When should a home owner formally appeal his/her property taxes? How do you know if you should dispute the Assessor’s value? The rule of thumb is really simple. If there is enough savings left for you Read More
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How a home owner paid us $89.00 to save $1,016 on his property taxes in Sacramento County
Friday, September 24th, 2010My $449.02 property tax refund in Sacramento County
Thursday, September 16th, 2010I shared some good news a few weeks back that Sacramento County refunded me $398.96 after I appealed my 2008 property taxes. Well, yesterday another check arrived in the mail for $449.02 for my 2009 property taxes. Read More
My property tax refund of $398.96 from Sacramento County
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010After returning from a camping trip to Shaver Lake this past weekend, I was very happy to find a property tax refund check had come in the mail from Sacramento County. Read More
Success Story: Property Taxes lowered by $200,000
Saturday, July 24th, 2010We had great news this week again in that a property owner we helped last December just got word that the Sacramento County Assessor has agreed Read More
2010 Property Assessments are posted by Sacramento County
Thursday, July 8th, 2010We wanted to let you know that the Sacramento County Assessor posted updated 2010 property values on their website yesterday. You ought to have a look at the link below to see if they have assessed Read More
When are new 2010 property tax assessments coming out in Sacramento & Placer County?
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010If you live anywhere in the Greater Sacramento Region and you’re wondering how to lower your property taxes, you’ve come to the right place. Here is our advice though. Read More
Common Questions about Property Taxes in Sacramento County & Beyond
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
Home owners and real estate agents ask us property tax questions all the time, so we figured it would be helpful to make a video Read More
Do you need help preparing for your tax appeal hearing?
Monday, April 12th, 2010Maybe you appealed your taxes on your own and now you have a formal appeals hearing coming up. Do you need some help? We’d be glad to answer Read More
Success Story: Taxes Lowered by $36,622
Monday, April 12th, 2010Hi Everyone. It’s Ryan here and I wanted to let you know some good news. I am very pleased to have learned last week that the Sacramento County Assessor reduced my property taxes by $36,622 Read More
Looking Back on a Sacramento Fourplex
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
Looking at the sales history of a property can be very telling. In fact, you can often get clues into the happenings of the real estate market. Here is an interesting sales history for a Sacramento fourplex I came across in the course of a current assignment I’m working on. This is not at all atypical because the market for residential-income properties really boomed in Sacramento (and then it fell hard too).
7/25/2000 – $110,000 sale
7/16/2002 – $278,000 sale
8/18/2004 – $435,000 sale
2/10/2005 – $459,000 sale
9/08/2008 – $377,500 sale (maybe a short sale – did not list in MLS)
5/01/2009 – $104,250 (transfer to bank – foreclosure)
7/13/2009 – $140,000 sale
What do you see? Does anything stand out to you? Let me know if you have any questions about the local real estate market or your neighborhoood. With the decline of property values in the Sacramento Region, it makes it very important to keep make sure that the Assessor reconciles their assessed value to a consistent level of true market value (it’s not always the same – at all).
The Assessor’s Value vs. True Market Value
Monday, November 16th, 2009This is a graph I put together earlier today for a home owner as part of the total package for appealing his property taxes. Read More
The Bursting of the Duplex Market in Sacramento
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009Do you remember several years ago in the Sacramento area when duplexes were selling for $400,000-$500,000+ like it was nothing? Well, the housing bubble burst and the residential-income market came crashing down along with everything else.
The graph below displays all sales in Sacramento County for duplex properties. I know, Sacramento County is an enormous territory, but sometimes viewing large ares helps to see an overall trend.
What do you notice when looking at all duplex sales in Sacramento county? It seems the bulk of sales are well under $300,000, and that the median sales price level easily lost $200,000 or more over the past three years. Ouch. There certainly are an enormous portion of sales between $100,000 to $200,000 too, aren’t there?
Let’s take a closer look at a specific area in Sacramento by viewing sales in North Sacramento in the 95815 and 95838 zip codes. No, that’s not a ski slope, but a trend graph of all duplex sales.
It’s interesting to see what looks like two markets at hand above: One market below $100,000 and another market hovering between $150,000-$175,000. Market segmentation (bifurcation) is common depending on condition, location, size, or even the nature of the sale – short sale vs foreclosure vs typical arms-length transaction.
One more. What’s happened in the city of Rancho Cordova’s duplex market over the past thirty six months? No surprises. It looks similar to the graphs above.
