So... The County Assessor wants to enter my home...

Just got a letter today, stating that the County Assessor or a company contracted by them will be going door to door next month. They are saying they will be entering yards to take measurements, of any buildings, lot size, and take photos of the buildings. Also they will need access to the interior of all homes and buildings to again take measurements and photos.

The letter also states that they understand with the current COVID situation that the dwelling resident may be concerned, but not to worry because the individuals who do the documentation work will be wearing masks.

I have no desire to allow anyone into my home or garage to assess anything. Not because I am hiding a newly renovated home and garage (In fact it is quite the opposite, there have been no interior upgrades since sometime in the late 60's I would estimate by the wallpaper, fixtures, and linoleum in place. I am not overly concerned about the COVID stuff. I just don't want anyone in my home that I do not know.

Am I being too critical about this? How many of you would allow strangers in to measure and photograph your home?

There is no state law stating that I have to allow these people into my home. I plan to politely refuse them entry.

State of Florida has a requirement every property be personally onsite inspected every 5 years. I resisted last time, but finally allowed inspector inside access, but he could take no pictures. He won the "war" however, when I contested his yearly value assessment, he told the hearing officer I would not allow pictures, so the judge had to go by his professional judgement of the higher assessed value of the house since there were no pictures to submit as evidence to refute his claim. And we argue about "rights" of wearing masks.

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Yep refuse it, I just did. They have the right to measure.take pics, they can search records on my cars and they are all plated, they are not cheated.

But entering the home in most places, no no no.

Get ready for a huge bump in your next tax bill some are talking 40% increase.

If your house has not been renovated in that many years, it would be in your interest to let him in and see the original dated items. I invited mine in and he lowered the value. Just wear a mask when they show up and have your wife coughing in the middle of the house. Be nice and they will leave quickly.

Seems REALLY odd they would be doing this now.... what if they enter your COVID home (wearing their cute little masks) and pick up the virus on their persons...then proceed to the next house......

THATS a good one ! .. many of those assessors are ASSES ....

Their job is to REVENUE ENHANCE for the government....

And I have not heard of ONE OF THEM that is truly responsible for their actions.

Tell them you're running a fever and barfing...

My gut reaction is they're basically looking for higher assessments, in the form of improvements.
Which is essentially a 2nd tax.
I suppose that, "push come to shove" they can get in there, but I believe it to be an invasion of privacy, unless there's cause to believe illegal activity.
And even that is subject to interpretation.

This ^^^^^^^^ Our county is always seeking additional revenue. I know for a fact if you don't let them in,they ASSUME you made improvements. Happened to two friends of mine in the same county here. I let the guy in and he looked around. Asked if I did any improvements. I did and he wrote them down. I also showed him my basement that had damaged paneling from the last flood. I would not let him into the spare bedroom because that is a storage area and full of junk. He had no problem with that. Make sure the guy shows his official ID and call the cops if there is anything suspicious...

They show up here unannounced, take pictures, measure the house/garage from outside and leave.
That should be enough along with the satellite pics.
No way am I letting strangers into my house.

So where are all of the "If you have nothing to hide, you should do what the government tells you to do" people here? The ones who were so willing to say "Sure, I'd let the government hack my locked phone and download the data if they asked."

Exterior wise they can use a drone.

Interior, nope.

Answer the door naked holding a stiff drink and tell the inspector how cute he is.

I actually have good relationships with the tax people. None of them have been asses to me. Maybe because I’m not an ass to them. That’s a novel thought I bet you may not have even thought of, Doc. I talk to them every year about my property values, make my case and usually get better taxes. It’s better to deal with an individual who likes you than the appraisal revue board that is hard to deal with five people.

I guess Illinois isn’t completely horrible. They never ask to do interior inspections here unless you had work done on a permit, when the building inspector will come by.
The assessors drive by and take pictures. They aren’t even very competent when it comes to reviewing building permits to update property descriptions in their records for additions or other major work!
A coworkers parents place in Wisconsin had its taxes increased after an inspector came by when they weren’t home, and peered through the basement window and saw the basement was finished.

Same here. Never had anyone from local government want in to any of my homes unless I pulled permits. Macomb Michigan.

Well mark .... you’re pretty much of a LONER here with a ‘tude like that !

WOW! There is no such thing up here as the government needing or wanting access to inside of the home for the purpose of an assessment for tax purposes.

Seems odd since assessments are based on livable square footage. Unless they can show you a lawful reason for entering your house tell them to pound sand.

