BiggerPockets

5 Things You Should Do To Appeal Your County Tax Revaluation On Your Home

Thursday, March 10

If you haven't received a letter in the mail from your county tax assessor on your home yet, you may may want to call and inquire because it could be detrimental to your mortgage payment. In my county (Mecklenburg County), the county is reevaluating property tax values. What homeowners need to know is that this could drastically effect your current escrows that your mortgage company sets aside for your tax bill if you aren't paying attention to what the county values your home at.

Based on my review of 20+ properties, I've noticed that the county has assessed these homes at a much higher alleged value than they were in the past. This means that if you don't take action and send in the informal appeal letter (now extended to March 14) with your assessment of the value then you acquiesce to the value that they put on your home.

Here are the Pros vs. Cons of a higher tax value:

Pros: To me, there really aren't any however in speaking to a lot of our clients they have a perception that its good to have a higher tax value because when they sell their house potential buyers will look at this figure. I disagree. If the buyer has a great real estate agent they will help them understand that tax value has nothing to do with market value (what people will actually pay for your home).

Cons: The major disadvantage to a higher tax value is you will be paying a lot more in taxes on your house than you did last year. Also, this will be your new value when they go to reassess as well. In the 20+ properties I just analyzed I found that the proposed value the county was putting on these homes was anywhere from 20 to even 50% more than market value. So, doing nothing is the worst thing that you can do. Remember, in god we trust and to all others bring data to support your value!

Here are the 5 things that you should do to appeal your proposed tax value increase on your home:

1.) Analyze your neighborhood by obtaining valid sold comparable properties up to 6 months back. You can get this information from your agent via the MLS but remember that isn't all sales, its only the ones that were on the MLS. Another data source would be your county real estate website market analysis tools. For Mecklenburg County you can find it here:
http://meckcama.co.mecklenburg.nc.us/relookup/
(put in your property info then click the "Market Analysis" Link on the bottom left hand navigation bar)

2.) Prepare a cover letter explaining why the proposed county numbers are not reflective of the true value of your property. In this letter highlight specific recent "Active" and "Sold" comparables to support your findings.

3.) Utilize a tool like Google Maps to map out where your property (Subject property) is in relation to the "Active" and "Sold" comparables that you are comparing to. This is a great way to show visually the geographic relationship between your home and the others.

4.) Fill out the provided county tax informal appeal form following their exact instructions.

5.) Deadlines: Don't miss the deadline for sending this package in for the informal appeal!

Next Steps: When the county responds either in your favor or not, you have the right to a formal appeal in which you can go to a hearing and prove your case with the data that you've found.

I hope that you've found this information helpful, feel free to post comments if you have any. Take care,
Mike

How to obtain financing after a bankruptcy, foreclosure or short sale

Monday, October 18

We all have challenges in life and sometimes they don't always result in a positive outcome . You may be facing health, family, financial, or other issues. These can be stressful times for sure, but its great to know that there is light at the other end of the tunnel. We receive questions all time from past, current or potential customers asking us about time frames to restore their buying power after facing bankruptcy, foreclosure, or a short sale. Below are the recent lending guideline time frames for each situation based on loan type. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to Annamaria at Sensei for sharing this with us.

Obtaining a Conventional Loan

• Chapter 7 Bankruptcy          * 4 years from discharge date
• Chapter 14 Bankruptcy        * 2 years from discharge date
• Foreclosure                        * 4 years from completion date
• Deed-In-Lieu of Foreclosure * 4 years from completion date
• Short Sale * 2 years from completion date

Obtaining an FHA Loan

• Chapter 7 Bankruptcy         * 2 years from discharge date
• Chapter 13 Bankruptcy        * 1 year of the payout must elapse & payment performance must be satisfactory - buyer must receive permission from the court to enter into a mortgage
• Foreclosure                        * 3 years from completion date
• Short Sale                         ***NOTE: This is a recent change*** 1 year from completion date if the borrower was current at the time of the short sale on their mortgage

Obtaining a VA Loan

• Chapter 7 Bankruptcy          * 2 years from discharge date
• Chapter 13 Bankruptcy         * 1 year of the payout must elapse & payment performance must be satisfactory - buyer must receive permission from the court to enter into a mortgage
• Foreclosure                         * 2 years from completion date
• Short Sale                          * No specific information on this yet but assume foreclosure rule of 2 years applies. Once this is officially defined, I will provide an update.

