Is your home worth less than what you paid for it? In this down market, there are many homeowners upside down in their mortgages or they lost all of their equity.
If this is the case it's a simple call to the County Tax Assessor to have your property re-assessed at the new lower appraised value. This alone could save thousands of dollars in property taxes in San Diego. Have a real estate agent give you a "fair market value" or pay for a professional home appraisal and simply submit to the County Tax Assessor and ask to lower your property taxes since your home is no longer worth what it was previously assessed for. I recently completed an estimated "home value" based on SOLD comps and my client was able to lower his bill. It works, but you have to ask.
Todd - I wish it were that simple here in Canada.
We appeal our assessment almost every time it is re-assessed by the province and in nearly every case we have had to fight for our reductions. On only 1 occasion did the assessment department offer a reduction that was even close to what we could prove the value to be.
Sometimes it's a little harder than explained, but that's the idea.
I do this for a living so if anyone had any questions I would be ore than happy to answer them.
858-541-2400 or www.cataxrefunds.com
I tried to lower my property taxes on my own and it was a absolute headache! It took me months to get answers to my simple questions. I ended up Googling "prop 8" and I found a company called www.prop8.org. They saved me over $1,800 a year. Yeah it cost me some money to save some money but in the end my SANITY was worth it! Good luck guys!
It is simple but my experience is that having a professional help you is the preferred protocol. Real estates professional that understand value or a collateral property can be of assistance in making the value reduction process consummate more quickly and justify large value reductions.
Some experienced firms charge 50 of tax saving achieved. It can be a lucrative business.
Ntsike
I have a condo downtown, & I also used California Tax Refunds. I chose them because they are real estate appraisers, members of the BBB, they have an office and not a PO BOX, and offer a 100% guarantee. Needless to say, I received a check for just over $1700 for 2007 & i have had them resubmit my paperwork for 2008.
Their customer service has been excellent!!!!!
Thanks for all the kind words. Our average reduction/refund is now around $2000 per year, per home. The review deadline was May 30th but appeals can be filed starting July 2nd.
We give a free evaluation that will only take minutes. & if your going to do it on your own we'll review your paperwork at no charge as well.
If you have any questions we'll try to answer them. 858-541-2400, 619-283-3300 or www.cataxrefunds.com
Thanks again for the kind words.
I used california tax refunds. went from $1,372,398 down to $1,100,000. Getting a refund for just around $3K.
I called some of the other companies but these guys really know their stuff, had all the answers to every question and were very professional.
Almost all the other companies I called couldn't even answer half my questions and none of them were appraisers. This is what they do for a living, they are great at what they do. I have told all my neighboors about them.
ust wanted to put in my .02 about california tax refuds. I tried to do this on my own. The San Diego County Appraiser did not want to change my assessed value. and I was looking at going to an appeal hearing. I hired califonia tax refunds to see if they could help. Within 4 days they had the results I was tryin to get.
I guess it is simila why you hire an attorney to represent you at a trial. If you have property tax issues call hese guys. They were very professional & even have a 100% money back guarantee.
Well worth it.
This works I've done this with my 2nd home.
RESIDENTIAL HOME FUNDING
Bernard Hartigan
195 route 46 West, Suite 1Totowa, NJ 07512
E Fax 866-646-3990
Cell 973-699-0378
www.myfhahomeloan.com
www.mortgagesforchampions.com (Special Mortgage Program for Police, Fire Department, EMT, doctors, nurses, correction officers or teachers.)
www.moneyforbuilders.com
I used the same company California Tax Refunds. I have a home in Ocean Beach, San Diego. My 2007 assessed value was a little over $1.3 million. They were able to get it down to $1.1 million, so I'll get a refund check of $2,375 & save that on my next tax bill. I also just signed up with them again to fight my 2008 tax bill and was given a repeat client discount. I couldn't be happier with them.
Please call me, I need reduce property tax.
Thanks
The guys at California Tax Refunds are top notch.. They were only able to get me a $20K reduction for my 2007 taxes. Jason the owner of the company felt bad and offered to do my 2008 tax appeal at no additional charge.
It's very refreshing to see a company be upfront and stand behind their work. They never promissed any specific amount in reduction, but to know how they do business and really care about their clients is awesome. Don't look any further these guys are the pros!!!!!!
I called and spoke to Jason. He didn't think I was eligible to spend the money for 2008. He said they would call me back in January to review my case for my 2009 taxes.
He said exactly why he did not think I qualified in an very understandable way. I appreciate the honesty, because I called some other firms that weren't so honest.
They will have my business when the time comes!
Are there any negative impacts of requesting a lower value for a home?
The only downside would be if your eligible for a reduction and you don't apply you would be spending more in property taxes then necessary.
So there are really no negative impacts in a property tax reduction. We are always more than willing to answer any of your questions. You can reach us at 619-283-3300.
Had California Tax Refunds file for me & just got a check for $2,174. Going to let them do their magic again in January.
I am very happy with their service!!!
The link to appeal your property taxes in San Diego is below:
http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/cob/aab/index.html
Thanks for the link Todd...its great you can do it for free but I don't have the time or experience to deal with it. I found your blog called California Tax Refunds per the recommendations of some of the posts here and was more than happy to pay the $295 to have them handle it.
It would costs me more in my time to try to do it myself, you can't beat the guarantee. Good luck to those trying to do it themselves, I tried to call the county and got 3 different answers from 3 different people.
Hire a professional and get professional results.
After not wanting to do it myself I also hired California Tax Refunds. I actually got my check today for $866 from my 2007 tax bill and my 2008 tax bill was another $1575 lower.
Glad I hired them because I totally forgot about it all until I got my check today. They did it all, I just gave them a credit card and sent them 1 form.
