Final Update – Property Reappraisal Challenges 2013

I began this journey almost one year ago on March 31, 2013.  It started when I received my property reappraisal letters from our local property assessor.  Here in Tennessee, property assessors have to reappraise all properties every four years to adjust values due to fluctuations in the real estate market.

Due to the continuing weakness of the real estate market following the collapse of the bubble in 2008/2009, I was expecting an overall decline in value.  Imagine my surprise and shock when the property assessor actually proposed an overall $500,000 increase in value!

No way was that going to stand!  The assessor was just plain wrong and I was not going to take a $15,000+ hit in property taxes every year because if it.  I challenged the property assessor on many of my reappraised values and I wrote about that process here, here and here.

How did all of that it come out?

It came out well.  That $500,000 increase was reversed and worked out to an approximately $5,000 decline in overall value.  You can fight city hall sometimes!

So what have I learned by going through this?

• Be Prepared – You have to sharpen your pencil and do your homework to justify your opinion of a property’s value.  You cannot just walk in and say the value should be X without justification.  I saw many do this and just get turned away.  Being prepared means you have to use solid comps of actual sales in the immediate area of similar properties.  If you do not have access to some sort of property sales database, get one.  Also, ask the assessor what comps they used to justify their value.  It is public record, they have to tell you.  Knowing their data can give you a real leg up later on.

• Take Pictures – Take lots of them.  Take pictures of the property inside and out, adjacent properties, the street view, whatever you think might help your case.  Make copies and hand them out at your hearings.  They really do help explain your position.

• The Process Will be Frustrating at Times – There will be many layers to go through.  Hearings with this person, meetings with that person, collecting data, phone calls, etc.  You will get frustrated at the bureaucracy.  Keep the goal in mind.

• Stick to Your Guns – You are a real estate investor; you know what the value of your property is.  After all, we investors have to know what the values are or we would go bankrupt.  Plus, after you have done your homework, you have the data to back you up.  Don’t take any deals.  Stick with it.

• Persistence Pays Off – Throughout the appeal process, the assessor’s office tried to make deals (which makes me wonder about their original appraisal in the first place but that is another story).  Sometimes they would see things my way and we would agree.  Other times they would suggest meeting me halfway.  No way!  Keep going forward.  Eventually they will often come around.  I only had to take one property all the way through the process (where I won!) so be persistent.

• It Will Take a While – Remember, I started this process almost one year ago. My last update was on June 23, 2013.  I just finished everything up last week.  They are in no hurry to give you a tax refund and there is nothing you can do to speed the process up.  Just be patient and ready when your time comes. 

Let me wrap this post up by saying that this process was not difficult and I think anyone can do it.  Give it a shot next time you buy a property that you think your local assessor has overvalued.  Finally, let me give a plug to the staff at the assessor’s office.  They were at all times cordial, helpful and never adversarial.  I do appreciate that.