Patricia-
You're right, this year assessed values "should" start to decrease to match market values. King County homeowners can find out for free in a few seconds if they are eligible for a successful property tax appeal by visiting my website:
http://www.valueappeal.com Its free and only takes a few seconds. If you're home is eligible for an appeal we offer a $99 report that gives you the specific comps you need to prove your case to the assessor.
There are a lot of different reasons the assessor will disqualify particular comps from being used in an appeal. ValueAppeal takes those rules into account and filters out any comp that would be disqualified.
For instance, the comps we use all sold PRIOR to the assessment date each year so they can't be disqualified by the assessor on that basis. We also filter out foreclosures, short sales, inherited property, divorce settlement property, etc, that would all be disqualified during an appeal.
We stand by our work. If you are not able to reduce your assessment we refund 100% of your fee. Hope this helps!
- Fri Jul 10 2009, 13:57