Here in Skagit County, many of us just received our new “Notice of Value”. This letter states what your old assessed value was and what the new assessed value is going to be. Many people mistakenly believe that means that their home has dropped in value. In fact, your home may have increased in value – it’s just that this Notice of Value won’t reflect it. Why not?

Remember that these statements are based on data that could be 1-2 years old. It does not reflect the current market and sales trends in your area.

Many people will also mistakenly believe that along with a lower Notice of Value, they will enjoy a lower tax bill as well. In Skagit County, the amount of taxes to be collected are divided among all the property values using the new assessments. See my prior post for a more detailed explanation of how this works.

If other words, if everybody’s assessment went down by 10%, we would all still pay the same amount of taxes next year. The only way your tax bill will go down is if your notice if value has a decrease that is greater than the average of everybody else’s.

Of course, if you have just bought your home, and you have a current appraisal which shows that your home value is lower than your new assessment, now is the time to bring that evidence to the assessor’s office and appeal your tax bill, but you must do it within 30 days of receiving your notice of value.

And also remember that even if your home value is lower than what you owe on it, the HARP program allows you to refinance your existing loan to lower your monthly payments, and there is no appraisal required! Contact me today to learn if your home is eligible.