Denver7 sat down with Associate Broker Jessica Leicht of The Leicht Source Realty to talk about how homeowners can craft a strong appeal.
One big piece of evidence property owners would want to include is any independent appraisal they may have had done during their county’s window of assessment.
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How to appeal property assessments in Denver metro and Colorado
“If your appraisal is lower than this number, and it's during their evaluation time, then you can send them your appraisal. That’s a really good part of your appeal,” Leicht said.
If you don’t have that but would still want to appeal, Leicht said there are things you can do to increase the chances of your appeal being approved, although it’s not guaranteed.
“Pick houses with similar square footage, within 20%, that have similar features to yours,” she explained.
She recommends finding three to five properties no farther than two miles away from yours. The properties had to have been sold within your county’s specific window of time. She suggests using free online search tools like the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
For example, if a homeowner was trying to appeal their property tax valuation of $500,000, they could find a comparable home nearby that sold for $450,000 18 months ago.
Using Denver’s 33% median property value increase for the example, and dividing that over the 18 months since the comparable home sold, that would show the comparable home likely increased in value $8,100 per month and is likely now worth more than $595,000. That's higher than what the original owner's valuation is.
“If the comparable property’s dollar amount is more than yours, it’s not going to be worth appealing,” Leicht said. “Now, if it’s below [your property’s valuation amount], it’s probably a pretty good addition to your appeal.”
If the comparable properties are valued more than yours, you can still point out features that they have and that yours doesn’t. Those could also prove as evidence that your home is less than what the assessors came up with.
“Things like a covered patio, or a rooftop deck if you have mountain views,” Leicht suggested. “If the comparable home backs into an open space, that’s a big one. If your home backs powerlines, obviously your value is going to be a little bit different."
While it may take a while to collect all of that information and put together an appeal, Leicht said homeowners can do it themselves in an afternoon.
“It's not guaranteed that you're going to get it lowered, but it's worth a shot. Once you find those three to five comparables, and you determine what they have that's worse than your home, you can send that to the assessor's office and the instructions will be on your county's website,” Leicht said.
The deadline to appeal is June 8.
