The Cobb County tax assessor appeal deadline for commercial properties is coming up very soon. The 2013 deadline for commercial property is June 3. You still have approximately one week to appeal these commercial values. After the June 3 deadline there is no option for for a property tax appeal in 2013. The law is very clear in this respect. The appeal period is 45 days from the notice date, no if's and's or but's.

If you want to ensure that your Cobb County property tax is as low as possible be proactive and get your property tax appeal filed. Although the commercial real estate market has recovered since the Great Recession the amount of recovery depends on the property type and the market area. Not all of Cobb County has experienced appreciation that some of the news would have you believe. Some of the commercial property types that are still suffering are limited service hotels, restaurants, and golf courses.

Today we are looking at the trend in office values in the Atlanta metro area. Based on information from LoopNet sale price per square foot has been on an uptrend for approximately six months. The median sale price at the start of this year was approximately $70/SF.

The Georgia tax assessors are sending out 2013 tax assessment notices and it is time to take a look at Atlanta commercial real estate values. Below is the sale price per square foot trend for retail real estate in metro Atlanta. It appears we are still bouncing along the bottom:

Heads up Gwinnett County propery owners! Time flys and the Gwinnett County Tax Assessor notices came out on April 5. The 45 day appeal period ends in nine days, on May 20th. You can file your Gwinnett County appeal electronically. You can file your appeal in person at 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville, GA. You can file your appeal by mail provided it is postmarked by May 20. I recommend you send your Gwinnett County appeal certified mail with a return receipt requested, if you choose to use the postal service.

Many people ask me if there is anything we can do for them when they miss the Gwinnett County Tax Assessor appeal deadline. The answer is no, there is nothing we can do. The law in Georgia is clear, the time to appeal is within 45 days after the tax assessment notice date. Others wait until their tax bill comes out, and then wish they had taken steps to lower their tax burden. Again, we can do nothing at this point as there is no legal way to challenge a property tax bill, only the tax assessment.

The bells were tolling for the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation in December of 2012 when the AJC reported that the nonprofit was on the verge of collapse. Apparently spending exceeded donations by a large margin and heads needed to roll. I reported in this blog that they had ended property tax appeal work at the Foundation. 

However, I have spoken to two members of the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation this week and the property tax appeal work has not ended. The problem was the Foundation was short on cash and unable to pay the appraisers that were working the appeals. The Foundation kept asking the Fulton County Board of Equalization to reschedule the appeals so they wouldn't incur the monetary obligation to the appraisers.

It is almost property tax appeal time again in DeKalb County GA. The DeKalb County tax assessor will be sending out 2013 property tax assessment notices soon. One of the DeKalb County appraisers told me a week ago that the envelopes were in but they weren’t quite ready to print the assessment notices yet. DeKalb County tax assessor is implementing a new mass appraisal system this year. This is a computer assisted mass appraisal system, which stores all of the property data and also has several different approaches to value built in so that they can appraise the property. It remains to be seen if they will get the property tax assessment notices out soon, or whether it will be a little later in the month. Last year DeKalb County tax assessor notices went out at the end of May.

The DeKalb County Board of Equalization is still holding hearings on 2012 values. They will probably continue holding hearings on 2012 values even after the 2013 values have been mailed. I think things at the DeKalb County Board of Equalization or moving along nicely, though. Compared to last year, going to the Board of Equalization is a dream. The past two years the hearings have been on a first-come-first-serve basis. Last year when you showed up early for a hearing you found scores of other people already there in a sweltering hot room. This year the Board of Equalization hearings appear to be moving along a little better and they are not scheduling nearly as many people on the same day.

It is property tax appeal time in the great state of Georgia and Atlanta hotels have been through an awful time during the Great Recession. Although much of the commercial real estate sector is now on the upswing and cap rates have been falling, hotels still have some of the highest cap rates of any commercial property class. I know many hotel owners who continue to tell me that the hotel market is still bad. If your gross revenue is down and your operating expense ratio has shrunk, and there appears to be no end to your nonexistent net operating income, then the Great Recession is not over.

Real Estate Research Corporation (RERC) stated in their most recent report that demand for hotels and a lack of new supply makes the hotel sector a good investment opportunity. But they also went on to say that replacement cost is higher than value. As a result, development capital is not readily available. RERC's required pre-tax yield rate for the hotel sector decreased in the fourth quarter, although it retained the highest yield rate among the property sectors. According to Smith Travel Research fourth quarter hotel occupancy declined to 45.4%, a 7.2% year-over-year decrease, the average daily rate fell 1.6%, and revenue per available room declined 8.7% to $68.43. Apparently lack of new supply is not helping out the existing hotels.

You asked for the best and you got it! Property tax appeal options. In our continuing efforts to be the property tax appeal resource center we have established several options for single family residential property tax appeals. We know that some of you don't have the time or resources to develop a property tax appeal case and aren't all motivated by the same cost/benefit profile. As a result of numerous inquires on what we charge, and the desire for other payment options, we now have four different single family residential tax appeal services options.

For those that are averse to contingent fees because you dont know, ultimately, how much you will pay, we now have a Gold Level flat fee option. For a one-time $350 fee Fair Assessments will perform the work it is known for. Regardless of tax savings generated there are no additional fees (unless you want to file your appeal to court).

The Hall County tax assessor sent out year 2013 property tax assessment notices on April 14. The appeal filing deadline for all counties in Georgia is now 45 days, so you have until May 27 to file a Hall County property tax appeal. A client of ours was thoroughly shocked when he got his 58% increase in Hall County, GA property tax assessment for tax year 2013. This was a community retail center, so it will be interesting to see if the Hall County tax assessor hit just certain property types, or whether many properties throughout Hall County, GA, were increased in value.

It is possible that the Hall County tax assessor is sticking it to commercial property owners and giving residential property owners a break. It has yet to be seen. During the recovery from the great recession the commercial real estate sector has been doing quite well, due to the low level of interest rates in the economy and institutional money seeking out higher rates of return with relative safety. Commercial real estate, especially the apartment sector has been especially desirable for institutional money and all commercial real estate capitalization rates have fallen since the height of the recession.

The Cobb County apartment market has been on fire in recent years due to the high number of foreclosures and families losing their homes. Despite attractive interest rates, home buyers remain on the sidelines due to stringent mortgage underwriting. It has really been the perfect storm for apartment communities. Now that the great recession is supposedly behind us and the Georgia tax assessors are able to increase values, you can expect apartments to be in the crosshairs of the Cobb County tax assessor.

In the fourth quarter of 2012 Real Estate Research Corporation shows that apartment properties in the Atlanta Metro area have an average going-in capitalization rate of 6.4%. This is the lowest capitalization rate that they reported for any commercial property class in the Atlanta area. This cap rate is for first tier investment properties, which are defined as new or newer quality construction in prime to good locations.