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Assessments (property taxes) are the highest expense after debt service (mortgage) for taxpayers and knowing property taxes and assessments can only benefit you as a homeowner. The average homeowners who bought a home in the past six years pays at least $7,000 per year in property taxes which equates to almost $600 monthly. After ten years the amount of property taxes paid cumulatively will be more than $70,000! If that homeowner can lower their property taxes by just $2,000 per year over the next ten years, you will save $20,000! Being a knowledgeable homeowners about the three aspects of property taxes, appraisal, assessment and government process, enables you to save thousands in the long run.

Market value is the most critical factor in any avenue of real estate; everything starts with market value and market values are constantly changing. Understanding real estate equates to knowing how to determine market value, essentially know how to conduct your own appraisal. The irony is that appraisal is not generally known even among industry experts. Appraisal is not difficult, it is simple and the crucial element to everything in real estate. Whether you are acquiring a home, refinancing, lowering your property taxes, investing, etc. everything is in relation to market value and the funny thing is that real estate market values are always changing. Real Estate values are constantly changing so the key is: understanding appraisal and how market values are calculated. When you know appraisal and how market values are determined you will have the tools necessary to work with your banks on loans and your Assessor on property taxes. The California Little Black Book and the National Little Black Book walk you through the appraisal process step-by-step so that you know how to determine your market value and this is a tool you can use many times. Once you have the tool, the Little Black Book, you can appraise an infinite number of properties.

I applied with the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office early 2003, I was one of 900 applicants for 25 positions as a Real Estate Appraiser Trainee. I was one of the 25 chosen for the class they hired that year. As a trainee I went through an 18 month probation period and a 12 month training with them including classroom training, many exams, field training in all aspects of real estate appraisal, property tax law and the processes within the Assessor’s Office. If had I failed any one of my series of exams or gotten a bad performance review I would have been kicked out of the program.

In a decreasing real estate market, you are allowed a break in your property taxes. Prop 8 is an exemption to California Property Tax Law which is the basis of property taxes for homeowners in California. Prop 13 was enacted to control property taxes paid by homeowners. Prop 8 Exemption is an exemption to Prop 13 which says that your property tax value should not be higher than market value.

This is a very simple question to answerbecause they are handling your assessment!

Mishaps are often made given there is so much work and so many houses to value! Simply remember the Assessor’s Office is a mass assessment entity and they do not always have the time or the staff to make sure every single assessment is perfect. If there is a mistake|an error in your building information or a value that is far above than what it should be, it is not intentional nor is it personal.