Fri, 18 May 2012 18:10:14 -0800WeeblyTue, 10 Aug 2010 11:21:07 -0800http://realtyinside.com/1/post/2010/08/hvcc-amc-humorous-hitler-video-link.htmlThere has been a controversy over the HVCC law which went into effect last year. This law was supposed to prevent loan officers and other people associated in a loan transaction from influencing an appraiser to push the value to a higher amount. Unfortunately the cause of the creation of this law, Andrew Cuomo investigating a lender pressuring an AMC (Appraisal Management Company) which than pressured the appraiser to get higher values transformed the industry into lenders using AMC's more often. So rather than your mortgage broker being able to order an appraisal with a trusted appraiser, they are forced into appraisals being completed by appraisers who may have little or no knowledge of a home owners market area or have much experience in appraising at all. Why? Because the AMC's shop for the appraiser who will do the job for the least amount of money and in the shortest time period.

Here is a humorous video clip that was sent to me due to a modification in the law that appraisers should be paid "normal and customary fees".


http://www.video.me/ViewVideo.aspx?vid=9368

Please watch this, the Hitler Economic Fuher (AMC's) is at it again.

]]>Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:08:44 -0800http://realtyinside.com/1/post/2010/07/tax-board-decisions.htmlMost of the tax boards have heard all the cases or will be finishing soon. The tax board decisions will be sent out and every petitioner will be receiving their decisions in the next couple of weeks. If you receive the tax board decision and are not satisfied, then you can appeal their decision to the tax court.

If you were a property owner and did not have an expert witness to testify as to the value of your property and are planning to continue to the tax court, hire a certified appraiser. Hiring a certified appraiser to testify as to the value of your property adds to the credibility of your case. Home owners who have an appraisal and an expert witness who is knowledgable about the tax appeal process tend to get better results.

As a certified appraiser who has been testifying for property owners for 15+ years now in the NJ County tax boards and tax courts, I have observed how cases have leaned for a petitioner with an appraiser expert and petitioners without an appraiser expert. I have also seen cases when an appraiser was utilized but were not familiar with the appeal process. So, word of advice when filing a tax assessment appeal and presenting your case to the tax board and tax court: Hire a certified appraiser who has many years of experience. Hire a certified appraiser who knows the appeal process from start to finish. There are many appraisers who know how to appraise your property, but don't know the appeal process, procedures and what is allowed in the tax boards and tax courts.

When you receive your tax board decision and decide to appeal to the tax court, contact the Appraisal Authority. http://www.realtyinside.com/contact.htm]]>Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:39:50 -0800http://realtyinside.com/1/post/2010/06/nj-tax-board-hearings.htmlTax board hearings have started and over the past month I have noticed a lot of things during the proceedings which I attended.

Many people who have filed their appeals on time have not followed all the rules as outlined in the instructions. Most importantly is getting the appraisal report or list of sales to be used as comparison not only to the tax board but ALSO the tax assessor, no less that 7 days prior to the hearing date. If the tax assessor does not get a copy of the sales which are going to be used for your case, they do not have time to prepare and will ask the board to dismiss the case on this basis.

The tax board also does NOT want to hear about how your neighboring properties have higher or lower taxes or are assessed differently. They want to know how much your property is worth and any thing that may impact on the value of your property.

I watched as many home owners proceeded with their case, as they followed the instructions and testified to the board by themselves. The unfortunate problem is that many had no expert testimony from an appraiser. They presented a list 3-5 sales as indicated in the instructions which they thought were comparable, only to find out at the hearing that they were not really as comparable as they thought or were considered as unusable (short sale, estate sale, etc.) and in some cases helped support the tax assessment.

Now some towns had offered a settlement to some home owners, and many home owners accepted these settlement offers. In these cases I wondered if the home owners realized how much or little these minor reductions the town was offering would change their property taxes.

If you are filing a NJ tax assessment appeal remember these simple things:

1. Follow the appeal process instructions completely!
2. Present evidence and testimony proving what your property is worth as of October 1 in the pre tax year.
3. Hire a NJ State certified appraiser to prepare an appraisal report and testify on your behalf. This typically increases your odds of getting a better reduction in your assessment.
4. Know the tax rate and ratio. This way if the assessor offers a settlement you can calculate how much you will save in taxes, and decide if presenting your case to the tax board commissioner(s) would be worth while.

Contact Appraisal Authority for help in your property tax assessment appeal. www.realtyinside.com]]>Mon, 03 May 2010 09:24:39 -0800http://realtyinside.com/1/post/2010/05/new-blog-location.htmlIn order to update my blog posts easier, I have moved the location to a new URL.
All future posts will be posted at http://realtyinside.wordpress.com 
]]>Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:16:18 -0800http://realtyinside.com/1/post/2010/02/nj-property-tax-assessment-appeals.htmlBy now most of NJ property owners have received their property tax cards. As a home owner myself, I looked at my total property assessment and tax ratio to calculate the assessed value and if it is in line with what I think my property is worth.

Most home owners don't know what the tax ratio is for their town. So if you look at the total assessment, you may think that is what the town thinks your property is worth, not so. You need to do a little math and you need to know what the tax ratio is for this year. But how do you find out? Answer: You can either call the tax assessors office and ask them what the tax ratio is or you can look it up online at the Department of Treasury – Division of taxation.


In order to calculate what the town thinks your property is worth take the total value assessment (TV) and divide it by the average ratio percentage.
Example: in Caldwell the Average ratio is 91.92%. So if a property has a (TV) of $350,000 divide it by 0.9192 (must convert the percentage into a decimal).
$350,000 / 0.9192 = $380,765.88 this would be the value the town thinks the property is worth.

