did not truly understand that they have the power to do so, that knowledge is indeed power, and that getting that reduction could save them a great deal of money over the years until the real estate market makes its much needed turn around.

Most state and local governments are claiming a budget crisis, but a look at tax collection revenues show that they’re certainly not suffering from a lack of financial resources. Examining public records, we find that tax collections are still on the rise. While most of us believe we can’t do much to avoid paying fewer tax dollars, save for cutting out trips to the mall or moving our families to offshore tax havens, there is still the likelihood of reducing our property taxes. In fact, while home values have been falling nationwide, state and local governments are still billing most of us for home values that far exceed realistic market prices. Here’s a look at property tax collections according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and information on how you can exercise your right for a fair property valuation, saving you hundreds or potentially thousands of dollars each year.
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A property tax attorney can assist you in not only understanding what property taxes you should be paying in relation to the value of your home, and help you get your property taxes current, but can also help you to decipher where your taxes go.  Indeed, property taxes, like city property taxes, go toward funding key programs in your area.  We do not advocate eliminating property taxes by any measure, but we do advocate consumers knowing where their money does go, and you have power as a citizen to ensure that your taxes are well spent.

City property taxes are a very important means of collecting much need capital for your local neighborhood or city. Although nobody really likes to pay taxes, we realize that have to, or else we face legal troubles. What many people do not realize, however, is exactly what your city property taxes are used for. And people also fail to realize that without such taxes in place, your city might literally fall to pieces.

One of the biggest things your city property taxes go for is the upkeep and maintenance of your city’s streets and roads. For some areas, road repairs can be a very costly and time consuming job, as well as a huge inconvenience to commuters. But this is a job that is absolutely necessary, however. Without it the roads of our nation’s cities would be lined with potholes and lose stones, all of which can severely damage your car and even increase the risk of crash. So next time you curse your city property taxes, just remember that some of the money will be used to improve some roads that you may drive upon every single day in the city.

A good portion of your city property taxes is also used towards city greening projects, too. Because the nation is becoming more environmentally aware, and we know recognize the need for designated city park areas and adequate green space, more and more funds are being put into the development of such areas in cities all over our great nation. Since it is your tax money that is being used for these projects, you can just consider it your way of helping to save the environment. Isn’t that a much better way of looking at city property taxes?

After this, your city property taxes go to essential city services, as well. Things like keeping the roads clean and clear of snow, ice and road kill, maintaining public restroom facilities and a lot more. Without the revenue generated by city residents paying their property taxes you would find that all roads become a slippery mess in the winter months, and in summer they are littered with rotting meat from all sorts of different small animals. Without workers to take care of such hazards, the roads become even more of a danger to everyone who is driving on them.

City property taxes are also used to maintain sewer lines, electrical lines and telephone lines throughout your neighborhood, too. Without these things you would not be able to flush your own toilet, turn on the light or talk on the phone - and it is quite hard to imagine where we would be without any one of these things, let alone all of them. But by paying your city property taxes on time, telephone and sewer companies can make necessary upgrades to their existing lines, and they can better serve you if a problem does arise.

So while you might not like paying city property taxes, they are essential to the operation of our country. Everybody has to pay them, there are no exceptions - you may as well just grin and bear it.

Author: John Parks

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Parks

If you are making upgrades to your hojme, rental property, condo, or other property you own, you should contact a property tax attorney to see if you should apply for a property tax abatement.  A property tax abatement is an arrangement in which your property taxes are lowered, even though you are making those improvements.    A property tax abatement is basically an incentive to revitalize communities, and with the number of investors and home owners alike scooping up depressed foreclosures, you may qualify for such an abatement if you are making improvements to that property.

You may have heard the term ‘property tax abatement’ and wonder what it’s all about. Basically, to abate something means to reduce (or eliminate) it. So property tax abatement is a short-term or long-term arrangement in which your property taxes are lowered despite your making improvements to the home. Under normal circumstances, when you increase the value of your home, you also raise the taxable value. With abatement, this increase does not occur (or at least not as much). Usually, a waiver is issued as an incentive to encourage town revitalization.

Property tax abatement is offered to owners of homes, condos, duplexes, multiplexes, apartment buildings, and commercial buildings being converted to residential homes. To qualify, the value of your home must be at least 115% of its value prior to remodeling. Abatement isn’t something you will automatically receive. To earn it, you must apply for it. The first step is to contact your local court house, municipality, or town hall and ask them about it. They will have information available, as well as forms for you to fill out. They may also be able to arrange for an assessor to come out and evaluate the value of your home before and after the updates.

