Earlier this month, I wrote about my my town's reassessment of property taxes and home values. That reassessment has now been completed, and for the most part, I am satisfied.
According to a notice sent to me by my Central New Jersey town, my home has been reassessed at a value that's about $40,000 lower than what I had assumed it was worth several months ago -- my home's value has dropped by about $20,000 in just the past two months, according to Cyberhomes. That means that if the tax rate remains the same (but I expect that it will go up next year, as it always does), we will pay at least $2,000 less in property taxes a year.
I think the town's assessment is in line with my home's worth -- the new assessed value assigned to my house is right on the money with what Cyberhomes says my home is worth. (To check out your home's value, select "Home Values" in the pull-down menu to the left of the search box on the Cyberhomes home page, and type in your home's address.)
One of my neighbors hasn't been so lucky. She has a nearly identical home to mine (same model, built in the same year), except that she has installed new wood floors and new lighting fixtures on the main floor and has a shed and privacy fencing at the rear of their property that they installed themselves. (Plus numerous other small improvements.) Her home has been valued at a whopping $56,000 more than mine. At our town's current tax rate of $2.78 per hundred of assessed value, that means that she and her husband may pay at least an additional $1,550 more a year in property taxes for their home than my family will. Understandably, she and her husband have already met with an official to appeal the results.
I would think that my neighbor's home would be assessed at a value at least a little more than our own, considering the wood floors, fence and shed. But the town's new assessment for her property does seem too high. I wonder if the new assessment has anything to do with her home's high level of curb appeal.
When your home is being assessed, "Resist the urge to primp your property prior to the assessor's arrival," counsels Investopedia.com, because subjectivity is bound to come into play when he or she evaluates the property. I think the website is on to something -- while things like good housekeeping and furnishing shouldn't play into the value assigned to your home, I see how it could. Home stagers have been using those tricks for years to influence homebuyers' perceptions of a home's value.
No doubt my home's somewhat average appearance (my home still looks new and fairly clean, but it doesn't impress) influenced the assessor who visited my house. After seeing the builder-provided glass globe lighting fixtures on our ceilings, the original laminate floors and carpeting, and an unfurnished, toy-filled living room, she apparently didn't feel the need to examine the rest of the house.
Meanwhile, my neighbor says that the assessor who visited her home toured the whole property. No doubt the assessor was swayed by the gleaming wood floors, shiny new hardware on the cleanly painted front door and the beautifully furnished dining room (complete with chandelier), that is visible from the entry.
Readers: What do you think? Do you think a home's curb appeal can affect its assessed value? Or do you think homes are generally assessed accurately? Have you ever held off on improving your own home in fear of raising your property taxes?—Lauren Baier Kim