Tea & Taxes Property Tax Workshop

Back by popular demand, a second workshop in property tax appeals!

Are your real estate taxes too high?

Can your taxes be appealed?

What is the appeals process?

Many property owners believe that their property tax assessments can not be changed, but that is not necessarily true. Tax assessments hinge on the assessor’s calculation of the market value of a property, and sometimes these calculations are incorrect or not reflective of the current market value of a property. Most tax assessors try to treat homeowners fairly, but on occasion mistakes can be made.

All real property in New Jersey must be assessed based upon its fair market value, which is the price a buyer is willing to pay for a property. Sometimes the sales price of a property and the assessed fair market value do not correlate, and a property tax appeal may be in order. If the assessment of your property exceeds its market value, you should consider appealing your property taxes.

To successfully challenge the taxable value, you’ll need to establish that the tax assessor relied on incorrect or incomplete information, the taxable value of your home is higher than the taxable value of similar homes in the area, or the assessor assumed the current market value of your home is higher than it actually is.

You can provide several types of documentation when pursuing your appeal, including a recent appraisal of your home, an estimate for necessary repair work on your home, documents showing actual sales prices in your area, and a list of comparable homes along with their sales prices or taxable values.

Each year, property tax appeals must be filed by April 1. If the entire community was reassessed, the filing deadline is May 1.

Craig Smith of Craig Smith Appraisals will present the basics of appealing your property taxes and answer all your questions at our Tea and Taxes workshop. As a state of NJ Licensed Appraiser, Craig specializes in preparing appraisal reports for tax appeals, divorce settlements, estate settlements, and mortgage origination. Over the last 30 years, he has completed numerous appraisals for properties located in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, and Union counties that have achieved successful assessment reductions.

Come learn more about property tax appeals at our Tea and Taxes Workshop.

When: Saturday, January 27 at 11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Where: Keller Williams Mid-Town Direct Realty

161 Maplewood Ave., 3rd floor (entrance next to Bank of America ATM), Maplewood, NJ

Craig Smith can be reached at 973-714-9248. The workshop is sponsored by the Allison Ziefert Real Estate Group of Keller Williams MidTown Direct Realty and Sarah Maloney of Finance of America.

Tea will be served.

Registration is required! Please register here.