If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

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.

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.

First of all let me define PUD: PUD stands for Planned Unit Development. A PUD is essentially a single family home and the ownership of the residence is legally treated that way. The major difference is that a PUD is part of a community, part of a larger development similar to a condo. Even though you will own your home if its a PUD you will pay an association fee per month to maintain community areas which usually include parks, pools and sometimes recreation rooms. The association regulates community improvements so if you want to make major improvements to your house or want to paint your house you will need the homeowners’ association’s approval. Since a PUD is basically a single family home that is also part of a larger neighborhood you are liable for your own repairs and maintaining your own homeowners insurance because you own your own land and own building.

Prop 13 applies today to all property owners in the state of California. Prop 13 was implemented in 1978 by homeowners to control the amount of property taxes paid by homeowners. Before Current California Property Tax Law there was no limit to help taxpayers on property taxes. The assessed value was based on the changing home values every year and because the market values increased significantly over time in California, the amount of property taxes increased substantially. As the values of the houses went up over time, older folks on fixed incomes were being driven out of their homes unable to pay the property tax increases.