If you haven't done it yet, don't wait. I fully recommend hiring California Tax Refunds.
Just got off the phone with Shane (one of the owners) of cal. tax refunds. Got to say they know their stuff and are very easy to talk to.
Looking forward to the refund check, I know it will take some time but I don't have to worry about it, I'll let them follow up on it all. 100% guarantee wht even think about doing it yourself.
I am glad I found this blog. I called on Friday evening and left a message. Didn't expect a return call until Monday at the earliest. Jason had called me back the next day (on a Saturday) from his cell phone. I had many questions & and he spent well over an hour answering all of them.
I have called other companies and either no return call or had to wait 4-5 days for a return call.
Customer service is still worth something in my book, so I'll be signing up with California Tax Refunds today.
Had California tax refunds do my 2007 taxes, & got back around $1,800 they resubmitted for my 2008 property taxes and they already got a stipulation from the county showing another refund of around $1,500. Without any hesitation I had them sign me up for 2009.
To my surprize they gave me a repeat client discount without even asking for one. This is one great company that really knows how to take care of their clients.
Sure doing the paperwork is easy to do yourself, but what about everthing else that comes afterward. Let these pro's get it done for you.
All I can say is wow & thank you for this thread. I used California Tax Refunds for my 2007 tax appeal and got my refund check of just over $3,100. I signed up early for 2008 and they were able to get an additional $1,400 reduction in my property taxes and I just signed up for 2009, they think I should be able to save an addition $500-$1000 for 2009.
Not only are they very helpful but they really know how to take care of their customers, as someone else said. They gave me a repeat client discount and their great customer service has remained since day 1.
Just FYI I did find out they are having a January special. The normal price is $295 but they are signing up new clients for only $189 until the end of January. If you don't take advantage of their service you deserve to pay higher taxes.
Found this blog then went to the Tax refunds website. They actually have it posted on their website the will match any advertised price. I sent them a copy of a letter I had received & they matched the price. I was very happy because the other company never returned my call. I didnt understand the process very well and they took the time to explain everything to me.
My neighbors and I received some letters/solicitations from companies, I was skeptical. They looked like official documents from the county and were very deceiving. Some of my neighbors signed up with that company and never heard from them again.
I chose California Tax Refunds. For one, I found them and from what I understand they don't even send out mailers, all of their work is from referals and people like me finding thier website. I have called a few times after signing up and have never had to wait more than a couple of hours for a return call.
Don't get taken, money is tight, hire a real company to help you with lowering your property taxes.
Just had to comment again on the customer service from California Tax Refunds. They got me a refund of over $2,000 & when I signed up again I got a repeat client discount.
Also taking another look at their site they had lowered their prices by over 50% and even offer different payment options. These guys are awesome, not only great customer service but working with people in these hard economic time by lowering their prices and offering the same service.
Wow!!!! A real company with a real address. I had been getting all those solicitations in the mail and every single one wanted me to send a check to a PO Box.....No way am I sending a check to a PO Box.
I found this blog & called California Tax Refunds, told them I wanted to come by and see their office. I went there & met with Kara & Jason. It was very nice to see someone offering a professional service that works in a real office.
I highly recommend staying away from from any company that asks you to send them a check, more than likely it's a scam. California Tax Refunds takes credit card and I know I am protected if anything goes wrong.
Why is anyone paying someone else for something you can do for FREEon their own with the city of San Diego? I've already helped many cllients get their property taxes lowered. PLEASE CLICK HERE to get the proper form to file your for your tax savings. It does not take an appraisal. Any knowledgeable real estate agent should be able to provide you with the information that the city requires based on comparable sales. If you need help, contact your agent or me via my website at www.DwellSanDiego.com.
First of all I have to say thank you for all of the great compliments.
Too make things clear, Todd is absolutly right. Property owners can do this on their own for free and an appraisal is not necessary & we have never said otherwise.
But the question is are you ready for what come after you submit your paperwork?
That's where we come in, if we do the review paperwork and it gets declined for any reason we will automatically complete the formal appeal paperwork, handle any negotiation with the county appraisers as well as attend a formal hearing on your behalf if necessary.
There have been many time that a client has asked us to review the paperwork their real estate agent ot loan office had helped them with and it has contained the wrong information. Many agents do not realize there are over 30 pages of rules and regulation that must be followed or your claim will get denied. I'm not saying all real estate agent don't know what to look for, but isn't that the reason why you hire and agent to help you buy or sell a property, or why you hire an accountant to help you with your taxes? You can do both of those on your own but you are typically more successful when you hire a professional to help.
The Counties have appraisers working on thier side & so should you. We have recently lowered our fee to $129 from $295 and even offer a 100% guarantee. We will always answer any questions and check to see if your eligible at no charge.
Just check our site www.cataxrefunds.com
If the people above are happy with our service we must be doing something right.
I called Californiat Tax Refunds, and they answered all my questions and have full service with a 100% guarantee for only $129. Can't beat it cause I sure don't want to do it on my own.
I had filed on my own for 2007 and I was told by the county that they would look at it every year and reduce it as necessary. My value for 2008 was aproximately $90,000 less than 2007 and it was never reduced by the county.
Don't beleive everything you hear from the county. Get someone that knows the system.
This compabny is the real deal. I used them and they did what they said they would at a reasonable price.
My case went to a hearing and I decided to go without California Tax Refunds knowing I was there. I have to say they are very professional and really know what they are doing.
At one point they even had the county appraiser speechless, because they had a lot more information then the county did.
I ended up with a refund of $2,947 and they negotiated 2009 already and that will save me an additional $1,800 or so. They did even ask for a dime for negotiating 2009.
if you use them you won't be sorr.