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Find Out How YOU Can Save Money
By Lowering Your Real Estate Tax Assessment!
The Real
Estate Assessment Appeal Process doesn't have to be complicated
or difficult. Below we will try to inform and help you
through this process to appeal your tax assessment for
Allegheny County.
Please read the TIP at bottom.
Additional
information is available under Assessment
Info and
Allegheny County Assessment
information.
"The best way to win an assessment appeal hearing is with a certified appraisal. "
-- John Weinstein, Allegheny County Treasurer
- Source: KDKA Apr.26, 2002 6:06 pm
What is
Real Estate Tax?
Real Estate tax is a tax that is levied on every
parcel of land and piece of property (Real Estate)
in the state of Pennsylvania. There are 3 separate
taxes. Each tax is assessed a millage rate which is
used to calculate each property's tax liability. The
3 separate taxes consist of Local Municipality,
Local School and Local County taxes of which the
property is located within. In Allegheny County,
these assessment values were derived
through various methods. After all data and
information has been collected, verified and
reviewed, the County then creates their
determination of your property's value.
How Would This Affect
Me?
It is through their (County authority) determination of the value of
your property that your tax liability either
increases, decrease's or remains the same for the
following year. It is the home owners responsibility
to appeal their tax assessment if they feel that the
Fair
Market Value for their property is less than the
local County authority says it is worth.
How
Do I Calculate My Property Tax?
For instance, if your home has a new assessed value of $100,000 and your municipality has set a new millage rate of 5 mills, your property tax bill would be $500. Here's how you would calculate your tax bill:
(1) First, convert the millage rate to its decimal equivalent to make the multiplication easier. [ 5 mills X .001 = .005 ]
(2) Then, multiply your new assessed value ($100,000) by the decimal equivalent of the millage rate (.005) to determine your tax bill. [$100,000 X .005 = $500]
How
Do I Find Out What My Assessment Is?
Your yearly tax bill should have your total tax assessment located on
it. Also you can find information on your property
within the Allegheny County (regionally the only
County presently available) website. Allegheny
County Website.
How Can I
Appeal My Tax Assessment?
This is where you need to do your homework. First thing is to know the
filling deadline to appeal your assessment.
Historically this is April 30 of any given year
(this can change). You
then need to decide if you want to appeal your
assessment. If you do, you need to fill out an assessment
appeal form and send it in to the County
authority prior to their deadline. Also, Allegheny
County advises that any homeowner wanting to appeal
their property assessment should hire a Certified
appraiser to perform an appraisal on their
property.
What if I'm Not Sure
I Should Appeal?
We here at Bostedo Appraisal Services can help You
determine the right course of action to be taken. With information You supply us,
we can consult You over the phone as to whether or not it would be advisable to
have a full appraisal done on Your property. Our initial consultation is free and
with no obligation to help You determine the right path.
Additionally, some neighborhoods have declined in
value since the 2002 base year period and especially
since the latest downturn in our economy. If you
feel your home is worth less today than it was worth
as of January 1, 2002, you may want to consider
appealing your assessment. Properties that have
dropped in value below the 2002 base year value may
be appealed by the property owner.
What Next?
To order an appraisal or to find out if You should appeal your
tax assessment (order
appraisal), please fill out as much
information as possible on our order page and click the "SUBMIT ORDER"
button at the bottom of the form. We will be in contact with You shortly to
confirm the order and to get any additional information that may be needed.
The only fees required would be for a full appraisal of Your property if
after consultation it were deemed warranted. If after consultation You feel You
want to proceed with the process of appealing your tax assessment we offer Quick Turnaround and Quality Services
that any client would appreciate.
TIP:
If and when you decide to have an appraisal
performed on your property to appeal your tax
assessment, make sure you give yourself and the
appraiser enough time to make an appointment with
you and also prepare the appraisal report. With the
30-40 year low in interest rates coupled with the
large amount of Allegheny County assessment appeals,
you don't want to find that you can't find an
appraiser. Once you receive the notice from the
County the hearing is already scheduled.
Historically this is only approximately a 1-2 week
advanced notice.
Hire an appraiser prior to being notified
of a hearing date to ensure your appeal will
go smoothly and you will not run into a worst case
scenario, your appeal being dismissed due to the
lack of information needed to fight your assessment!
According to Allegheny County Office of Property
Assessment, all residential appeals will have a 14
day window and commercial appeals a 30 day window.
These dates are usually from when the notice is
mailed which lessens the time period for the
property owner. Generally, an appraiser may not have
enough time to complete a report within this time
frame due to previous commitments to other clients
(lenders) and possibly weekends.
Additional Links Below:
Should
I
appeal
my
tax
assessment?
Court Ordered ALLEGHENY COUNTY REVALUATION PROGRAM
- Bostedo Appraisal Services
- Telephone: (412) 831-1500
- FAX: (412) 831-3717
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NEW ALLEGHENY
ASSESSMENTS!! |
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Don't be left holding the bag! With
the Court ordered re-assessment, many homeowners are going
to be in SHOCK when they receive their value
from the County. While Allegheny County is re-assessing the
550,000 some odd properties, the comparable sales they are
using are older sales. This means, that although many of our
local neighborhoods have begun to drop in value just
recently, the value the County will be putting on your
property may very well not reflect this drop.
As a property owner, you have the right to
appeal current value according to recent Court Rulings
if the value of your property has decreased from the time of
assessment. Additionally, certain types of properties have
inaccurate data which the taxing bodies use in their favor
to raise your assessment.
DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!
For more information on how to be
pro-active and to defend yourself, you can call us for a
free consultation at
412-831-1500
More
info... |
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WARNING! |
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HVCC & YOU! On May 1, 2009 the HVCC was initiated
throughout the Country on every mortgage transaction that
involves an appraisal that is sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac. This involves all conventional loans which prior to the
present meltdown was approximately 70% of all lending. With
the banking system crippled, conventional loans seized up
and nearly came to a halt. Presently, the conventional
mortgage market is still trying to get back on its feet
albeit very slowly and cautiously. Then there is the HVCC.
The HVCC came about due to pressure put on an appraisal
management company called eAppraiseIT by a large mortgage
lender Washington Mutual in the State of New York. The
Attorney General of New York created the HVCC. To stay out
of litigation (even though not directly involved), the
appellant in the case (The State of New York) arranged to
have Fannie Mae (FNMA) sign an agreement that all loans
placed through FNMA & Freddie Mac would have to adhere to
this new HVCC.
“We knew this was causing extreme hardship to the industry,
but we didn’t expect to get thousands of horror stories from
would-be homebuyers whose dreams have been dashed by this
well-intended, but misguided policy. Every day thousands of
people are getting the rug yanked out from under them in
their quest to become homeowners because of HVCC. You only
need to go to our petition website to read the stories for
yourself,” said Kearns. READ MORE... |
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