CS78 said:
I've contested a lot of properties over the past 8-9 years. This is what I suggest. Turn in your notice of protest. They'll set a date for your hearing. Go in the date of your hearing, an hour or two early and tell them you'd like to speak with an assessor and try to avoid the hearing. Last year, I did the early walk in just like every year. Sometimes it's more productive than others but Ive always been at least somewhat satisfied and able to come to an agreement. This time, some of my properties I could not come to an agreement with the person I met with and decided to finally fight it in the hearing. I gathered my info and showed up on that day. The same person came back to me before the hearing and asked if we could try to work it out. They were much more loving and accommodating the day of and we were able to come to an agreement. Night and day difference. Having too many actual hearings creates a major issue for them.
Other tips. Be cordial but firm. Ask for more than you need and be willing to compromise. Pour through your neighbors properties looking for any discrepancy. If you find some, make them answer why. Ask what recent sales comps they used to justify your value and any increase. Many times, they don't have any. Documentation- this is huge. The people you are meeting with aren't out to get you. As they explained to me, their files get audited. If there's a pattern of them just dropping values for no reason, that's an issue. Give them documentation they can upload in to their system to cover their rears. Pictures of any damage or needed repairs on your property. Quotes from contractors for needed repairs (sewer drain lines, roofs, foundations, etc can be huge) HUD statements from sold properties, copies of the FEMA flood map if any part of your lot is in the flood zone, etc, etc. Ideally, you want to get a permanent condition adjustment added to your property if possible. It's a percentage adjustment that sticks from year to year and you aren't back in the same seat fighting the same issue every year. Keep a file with all your documentation. Don't assume that because you gave it to them one year, they'll have it the next year. I've been down that road too.
Only thing I'd add is to be aware that there are two ways to protest, and they'll ask you which (at least they asked me last year): Equity or market, roughly speaking. If you protest based on the assessment being inequitable, then you need to show that some of your neighbors' appraisals are lower than yours when adjusted for age, condition, build quality, square footage, etc. If you protest based on market, then you need sales comps. Real estate agents sometimes are willing to help with sales comps.
They have a computer program that takes your property, randomly picks some comps based on location, neighborhood type, etc., adjusts for the things listed above, and spits out a number. When I went last year they asked for comps; they can substitute those for the ones the computer picked (or add them into the mix--not sure which) to see whether they give the same numbers. The appraisers generally want to work with you, but there is a limited range of options that they have. Basically they want to get the computer program to spit out the numbers that you eventually agree to. Otherwise it starts to look bad, as mentioned above. More subtle issues need to go to the board. And yes, they don't want to go to the review board if they can avoid it. Data, data, data is the key.
