Cobb County 2014 Tax Assessment Notices are out.

Cobb County mailed out their 2014 real estate tax assessment notices on April 18, 2014. The deadline to file an appeal is June 2, 2014. Cobb County is a difficult place to obtain a reduction in a fair market value and I highly suggest hiring a professional, like myself, or another tax rep to represent you regarding your property tax appeal. I’ve got 20 years experience appealing assessments and if I feel like I can help you, I will. Please contact me at 404-218-7874 or email me at info@taxappealatlanta.com and I’ll review your situation and let you know if it’s worth hiring me to do it for you. Please visit my website at http://www.taxappealatlanta.com for additional information. Thanks.

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When buying real property, the sale price affects the property taxes one pays

When one purchases a property, if it is after January 1 of whatever tax year, the owner name of record as of January 1 will receive the assessment notice and the property tax bill.  If a buyer closes out on the property say February 28 of that tax year, the seller is responsible for the first two months worth of taxes and the buyer is responsible for the rest of the year’s property taxes, which will be 10 months.  The lawyer’s office will prorate all of this out and it will be listed on the HUD closing sheet. 

Let’s say that the property the buyer is purchasing is a house that sells for $600,000.  And let’s consider that the seller, had bought the house a couple of years earlier for $400,000 and then renovated the kitchen and the bathroom, and at the time of the sale, his fair market value for tax purposes was $400,000.  After the buyer pays $600,000 for that house, the following year, his or her tax value / assessment is going to be put at the sale price, so his or her taxes are going to increase fifty percent. 

Many people don’t do the due diligence when buying property, and then once they go to the closing and see that the taxes are “X” amount, they figure that the taxes will stay that amount and then all of a sudden the following year, they have to come up with the additional money for the taxes. So be sure and look up the tax value of whatever property one is buying and take in to consideration that the county assessor’s office will pick up the sale and place the tax value at the sale price.

If anyone has any questions or comments about property taxes, or property tax appeals, please email me at info@taxappealatlanta.com or call me, Rob Vinson, at 404-218-7874.  Also, check out my website at www.taxappealatlanta.com

 

2014 Gwinnett County Assessment notices are out.

The 2014 Gwinnett County real property assessment notices were mailed today. May 19, 2014 is deadline to file appeals. If you would like professional representation regarding this matter, please contact me via email at info@taxappealatlanta.com or call me, Rob Vinson at 404-218-7874. Also visit my website at http://www.taxappealatlanta.com. Thank you.

Douglas County GA Tax Assessors, Douglas County GA Board of Assessors

I filed two appeals in Douglas County for tax year 2013. I don’t work there very often and hadn’t had an appeal there in ten years, until filing those two appeals last year. I finally had one of the 2013 real tax appeals, on a small retail strip center, on February 4, 2014. I was able to get the fair market value reduced at the Douglas County Board of Equalization. I was able to get the fair market value reduced from $998,000 to $750,000 based on the income approach to value. The Douglas County assessors don’t employ the income approach to derive their commercial values, even though it is 2014, and even though most other metro county assessor’s offices use that approach. No, Douglas County is in the stone age and uses the cost approach to value its’ properties and occassionally they will use the sales approach. After I conducted the board of equalization hearing, and won it, I saved my client $3,800.00. About a 24% reduction in the 13′ fair market value, meaning they will be receiving a refund too. Well, last week, the Douglas County Board of Assessors filed our results to court. They have the right to do so, just like the taxpayer does as well, but this is the first time in 20 years of doing tax appeals that a county has filed suit on the results of me obtaining a reduction in the value at a board of equalization hearing. So the chief appraiser called me after I left him a message last week and mentioned that the next step is that their attorney would be mailing me a letter to set up a hearing for mediation and that hopefully this could all be amicably worked out without going to court. I bet so…after asking around to some of my colleagues, Douglas County has been doing this for years when it loses at the board of equalization and they do this to re-coup some of the fair market value on the real estate, thus bringing in more tax money….to pay for the taj mahal county office buildings and improvements they erected prior to the real estate market going in the tank. So, now I’ll have to go through with this process and see where it takes me. I’m inclined not to work out the value and I’m inclined to have a 12 man jury trial in Douglas County, to expose the bully attitude of the assessor’s office. Surely the courts could be better used for matters other than real estate tax appeals. If anyone has had the same thing happen to them in Douglas County, I’d like to hear about it. Please email me, Rob Vinson, info@taxappealatlanta.com, or call me at 404-218-7874 to further discuss it. Also, 2014 real estate assessment notices will be out in the next few months. If you would like for me to analyze your property tax situation for free, please contact me. Thank you!

The 2013 Fulton County Assessment notices are out.

