Research Thy Neighbors
As mentioned above, information about your home is available at the local town hall. What many individuals don’t realize is that in many cases, information about other home assessments in the area is also available to the public.
It is important to review comparable homes in the area and general statistics about the town’s evaluation results. You can often find discrepancies that could lower your taxes. For example, let’s say that you have a four-bedroom home with a one-car garage, and your home was assessed at $250,000. Your neighbor also owns a four-bedroom home, but this house sports a two-car garage, a 150-square-foot shed and a beautiful swimming pool. Despite this, your neighbor’s home was valued at $235,000.
Was there a mistake? There probably is an error – unless your property has some other distinguishing characteristics that explain the discrepancy. With all of this in mind, if an error is found, it pays to bring it to the assessor’s attention as soon as possible so that you can get a reassessment if necessary.