Appraiser to help fight property tax Assessment
Member since 2025 · 3 posts · 0 votes
Does anyone know of an independent appraiser that can help refute a property tax appraiser? I bought my home in Aug-25 for $2.5M. The town just went through a revaluation (as of Oct-25) and assessed it at exactly what I paid for it. There are no comps that support that valuation, despite what I paid. The surrounding homes and transaction comps suggest a value closer to $1.7M. Unfortunately, the local appraisers that I've spoken with refuse to take the case because the town's appraisal aligns with what I paid. My argument is that I purchased the home under duress and just need a party that's willing to come up with a true appraisal based on transaction and neighborhood comps.
Any guidance would be very much appreciated!
Does anyone know of an independent appraiser that can help refute a property tax appraiser? I bought my home in Aug-25 for $2.5M. The town just went through a revaluation (as of Oct-25) and assessed it at exactly what I paid for it. There are no comps that support that valuation, despite what I paid. The surrounding homes and transaction comps suggest a value closer to $1.7M. Unfortunately, the local appraisers that I've spoken with refuse to take the case because the town's appraisal aligns with what I paid. My argument is that I purchased the home under duress and just need a party that's willing to come up with a true appraisal based on transaction and neighborhood comps.
Any guidance would be very much appreciated!
I'm confused. You bought a property under duress and you overpaid for it? When you contest it has to be logical. If you bought it for $2.5M recently and every piece of information indicates that CT is one of the few states that housing prices has increased in value in the past year, how can anyone logically assume that it has gone down in value?
I had the opposite thing happen. I bought a property for $425k dollars and they appraised it a year later for $500k. I contested it by saying that it was on the market for over 365 days (this was back in 2017) so how can you say it is worth more than I paid. They kept saying to me, but you got a deal! I said if I got a deal, why did it sit so long? Ultimately, they dropped it to the purchase price.
Does anyone know of an independent appraiser that can help refute a property tax appraiser? I bought my home in Aug-25 for $2.5M. The town just went through a revaluation (as of Oct-25) and assessed it at exactly what I paid for it. There are no comps that support that valuation, despite what I paid. The surrounding homes and transaction comps suggest a value closer to $1.7M. Unfortunately, the local appraisers that I've spoken with refuse to take the case because the town's appraisal aligns with what I paid. My argument is that I purchased the home under duress and just need a party that's willing to come up with a true appraisal based on transaction and neighborhood comps.
Any guidance would be very much appreciated!
I'm confused. You bought a property under duress and you overpaid for it? When you contest it has to be logical. If you bought it for $2.5M recently and every piece of information indicates that CT is one of the few states that housing prices has increased in value in the past year, how can anyone logically assume that it has gone down in value?
I had the opposite thing happen. I bought a property for $425k dollars and they appraised it a year later for $500k. I contested it by saying that it was on the market for over 365 days (this was back in 2017) so how can you say it is worth more than I paid. They kept saying to me, but you got a deal! I said if I got a deal, why did it sit so long? Ultimately, they dropped it to the purchase price.
I don't know if you'll win. You can try to provide comps but if you paid 2.5M and they assessed it at that then you are stuck at that. Your purchase will push the neighborhoods comps as listings hit the market
The duress argument is valid but needs to be well documented before any appraiser will contradict a recent purchase price.
Look for MAI-designated appraisers with litigation or tax appeal experience specifically. They're more comfortable with contested valuations than general residential appraisers.
A property tax appeal attorney is worth consulting first. They usually have appraiser relationships built around exactly this type of case. The $800K gap makes this worth fighting.
That's a tough position to be in. The challenge is that a recent arm's-length purchase is often one of the strongest indicators of market value from an assessor's perspective.
If I were appealing it, I'd want the argument to be based on objective evidence rather than simply saying I overpaid. An independent appraisal supported by comparable sales, adjustments, and market data would likely carry more weight than the purchase price alone—but it needs to be something the appraiser can genuinely support.
You might also consider talking with a property tax appeal attorney or consultant. They often work with appraisers who specialize in assessment appeals and can tell you whether your case has a realistic chance of succeeding.
I would separate the appraisal fight from the story of why you paid $2.5M.
The argument that usually travels is a packet: October 2025 comps, adjustments, condition issues, days on market, and any written evidence that the sale price was not normal market behavior.
The attorney or MAI appraiser is not there to ignore the purchase price. They are there to explain why that one data point should get less weight than the rest of the market evidence.