The Fulton County Board of Assessor’s Office finally mailed out their 2013 assessment notices.  If anyone feels like his or her property is over assessed, contact me for a free property tax situation analysis.  I’ll let you know whether the value is out of line or not and whether it’s worth appealing.  The appeal deadline in Fulton County is July 30, 2013.  Please call me, Rob Vinson, at 404-218-7874, or email me at info@taxappealtlanta.com or visit my website, www.taxappealatlanta.com.

 

Dekalb assessment notices are out

The Dekalb notices are out for tax year 2013. If you or anyone you know needs their property tax situation reviewed, please contact me, Rob Vinson, at info@taxappealatlanta.com or call me at 404-218-7874.

2013 Gwinnett County notices are out.

Gwinnett County mailed out the bulk of their tax year 2013 assessment notices on April 5. The deadline to file appeals on these notices is May 20. If anyone would like help appealing their assessment (s) please contact me so I can review the property tax situation on your parcel (s). I’ll let you know if its worth pursuing or not. Email me at info@taxappealatlanta.com, or call me, Rob Vinson, at 404-218-7874. My website is http://www.taxappealatlanta.com.

2013 Real tax appeals, just right around the corner

In just a couple of short months, all 159 counties in GA will be issuing their tax year 2013 property tax assessment notices. Real estate has picked up some, but we are not “out of the woods” by any means. If you feel like your property taxes are too high and want to do something about it, please contact me and let me review the situation for you and let you know if I feel like we would have a good chance at obtaining a reduction in the value, thus saving you money. When a fair market value is established at a board of equalization, that value holds for the year appealed, plus the following two years, so the savings really compound. Please email me at info@taxappealatlanta.com or call me at 404-218-7874 for more information.

2012 Dekalb County Board of Equalization

I had my first appeal of the season at Dekalb County, for tax year 2012, yesterday morning. The process seems more formal this year than in years past.  The appraiser representing the county was very young and the three comparables that he selected to use were all valued less per square foot than my subject property was.  So in addition to showing the seven sales I found, I pointed out the fact that the county selected three sales that were valued less than we were so clearly we were overvalued.  I saved my client $985.00, so he was happy.  The value that I obtained yesterday will remain the same for the next two years, so the total tax savings is $2,955 less my one time fee.  If anyone needs professional representation pertaining to his or her tax appeal, please contact me, Rob Vinson, at 404-218-7874 or emai me at info@taxappealatlanta.com or check out my website at www.taxappealatlanta.com.

Cobb County Board of Equalization

I went and had a tax year 2012 residential appeal at the Cobb County Board of Equalization, yesterday, and unfortunately it didn’t go too well. Right from the start, a particular board member, on board 2, was very combative towards me and just nasty acting. I could tell early on that they weren’t going to make an adjustment to my value, as is typical there because they all seem to be in the “back pocket” of the chief appraiser Phil Hogshed, and the assessor’s office. So, after receiving the “rubber stamp” no change to the value, as I was leaving, I let the nasty board member on board 2 know that I would be filing this matter to superior court, and I got the man’s name and told him I would be contacting his boss, the clerk of court Jay Stephenson, as soon as I got in my car, and he would be hearing from him later on in the day. Mr. Stephenson is over the entire board of equalization, which is supposed to be independent of the assessor’s office, but really doesn’t seem to act like it. Anyway, Mr. Stephenson did check in to the matter and the board member lied to Mr. Stephenson and he basically got off with just a complaint letter in his file. I thanked Mr. Stephenson for checking into the matter and let him know that the board member was lying to him, but I didn’t have proof because I didn’t record what was said and neither did the board member. Many people who go to these hearings get rail roaded and treated bad and they don’t know who to turn to to complain about it. Well, I do know who to turn to and If I have a negative experience with a board I go straight to the top and let them know about it.  I have done over 2,000 hearings in my career, so I’ve occassionally had to contact the person in charge of the various b.o.e’s.  By doing so, It helps get the attitude of the rogue board member under control.  I typically see them again in the future if I’m working in whatever county and of the ones I’ve had problems with in the past, they always seem to act a little nicer to me after they get their “talking to.” If anyone feels like he or she wasn’t treated with respect, or if they feel like they didn’t get a fair shake because the board of equalization seemed to be on the county’s side, then contact me and let me know about it. I can point you in the right direction as to where one would need to go to vent and maybe get something done. Also, it doesn’t cost anything to file an appeal to court in Cobb County, so always file it to court and that will get you an informal meeting with the assessor’s office and typically something can get worked out in lieu of going to a jury trial. Also, you don’t have to be an attorney to file an appeal to court. If anyone has questions or comments about property tax appeals, please contact me at info@taxappealatlanta.com or call me, Rob Vinson, 404-218-7874.