Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Bumface
I mentioned this one of the previous years, but when I bought my house, the taxes were quite low, then jumped up like crazy the next year. I phoned in, and they said they noticed a bunch of renovations in the MLS listing that they were not previously aware of, so the assessment went up.
I did a fairly extensive renovation with permits, and the value went up as a result.
TL;DR: I think your suspicion regarding your house vs. your neighbour is correct.
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I think renovations are hard to gauge, so if you do them right, you can run away lower taxes if no one around you is comparable. The problem is that someone could get an appraisal on a home, but the home, pour in $100K of renovations, but afterwards, the appraisal isn't exactly $100K more. It can be less than $100K or more than $100K.
I own a cookie cutter townhouse in Tuxedo and I pay the same as my neighbors. Of the ones I know of, one basement is undeveloped, one spent $15K to partially develop her basement as a gym, and one spent $5K tossing things together in his basement himself to convert it closer to a workshop space. I spent $40K developing my basement in a manner that matches the premium trim of the upper floors and includes an entertainment room and guest bedroom with full ensuite. If all our units were on the market at the same time, I don't think the difference is exactly $25-40K. TBH, I think my unit would be more expensive than theirs by around half that at most.