Summit County home values are up?
The Summit Daily News says that home values are up. They made us read the headline! What they really meant was that home valuations are up. Values and valuations are two different things, especially when it applies to property taxes. The County Assessor has just mailed the new valuations on all property in Summit County to the owners, and the numbers, in many instances, seem to be way off base. The time period the assessor is using, (1/1/2007 to 6/30/2008) to determine valuation was the last gasp of our Seller’s market when prices were increasing fairly quickly. However, I don’t know of any two year period where property values increased by 30-60%. Some of my clients who have contacted me for sales information for the period have huge increases. I can see it in instances where the property was undervalued, but there is no way that the statistics support many of the numbers the county has sent to homeowners.
For example, a half duplex in Frisco had been valued at $568,000 and now is increased to $754,000, an increase of 32.7%. It is listed for sale currently at $575,000. It was for sale for $675,000 for part of the time period the assessor used and didn’t sell, so how could it be valued at $754,000, even using that time frame? We understand that property values have decreased, but the comparable sales I am running are not for today, but for 1/1/2007 to 6/30/2008 and they still don’t compute! With the tax notice, the assessor sent the list of properties they used as comparables, but they are time adjusted. Therein could be part of the problem. One of the comparable properties used to help value my condo at Copper Mountain was time adjusted by 14% for a 10 month period. I haven’t seen any instances of 16.8% appreciation at Copper, even when the market was strong. I will not be protesting on my condo though, because I do agree with the final value they assigned it, for that time period. I don’t agree with how they got there, but that doesn’t really matter. My home in Silverthorne, which they increased by almost $100,000, may be a different story and I have to research it further.
What can you do if you think your valuation is too high? Protest it! Ask me, or ask your Realtor, to provide you with sales in your subdivision for the time period in question. We have access to that information and can email it to you. Then pick out the homes that are similar to yours and use them to protest. Just make sure you get your letter into the assessor by June 1, 2009. The directions and the form for filing the protest came with your valuation notice. If there are not enough comps in your neighborhood, we know which subdivisions to go to to find comps for you.
The assessor has explained that the reason people are upset is because the County is using a period when sales and values were high, and now they have dropped. I disagree. In many instances I cannot find numbers to support the valuations they are assigning to some of the homes and condos. Yes, prices have gone down, but many were never ever at the levels they are being taxed on. I have protested my valuation once in the 14 years I have owned my house, and they did adjust it. The chances are good that they will adjust yours too if you have supporting documentation. Time to do some homework….let me know if you need help.
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May 25th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Can you send me comps for my townhome in frisco? The current evaluation is $538,000 and the address is in Frisco Co 80443.
Thank you,
Chris Glauch