How do assessments and property taxes work?

Question

I am looking to buy a multi family property, however, the price that we would buy it for is ~$150k higher than the assessed value. The numbers still work with decent cash flow numbers. My question is, if we buy the property at a much higher value than the assessed value, how are the property taxes and "Improved Value" of the assessment affected? Will the "improved value" assessment likely increase a large amount, as well as the property taxes or how does that work?

John Warren · Answer

@Lucas Zaichek I am not sure if I understand what you mean, but the assessed value is often (not always) correlated with the market value. Real estate taxes are hyper local though, so make sure you know the rules for your area.

Lucas Zaichek · Answer

@John Warren Thank you for the response! So does that mean if you buy a property above the current assessed value, the valuation could jump up significantly,as well as the property taxes?

John Warren · Answer

@Lucas Zaichek yes this is a big problem with buying "stabilized" multifamily properties. I recently saw a building locally here in Cicero, IL where the OM had the taxes remaining stable post sale. When I ran the calculations I saw that the tax burden on this 27 unit could potentially jump over 40k! You have to underwrite to a worst case scenario to make sure you will still be ok.