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Challenge My Tax Assessment 101

You can't fight City Hall?

After 3 posts on my Real Estate Blog about Rochester, NY's property tax reassessment, Meaghan McDermott, a Staff Reporter for Rochester's Democrat and Chronicle (D+C), asked me if I'd give some advice to a local property owner who planned to challenge his home's new tax assessment.

Meaghan seemed surprised that I was a local Real Estate blogger. I'm not aware of another Real Estate blogger in the Rochester, NY Area. We're very conservative and a bit behind the e-times here in Upstate, NY.

Meaghan's article appeared in the Wednesday, 6/11/08 edition of the D+C: Front Page and above the fold, no less. Imagine, free advertising and branding coming from Real Estate Blog posts. Who'd 'a thought?

I wasn't sure of the deadline for her article, so I answered her questions on challenging your home's tax assessment, by copying and pasting her email into my email, and answering her questions directly in the body of her email.

I've found it's best to give any reporter as many written documents and as much follow-up information as possible. They then have the correct spelling and the correct URL's, domain names and links. And they have to work a lot harder to mis-quote you.

1) Your email:

"Cliff: I'm a reporter with the Democrat and Chronicle. I'm going to tag along with a Greece (NY) resident tomorrow when he hits the formal hearing to grieve his lakefront assessment.

I saw your website and a couple of blog posts you made about challenging assessments. I was wondering if we could chat about the process and

Q 1) if you think the process is fair for the average homeowner."

In Rochester, NY, he process is about as fair as any other civic/government process I'm familiar with. The assessors use computer programs and comparables, based on their available home information, just like Realtors do. Your only arguments are:

• Features: Does the Town's description of your home's features match your home, ie: bedrooms, bathrooms, lot size, etc.
• Comparables: From your County Clerk's Office, A Realtor, RealEstateABC.com, Zillow.com, etc.
• Condition: Computers don't know the condition of your home.

"Q 2) It's up to the homeowner to prove the assessor wrong...do you think that's a fair way to go about it?"

The tax assessment process is like most other civil processes. I'm sure Tom Golisano (Of PayChex fame and Rochester's resident Billionaire, who's actively challenging his home's tax assessment) would make it out to be "Guilty until proven innocent". But my take on the process and my experience with the process are not that way. In Rochester, I'd rather fight a tax assessment than a traffic or parking ticket, any time.

"Q 3) What advice do you have for someone who wants to challenge their assessment?"

The general points from "My Three Posts":

• First Questions: Is it worth the time and money to appeal? What can I gain?
• Know your local tax assessment appeal process and what you need to do to appeal. Cutoff dates and the correct forms are very important.
• Document your case as much as possible: Town forms and your other documents and photos
• Think like an assessor: Think of the questions the assessor might ask. Think of the points and arguments he might make. "What do you think your assessment should be?", "Why do you think your assessment should be lowered?", etc.
• Practice your responses alone and with your family and friends.
• Pick a Strategy to argue: Incorrect house information, Comparables and/or Condition.
• Go to the appeal with a competent, composed, non-professional friend or relative for support.
• State your case clearly, succinctly and with some passion. Use your bullet points. If possible, don't read.
• Calculate and know the % and $ reduction you want.And what you'll settle for. (A 50% reduction in your tax increase or "split-the-difference", is usually a very good outcome)
• Show respect and courtesy to the assessor. Try to join with him and not be adversarial or argue with him. Say things like:"That's a good point; and...". "This must be a tough job." He'll be more likely to lower your assessment if he likes you and you get along.
• Leave documents and supporting information with the assessor. Make it easy for him to agree with you and to make your case to his superior to lower your assessment
• Resolve your assessment issues through the informal process whenever possible.

One last tip: In our present market, where homes sometimes sell under assessment, take your purchase documents to the Town Assessor right away. There's no better proof of a change in "current fair market value" than your purchase documents with a lower selling price.

"If you like, you can call me at the number below, or we could chat via e-mail.

Thanks for your time."

Thanks again, Meaghan, for your time and interest, (Does the D+C have any Real Estate Bloggers, or Real Estate Business Bloggers yet?)

Cliff

Happy Searching.

Posted by: Cliff Jacobson

Adapt Or Die!

WebHomeUSAblog: The Blog of Online Real Estate Marketing

A Realtor's Nightmare

With the economy in the dumps, the sub-prime mess screwing over most of my buyers, and the gasoline price taking a bigger chunk out of my budget, I was heartened by all of the NAR's victories in our settlement with the DOJ.

You can fight City Hall. You can fight City Hall. You can fight City Hall. And win. And win. And win.

"We're from the Government, and we're here to help you." My sleep was great. Why count sheep, when you can count victories?

At first, the night like any other night. I was still basking in the glory of all the NAR's victories in our settlement with the DOJ.

I was particularly happy, the NAR could now keep those pesky Search Engines away from our listing data. I didn't like the way those companies like Zillow.com and RealEstateABC.com come up with a virtual CMA in about 10 seconds. It often takes me hours. Just because their computers were bigger than mine, doesn't mean I'm irrelevant. Size doesn't matter. Right? I won't have to go back to selling used cars, will I? I'll just go over my "But Zillow says..." objection handler script a couple more times.

