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MoCo property taxes -- will they fall given falling house prices?
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Anonymous
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Hi, we're looking at houses in Montgomery County. Some of them are priced below the assessed value, but the property taxes are still very high. Will our taxes go down if we buy one of these houses far below the assessed value? Or will we have to file some sort of formal appeal? How long does the process take?
Some of these houses are in neighborhoods where most of the houses are much higher value. If we pay much less than average for a house in that particular neighborhood, how will that affect our property taxes? Also, property taxes in MoCo seem to vary quite a bit. Houses that look fairly similar (and are in the same town or even the same neighborhood) have property taxes that vary by as much as $6K, and I can't figure out why. Can anyone explain the discrepancy? One more property tax question: How does the size of the lot affect property taxes? There are some huge houses on small lots and smaller houses on larger lots that pay the same taxes, which doesn't make sense to me. I would think the size of the house would be a more important factor in deciding the property taxes. |
Anonymous
| I can't answer all your questions, but from what I have read, no, property taxes in MO CO will not be going down anytime soon. |
Anonymous
| I would not count on the assessed value going down. The assessments are made every 3 years and they will tell you that was the correct assessed value at the time it was made. Now the next time they assess the house you can point to your sale price as evidence for a new lower assessment, but unless you buy right when they are re-assessing, they can try to argue that prices have gone up again. There is an appeal process you can use within maybe 30 days of an assessment. |
Anonymous
Oh no, it is usually the land that is much more valuable than the house. At least that's how it is in Arlington. As for assessments, they are all over the map. The house next door to us had a big addition put onto the back several years ago, making it quite a bit bigger than our house. But our house is still assessed slightly higher than theirs. So you never know. |
Anonymous
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Wow, so in MoCo you are stuck with your property taxes for three years with no hope of an appeal?
Has anyone appealed their property tax assessment successfully and had their taxes lowered? |
Anonymous
Yes, you can appeal. You can also apply the Homestead Property Tax Credit. http://www.dat.state.md.us/sdatweb/homestead.html What is the Homestead Credit? To help homeowners deal with large assessment increases on their principal residence, state law has established the Homestead Property Tax Credit. The Homestead Credit limits the increase in taxable assessments each year to a fixed percentage. Every county and municipality in Maryland is required to limit taxable assessment increases to 10% or less each year. |
Anonymous
| I understand you can appeal your property taxes, but do people do it, and does it result in lowered taxes? How difficult is it? Where we live now, it's very easy -- you just appeal and your taxes are lowered. If you don't appeal, they aren't. Just curious how difficult it is in MoCo. Thanks. |
Anonymous
| As far as similar houses having significantly different taxes - it could be due to the fact that MoCo limits the % that your taxes (not the assessed value) can go up every year. I don't live in MoCo, so don't know what that number is, but here in DC it's 15%. Once the house is sold, the clock resets and you pay the full amount due. So if you are comparing what different homeowners actually pay (vs what is "due") it could vary. |
Anonymous
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I wouldn't count on it. In Loudoun county, our values fell, therefore the rate per $1000 increased to keep tax revenues constant.
Death and taxes, baby. All you can ever count on for sure! |
Anonymous
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The website I looked at said Montgomery County taxes were reassessed annually. It makes no sense that you would pay, say $600K for a house that is assessed at $800K, and then have to wait until the next assessment to get your taxes lowered.
Does anyone who lives in MoCo have actual experience with this process? Any realtors? Any real estate lawyers? Houses are being sold in MoCo below their assessed values. Not all, but some. There has to be a lawsuit in here somewhere if the county refuses to lower property taxes in this situation. Comments? |
Anonymous
| We tried to appeal and thought it was a joke. The assessor told us the appraised value had nothing to do with market value (they appraised for 27% more <3 months after we bought it) and that we could appeal her decision higher but would be responsible for court costs if we lost. I think it's a sham, but would love to hear it if someone has ever been successful. I doubt they'll ever go down - it's about revenue pure and simple. |
Anonymous
| When we bought we had to wait for the next assessment period to apply the Homestead Credit. |
Anonymous
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I "do" real estate, but not residential, so anyway here's some help on this....
In Maryland, each parcel of real estate is re-valued every three years (although the state values some property in each county each year based on the 3-year cycle). If property increases in that three-year period, any increase in the value is phased in over the 3-year period, so your assessment may be lower than your value. If the value declines in the 3-year period, you get an immediate drop in your assessment. From the Maryland SDAT website.... APPEAL UPON PURCHASE If you purchase a property and the property is transferred after January 1 but before July 1, you may file an appeal within 60 days of the transfer. After filing a written appeal, you will be scheduled for a hearing; or, if you prefer, your written appeal can be reviewed instead of having a hearing. Also, if something major happens, like new construction, an addition, or big renovation, it can trigger a mid-cyle re-assessment. The permits would alert the county assessor and they would order it. Otherwise, you have to wait until your 3-year triannual assessment for revision to the value. I think the state is lowering many values now, but it depends on your cycle (location within Montgomery County) as to when your values are done. And if the assessments are lowered much, they will raise the tax rate if they need the money. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
| We just received notice from MoCo that the assessment of our house went down - about $150K to the amount we paid for it 7 years ago. Taxes didn't go down, but not up either. This doesn't bother me at all b/c I am pretty sure we could still sell it for at least $100K more than we paid. |