Not really, I don't live far from Abilene and I have had the same experiences. They are generally easy to work with, if you aren't an ass to them and I have never had them inspect the inside of my home in more than 17 year of owning it. Heck, even the code guys have only been in my house once when I had a gas line replaced. They were easy to work with too. Gas company found a leak at my side of the meter, locked it out. I got a plumber in to fix it and the code guys inspected it, waited around for the plumber to fix the minor issues he wanted address (house built in 52 so you know it had some issues) and sign off on it then the gas company cam and unlocked it all in ONE day.

But I live in a fairly small town.

I guess then that settles it.

I personally try not to let my own experiences be the single foundation of the way I see the entire world, and one of things I have learned here, that view is not widely shared.

That is never done in California due to our property taxes based on what we paid for the house and any additions, not remodels.

Unless it’s people who don’t read books... then they all are uneducated, right?

There Not coming over to Lower your taxes!

They always try to raise them every year but I deal directly with one of the upper level appraisers with my rental property. We have about 30 houses left from our original 80. I actually got him to lower some below last years this time. One has some foundation cracks so he lowered it. Yes, Doc, Abilene is a laid back town will mostly nice people.

It is never in your best interest to allow "ANY" Assessor to enter your Dwelling.

So wearing a mask means you cannot spread or receive the Covid virus, who knew? This thing should be over in a few weeks.

I've never had an county assessor ask to come onto my property or into my house. It seems odd for such a request.

Here is what will help you reduce your Assessment , Have 3 of your Friends or" strangers Make an Offer to buy your home in writing with a price" they" wish to pay . An Assessment is an estimate and opinion,it is not a true value . The reason yuou should have 3 is more along the same line is more powerful argument than 1 Assessment report . Its just like Court the more witness the better , you do not have to sell your home nor do you have to advertise it to have someone make an offer , but bye all means make sure that the offers come from real people and have them sign it . they don't have to buy. Something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay. it works .

Except they use what homes in your area actually sold for not what some good buddy said he'd pay. Saying ain't paying and prices homes sell for is a matter of record easy to find.

Unless it’s people who don’t read books... then they all are uneducated, right?


Only a stupid and/or uneducated person would believe that distorted likely intentionally misconstrued statement, meaning to me, it hit a nerve, and book reading is not your forte, am I correct?



BTW, I'm currently reading "Too Much, and Never Enough", knowledge is tough to outsmart.

BingO! You can look from the street . . .but stay off my property. In my case, I live on a private road that the owners share ownership in - so stay out!

Oh my goooness .... anutter vote for a C A not having yur best interest at heart !

California is simply horrible! To think last year we completed $100k in upgrades and taxes went up only the obligatory 2%/year over the base (purchase year).
Equally horrible any time there is a decrease in value one asks the assessor to revise taxes downward, provided average neighborhood value is drawn down.
We really are fortunate.

But what would a equally built property like yours pay a year in property taxes? Or without being so intrusive whats your tax rates?

The half baked one not being iNtRuSiVe ?

pErIsH that thought !

Same here in Springfield, Il. Never come without a building permit and just base it on sales of houses in neighborhood.

ANY of you candy azzes have THE STONES to really CHALLENGE any of those REALLY unaccountable C A’s ?

...and purposefully DISHONEST !!

If they don't have a warrant signed by a judge, slam the door in their face. The warrant must also state what they are looking for.

Oh my goodness..... another vote not for the C A ....

from GC !

1% of price the year purchased.

200k would be 2k taxes and add 2%./year after that

Every town is different big cities more, small rural places less (generally)

Right now equally built homes would be 50% more in base value and base tax year.

So a home alone of say 2000 sq ft would hold 500k base year tax value (assuming $250/sq ft.for construntion) and tax would be 5000. mow that can be + or - depending on how the home is finished, if the place is on acreage or a lot and accessory structures would add also
CA has Proposition 13 protection that was voted in years ago. People bought a home in the 60's and as values went up were assessed more and more until being taxed out of their homes. Especially prevalent in the large cities and suburbs of LA or Bay Area.

In our case we bought when values were low and our tax is lower than a similar home down the road in far worse shape (needs roof residing, no shop) bought last year and his taxes are 30% higher than ours.

