New Tax Assessment Got you down?

If you are anything like me, you had an emotional moment when you opened your “Notice of Property Valuation and Tax Changes” form recently. Mine changed from the jubilation of having that much equity in my house to a “wait just one second; I am getting gypped” feeling. To come clean, due to my profession, I went straight to the, “I am getting gypped” feeling, and I am sure several of you did too.

Long story short, we are being subject to the lag effect. Sure, my house, may have at one time in the summer of 2005 resembled the value indicated on this new proposal, but I can assure you, that if I could get that offer on my house today, I would run, not walk, to the title company with bells on my toes. One of the reasons why this happens, is the county breaks us up into 46 different “tax areas”, that are all statistically looked at annually, but are mandated to get re-appraised every five years. Hence, about every five years you can expect a change in your tax assessment, and it usually is in a direction that takes some bread off the table. I guess year five was up for me, and I do not like the results.

What can we do about it? I know my assessment is too high, so I am going to appeal it. I am all about paying my fair share, but in this case, the share I am being asked to pay, based on the county’s assessment of value is unfair. My proposed increase is well over $500 dollars per year, and if I did not go through this process I would automatically be agreeing to over $2,600 in ADDITIONAL tax before my next assessment. That is a lot of money, and we have not even had a presidential election yet. (Excuse the jab, all you agents of “change”). Sure, I probably will not get it back where it was, but even some adjustment would be helpful.

So this is what I am going to do. I am going to go and file an application with the County Board of Equalization. I can get these forms by either going there personally at 87 N. 200 E. St. George, (August 1-31 from 1:00-5:00pm) or I can call them at 435-652-5875. For those a bit more techno savvy, www.washco.ut.gov will get you the forms too.

If you choose to download them off their site, make sure you read all of the instructions. There are three sheets that need to be filled in and one instruction sheet. If you want, just email me and I will send them to you. joe@joelangston.com, (put “tax assessment forms” in the subject line).

To have your appeal considered, you are obligated to provide some proof. You can do this in one of three ways.

Current appraisal, by a professional fee appraiser
Closing statements, if you recently purchased the property
A minimum of three recent sales of properties that are similar, found on the MLS. (It does not say the MLS part exactly, but since Utah is a non-disclosure state, where else are you going to get the information?)

Once again, the altruistic and magnanimous Joe can help. I will need to know the following:

The name the Title to the property is being held in
Address
Parcel number located on “Notice” form
Number of bedrooms and bathrooms
Your best guess of size in square footage
Your previous assessed value, and proposed assessed value


If you will email me the information above, I can find these comparables for you. Some of the comparables will be better than others, and it all depends on what has sold in or around your area. I would love to do it for free, but I am anticipating a pretty big load, and after all, I need to feed the kids. So if you use my services, and you would like to make a “donation” for my time, it is not necessary, but would be appreciated.

Checks should be made out to ExSell Realty, and sent to 1251 S. 100 E. St. George, UT 84790 and should contain several digits of differing quantity and should impress the receiver significantly when opened. (Just kidding of course, a modest donation would be appreciated).

The appeal deadline is Sept 15, 2008 4:00pm, MDT. All appeal applications and evidence must be received prior to that time. You can choose to request an in person hearing, or let them make an adjustment, or not, based on your evidence. You decide. I bet you will do better if you show up.

I hope this helps! I look forward to all of our tax implications being closer to what they ought to be.

What happened in July in the Southern Utah Real Esate Market! (the stats)

Before we get started, I would like to thank the following individuals for the opportunity I had to help them close on a property in July:

1. Brian and Robyn Yardley (Purchase)
2. Alex and Jean Macpherson (Listing sold)
3. Duff Smith and Jane Rogers (Listing sold)
4. Jeannine Hendricks (Listing sold)
5. Dick and Jerilyn Abel (Purchase)

Thank you for your business! Alex and Jean Macpherson are fourth time customers and Dick and Jerilyn Abel are second time customers, Thanks a million for coming back!

According to the Washington County Board of Realtors multiple listing service, this is what happened in our market place in July. It looks like to me that there are a lot of opportunities for buyers out there, and if one needs to sell soon, that is in the next few months, it is time to get it on the market now! For buyers, I still think a good deal now... is a good deal, and if you have a two to five year plan of staying in a home, I would not hesitate if I saw something that met my needs.

I have decided to use stats based on the greater St. George area (St. George, Ivins, Santa Clara, and Washington) and the Hurricane Valley (Hurricane, La Verkin and Toquerville,) as our data base. That way everyone has an idea of the numbers based on the specific geography. That being said, here are the stats!

Total HOME listings on the MLS for July:

Total Active Listings: 2,527 (2,479 June)
New Listings in July: 519 (479 June)
Sold Listings in July: 139 (178 June)
Months of Inventory: 18.18 (13.93 June)

(Note: Months of Inventory assumes that no other homes are added to the current listings on the market, nor do any leave the market without being purchased, and they are absorbed at the same rate as the current month.)

