BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

3 Easy Ways To Lower Property Taxes

Following
This article is more than 6 years old.

Every year, I take a few steps to lower my property taxes. Since my property tax bill is now twice my mortgage payment, I'm on it.

But the time to act to lower your property tax bill isn't when you actually get it. It's long before you see the envelope from your county.

I know, a lot of people wait. They know that their tax payments will be taken from their mortgage escrow account, so they don't pay much attention to it.

Yet, there are ways of reducing your property taxes that you may not know about. But none of the available discounts will be applied automatically. You have to ask for them.

1. Challenge your assessment. There are two parts to your tax bill: The assessed value of your home/property and the actual tax rates applied. While you can't do anything about the tax rates of local services such as schools, towns and fire departments, you can contest your assessed value.

Your home's assessed value isn't necessarily what it's worth on the open market. For that, you'll need a real estate appraiser or agent who does market estimates.

A local assessor will look at what similar homes are selling for -- particularly recent sales -- and estimate your home's market value. They aren't always accurate, so you need to look at their numbers.

You can challenge any local assessment by contacting your assessor. See if their "property description" is accurate. If they've recorded your home as having two full baths when you only have 1.5 baths, that will lower your home's value.

2. See if you qualify for discounts. Most assessors give you a "homestead exemption" just for living in your home. Veterans or senior citizens also may get lower assessments.

Again, check with your county or local assessor to see what discounts apply. If your assessment record doesn't include them, then update your assessment.

3. Appeal if your assessment is wrong. As I noted earlier, there can be a lot of debate on what constitutes "market value." Your home may have some significant structural or maintenance issues or be across from a factory.

There are myriad factors that reduce a home's value. So if you don't agree with your assessment, then you have a right to appeal on the country and state level.

If you do appeal, keep in mind that you need to compare your home to similar homes in your area. That means matching number of baths and bedrooms and other amenities. That will help you lower your assessed value, which is the first step in lowering your tax bill.

Need more help? Here's a helpful article from Best Money Moves on how to work through this process.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website or some of my other work here