I have also seen assessments coming out lately that are lower - significantly lower than the current year, so I am surprised yours is higher. You can of course appeal and all the information is available FOR FREE to appeal it. Assessed values don't affect market values as much as you would think, but what do you think your house is worth? Do you need some comps sent over?

Unlike 2008, this year 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.

If you are not able to reduce your assessment we refund 100% of your fee.

When homes are selling in your neighborhood for prices substancially above your home's asessed value you can expect an increase in assessed value eventually. The county often uses comparables that are a year old so if prices have dropped in your area they may be using old data. If you choose to appeal and have had a recent appraisal below the assessed value you can use that to bolster your case for a reduction. You could also call your Realtor and ask them for a current market analysis or some comparable sales to use to bolster your argument. You may find out that the assessment is accurate but I have found that assesments can be quite a bit more or less than the actual market value of a property. It is usually worth taking the time to appeal if it is a substancial increase in your taxes from the previous year and you have some comparables or other information to back up your postion.

You should also check with your county if you are a retiree to see if they have a program for reduced property taxes for seniors who meet certain reduced income criteria. Many people are not aware of these programs so do not take advantage of them. The county or a local senior center may provide information for seniors in regard to this. For Island County you can visit http://www.islandcounty.net for a wealth of information on assessments and other issues.

Gail Pierce

That's interesting. I own several properties in Seattle and I have received lower assessed values, which I believe should be the case in this market. However, you may want to have a real estate professonal provide you with a market analysis so that you can decide if there is a basis for an appeal. A good agent will also use intuition as well as market comparables to give you the best assessment. Given appraisers look back in time at data, I wouldn't spend the $$ at this time.

Peg,
One additional point to the other answers. You will only save the property tax difference on the difference between your current assessment and your adjusted assessment should you be successful. Where the cost of an appraisal ($300 to $500) may exceed your tax payment savings at least initially, you'll want to be reasonablye sure that things will work in your favor. So if your own research for comps looks too close to call you may want to hold off on the appraisal and request the adjustment based on sale records to capture the most savings. Also, there may be a limit to the number of times you can request an abatement during a certain time period. Good luck.

The previous answers are good. If you go to the link for King County below and use their parcel viewer and/or imap, you can find some of your neighbors properties to see what their assessments are. My initial impression is that $675K seems a little high. But without knowing more about the property, i.e. square footage, lot size, etc. it's hard to say. You can also follow the links for appeal from this link.

http://www.kingcounty.gov/property.aspx

Good luck.

Hi, Peg,

You didn't say how long you've owned the house......if you just bought it in the last couple of years, it could have been assessed too low in the first place. You'll need details on 3 similar homes, closed within the last six months, and preferrably within a mile of your house.

Your Realtor would be happy to provide that...... then you can even look on your county website and find information for the "Assessor's Office". They should have instructions, phone numbers, and possibly the forms to fill out to file an appeal with the Equalization Board.

"Information is power",
Jean Bradford
Associate Broker, ABR, GRI, CRS, CRB
John L. Scott Real Estate
Silverdale, WA 98383

The appeal process is usually pretty simple. You get three recent comps and submit them and they say yes or no. There is always a spread and most assessments are less than fair market value, but the process to appeal it requires you to prove it is less than fair market value. You aren't proving your assessment is higher than other property assessments. You are proving, with three recent comps, that itis more than market value.

Sounds like it is now assessed at $675,000. Are there recent sales for less with similar features and square footage?

Timing can be important. Sale prices in the last quarter of the year are often the lowest. Keep tracking the sales until you have three lower ones. I haven't done an appeal in many years, but if the market has a correction, many people will be appealing the assessments.

Get current information on how the appeal process works before you decide. Getting a value from an agent isn't going to help unless that value is supported by three relevant comps. Getting an appraisal might be worthwhile as an appraiser always uses at least three comps.

Good Luck!

Whether it's worth your time and effort depends on whether the assessment accurately reflects the value of your home. Check with a Realtor and have him/her run comps, to come up with an idea of what your house really is worth.

If there's a reasonable discrepancy (maybe 10% or more), then contact your tax assessor's office to determine the steps needed to appeal the assessment.

Sometimes jurisdictions just are slow to update their valuations. On the other hand, with prices dropping (or at least flat) in many areas, it's possible that the assessor "overshot" your assessment.

Again, get a reasonably solid number on what your house is worth. Then take it from there.

Hope that helps.