This particular home owner contacted us literally a couple of days before the deadline to dispute property taxes last year. It’s a good thing he reached out to us. Otherwise that $2,000 check would never be coming his way.

As a side note, when an appeal is filed and the Assessor ends up agreeing with the appeal, they’ll send you a “Tax Change Withdrawal of Application for Changed Assessment.” Basically this means they are asking you to formally agree to the new opinion of assessed value and simultaneously withdraw your appeal. Usually home owners we help have some questions here because nobody wants to sign something they are unfamiliar with, but we tell people to sign off if the value looks good. There is no reason to keep the appeal in process or pursue an appeals hearing if the Assessor has already agreed with the accurate value we presented to them.

We’ve had so many stories like this and we expect many more for 2010 property taxes. Let us know if you have any questions. If it looks like the Assessor has valued your property too high, we are glad to help you. We are honest and we do a good job. Call us at 916.595.3735 or email info@SacramentoTaxAppeals.com.

Before you make a decision to hire someone to help you reduce your property taxes (including our tax appeal company), wait until new assessments come out to determine if there is a real savings to be had. If you live in Sacramento or Placer County, for example, the Assessor has not yet posted their latest assessments yet, so it doesn’t make much sense to dispute your taxes until you know what their assessment is going to be for 2010.

Why are we telling you this? Because we are committed to being honest with you about the property tax appeals process and how you can save money. If it looks like the Assessor has your value wrong, we are glad to partner with you to help the Assessor understand true market value. Our company’s fees are very reasonable too. On the other hand, if it looks like the Assessor has your property assessed accurately, you don’t need to do a thing.

If you want us to send you an email reminder when new assessments come out, click “contact” in the upper right hand corner of this page (or fill out the sidebar to the right), and we’ll get in touch with you soon. For now, if you have any questions about appealing your property taxes, or if there is anything we can do for you, let us know. Thank you.

By the way, the Sacramento County Assessor’s Office typically publishes their new assessments in the month of May, but right now they are expecting to get this information out at the very beginning of July. You can expect Placer County to get their information out in July also.

Sacramento Region Property Tax Appeals
TEL: 916.595.3735
FAX: 916.361.1964
www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com
info@SacramentoTaxAppeals.com

NOTE: This advice is good for a traditional “decline in value” tax appeal only (it’s not applicable to a base year appeal or calamity reassessment….).

Let’s take a look at the Tahoe Park area of Sacramento. What are the boundaries to Tahoe Park? As you may know, the Tahoe Park neighborhood is comprised of four sections as shown below.

Let’s think further about the neighborhood boundaries above. If you are local, do you see any big value differences between some of the bordering areas such as Tallac Village, Colonial Heights, Elmhurst, Oak Park or UC Med Center? Some of these portions are competitive or more similar to each other, but others are VERY different neighborhoods despite sharing a street border such as Stockton Blvd.

What sort of boundaries have you seen make a big difference in real estate values in the real estate market? Maybe you’re thinking of a certain dividing street, a freeway, or a newly constructed subdivision in the midst of an older tract. And do you think the Assesor has taken into consideration these important boundaries when assessing your Sacramento area property?

Feel free to contact us with any real estate questions and insight into property taxes. We’re here to help. 916.595.3735.

* Data is based on Sacramento MLS for all single family detached properties in Sacramento.

You be the appraiser here. What do you see in the trend graphs below when looking at the past years of sales? Is there anything you notice to be different or similar when comparing the two graphs? Do you think the Sacramento County Assessor has kept in touch with declining property values in the Anatolia neighborhood of Rancho Cordova? If you are a home owner, please speak on.

Past three years of sales:

Past one year of sales: 

Common Questions Covered in the Video: When is the best month to appeal property taxes in Sacramento or another local county? What date does the Assessor base my property value on? Why is it not a good idea to respond to the “reduce your taxes” mailers in February and March? When do new assessed values come out in Sacramento and surrounding counties like Placer? Why does the Assessor have a positive publicity campaign before releasing new assessed values? When is the deadline for disputing property taxes?

Please see www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com for additional information and let us know if you have any questions. You can use the “Contact” page on the website to let us know about your property so we can do FREE research to determine if there is any potential savings for you on your property tax bill. You may also call 916-595-3735, or email info@SacramentoTaxAppeals.com. Thank you.

Keep in mind also that there is a good chance the Assessor’s office will mail you a letter or call you to attempt to bargain with you. For example, maybe the Assessor had your property valued at $300,000, but you said it was worth $225,000. So then they come back to say they’ll “lower” your property taxes to $275,000. Their “lowering” might sound generous, but if your property was over-assessed in the first place, then there is really no generosity here at all.

We serve the following counties: Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Solano, Sutter, Yuba, and Merced.

Call 916-595-3735 or email info@SacramentoTaxAppeals.com. We are glad to help you.

This is not a huge sum of money. There are certainly clients that will save $10,000+ because of the work my company provides. Yet at the same time, every dollar counts and I’d much rather save $350 than relinquish my hard-earned money to the local Assessor.

The wild thing is that these were property taxes for 2008. I turned in the Application for Changed Assessment in November 2009 and the Assessor just got back to me about these taxes last week - sixteen months later. Despite the unfortunate delay in getting a refund, had I not formally appealed these taxes, I would not be getting a check in the mail. Besides, I appeal every year I need to, so I should be getting a refund every year, so there is a pattern and sense of normalcy in the midst of waiting.

If you think you are a good candidate for lowering your property taxes, then it’s important to take action before the deadline for appealing property taxes comes (that’s either September 15 or November 30 depending on which county you live in).

I’m happy to answer any questions. Give me a call at 916-595-3735 or shoot me an email at ryan@SacramentoTaxAppeals.com.