Home (single family, townhouse and condo) listings in the $100-$150K range for July:

Total Active Listings: 175 (171 June)
New Listings in July: 26 (42 June)
Sold Listings in July: 19 (14 June)
Months of Inventory: 9.21 (12.21 June)

Home (single family, townhouse and condo) listings in the $150,001-$200K range for July:

Total Active Listings: 324 (313 June)
New Listings in July: 70 (73 June)
Sold Listings in July: 25 (27 June)
Months of Inventory: 12.96 (11.59 June)

Home (single family, townhouse and condo) listings in the $200,001-$250K range for July:

Total Active Listings: 407 (386 June)
New Listings in July: 81 (94 June)
Sold Listings in July: 31 (33 June)
Months of Inventory: 13.13 (11.7 June)

Home (single family, townhouse and condo) listings in the $250,001-$300K range for July:

Total Active Listings: 379 (360 June)
New Listings in July: 93 (68 June)
Sold Listings in July: 21 (31 June)
Months of Inventory: 18.05 (11.61 June)

Home (single family, townhouse and condo) listings in the $250,001-$300K range for July:

Total Active Listings: 379 (360 June)
New Listings in July: 93 (68 June)
Sold Listings in July: 21 (31 June)
Months of Inventory: 18.05 (11.61 June)

Home (single family, townhouse and condo) listings in the $300,001-$350K range for July:

Total Active Listings: 235 (219 June)
New Listings in July: 71 (45 June)
Sold Listings in July: 13 (18 June)
Months of Inventory: 18.08 (12.17 June)

Home (single family, townhouse and condo) listings in the $350,001-$400K range for July:

Total Active Listings: 188 (186 June)
New Listings in July: 36 (35 June)
Sold Listings in July: 9 (14 June)
Months of Inventory: 20.89 (13.29 June)

Home (single family, townhouse and condo) listings in the $400,001-$500K range for July: (notice larger range of asking price)

Total Active Listings: 233 (230 June)
New Listings in July: 46 (43 June)
Sold Listings in July: 7 (14 June)
Months of Inventory: 33.29 (16.43 June)

Home (single family, townhouse and condo) listings in the $500,001-$600K range for July: (notice larger range of asking price)

Total Active Listings: 151 (149 June)
New Listings in July: 33 (23 June)
Sold Listings in July: 3 (10 June)
Months of Inventory: 50.33 (14.9 June)* May had only 3 sales too, but April had 10 as well. Looks like you need to stick to even months if you are selling in this range.

Home (single family, townhouse and condo) listings in the $600,001-$750K range for July: (notice larger range of asking price)

Total Active Listings: 107 (112 June)
New Listings in July: 24 (15 June)
Sold Listings in July: 1 (1 June)
Months of Inventory: 107 (112 June)* Even I can do the math on this one!

Home (single family, townhouse and condo) listings in the $750,001 and UP!

Total Active Listings: 232 (247 June)
New Listings in July: 24 (27 June)
Sold Listings in July: 4 (6 June)
Months of Inventory: 58 (41.47 June)* If you are in the previous category, looks like you need to raise your price.

The next section is for building lots, not including raw land.

All Building Lots on the MLS for July:

Total Active Listings: 1,462 (1,519 June)
New Listings in July: 81 (110 June)
Sold Listings in July: 6 (21 June)
Months of Inventory: 243.67 (72.33 June)* not a typo, yes, over a 20 year supply!

Building lots under $100K

Total Active Listings: 504 (535 June)
New Listings in July: 24 (43 June)
Sold Listings in July: 4 (11 June)
Months of Inventory: 126 (48.68 June)*10 years isn’t so bad!

Building lots $100,001-$150K

Total Active Listings: 406 (419 June)
New Listings in July: 18 (37 June)
Sold Listings in July: 2 (3 June)
Months of Inventory: 203 (139.67 June)*Just a shade under 17 years for these!

Building lots $150,001-$200K

Total Active Listings: 209 (214 June)
New Listings in July: 6 (12 June)
Sold Listings in July: 0 (4 June)
Months of Inventory: Can’t divide by 0 (53 June)

Building lots $200,001 and above

Total Active Listings: 344 (352 June)
New Listings in July: 33 (18 June)
Sold Listings in July: 0 (3 June)
Months of Inventory: Can’t divide by 0 (117.33 June)

You might have notice after carefully analysing the data, that lots, unlike the years of 2004-5, are not currently at a premium. (I hope you appreciate the irony of this comment).

Short sells and foreclosures!

I hesitate to put this section in, because I know it is not accurate. I know some agents purposely do not code their listings as short sells or REO (Bank owned/foreclosed) for their own reasons. But, of the sold listings that are coded correctly in the month of July the MLS recorded three closed short sells and 29 closed REO (Bank owned/foreclosed) properties. I suspect we will see the REO stat on the rise by next update.

As always, for more information, including a free look at part of the MLS without having to speak to me, go to joelangston.com and click on “Find A Home”

If you would like a free ball park figure of value on your home, without me coming out to see it, go to joelangston.com and click on “Your Home’s Value”

Lastly, I am interested in your thoughts; please post them on the blog.