Just found this in a Register article. If you were going to send in a request for a reassessment, check this out first. It says you can either enter your address or parcel number. The parcel number worked for me but the address did not. Your parcel number is on your property tax bill. It’s worth checking out to save some time. Looks like my property taxes will go down again (hey, at least there’s a positive in declining property values!).

Is my property being reassessed?

All it told me was “Yes, the Assessor will review this property this year”.
Still have to wait till July to see how much, if any, they will drop it

halfnote19 - 14 April 2009 08:43 AM

All it told me was “Yes, the Assessor will review this property this year”.
Still have to wait till July to see how much, if any, they will drop it

Yes, but at least you don’t have to fill out the assessment request and get comps.

IE has already use the automatic property reassessment, if you do not agree with the outcome which just about everyone, you can schedule a hearing which will takes up to 6 months or longer.

If your property isn’t up for review, you also have until the end of the month to file an informal request.  It’s just a one page form and provide 3 comps.  It’s not nearly as detailed as the formal review process that begins later in the year and doesn’t require any documentation.  Just go to Redfin, find 3 sales you want to use and list the address, parcel number, sale date, and sale price.

I sent in the informal request anyway because I know whatever number they come back with won’t be as low as true comps.

If your property is not up for assessment or you just want to do it anyway, here is the form acpme is talking about:

Request for Informal Review

Just got my property tax valuation today. They chose to reduce it 38% from last year. Good news for me but it’s a bit crazy that they went this far especially since they dropped it 25% last year. It’s another 2K savings for me this year. They are valuing my house at about 200K less than it would list for right now. Like I said, fine by me, I’m not going anywhere.

tmare - 03 July 2009 01:33 PM

Just got my property tax valuation today. They chose to reduce it 38% from last year. Good news for me but it’s a bit crazy that they went this far especially since they dropped it 25% last year. It’s another 2K savings for me this year. They are valuing my house at about 200K less than it would list for right now. Like I said, fine by me, I’m not going anywhere.

Got mine today too.  At least some people are getting nice reductions.  Mine came in at 7% less this year…from 10% less last year.  The assessment is still about 80-90% of recent sales of similar floorplans, so I guess I have nothing to complain about.

Got a notice from the LAC tax assessor a week ago that they will not be reducing my basis (I thought it kind of odd they would send a notice to tell me that).  And based on sales comps I can’t dispute it…yet.  Looks like my house is worth a hair above what I paid for it in 2003.  That will likely change before the end of the year; it will be worth a good deal less than what I paid by the time we bottom.  My mortgage is around rental parity though, so I can’t really complain.  And the more I “lose” on this place, the cheaper my next place becomes.

From what I can determine with my place, they have gone back to 1999 prices. I’m not sure what type of data they used for this, possibly comparable sales. Fortunately for me, there really aren’t any comparable sales in my neighborhood in the past year. I have one of very few double lots and my house is about 750 sq. ft. larger than the average in the neighborhood and the comp’s are all small house/small yard properties. While I fully expect my house to go down in value to what I owe on it, I didn’t expect the property values to reflect this so quickly.

I sent in the informal request because their automatic reduction last year was a total joke. They had valued it 30% more than what we paid for it, so I wasn’t expecting them to lower it from what we bought it for. They gave us a 6.75% reduction from our purchase price this year, which is higher than what I had suggested and higher than any of the comps this year. I’m not complaining though… just happy to get a reduction.

As far as when the last time this house was valued at what they are assessing it, in nominal terms it would be early spring 2003.

yeah ours came back 20% less in quail hill…but does this mean it can go back up automatically?

almon - 05 July 2009 10:25 AM

yeah ours came back 20% less in quail hill…but does this mean it can go back up automatically?

It can go back up to original purchase price + 2% a year should the market miraculously rebound, but I truly wouldn’t worry about that in the near or even distant future.

tmare - 05 July 2009 10:38 AM

almon - 05 July 2009 10:25 AM

yeah ours came back 20% less in quail hill…but does this mean it can go back up automatically?

It can go back up to original purchase price + 2% a year should the market miraculously rebound, but I truly wouldn’t worry about that in the near or even distant future.

When people buy near the bottom, at first, it will not look like they have it any better than peak buyers taxwise, but when prices go back up, properties taxes on the peak buyer’s properties will go up with prices. Many people will be really pissed when that happens because they will be used to the lower tax bills.

Mine dropped 30k this year.  They now value my townhouse at 10k less than what I paid for it in 2002.