Now in order to file a tax assessment appeal following the Chapter 123 rules the property would have to be worth less than the Upper limit ratio. On the above website use the Upper limit ratio to see what your property would have to be worth less then.
Example: In Caldwell the Upper limit ratio is 105.71%. So do the same calculation as before, but use the Upper limit ratio.

$350,000 / 1.0571 = $331,094.50 This is what the same property would have to be worth less than in order to continue with a tax assessment appeal following chapter 123 rules.

But how do you know what your property is worth and how do you prove it to the tax board commissioner or tax court judge? The best way is to hire an expert witness who hasexperience and knowledgein the tax assessment appeal process. Have your property appraised by a State Certified real estate appraiser from Appraisal Authority. Kevin Burkhardt has testified in the New Jersey County tax boards and tax courts as an expert witness for over 15 years.

The cutoff date for filing a NJ property tax assessment appeal is April 1, 2010. The burden of proof is on the home owner to prove the value of their property.

 If you would like more information on the appeal process please contact Appraisal Authority now. I will look up and calculate the Chapter 123 ratio's for you for free. If you then feel you would like to proceed with the appeal process and increase your chances of getting a reduction in your tax assessment contact Appraisal Authority now!

 ]]>Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:20:15 -0800http://realtyinside.com/1/post/2010/02/livingston-market-absorption-analysis.htmlABSORPTION ANALYSIS: Market analysis in the town of:  Livingston As of : 02/08/2010 Data includes only 3+ bedroom single family homes in the subjects same town/zip code. 
Condominium and multi family homes not included.
Time Period: 12 Months.
# of Closed Sales:  249 Absorption Rate: sales/12 months (S/12= ) =  20.75
# of Listings:  88
# Months Inventory (L/AR= ) {# Listings/Supply (Absorption rate)} =  4.240964 Months Based on the 12 month market analysis, supply and demand are considered to be:  In balance
Data obtained from the Garden State MLS.
Price range of closed sales: $245,000.00 to $2,150,000.00
Price range of active listings: $250,000.00 to $2,888,000.00 ]]>Sun, 07 Feb 2010 11:20:22 -0800http://realtyinside.com/1/post/2010/02/north-caldwell-market-absorption-analysis.htmlABSORPTION ANALYSIS: Market analysis in the town of:  North Caldwell As of : 02/07/2010
Data includes only 3+ bedroom single family homes in the subjects same town/zip code.  Condominium and multi family homes not included.
Time Period: 12 Months.
# of Closed Sales:  60 Absorption Rate: sales/12 months (S/12= ) =  5.00
# of Listings:  33
# Months Inventory (L/AR= ) {# Listings/Supply (Absorption rate)} =  6.6 Months
Based on the 12 month market analysis, supply and demand are considered to be:  In balance
Data obtained from the Garden State MLS.
Price range of closed sales: $400,000.00 to $1,610,236.00
Price range of active listings: $390,000.00 to $2,999,000.00 ]]>Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:44:52 -0800http://realtyinside.com/1/post/2010/01/hvcc-not-working-appraisers-unite.htmlWith all the changes that have occured over the past year many appraisers, realtors and mortgage loan officers have discovered the HVCC law do more harm then good. HVCC intended to prevent appraisers from being influenced to "push" values to make a deal work has had dire consequences. Loans are taking longer to close, it is harder to qualify for loans and it is costing buyers/homeowners more money. Also many appraisers feel the appraisal management companies have taken over the industry who are run by either the loan companies or run by people who have little to no knowledge of real estate appraising. In the meantime there have been many polls taken indicating that the HVCC law has not prevented appraisers from being influenced.

For my appraiser colleagues, I would like to suggest every appraiser in America join the American Guild of Appraisers. This is an appraiser union which will give us the backing and voice to stand up in Washington and help us regain our business. If you would like more information let me know and I will give you the information on how to join.

If you are in the real estate industry or have applied for a mortgage and felt the affects of the HVCC law, I would like to hear your story. Then I would like you to forward your story to Andrew Cuomo's office info@andrewcuomo.com  and let him know how his law affected you.]]>Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:35:00 -0800http://realtyinside.com/1/post/2010/01/caldwell-nj-market-absorption-analysis.htmlHere is how the market is doing in Caldwell. As you can see there is still an over supply of homes on the market.

ABSORPTION ANALYSIS: Market analysis in the town of:  Caldwell As of : 01/25/2010 Data includes only 3+ bedroom single family homes in the subjects same town/zip code. Condominium and multi family homes not included). Time Period:12 Months.
# of Closed Sales:  25
Absorption Rate: sales/12 months (S/12= ) =  2.08
# of Listings:  18
# Months Inventory (L/AR= ) {# Listings/Supply (Absorption rate)} =  8.64 Months
Based on the 12 month market analysis, supply and demand are considered to be:  Over supply
Data obtained from the Garden State MLS.
Price range of closed sales: $235,000.00 to $785,000.00
Price range of active listings: $289,000.00 to $950,000.00
There is currently 3 homes with a pending under contract status.
]]>Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:50:20 -0800http://realtyinside.com/1/post/2010/01/welcome-to-my-neighborhood.htmlThis blog is new and I plan to provide some market data to help everyone see how the real estate market is doing in your area. I welcome any comments, suggestions or questions. If there is a topic concerning the real estate market or industry please post it.]]>