Saving money is very important for homeowners in Fulton County, and when you get a high property tax bill in the mail, you may feel your wallet tightening. Year after year, those bills show up, based on a number that you may have never seen before. The Fulton County tax assessor will determine what your house is worth based on current market value, and that is what your taxes are calculated with – but what if their estimation of your house isn’t right? What if they value your home way too high? You could end up with a property tax bill that is much larger than it should be. Here are four things to consider when you first get that bill.
1. Find the assessed value of your home.
The first thing you need to do after you look at the bill total, is to find the assessed value of your home. Just knowing this number is only the first thing you need to know, but it could be the most important part. If your home is being valued incorrectly, it will make your entire bill far too high. So, the first thing to do is to find that value. It should be listed in the bill from the Fulton County tax assessor, but if it isn’t, or you have trouble finding it, you should call the assessor and get this number.
Now it’s time to determine why the assessor may be that high. Was the home assessed recently? Has the housing market in your area changed? Have you avoided updating your older home? Is there anything else about your area that has changed? All of these things could be part of why your home is being valued at a specific rate. If your home hasn’t had an assessment recently, if you haven’t upgraded an older home, if the housing market in your area is not doing that well, and so on, you may be able to appeal the value that the assessor assigned your home.
If you want to appeal this number, you’ll need to do it soon, so it’s important to consider this as soon as you get your bill.
2. Consider the chance that your appeal could raise your bill.
If you appeal your tax bill from the Fulton County tax assessor, and your case reveals that your home should actually be valued more than the assessor valued it at, you could inadvertently raise your bill. This may occur if you did renovations to your home that the assessor didn’t know about, or if your research reveals that the market is in better shape than the assessor estimated, your home’s value could go up.
However, most of the time, you will see that this is going to happen as you do your research for your appeals case. At that point, you can choose to withdraw your appeal and simply accept the bill that you were given from the Fulton County tax assessor.
This is a very rare occasion. Most properties in Georgia are over-valued, not under-valued. Only a tax expert can tell you for sure if your research will result in a higher home value, so be sure that you talk to an expert if you aren’t sure before you go to the appeals hearing. This is important, because a higher value can result in thousands of dollars added to your tax bill.
3. Consider what the market around you is like at the moment.
The real estate market for comparable houses in your area is important for determining the value of your home. You do need to know what similar homes are selling for – but the key is similar. Don’t compare your four-bedroom family ranch to a condominium. Look for homes with similar square footage, a similar number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and a similar lot. If you have a corner lot, that will make your home value higher than homes without a corner lot. If you have nice trees on your lot, that can change your home’s value. So be sure that you compare your home to as many very similar homes as you can. You may be able to find that homes in your area just aren’t selling for that much, no matter what the homes are truly worth – and that can lower your tax bill.
4. Consider working with the experts.
You do have the right to appeal your Fulton County tax assessor office’s evaluation of your home. These appeals happen every year right after the tax bills are mailed out. You have to do the research, file the paperwork, and present the proof in a convincing way at a hearing, to go through the appeals process. Unless you have very convincing information that your home should be re-evaluated, you can be denied, and will have to pay what the original bill was for.
All of this takes a lot of time and energy, and you have a busy life to get on with. That’s why we recommend working with the experts. We have two decades of experience in preparing appeals, which means that we have all the expertise needed to get the best outcome possible for you. We file the tax appeal letter, do all the research needed for your case, and negotiate the reassessment with the assessor. Then we prepare your argument for your hearing and attend it with you.
We have a success rate over 80%. Most of our clients do come away from their appeal with a lower tax bill. Our fee is based on the value of your home, and ranges from $295 to $495 – and you could save thousands, or hundreds of thousands on your tax bill.
Contact Us to Learn More
If you are considering appealing your tax bill, these four things to consider are the best place to start. Feel free to contact us at Fair Assessments at any time. We are always happy to answer your questions and ensure that you understand why your tax bill can and should be lower.
Call us today at 404-618-0355, contact us online, or email us at info@Fair-Assessments.com.