But, before I woke up, my NAR dream settlement had turned into a Realtor's nightmare:

It was announced today that Google, after winning "Internet Map Wars" by buying Pictometry, was going to focus on Real Estate.

I vaguely remembered back in the early 2000's, when the NAR was in negotiations with Google to provide the NAR's Real Estate Search. But the NAR's demands to conceal their data, on the Hidden Web, conflicted with Google's stated vision to: "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful".

But now Google, with the NAR's victory settlement over the DOJ, had to join every local Association of Realtors with an MLS to get all the listings on Realtor.com. Google said, "The $500,000 we paid to join all 900 US MLSs cost a lot less than the $1.65 Billion we paid for YouTube. "Pocket change", said Sergei Brin and Larry Page. "Hardly a rounding error".

"In the past, to avoid copyright infringement claims, we had waited for Brokers to push their listing data out to Google Base. Why wait? We're brokers now. The NAR says we have to be. We don't even need traditional agents."

"A Google Computer can do the work of a thousand agents. The money we save by doing our CMAs in 5 seconds, we can pass on to home buyers. Our Google Computer Agents (GCAs) don't need as much gas as the traditional agent, either. Our budget for E + O insurance is less for computer agents too."

"We only wanted to be a Real Estate Search Engine working with Brokers, providing them with free exposure of their properties and free advertising. The NAR's victory forced us to become a Real Estate Broker in all 900 MLSs, and to actively sell Real Estate. We didn't want this. We really didn't want to do this, but the NAR made us do it", said a spokesman from Google on the condition of anonymity.

Move.com, Realtor.com and the NAR.org were not available for comment.

Although Google would not comment, sources close to the matter said Google would first use their great computer, search and Internet dominance to start an MLS-Only listing service called GMLS. Google next planned to get into discount brokering with, Google Discount Broker (GDB), referred to as "Redfin-On-Steroids".

"Google Real Estate (GRE): Great Real Estate always starts with GRE."

"Googled Your Home Lately?"

No! No! No! Not Google. Not Google. Anybody but Google.

I'm glad it was just a nightmare. It wasn't Google. It was never Google.

It was Zillow!

Happy Searching.

Posted by: Cliff Jacobson

Adapt Or Die!

WebHomeUSAblog: The Blog of Online Real Estate Marketing

Open Letter to Google Base, Yahoo Real Estate, MSN Real Estate, Zillow and Trulia

Dear Google Base, Yahoo Real Estate, MSN Real Estate, Zillow and Trulia,

Welcome to the NAR.

For many years and many millions, we at the NAR have fought to keep banks out of Real Estate (then we've started mortgage brokers and bankers of their own). But in our settlement with the DOJ, we've made it necessary for you search engines to join us in the NAR, and become active RE brokers, to get our listing data.

On behalf of Realtors everywhere, Welcome!

One of our "victories" in the settlement with the DOJ was that we can require anyone wanting to access/scrape our MLS data, to be actively involved in the sale of Real Estate. To be, active, or not to be, active? That is the question.

We've always loved new competition. And we've always embraced new Real Estate models. Haven't we? At least that's what we told the DOJ?

Our dues are pretty much the same for little one-agent brokers and big national franchise brokers, like RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker, and soon Google Base, Yahoo Real Estate, Zillow, Trulia, etc. We've set the bar for admission pretty low.

Please don't bring your computer skills, Internet expertise and billions in funds or millions in VC money to establish discount or MLS-only brokerages. We've had enough trouble fighting the DOJ and a bunch of under-funded Real Estate discounters and Internet start-ups.

Although you have to become a Realtor and actively sell Real Estate to get our data (unless we give you our data, as so many of us already do), please don't. In the past we were so afraid you'd become active brokers, but we didn't really mean to force you to become active brokers. Please don't.

You're pretty good at selling ads. And we're pretty good at selling houses. Let's just keep it that way. OK?

We didn't mean all those mean and nasty things we said about you, the discounters and the MLS-only models in the DOJ case. You're nothing like the banks. They sell money. You sell ads. We've kept them out of Real Estate. We've made you come in.

We're tired of spending our NAR and Local AR dues to fight to keep our data closed and on the Hidden Web. Then we go and pay our brokers a Website fee to push our listing data out to you. Why, you guys even adopted the RETS Standard before all our MLSs did. That's not fair.

Why do you offer free advertising and free exposure for us and for our listing, anyway? What's the catch? Is it anything like the free CMAs we offer to our clients? Please cut out those 10 second Virtual CMAs while you're at it too. The sellers still need us. Don't they?

We're not afraid of you and your ad-revenue model. Everyone knows that the only money in Real Estate is in selling the house. Not in selling those stupid little text ads on the side of the page that no one ever looks at.

Should we continue to boast to our prospective clients about the number of Websites we push their listings out to? Then try to hide their listing data from as many of you search engines as we can?

