Calgary Property Taxes... so is yours up or down?

[Bill Bumface]

^Yeah, when I was house shopping and the assessed value would come up, it would sometimes be way higher or way lower than the market price. It never once played any part in my decision except for the appeal of places that had low appraisals for tax reasons.

[Knut]

The biggest issue that can come up is the bank may not provide the full amount of Mortgage to a the buyer if their appraisal is quite a bit lower than the the selling price.


For instance.. IF I sell my condo at 305,000 but the appraisal is 249,000 the Bank may tell the buyer they have to provide the 56,000 dollar difference as a down payment in order for the sale to go through. Banks are more strict about this now.

Talking to my banker though, they do not even look at the city's assessed value, they do their own appraisal.

Realtors will also bring up this number in negotiations, and it is a bargaining chip to get a lower price.

I am not sure that it is worth it to pay to get my appraisal adjusted upwards however.

[Bill Bumface]

My appraisal was $77K below purchase price. No problem for the bank at all.

I did have a bank appraisal done on it for other reasons and it came in within $5K of the purchase price, over $70K higher than the city assessment.

Any Realtor that uses that as a bargaining chip is a bit of a hack.

[Deegee]

Originally Posted by Hesla

The biggest issue that can come up is the bank may not provide the full amount of Mortgage to a the buyer if their appraisal is quite a bit lower than the the selling price.


For instance.. IF I sell my condo at 305,000 but the appraisal is 249,000 the Bank may tell the buyer they have to provide the 56,000 dollar difference as a down payment in order for the sale to go through. Banks are more strict about this now.

Talking to my banker though, they do not even look at the city's assessed value, they do their own appraisal.

Realtors will also bring up this number in negotiations, and it is a bargaining chip to get a lower price.

I am not sure that it is worth it to pay to get my appraisal adjusted upwards however.

As a banker, I can advise that financing is usually done based on a percentage of purchase price OR appraisal value, whatever is lower.

An appraisal is usually performed by an independant appraiser company. I know in my area none of the banks employ actual certified appraisers. If you're bank is "doing an appraisal", chances are they are outsourcing this to another company. Generally speaking they cost about $400 to be done on an average size residence.

Assessments and Appraisals and Market Evaluations are terms that are interchanged far too often, as they are all very different things.

[Incinerator]

What Deegee said.

Banks order appraisals and do not look at city assessments, if they did it'd be a whole different world out there. Hulk is also right, I'd laugh in that Realtor's face if he/she brought up city assessment as a bargaining chip.

[VladtheImpaler]

-$13K on the assessment, +$150 on the tax bill. I would love to string up Bronco on his own entrails.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

-$13K on the assessment, +$150 on the tax bill. I would love to string up Bronco on his own entrails.

But will you remember this feeling during the upcoming civic election?

The thing I'm finding kind of frustrating about the 'Assessment Talk' is that nobody seems to mention the Mill Rate. Just because the assessed value decreases doesn't mean that the property taxes are going to.

[KTrain]

$41K down in value. $40 more in taxes. Makes perfect sense to me...

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by WilsonFourTwo

But will you remember this feeling during the upcoming civic election?

The thing I'm finding kind of frustrating about the 'Assessment Talk' is that nobody seems to mention the Mill Rate. Just because the assessed value decreases doesn't mean that the property taxes are going to.

I'll remember it, but it's not like there is ever anyone to vote for. My alderman (Colley-Urqhart or whatever) is mentally challenged and my mayor is slimy/incompetent. Would anyone on here like to run?

[You Need a Thneed]

assessment down about $40,000, property taxes down $60 from last year.

[jtfrogger]

Our condo unit assessment dropped by about 35%. That doesn't make any sense to me, but I am happy about it. We are not planning on moving any time soon, and will enjoy the tax break.

