Time To Appeal Your Tax Assessment
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
A new Georgia law requires the property tax assessors in each county to prepare and send out a new assessment on every property in the state, regardless of whether the property was bought or sold last year. The notices must also include an estimate of the 2011 tax bill.
Because of these new demands on the tax offices, most of the assessments were not ready until May, 2011; but some were later.
The owner as of January 1st, 2011, will still get this new tax assessment, even if the property has been sold. Also, the owner as of January 1st, 2011, will be the only one legally authorized to appeal the 2011 assessments.
Some buyers are asking their sellers to give authorization or even power-of-attorney to them at closing, so that the new owners can appeal an undesirable assessment.
It is not clear whether the tax offices will allow the new owners to file the appeal, even if they have written authorization from the sellers. Keep in mind that the job of the tax office is to collect revenue.
If the closing involves a bank seller (REO- foreclosed property), there will be no re-proration of taxes when the actual bill comes out. Once an REO closing takes place, the bank seller has no more interest or responsibility for the tax bills, even for the current year.
However, other sellers are generally required by the contract and closing documents to adjust the tax pro-rations upon receipt of the actual bill. These sellers should have motivation to stay involved in the assessment and appeal process, because the savings would benefit all parties for the current year.
- Scott Askew
Posted in: Intown Atlanta Real Estate News
Who Owns That Creek
Friday, June 10, 2011
So you want to buy a house that has a beautiful creek babbling behind the back deck. You have marvelous plans to beautify the creek and perhaps build a small pond as well.
Question: Can you do anything to the creek?
Answer: Maybe.
The State actually owns the creek, the water, and is responsible for the quality of the water.
You would own the creek bed and banks that actually fall within your property line. (Some surveys show the property boundary to be the middle of a creek…so, in that situation, you would only ‘own’ that bank that was on your property.) As the owner of that portion of land wherein the creek flows, you are responsible for: making sure the bank(s) are not eroding; maintaining any existing natural habitats; and protecting stream ‘buffers’.
So, before you start digging a pond with the expectations that the creek will fill the pond, you must get State (and sometimes National), approval.
Posted in: Intown Living
Are We There Yet
Monday, June 06, 2011
Many people ask me and other real estate professionals if we have hit the bottom of the real estate market. My answer: “We’ll know six months after we have rebounded.”
Honestly, we do not know if we have hit bottom. Most seem to think home prices are stabilizing. Some are arguing that we are about to have a ‘double-dip recession’ and home prices will come down a bit more.
This reminds me of when I got into the real estate business in late 1978. At the time, interest rates were about 8% and Atlanta-area real estate was appreciating at about a 12% annual clip. Then, in early 1979, all of a sudden, interest rates hit 10% and banks were prevented from lending money due to Georgia’s 10% usury limit at the time. There were those who were claiming real estate would plummet. Others thought homes would continue to appreciate due to double-digit inflation.
In other words, nobody knew what to expect.
The best piece of advice I can give you today is this: If it feels right, do it.
Interest rates are very low. Home prices are where they were in 1999-2001 (dependant on what area of Atlanta you’re in). Even if you are fretting about selling a home for less than what you paid for it, look at it from this point of view – you will also buy your replacement home for far less than what you expected…so it all evens out.
- Scott Askew
Posted in: Intown Atlanta Real Estate News
Are We There Yet
Monday, June 06, 2011
Many people ask me and other real estate professionals if we have hit the bottom of the real estate market. My answer: “We’ll know six months after we have rebounded.”
Honestly, we do not know if we have hit bottom. Most seem to think home prices are stabilizing. Some are arguing that we are about to have a ‘double-dip recession’ and home prices will come down a bit more.
This reminds me of when I got into the real estate business in late 1978. At the time, interest rates were about 8% and Atlanta-area real estate was appreciating at about a 12% annual clip. Then, in early 1979, all of a sudden, interest rates hit 10% and banks were prevented from lending money due to Georgia’s 10% usury limit at the time. There were those who were claiming real estate would plummet. Others thought homes would continue to appreciate due to double-digit inflation.
In other words, nobody knew what to expect.
The best piece of advice I can give you today is this: If it feels right, do it.
Interest rates are very low. Home prices are where they were in 1999-2001 (dependant on what area of Atlanta you’re in). Even if you are fretting about selling a home for less than what you paid for it, look at it from this point of view – you will also buy your replacement home for far less than what you expected…so it all evens out.
- Scott Askew
Posted in: Intown Atlanta Real Estate News
Page 7 of 27 pages « First < 5 6 7 8 9 > Last »