You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Now with 3x more gears...

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by GGG

Arbitrary might be better. The formula spits out a number. 100k seems pretty typical for the real estate market in Calgary this past year. You probably live in a little above the median value home.

Do you think your neighborhood for some reason went up less than the rest of Calgary?

There is a process if you want to contest the assessment which if you are really out of whack with sale prices you can go through. I’ve never done it though.

If your not using the only real data available (who knows maybe they are, just poorly) then it can be arbitrary artificial whatever. Just is dumb.

I don’t mind the modest increase in taxes so I won’t bother with contesting it. The system/method they use just bothers me to no end for some reason.

[Erick Estrada]

I think the accuracy of the assessments vary by neighborhood. My house assessment went up almost exactly $100k this year over last year. If I put it on the market today I estimate the best I could get is $80-100k less than the city's assessment as the five years in this neighborhood I've not seen a single house sell in the area of my assessment.

[kevman]

If you have sales data in your neighbourhood, it's an easy fix. 13 years ago we knocked $150k off our assessed value by showing them actual sale prices of similar homes from the previous year.

It's an automated process and sometimes things get out of whack.

Of all the things to complain about when it comes to property taxes, the revenue neutral assessed value calculation is not one of them.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by kevman

If you have sales data in your neighbourhood, it's an easy fix. 13 years ago we knocked $150k off our assessed value by showing them actual sale prices of similar homes from the previous year.

It's an automated process and sometimes things get out of whack.

Of all the things to complain about when it comes to property taxes, the revenue neutral assessed value calculation is not one of them.

I'm a little confused. You are saying that the city assessment is not worth complaining about but clearly it meant enough to you that you went back to the city at one time to have your value reduced.

[Fuzz]

FYI if you do the map search and zoom in, you can find ones with green dots. Those are recent sales. Click on one, and it will bring up the list they use for that neighbourhood. The one you clicked on will be highlighted in the table, with the actual sales value and the adjusted one, which is maybe where inaccuracies creep in. The few I looked at seemed to be adjusted higher than what might be reasonable. But that's not a deep look.

[kevman]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I'm a little confused. You are saying that the city assessment is not worth complaining about but clearly it meant enough to you that you went back to the city at one time to have your value reduced.

It's early, my brain isn't firing on all cylinders.

I meant the system is not worth complaining about in that it's some grand political conspiracy or anything like that. If there is a mistake with your assessment they're happy to fix it and it's not that hard to do. It's also, at least in our experience, a one and done correction to get back on the curve.

As GGG said, assessment mail out day is the time of year we get to see who understands how property taxes work and who doesn't.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

FYI if you do the map search and zoom in, you can find ones with green dots. Those are recent sales. Click on one, and it will bring up the list they use for that neighbourhood. The one you clicked on will be highlighted in the table, with the actual sales value and the adjusted one, which is maybe where inaccuracies creep in. The few I looked at seemed to be adjusted higher than what might be reasonable. But that's not a deep look.

Damn, I saw my assessment jumped 16.5% and wondered why. After looking at the selling prices in the nearby area using the City property map tool in the assessment portal, I'm kinda like... well ####, I'm probably doing OK. Assessment even said typical increase was 15%, so it doesn't seem outrageous.

Property tax calculator saying I'm paying 9.95% more than last year. Seems reasonable to me.

[Shazam]

I've been telling my wife for a while now we could sell our house for $850K easy, assessment came in at $801K.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Shazam

I've been telling my wife for a while now we could sell our house for $850K easy, assessment came in at $801K.

And go live with your parents and be mortgage free!

[Johnny Makarov]

did you guys get it in the mail? or just checked online?

wtf? I just looked it up online. $975k? I have like the worst house on the block. It's higher than both my neighbours... ugh

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

And go live with your parents and be mortgage free!

Well we are looking to move soon, perhaps closer to the U of C, it just means that my wife won't freak about adding too much to the mortgage if we do a sideways-in-cost move.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Well we are looking to move soon, perhaps closer to the U of C, it just means that my wife won't freak about adding too much to the mortgage if we do a sideways-in-cost move.

Getting back into Rez?

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Locke

Getting back into Rez?

Rez is completely full. You can move into my 500sq ft condo bachelors... it's only a block away.

[Table 5]

Ours went up 16%. I don't have gripes with the formula and I feel like the assessment value is set at a relatively fair market value...but let's face it, it puts further strain on monthly bills and cashflow, which isn't fun. Yes, the value may be reflected in the property which can theoretically be recouped at selling time, but the reality is I'm not selling my house. And even if I did...then what? Buy into the same market? Bah.

[fotze2]

I wish mine went up $100k a year. Bought this place for $625 13 years ago and it’s like $720k now. Typical me to buy the only ‘inner city’ place that doesn’t go up in value.

[kevman]

We're inner city too and ours only went up 13% which aligns with the trend of inner city homes not appreciating as fast as the suburbs since COVID. Fine by me, I'd rather suburban home owners start paying their fair share anyway!

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by fotze2

I wish mine went up $100k a year. Bought this place for $625 13 years ago and it’s like $720k now. Typical me to buy the only ‘inner city’ place that doesn’t go up in value.

I'm still waiting for the condo that I bought 12-13 year ago to get anywhere close to breaking even, never mind appreciate. Bought at $300K (pretty much at the peak) and I'd be surprised if it's worth more than $230-240K today. It's gonna be a long wait.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I'm still waiting for the condo that I bought 12-13 year ago to get anywhere close to breaking even, never mind appreciate. Bought at $300K (pretty much at the peak) and I'd be surprised if it's worth more than $230-240K today. It's gonna be a long wait.

Downtown or burbville?

Surprised if downtown.

Also, my daughter bought a condo in Auburn Bay at, call it $300 1.5 years ago and it has gone up about $50-75k based on other sales in the building.

[chedder]

But isn't it true that property taxes don't have to go up just because property values go up? The city can adjust the mill rate accordingly if they want a certain increase. A 10% increase in property tax seems excessive in one year. Or is this what they do and there are just outliers due to misvalued properties over time?

[kevman]

That's exactly it. The mill rate will be adjusted down to match the council agreed on budget increase. On average we'll all end up paying something like 4% more and go on with our lives, like we do every year. In the short term people will complain about Gondek's secret agenda and the 20% tax hike to fund a liberal agenda.