When I look at the other units in our building, there are quite a few that seem to be ~20% higher than other comparable units. Those are ones that sold recently. In the MLS listings, they had described the upgrades that were recently done. The renos did probably add that type of value, so it may not be out of the realm of reason. What doesn't seem to factor in are the people that did renos after they bought. I guess the city assessors don't have that information.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

I'll remember it, but it's not like there is ever anyone to vote for. My alderman (Colley-Urqhart or whatever) is mentally challenged and my mayor is slimy/incompetent. Would anyone on here like to run?

Could be worse, you could be represented by Brian Pincott or Druh Farrell. I can't speak on Farrell, but the sense I get in my community is that Pincott had best start job searching.....and probably leave his aldermanic experience off the resume.

As for the Mayor himself, the "I'm a champion taking on the big bad government" routine has run very thin. It would be interesting to see an actual list of accomplishments from the last 8 years.

Ultimately, if he does indeed run for the job, we'll probably see Ric McIver become the next Mayor. While I'm not personally sold on him (is he just a showman??) I think he's strong enough to get a chance, and head and shoulders above anyone else in silly council.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Incinerator

I'd laugh in that Realtor's face if he/she brought up city assessment as a bargaining chip.

Here's my question though. I did some banking and my house was assessed by the bank in August as almost $20K more than what the city assessed it for. (Makes sense seeing as we are all in the same boat.) What if I appeal my assessment; getting the city in increase it. Then when I go to sell; would that carry any weight to justify the price? Meaning if they know the city assessments are low, they see mine and think they are getting a deal.

[Knut]

^^^

I think it would be better to keep the City Assesment low. That way the property taxes are less than they would be with the Banks Assessment. You could spin that as a positive.

[Traditional_Ale]

As a renter, can my landlord arbitrairily raise my rent based on property taxes? And as a long term resident of the property, would I have a right to see the tax assesments for the last few years as proof to justify and increase?

[HeartsOfFire]

Assessment = Down ~$50K

Taxes = up ~.05%

Annual payment this year = ~$70 less than last year.

Grrr.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

As a renter, can my landlord arbitrairily raise my rent based on property taxes? And as a long term resident of the property, would I have a right to see the tax assesments for the last few years as proof to justify and increase?

Yes, and no. They can raise the rent when your lease has expired and you wish the renew. They don't have to justify anything to you.

[Knut]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

As a renter, can my landlord arbitrairily raise my rent based on property taxes? And as a long term resident of the property, would I have a right to see the tax assesments for the last few years as proof to justify and increase?

http://landlord.landlordandtenant.or..._increase.aspx

In so far as raising the rent: In short... NO. If you are on a fixed lease the rent remains the same unless it states in the LEase you signed that they can raise the rent with notice. They CANNOT raise rent on you without notice. They can Raise it with a new lease.

As for seeing the old tax assessments... you can look it up online, and the past information is public knowledge.

[La Flames Fan]

Yeah I wouldn't read too much into your value and how it will affect your actual notices when they come.

The big factor is the mill rates.

Value of Assessment x Mill Rate = Property Tax

Mill rates fluctuate every year...your home assessment could go down $80,000 but if the mill rate rises 10% you'll see no difference in property taxes.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Here's my question though. I did some banking and my house was assessed by the bank in August as almost $20K more than what the city assessed it for. (Makes sense seeing as we are all in the same boat.) What if I appeal my assessment; getting the city in increase it. Then when I go to sell; would that carry any weight to justify the price? Meaning if they know the city assessments are low, they see mine and think they are getting a deal.

A Realtor's who's worth his salt would properly educate his buyer that the city assessment means nothing, zip, nada, when it comes to putting in an offer. If the buyers really believe the price is too far off but still want to make an offer, they can always make the offer subject to an appraisal (rather than simply leaving the bank to order one), since the bank won't disclose the content of the appraisal to the buyer in most cases if the loan is rejected.

Also the City assessors will probably laugh at you if you filed a complaint about your assessment being too low.