Obtaining a USDA Rural Housing Loan

• Bankruptcy (Ch 7 & Ch 13)    * 3 years from discharge date
• Foreclosure                          * 3 years from completion date
• Short Sale                            * No specific information on this yet but assume foreclosure rule of 3 years applies. Once this is officially defined, I will provide an update.

Feel free to call Mike Moulton, Broker at Bee Home Solutions, Inc. for any of your real estate needs in the Greater Charlotte, NC area. 704-885-0488

Home buyers to Repay their Home buyer Tax Credit? Who's to Blame?

Thursday, October 07

Last month CNN Money ran an article titled " Homebuyer Tax Credit: 950,000 must Repay." The bottom line on the discrepancy is that the home buyers that purchased their home by the end of 2008 were allowed up to a 10% deduction (not to exceed $7500, whichever was less). This was for intensive purposes a loan. In 2009, Congress extended the program and changed the guidelines to make it a credit and not a loan. To discuss even further, the IRS is having a tough time determining the actual sale dates and assessing who owes what in taxes.

My question is this...Who's to blame in this scenario? Is it the government for changing up the programs and not making the terms of it well known? Or, is it the home buyer for either not understanding all of the details or not purchasing their home within the allotted time lines? Or, for those buyers that utilized a real estate agent to aid in helping them procure the home are the agents at fault for not helping their clients understand the different ramifications of the programs? Well, it probably is a mixture in most scenarios but at the end of the day the home buyer is the one that is affected the most by this. I hope that the real estate agents were giving their clients the proper information and whether or not the home buyers handled it correctly is between them and their accountants.

In Charlotte, NC where I work we did see an increase in sales due to this government program. I've seen evidence nationally as well of the results in pending sales increasing before the deadline dates. Please leave your comments on how you feel on this topic of tax repayment.

Mike Moulton, Broker In Charge
Bee Home Solutions, Inc.
704-885-0488

Foreclosure Effects On Your Credit Report

Wednesday, October 06

We decided to release some of our short videos from our CharlotteForeclosureChallenges.com website to our Bee Home Solutions audience. These videos are created from the top 20 questions that we receive from our customers and/or prospective customers and we've provided answers to them here. The video below discusses the effects of having a foreclosure on your credit report. Please watch and leave us your comments below. Thanks!

 

take care, Mike Moulton, Broker Bee Home Solutions, Inc. 704-885-0488

 

Multiple Lenders Delaying Foreclosures In 23 States A Coincidence?

Monday, October 04

By now, most of you have seen the headlines from last week where a number of lenders including Bank of America, GMAC and JP Morgan Chase have announced that they are delaying or halting the processing of thousands of foreclosure filings in 23 states. Click here for the Washington Post story.

This is definitely a challenging economy for many businesses and homeowners and the fact that these lenders are "rubber stamping" documents through their foreclosure presses doesn't make someone whose been working hard to keep their home get a warm fuzzy about their lender and their processes. So they are basically admitting that no one has reviewed, read, or even processed the content within these documents. What about all the time homeowners have spent the past couple of years trying to workout a loan modification with these lenders? How much time was wasted for a 4% success rate across the board? The question that arises is was anyone even looking at that paperwork as well.

Call it a conspiracy theory or not, but the fact that all these lenders just so happen to announce the same problem with foreclosure document processing within the same week makes me wonder if they are all tied into the madness together. The uncovering of one stone will lead to another and so on.

Mike Moulton, Broker

http://www.BeeHomeSolutions.com
Serving the Greater Charlotte, NC real estate market

That's why the lady is a HAMP...or is it Jimmy HAFA?

Tuesday, August 24

If the corny title to this blog post didn't get your attention, I think that the details behind it will. Mike Moulton of Bee Home Solutions, Inc. in Charlotte, NC discusses the pros and cons of the government programs surround HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) and the HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) program. HAFA is designed for homeowners who have applied to HAMP for assistance but have had no success with their loan modification program. To participate in HAFA, homeowners must still meet HAMP’s eligibility criteria (principal residence, first-lien mortgage, serious delinquency, unpaid balance under $729,750, and a mortgage payment over 31 percent of gross income). Watch the video for more details. Bee Home Solutions, Inc. is a licensed real estate firm in NC and helps to provide numerous no fee solutions to homeowners facing foreclosure. 704-885-0488 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 704-885-0488 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 704-885-0488 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.