We just got our property tax bill in the mail. $400 for the year. I'm not complaining.

while im sure you think you are correct ,but no two properties are the same , just be cause you found someone with more money than they know what to do with doesn't mean your neighbor will , and if no one in the immediate area has sold their house . it does not matter what your neghbors house sold for if you have several offers lower , the property is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. The accessors cant prove the value of a home ,its an estimate or in their opinion . by what you say if your neighbor has 2 acre lot wit 36000 sq foot house and it sells for 500,000 and you have 2acre lot 1/4 mile down the road with a 36000 sq ft home and yours was built in the 40's they have the same value? i think not. but its ok , if don't try youll never win . and you can win. you just have to know how to play the game. by the way i live in West Va. and the Accessor is not allowed on my property with out my permission.

When I first got married I rented a beach house in Ocean Beach, San Diego area. They ended up putting it up for sale, $160k. Thought about buying it but figured I could not afford it, I was probably wrong on the mortgage but my credit back then was horrible. Zillowed it recently, over $1.6 million taxes thought aren't bad. About $5200/yr, a the new buyer would get it in the shorts. Of course they did one of those California updates on it and it's about three times the size, with a second floor now, than it was when I was renting it.

Then they can SUE you for them catching the dreaded virus!

They are allowed on your property here, and can look in your windows. I just got mine raised 50%, they base it on sales in the neighborhood. We have tons of rich liberals spending millions around here, one dumbell bought 3 houses knocked them down, and spent 10 million on new. They can come inside if you file a protest, I protested based on sellable square footage, it has to meet current code to be sellable, nothing is grandfathered in. I told the assesor, come on down and bring a check, I will move, he said sorry, I can't all indoor inspections suspended over covid, I said good then no tax increase until we settle this? They should have to immediately buy your property for what they assess it at the way I see it. I would move and retire if they bought all my dumps. I tell you one other thing, the hispanic 4 plexs are going to have to be 6-8 plexs after this year, they got slammed worse than we did, some doubled.

i have had similar problems with my house.
my town re assesses every other year. they also want to inspect every house after it has been sold to make sure nothing was done without getting a permit so they can fine the old owner of the property. if you don't let them inspect you will be responsible for any work done without getting a permit. most of the time this is done before you move in so the inspection is rarely refused.
Zillow list my house at 2800 sq ft and estimates it's value at $395K. it's actually 1800 sq ft and according to recent sales it's worth about $250K. i only paid $75K for the place.
i have had to protest the assessment every year for the last 10 years since i bought the place. after the second year i had the assessor give me a copy of his assessment stating my house is only 1800sq ft. now when i protest the assessment i just include a copy of the copy stating my house is 1800sq ft and they re figure my value without even having to talk to anybody.


on another note.
i am sure just as many rich conservatives as rich liberals buy houses, knock them down and build Mc Mansions.

I received a letter one time when they were doing heavy construction near by.

It looked like the city was trying to inspect my house and I later found out it was a contractor for the construction company wanted to cover his butt before he started blasting.

Make sure it is legitimately the city.
If it is, then see if you have the right to decide to let them in or not. (Don't take the cities word for it though)
Then decide if it is worth letting them in or not if you have a choice.

I had a inspector come by one day. He quoted my square footage and asked if I had remodeled the basement to living space or not. I said no, inspection over, he never left the sidewalk.

They tax on livable square footage here and that was all he needed to know.

Best of luck.

You could avoid all that mess by moving to some place like where I live. Housing values have been dropping for the last few years, my real estate taxes actually wend down last year. The accessor's office isn't in a real big hurry to re-evaluate taxes here these days. The only time the taxes has gone up was when some one bought a house and the price was higher then the appraised taxes, and that isn't happening very often.
The sad part of the whole deal is, I'm not sure I can get what I paid for my house 18 years ago, if I wanted to sell it right now. Fortunately, I'm prepared to live here until they drag my dead butt out, I really won't care what my kids get out of the place. Gene

100K upgrade in California. What did you get for that, new downspouts. Lol.

There FIXED for ya...

They would tax me for the addition.

more like lessen the tax due to insufficient value, lol

.... ORE decreased value due to age, extreme shrinkage and mold and mildew damage due to lack of usage !

hang a sign on the door that says ACTIVE COVID QUARANTINE IN EFFECT. come back in 14 days. In 14 days hang another sign up that says, STILL ACTIVE FOR COVID, SH-- won't go away

14 more days change it to WE THINK IT'S OK NOW

I've lived in the country 33 yrs,never had a tax assessor that requested inside inspection,just outside property and residence.

.

WITCH other countryS have you lived in THE OTHER 50 plus years ?

Thats when you get their version of the girls PE teacher from Porkies at the door.

https://youtu.be/7XhRX3n85bU