By David Terraso
If you’re a homeowner in the city of Atlanta and you haven’t received a shock upon opening your property tax bill, just wait. It’s coming. That’s because property values in the Candler Park and Intown Atlanta have been rising.
“The market is going up like crazy,” said Elena Volkova, realtor and Candler Park resident.
Arman Deganian moved to Ferguson St. in 2006. He moved to Atlanta in 2003. He rented, first at the Bass Lofts in Inman Park and then at the North High Ridge Apartments in Poncey Highlands.
“I wanted to stay in town, but I wanted to buy and this was the only house in this area in my price range,” he said.
DeKalb county assessed value of his two bedroom, one-and-a-half bath cottage at $191,000 when he purchased the home. In 2012, the value assessed dropped to $130,000. So when he opened his tax bill for 2013, he was shocked to find that the county appraised the value at $380,000.
“I was thinking it was a mistake,” Deganian said. “So I called and of course I couldn’t get anybody on the phone down there. And then I searched it and saw where people were talking about it online and I came across the process to appeal. So I went ahead and sent my notice to appeal the next day.”
To file an appeal, homeowners must mail in their paperwork to the county’s board of equalization (BOE), which is made up of regular people who own property in the county.
Being fast on the draw to appeal is crucial, said tax attorney Walter Hotz.
“When you get your annual notice of assessment you’ve got a 45-day window to file an appeal,” he said. “If you don’t file an appeal during that 45 days, then you’ve lost your right to file an appeal. There’s no excuse accepted. You can’t say ‘I was in the hospital,’ or ‘I was on vacation.’”
Hotz recommends everybody file an appeal.
“The reason why you file an appeal is because we have a statute that allows you to freeze that result for the next two years, whether it is a reduction or no change,” said Hotz.
So even if the board decides to deny the appeal, the assessment is frozen for 2016 and 2017 and the county won’t be able to raise taxes on the property until 2018, assuming you don’t appeal during that time and no renovations are being made. If the appeal is granted, even better.
“If you get in the habit of filing a tax appeal every three years,” said Hotz, “then you’ve been able to give the county only three bites at the tax apple every ten years versus the county having ten bites. And in a rising market like we are in now, that can save a taxpayer thousands of dollars.”
After Deganian sent in his appeal, he sent in sale prices of homes that are comparable in size, year-built, quality and condition, also known as comps. The data is found via a company known as First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS) and is best obtained through a realtor or an attorney.
“Those sales should match up to be in the same tax neighborhood,” explained Hotz. “If you’re a ranch style home then all the comparable properties should be ranch style. If you’ve a two-story then they all should be two stories. If you’re brick you try to get the same exterior.”
Volkova said that she and many realtors provide comps for people for no charge. She warned against using websites like Zillow to find home prices.
“Zillow is not accurate for estimates at all,” she said. “They take a one mile radius and then even out the value. They don’t look at your schools. They don’t look at renovations.”
So depending on where the house is in Candler Park, that could mean that Zillow is using home prices in Druid Hills, Lake Claire, Inman Park, Poncey-Highlands or Edgewood. Sometimes it will result in Zillow estimating a higher value for the home, sometimes it would give a lower value. The bottom line is it’s not accurate.
“Take pictures of your home, the front and the back and anything that’s wrong with your house,” recommends Hotz. “Look at your home as if you were a prospective buyer and what you would want fixed before you bought it. Look and see what upgrades you do not have. If you have anything that needs serious repair, like water leaking in your basement, you can get estimates for the cost of repair and take those with you to the BOE.”
The BOE denied Deganian’s appeal, so he hired Hotz as his attorney and they appealed it up to DeKalb County Superior Court, where homeowners can demand a jury trial. But before going to court he and Hotz were able to get the property appraisal reduced from $380,000 to $230,000.
Because he was in the process of renovating the house, the tax freeze didn’t apply, so the following year the appraisal shot back up to $360,000. Deganian called the tax assessor and negotiated a new value of $260,000.
Once the renovations were completed last year, the county appraised the value at $330,000 and he accepted that. He sold the house last month for $394,000.
“When that tax notice comes, don’t sit on it,” said Deganian. “My instinct was to think, ‘This is crazy!’ and then put it down to deal with it later. Don’t do that! I saved about $1,500 that first year.”