According to Eddy, the county needs to conduct reappraisals every six years to comply with state law. She added that updates are held every three years.

Recently, many homeowners have been asking county officials why their property assessments increased when property values are declining.

In response to the complaints, Eddy explained that county assessors are mandated by state law to use property values as of January 1, 2009 as the benchmark for property valuation. State law requires tax assessors to use property sales data for the 3 years prior to January 1 as basis for property valuation.

Eddy also added that state law expressly prohibits the use of certain real estate transactions from being considered in reappraisals, leading to seemingly unfair property valuations for some real estate owners.

Additionally, Eddy explained that she understands residents’ confusion about the increased assessments at a time when real estate values are down, but she reiterated that the assessors need to comply with the law. She also added that short sales, sales of tax foreclosed properties, sheriff sales and other types of foreclosure sales cannot be considered in the tax calculations.

Property sales from 2006 through the end of 2008 are the ones considered in property valuation for the year 2009, according to Eddy. Nonetheless, Eddy reassured property owners that the assessors did not use sales data in 2006 which indicated overinflated values.

Property appraisals in Allen County started in 2007 after the city hired an appraisal firm to conduct the valuations. She explained that residents and property owners were given opportunities to look at how the appraisals are being done. People were able to express their concerns about specific properties with appraisal team members.

Eddy also explained that homeowners who believe that their properties are overvalued can file their tax appeals with the county tax revision board. She said that the revision board will make the needed adjustments if properties are really overvalued. Taxpayers can get refunds or reductions in their next quarterly property tax payments.

Lastly, Eddy explained that residents are confused because tax officials in the past did not hold meetings to explain the reappraisal process. Indeed, the issues of overvaluation, tax foreclosed properties and tax appeals are easier to manage if tax payers are familiar with the processes.

Tax Foreclosed Properties to be Contained by Ohio Officials is a post from: Foreclosure Magazine - Read more about how does foreclosure work.

Nowadays foreclosures have to be considered in appraisals. In 2008, foreclosures across the country increased by more than 80 percent to 2.33 million units, pulling down home prices to bottom levels and requiring appraisers to factor in foreclosures when making appraisals. Whereas before tax foreclosure properties did not figure in appraisals, nowadays they figure because of the soaring number of lender foreclosures.

According to Arizona appraiser Jeff Harper, the Yuma housing market is being pulled down by repossessed properties and short sales.

He said previously foreclosure figures were negligible so their values were not used in appraisals. Nowadays, anyone planning to sell a home will have to compete with the low prices of foreclosed properties. Perhaps tax foreclosure properties are still an anomaly these times compared to lender foreclosures, but they add to the foreclosure figures.

Nevertheless, Harper said there are still well-maintained homes that get good prices, especially turn-key houses that appeal to certain buyers. But generally, he said, home prices are declining, with a home priced $250,000 about six months ago being currently priced at $225,000. Appraisals for tax foreclosure properties have also been declining.

Harvey Campbell, a broker with Broken Arrow Realty, cited cases in which a developer gets a sale, builds the house with the contract price in mind, but then the appraisal results in about $20,000 through $50,000 lower than the contract price. Either the developer gives up those thousand dollars or keeps the house and gives back the earnest money to the buyer.

Meanwhile, Bill Craft, head of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in Yuma, said lower appraisals have not been a problem at Wells Fargo because sellers have become realistic about their prices. They know how lender foreclosures have affected the market and they know there also tax foreclosure properties out there.

Craig has also become optimistic about the housing market. He said foreclosed homes on the listing service are now much fewer than in November 2008 when the figure even reached 1,540 units.

Appraisals and Tax Foreclosure Properties is a post from: Foreclosure Magazine - Read more about how does foreclosure work.

In most cases, tax liens forclosures occur when a homeowner is behind on income taxes, or failed to report some part of their earnings and is facing foreclosure as a resultant penalty to collect the debt in the case of bankruptcy. However, tax forclosures can also happen as the result of delinquent property taxes, or any other kind of taxes for which the homeowner’s property can be used as collateral.

Since the entity in charge of the repossession in this case is a governmental authority and not a bank or private sector lender, the procedures for finding and buying can be quite different from an ordinary foreclosure. Oftentimes these properties may be sold in similar ways, either through auctions or silent bidding procedures, but the sources for finding them can be harder to come by. But they can offer some incredible deals, since in many cases the amount the government needs to collect to cover the tax debt is far below the actual value of the property or its mortgage.

Using a Multiple Listings Service is often the best way to locate tax lien foreclosures. Some, like BankForeclosuresSale.com, have very effective tools for locating tax lien foreclosures and real estate bank foreclosures, so you can compare prices. Tax lien foreclosures are certainly worth looking into if you’re looking for a new way to fins extra discounts.

Tax Lien Foreclosures: A New Way to Buy Repo Property is a post from: Foreclosure Magazine - Read more about how does foreclosure work.