GrieveTax

The first thing to understand is that Assessed Value is not the same as Market Value. Towns differ in what they use to determine taxes. Some Towns use Assessed Value while others use Full Market Value. The first step is to determine what the Assessor thinks is your Fair Market Value.

"Fair Market Value is an estimate of the market value of a property, based on what a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured buyer."

We will sit down with you to gather all the necessary details about your property's assessment and make sure that we are looking at what the Assessor thinks your property is worth. It may not always be what you think is printed on your Real Estate Tax Bill.

Once we know what the Assessor think the Fair Market Value is of your property, we will do our own investigation to determine in our opinion your property's Fair Market Value. This is important so that we can determine if you have grounds for filing a grievance complaint about your Assessment. The most basic grievance complaint is that the property is subject to what is called an “Unequal Assessment”. This cause of action is based upon the idea that comparable properties have a lower assessment and thus will pay lower taxes than you.

Essentially, a claim of “Unequal Assessment” is based on the contention that the Assessor has over-estimated the Fair Market Value of your property compared to other similar properties in your local area. If the Assessor has over-valued your property compared to the other properties, you’ll have a higher assessment than those properties. This means you will have an “Unequal Assessment" and therefore will be paying a high tax. In order to prove this claim, we need to show that the Fair Market Value of your property is actually lower than the Assessor’s determination.

If we determine that the Assessor has over-valued your property compared to similar properties, then we should have good grounds to complete a grievance complaint on your behalf.

We perform four major reviews to determine if your property may be over-valued by the Assessor. These reviews are detailed below.

If you purchased the property in the last few years in an arms-length transaction involving a seller that was not under duress, you have a good baseline valuation for the property. We will compare the purchase price to what we have determined to be the Assessors determination of Fair Market Value for your property.

If we determine that the Assessor has over-valued your property compared to similar properties, then we should have good grounds to complete a grievance complaint on your behalf.

If you purchased or refinanced the property in the past few years, you will likely have received an appraisal on the property. This is an excellent baseline valuation for the property. We may have to make adjustments to the valuation of the property for things like improvements you have made, rent adjustments, and changes in the market in the last few years. We will compare that to the Assessors determination of Fair Market Value for your property.

If we determine that the Assessor has over-valued your property compared to similar properties, then we should have good grounds to complete a grievance complaint on your behalf.

We use a mix of public records and real estate data to identify comparable sales of properties similar to yours to arrive at a Fair Market Value of your property. With more than 30 years in the real estate business we can gather recent comparable sales that may otherwise be difficult to assemble. Here again we will have to make adjustments on a case by case basis as all properties differ in size, quality and configuration. With more than 30 years in the real estate we know how to make those adjustments so as to compare apples to apples. We will compare that to what we have determined to be the Assessors determination of Fair Market Value for your property.

If we determine that the Assessor has over-valued your property compared to similar properties, then we should have good grounds to complete a grievance complaint on your behalf.

In the case of commercial properties, value is regularly determined based mostly upon economics. The more profitable your investment, the higher the value. In these cases we have to analyze your property utilizing the Income and Expense approach to determine its Fair Market Value. Here again we are experience at analyzing a wide range of types properties including investment properties, commercial real estate and industrial properties. We will compare our result to what we have determined to be the Assessors determination of Fair Market Value for your property.

If we determine that the Assessor has over-valued your property compared to similar properties, then we should have good grounds to complete a grievance complaint on your behalf.

If we determine that the Assessor has over-valued your property compared to similar properties, we will work with you to complete each section of the property tax grievance form(s) to ensure that they are filled it out correctly and completely. Additionally, we will prepare the various supporting documentation to show the Assessor that we believe your property is over-assessed and why. Once the complaint is prepared and completed, we'll confirm with our partner attorneys and appraisers to make sure that they are on board with the complain, its form and content before submitting it to the Assessors office.

We will prepare a detailed cover letter to be submitted with the complaint in support of your grievance complaint.

We have tried and true cover letters and supporting documentation formats that make it clear an concise for the Assessor to begin reviewing your grievance complaint. We ask our partner appraisers and attorneys to review each complaint so that your complaint doesn't complicate their future efforts if we get turned down on our first attempt.