As a leader in real estate in New Jersey, I am repeatedly asked specific questions about today’s market – especially in today’s economy. In an effort to provide more information to my community, I am sending you this Top 5 Real Estate Social Networking Systemsm “e-Article,” in which I provide useful real estate information to my real estate networks. If you find the enclosed information beneficial to your family and friends, I encourage you to forward it to your “social network” as well.
How to Lower Your Property Taxes in New Jersey
Thanks to recent declines in home values, it’s 60% more likely that your property taxes are too high, says the American Homeowners Association (AHA). The problem stems from the fact that property values have fallen unevenly across neighborhoods, towns and regions. As a result, you may be receiving an unfairly high assessment compared to other homes in your area.
As a Member of the Top 5 in Real Estate Network®, I am often asked if property taxes can be lowered. Fortunately, there are ways to find out if you are being overcharged and steps you can take to get your property taxes lowered. Here are some steps to follow:
1. To make sure you’re paying the right amount, get your detailed property tax assessment record online or from your assessor’s office. It’s possible your entire neighborhood has been overassessed.
2. To that end, check with a real estate agent to get a solid understanding of what homes are currently selling for in your community. I can provide you with a detailed analysis of recent and comparable sales.
3. Also check the accuracy of the details about your home used in your tax assessment. Determine if your property’s size and description are accurate. There’s a good chance that errors were made in transferring data from paper to online.
4. Make sure details like the number of bedrooms and bathrooms are correct on your assessment and that any defects that could affect the value of your home—such as a leaky roof or cracked wall—are noted.
5. If errors have made your assessment higher than it should be, try working informally with the assessor rather than going through a formal appeal process.
6. If the correction cannot be made informally, you’ll need to make a formal appeal. There may even be a process for appealing your taxes online. Keep in mind that there is usually a narrow window of opportunity in which to file an appeal. Some jurisdictions set aside a time every year to hear appeals, while others only consider appeals for a few months after your house has been reassessed, which is often not every year. Find out exactly how much time you have to prepare your case.
7. Make sure you file good documentation, such as an appraisal or letter from the original assessor. Without this, the likelihood of your appeal being considered is slim.
8. Depending on your municipality, you might also be eligible for property-tax exemptions, which range from senior citizen and active-duty military exemptions to ones for those who own livestock.
Please e-mail me for more information on appealing your property taxes. I can provide important insight into current property values in our area and help you determine if you are potentially being overcharged. If you feel this information might also be of use to your family, friends and colleagues, please forward this email to them.
If you need any help e-mail me at john@bendallgroup.com..
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3 Comments
Back in 2005 I refinanced my house in north jersey and the bank appraisal came in at $433,000
This past October 2009 the town hired an appraisal company to
re-evaluate all the homes in the town as per the state’s request. My new appraisal came in at $488,000 and my taxes are going up $533.00 per year which puts me in the mid $11,000′s per year. I can’t understand how my house is worth $50,000 more in this down market than in the good time’s of 2005? I didnt make any improvements.
Is it worth an appeal?
I owned 160 acres of land in South Dakota and there was a very nice split level home on it, a HUGE barn, 2 extra garages, 3 pole barns, 3 grain storage bins, etc. My property taxes for the year were only $978. This is NOT a typo, $978 per YEAR. If SD can survive with lower property taxes and less people, NJ should be able to lower the property taxes within reason and there are many more people paying them, so there should be plenty to support the state. Problem is, so many people living in apartments, etc out here and homeowner’s support them in tax structures. Maybe they need to put a higher tax on apartment building owners, etc. Or many even drop all the property taxes to a level that is manageable and increase the overall state tax by 1% that everyone will pay, OR better yet, decrease the spending in NJ. Some of the things they spend money on are ridiculous and unnecessary. There are a lot of us paying more each month in property taxes than our mortgage payments even are. No wonder so many people are losing their homes and moving OUT of NJ. If my son wasn’t here, I wouldn’t be either. Not that this letter makes any difference, but the people are so used to just going through their days methodically that they don’t stop to see how they are getting screwed. LOL And then there are some that really care and see what’s happening, but NO ONE will listen to them. How frustrating this is.
OH well, thank you for your time.
Good Morning,
I bought a home last year in NJ. I moved from South Dakota so you can imagine my shock at the high property taxes in this state. They are ludicrous. With the interest rates so low right now, I decided to refinance into a lower rate and therefore an appraisal was done. I gave the bank the estimated value based on the tax assessment form I received in the mail. However when the appraisal was done, it came in much lower. I expected this due to the economy, but if the home value dropped, then I feel the taxes should also drop???? How can they keep charging everyone the same high taxes on their homes if the value is not there? Anyway, I have an appraisal that shows the value almost $25,000 less. How do I get my property taxes lowered with the new appraised value? And will it be worth it? My property address is 3839 Birch Street, Williamstown, NJ 08094. Thank you so much for your help,
Have a nice day, Rachel Baker