If approved, you will have taxes waived on most of your upgrades. These include roof repair, exterior siding, lawn and garden upgrades, driveway repair, room remodeling, resurfacing, plumbing, and electrical repairs. The only thing it doesn’t cover is the addition of actual rooms, showers, porches, and fireplaces. This reduction will stay in effect for as long as your locality provides. Generally, the tax is raised back from its lower rate to the new rate over a period (for example, 5 years). Your locality can provide you with the details.

Keep in mind that even if you are approved, there is no guarantee your taxes won’t go up. It just means they won’t go as high as they otherwise would. You may still see a raise, especially if you make enhancements to your home not covered in the list of improvements eligible for tax abatement. Still, property tax abatement is a nice way to save some money when upgrading your home or residential building.

Author: Matt Murren

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Murren

A property tax attorney can help you ensure that you are indeed paying the right property taxes, especially with the recent impact in housing prices across the US.  Living here in California, I know that I have had to do some work to get my property taxes reduced, as the value of my home plummeted in the explosion of the housing bubble.  The investment you make in the legal counsel of qualified property tax attorneys may save you an incredible amount of money over the years you own the home, and wait for property values to stabilize and rise once again!

Certainly you have heard some variation of the popular statement, “Knowledge is power!” Well, in the context of lowering property taxes on your home, knowledge is power and can translate into some serious money. California property owners can benefit over the next several years with a little knowledge and some capitalistic motivation.

In the state of California, property owners may request a decline-in-value of the assessed value of their home and lower property taxes they pay.

Around every opportunity to save or make money, depending on your perspective, sprouts new entrepreneurial endeavors to capitalize on such an opportunity. I am in full support of businesses being created around a developing need in an economy, but do not believe creating new businesses is always a desirable outcome when a need develops in a market. Instead, I am in full support of individuals proactively capitalizing on these opportunities themselves, especially when our government, of the people, provides a mechanism to do so.

Regarding property tax appeals and reassessment of home values, I encourage a philosophy and practice of do-it-yourself. With a little education and direction, most if not all people would be able to successfully lower property taxes in this real estate market. If you want to learn what needs to be done and how it needs to be done, look up the Property Tax Appeal Copilot. The program is a training workshop for homeowners looking to do-it-yourself. Paying for expensive property tax consultants promising to do what you can do in 2-3 hours is a waste. And waste is abhorred in the field of economics - certainly in these times.

Of all the capitalists out there I consider myself one in the truest form. As such, I am the first to propose that more people become entrepreneurs. What do I mean by this? Well, I am certainly not advocating droves of employees resigning from secure employment to try a risky endeavor for the shear fun of the experience. I am suggesting people become “home entrepreneurs.”

A home entrepreneur endeavors to explore opportunities that arise in the context of home economics. Balancing a checkbook and buying groceries are everyday mundane tasks done in the household, but researching new ways to increase the wealth of your home is the job description of a home entrepreneur. After discovering hidden ways of increasing the wealth of one’s household, a home entrepreneur must educate himself and learn what is necessary before acting. Empowered with knowledge and information, a home entrepreneur can act and benefit from opportunities that such an individual sought out and went after. For example, California homeowners researching the law regarding property decline in value applications for a decrease in property taxes will find with proper knowledge and information, they can increase the wealth of their household tremendously.

Many may argue against my do-it-yourself approach by citing the benefits of delegation and time management. By devoting yourself to work at which you are proficient and well informed you create a value greater than doing work at which you are less proficient or skilled. Under this axiom, one will only do tasks he is skilled and proficient, then delegate tasks to which he is less skilled to others. However, the benefits of a small time and energy commitment on the part of a home entrepreneur with a substantial value have the greatest value before the negative effects of decreasing marginal utility take hold. In regards to property tax reassessment of one’s home, it is far beneficial to do-it-yourself and invest the time and energy to reap the rewards of lower property taxes.

Now you may find yourself asking the question “how do I reduce property taxes on my home, and can I really prepare a profession property tax appeal and be taken seriously?” The answer is “Yes you can! With a little help!” Check out the Property Tax Appeal Copilot program, and find out just how easy it really is to save thousands of dollars of your home this year, and in the coming years.

Author: Robert Wall

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Wall