I am not a real estate attorney, nor a tax attorney but would like to ammo to fight a residential property tax appeal.

Here is the story. I bought a house from an estate. The prior owner lived there for over 40 yrs and preformed no improvements. The house needs to be remodeled or torn down and rebuilt.

The appraisal says the value is in the land and not the building. The land is on the water.

It will be difficult to get comparables because there are not many houses like my house.

So, I need to know what to say and do with the city assessor so i can reduce the taxes imposed.

Thx forum,

When you talk to the city assessors the three most reliable indicators used in the valuation process are, in order: 1. purchase price, 2. comprables, 3. apprasial. If the first one should be argument 1, what you bought is supposed to be teh best indicator of value. then have an appriasail done, or a couple, and then point out that comps in your situation will not work. I know there is case law on this, that is the best way to structure your argument.

The board of assessors entertain property tax appeals periodically during the year.

Make sure you have at least 3 comparables and provide evidence that your property is either similar to your comparables or worse-off from the comparables.

Assessors occasionally make mistakes in recording the structural features of your house. Property tax record are public information and state law requires that records of your appraisal and those of you neighborhood be made available to you upon request from you assessor’s office. You should check to make sure that the recorded dimensions of the house and the lot are correct. The appraisal worksheet may have missed defects that might tend to reduce the house’s value, such as settling or shifting on the foundation or being adjacent to commercial property. Unfinished attics and basements might also be misrepresented in the record’s description of rooms.