When it comes to duplexes in Rancho Cordova and surrounding areas of Sacramento, the majority of recent sales are reo properties (bank-owned). For example, in a recent duplex appraisal I just completed in a Sacramento neighborhood, 84% of all duplex sales over the past 12 months within this neighborhood were REO sales and 10% of all sales were Short Sales. It’s not an easy market when 94% of all sales carry some level of distress.
Contact me at 916-595-3735 or info@SacramentoTaxAppeals.com if you have any questions.
www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com The Bursting of the Duplex Market in Sacramento
What is the relationship between home values and unemployment? A look at Rancho Cordova
Thursday, October 8th, 2009I thought it would be interesting to take a look at Rancho Cordova sales over the past several years and simulataneously check out unemployment rates during that same time period. Is there a relationship between unemployment and the value of real estate? Generally speaking, the higher the unemployment rate, there is a good chance of lower home prices because the probability of buyers being able to purchase houses at higher prices decreases.
The trend graph below records all single family detached sales in the city of Rancho Cordova through Sacramento Area Metrolist. The unemployment figures are based on data provided by EDD. What do you see in the graph? Does anything stand out to you or surprise you about the sales (blue dots) or listed unemployment rate?
Below is a view of the past 12 months of sales. As can be seen, the unemployment rate has risen sharply over the past year. It looks like overall the top of the market has seen a decline in property values. At first glance, when viewing a graph like this, it’s easy to gloss over the details, but when looking closely, it’s clear that there are less sales at higher levels over the past months, aren’t there? More specifically, there are few sales above the $400,000 level over the past 180 days.
I don’t want to be misleading in any way by indicating that the unemployment rate is the sole determining factor for property values. That’s not what I am saying. I think there is a relationship between unemployment and the housing market, but that unemployment is only one of the factors involved. This point is illustrated perfectly by a current phenomenon in many sub-markets in the Sacramento Region. Bidding wars, multiple offers, and higher prices have become more commonplace for certain price levels. Despite unemployment rising, the lower supply of housing inventory over the past months has really helped to fuel this phenomenon because there have been more willing buyers than available houses (and prices are very attractive too because of how far they have come down from several years ago). Other factors to consider that may impact the real estate market are supply and demand, governmental regulations, interest rates, consumer confidence in the economy, etc…
Keeping an eye on the market and being in touch with local trends is all a part of the package for putting together very strong property tax appeals. Please let us know if you have any questions. You can call 916-595-3735 or email info@SacramentoTaxAppeals.com.
http://www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com What is the relationship between home values and unemployment? A look at Rancho Cordova
When is the deadline for appealing property taxes? (watch our video)
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009Here is 40-second video we put together that shows all the specific dates for property tax appeal deadlines for counties we serve. The ten local counties we provide service for in the Greater Sacramento Region have an appeal deadline of either September 15 or November 30. See the video HERE or watch below.
NOTE: If the Assessor sent you a letter and specified a certain appeals deadline for your property, whether commercial or residential, then disregard the deadlines in this video and stick with what your local Assessor said.
http://www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com When is the deadline for appealing property taxes? (watch our video)
Reminder: When is the deadline for appealing property taxes in various counties? (Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Sutter, Yuba, Solano)
Monday, August 31st, 2009
The deadline for appealing property taxes in the following counties in the Greater Sacramento Region will be here very soon (especially in Placer County). Please have a look at the information below and let us know if you have any questions. We are available to help home owners understand the property tax assessment and appeals process, and to assist home owners in disputing their property taxes if it makes good economic sense for them.
County / Deadline for Formally Appealing Property Taxes
- El Dorado County (November 30, 2009)
- Merced County (November 30, 2009)
- Placer County (November 30, 2009)
- San Joaquin County (November 30, 2009)
- Sacramento County (November 30, 2009)
- Solano County (November 30, 2009)
- Stanislaus County (November 30, 2009)
- Sutter County (September 15 if they sent you a letter in the mail, but otherwise November 30, 2009)
- Yolo County (November 30, 2009)
- Yuba County (November 30, 2009)
You can visit our website at http://www.sacramentotaxappeals.com/, call us at 916-595-3735 or email us at info@SacramentoTaxAppeals.com so we can look into your situation and figure out if appealing your property taxes looks like a good move for you this year. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
http://www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com Reminder: When is the deadline for appealing property taxes in various counties? (Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Sutter, Yuba, Solano)
