Reassessing Things

One of the good things about having hired a lawyer to assist me during the closing when I bought my house was that he gave me some tips about how to reduce my property taxes. The first thing he suggested was that I ask the city to reduce the assessed value of the house.

It turned out to be a straightforward process -- a required visit to City Hall but no need to fight it. I filled out some forms and was given the name and phone number of one of the city's official real estate appraisers. I called him and made an appointment for him to come buy to have a look.

Yesterday, he pulled into the driveway of the new place. He got out of his car, a nattily dressed man. He had a bit of a nervous look about him, as though he couldn't quite believe that he'd come to the right place.

We shook hands. "So, Brendan, what's the story here?"

I explained that I'd bought this place after it had been foreclosed upon, that I was planning to fix it up, and that, meantime, I wanted to have its assessed value reduced. He nodded. I asked him if he wanted to have a look inside. He nodded.

"Got a flashlight?" I asked.

"No. Why? I need one? Is it safe to go in there?"

I assured him that electricity was not yet one of the house's happinesses (details in a coming post), but that he would not, in fact, fall through any floors. From giving earlier tours to friends and prospective contractors, I have gotten in the habit of carrying two flashlights, and so I handed him one.

I led him in the only non-boarded-up door, which leads directly to the second floor. He came up behind me. I would say "unwillingly," were I the sort to bandy about adverbs. Which I am.

He stopped at the top of the stairs, took about five more steps, quickly shone the flashlight at a couple of walls and turned to go.

"Wait," I said, "Don't you want to see the first floor? Or the basement?" I was planning to emphasize how the services would all need serious work, too.

"No, no. I've seen enough. How about I change the value of the house to $20,000? That work for you?"

He quickly rattled off the details, about how the new value would not affect the balance of this year's property taxes, but would affect 2007's taxes. "Any questions?" He looked like he absolutely could not wait to run back down the stairs.

"Nope. Guess not. Thanks for coming."

Once safely back outside, he gave me a few more details about how the city would be reassessing everyone's property next year, for the 2008 tax year. By then, of course, I should have the place restored to its original opulence. But considering that New York has a state program called the STAR exemption, which can knock $30K off the assessed value of your primary residence if you're the owner, next year ought to be a good one for not paying so much in taxes.

He didn't give me any kind of paperwork to document the reassessed value, so we'll have to see how this all plays out. I'm going to write him a follow-up email, FWIW.