Question: I am interested in making an offer on a home, but the asking price is nearly $80,000 higher than the County’s tax value. Will I be overpaying if I offer the tax assessment? Can I use the tax assessment to negotiate a lower purchase price?
Answer: This is one of the most common questions I’m asked by clients early in the buying process. The fact is that the majority of homes are assessed below market value (sold price) and you should not rely on the County’s assessment to determine how much you’re willing to pay for a home.
Negotiate Away, But Don’t Expect Them To Listen
As for using it in negotiations, you should find any angle you can to negotiate a better deal for yourself so if pointing out the tax assessment helps you get a better deal, by all means, go for it! However, don’t be surprised when the seller or the seller’s agent quickly dismisses it, especially if they’ve seen the data presented in this column (sorry!).
2018 Tax Assessment vs 2018 Sold Prices
Let’s take a look at how Arlington County’s 2018 Tax Assessment Values compared to the actual purchase price of homes that sold in 2018. The table below is based on 689 of the ~3,000 total sales in Arlington from 2018. For some reason, the MLS doesn’t have updated 2018 tax assessments for most of the transactions hence a limited data set, but 689 data points are plenty.
In 2018, homes in Arlington sold an average of 7.6% higher than their assessed value. By comparison, Zillow claims that their Zestimates have just a 3.3% margin of error in Arlington. Just 17.1% of homes sold for less than their 2018 tax assessment and only 8.3% sold for 5% or less than the assessed value.
Appealing Your Tax Assessment
If you’re an Arlington homeowner, you should be happy to hear that you’re most likely paying taxes (.996% rate) on a value that represents less than what your home is worth. For those of you who are not happy with the assessed value of your home, every year you have an opportunity to appeal your assessment, but the burden of proof is on you, not the County, and it’s not easy even if you have solid data. Arlington provides an informative website on the appeal process.
Quick hits on that process:
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Your first appeal with the Dept of Real Estate Assessments must be filed by March 1 of that year
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Step 3: An assessor will visit your home and you can provide relevant info to make your case
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Step 4: If you’re not satisfied with the decision or have not received written notice by April 1, file your second appeal with the Board of Equalization online here (Second Level) by April 15
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Step 5: If you’re not satisfied with the decision, your final option for appeal is with the Circuit Court, which will likely require you to hire an attorney