We'll play nice. We'll obey the rules. Can't we all get along?

Thanks for listening.

And again, Welcome!

Happy Searching.

Posted by: Cliff Jacobson

Adapt Or Die!

WebHomeUSAblog: The Blog of Online Real Estate Marketing

Be Careful What You Wish For, The NAR And The DOJ.

The NAR's settlement with the DOJ, effectively brought the NAR, kicking and screaming, into the Twenty-First Century. Since then, there have been a number of articles and comments about what the NAR won in the settlement. Won?

One aspect of the decision was that the NAR and its MLSs could prohibit a company, not actively engaged in the sale of real estate, from accessing MLS data, and re-publishing it.

But there is the Law of Unintended Consequences. And you must, as always, be careful what you wish for.

When Zillow started in 2/06, there was much Realtor paranoia (Zillo-noia) that Zillow would start to sell homes and become a Real Estate Broker. Despite Zillow's statements that they were a media company, selling ads not homes, there was much concern when Zillow became a California Broker to get access to California listing data.

There's still fear that Zillow, with their 5-10 second Zestimates, or CMA-Lites, and their $87 MM in VC cash, will become a Real Estate Broker. Will a media company, selling ads like your local newspaper's classifieds, become a broker, selling homes? Will a company wanting to become the Google of Real Estate suddenly want to become the next RE/MAX, Redfin or Zip Realty? RE/MAX or Google? Choice?

Do we make the big Search Engines in Real Estate: Google, Yahoo and MSN and the Real Estate Verticals like Zillow and Trulia become Real Estate Brokers to get our information? That scares me much more than cooperating with the search engines, using their free advertising to sell our listings, and benefiting our clients, by getting their homes listed on as many search engines as possible.

I still haven't heard a good argument for prohibiting search engines from posting our listings. It's part of our fiduciary responsibility and our obligations under our "Exclusive Right To Sell" contract, that we get our owner's home listed on as many search engines as we can. To block a free potential-search-engine listing should be a violation of our fiduciary duties.

The NAR has fought for years to keep the banks from selling Real Estate. Now we could force Google, Yahoo, MSN, Zillow and Trulia to be our competitors, join the NAR and sell Real Estate? What if these search engines used their great computer knowledge, dominant Internet power, and vast VC millions, to become MLS-only Brokers or Mega-Discount Brokers? They'd become Redfin and/or Zip Realty on steroids.

Our dreams of data control will become our nightmares of sales competition.

There has been some comment that Realtors own their listing data. Under Copyright law, you don't own the data, just the presentation of that data. You could argue that you do own your home photos. But do you really want to make that argument? What's in the best interest of our clients?

If we do our best, sell houses, and let the search engines do their best, sell ads, we can all get along. And do very nicely at that.

Happy Searching.

Posted by: Cliff Jacobson

Adapt Or Die!

WebHomeUSAblog: The Blog of Online Real Estate Marketing

NAR, Welcome To The Twenty-First Century

The NAR just settled their court case with the DOJ. The NAR now has an invitation to join the rest of Real Estate on the Internet, in the Twenty-First Century. But will they (we).

Google changed the game for keeping general data secret on the "Hidden Web". But NAR and Move.com didn't change and continued to:

• Keep our data hidden.
• Drive buyers to only our Real Estate Websites.
• Give buyers and sellers what we want, not what they want.
• Keep buyers dependent on us.

Real Estate Brokers have fought banks, since there have been banks and Real Estate Brokers. Real Estate has sought a permanent ban on banks in Real Estate. Yet, do you know a RE Broker who doesn't have its own mortgage company, or a Daisy-chain relationship with one?

The NAR was fighting to keep Real Estate listings private, while most big Brokerages are mass uploading their listing data to the likes of Google Base, Yahoo Real Estate, Zillow and Trulia.

Now we pay dues to the NAR to keep our data private and fees to our brokers to get our listing data out. That's the dual agency that I'm most afraid of now.

One of my pitches/scripts to prospective sellers was, "We'll put your home on 8 different Websites." Now I can't count the number of Websites my listings are on. The more the merrier.

In our Association's "Exclusive Right To Sell" contract we have a clause where the seller must approve a lawn sign. I've proposed a clause where the seller has to approve an agent's not putting the owner's home out on the Internet to as many Websites as possible. No takers so far.

It seemed the NAR wanted to insert a clause best called, "The Exclusive Right Not-To-Sell On The Internet".

Now that the Zillow-noia has died down and the Trulia SEO and Google Results jealousy has just begun, we can get on board (or on net) with them, Google Base, Yahoo Real Estate and MSN Real Estate to fulfill our fiduciary responsibilities to our clients and market their properties where over 75% of home buyers start their search, continue their search and find their home.

Welcome to the Twenty-First Century, NAR. Your mission, should you decide to take it.

Happy Searching.

Posted by: Cliff Jacobson

Adapt Or Die!

WebHomeUSAblog: The Blog of Online Real Estate Marketing