I recently received an email from someone in my neighborhood asking if I knew of any appraisers who were familiar with the area and who do tax appeals. Many area residents are upset because our taxes have gone up...when we all know our property values have gone down.
But it's not really that simple.
If you are concerned that your taxes may be out of line or that your assessed value is too high, the best thing to do is to contact a licensed appraiser for advice. I recommend:
Meridian Valuation
Owner: Diane M. Kita, Certified Illinois Appraiser (License No. 156.0004178)
Office/Fax: (847) 726-6033
Cellular: (847) 650-4378
email: diane@MeridianValuation.com
Diane lives in Lake Zurich and is very experienced. She saved one Hawthorn Woods client of mine a lot of money on appeal...they were grossly over-assessed. Give her a call and see if she can help you, too. Good luck!
Hi Kelly, I have helped folks on this as well. Many assessors offer free clinics to help folks understand the process of appealing your property taxes. Here in Kane County there are several sessions still open. One think I did find kinda lousy is that many counties are not allowing you to submit market observed conditions (sales) from 2008 for this years appeal process. If you are unable to submit this data than you are now required to demonstrate that the assessment was incorrect due to the data they have on your home.
An inspector is a great idea but before I would hire one I would call your local assessor and see if the data will be considered if it is based upon market conditions for 2008. Great post.
DEAN: Diane Kita has done a lot of work in Lake County so I would actually recommend that Lake County residents call her first for a little advice and do some research of their own online (Lake County information is available at http://www.co.lake.il.us/assessor/assessments/default.asp.) One of my clients in Round Lake called the assessor's office directly and was told not to appeal, that "it wouldn't be worth the money spent on the appraisal." Maybe or maybe not (I can't believe they actually told her that) but then again it isn't in the assessor's best interest to have you appeal, now is it?
How does Diane charge? Some of them charge based on the money they save and others do a flat fee...
JUDY: More information can be found on her website at www.meridianvaluation.com about her fees and what services she provides for homeowners, loan officers and real estate agents. Her fees vary depending upon the circumstances, the type of appraisal and other factors. Diane provides an honest, non-biased opinion of value - that much I know for sure!
Great information Kelly. So many people these days needs some expert help with this with their home values going down as the property taxes keepg oing up. The assessors sure are busy these days with all of the tax protests.
DEB: Diane tells me that she is busy doing many tax appeals...