Property Tax Appeal

PahRoo Appraisal & Consultancy prepares property tax appeal appraisal reports for homeowners, commercial owners, condo associations, and the property tax attorneys who file their appeals. Each report is tied to the assessment date your jurisdiction uses, which often falls months before your notice arrives. Every report also follows USPAP and lays out the evidence behind the number, so the people reviewing your appeal can follow it. Founded by Michael Hobbs, MAI, SRA, PahRoo has been appraising real estate for more than 25 years.

Property Tax Appeal Appraisal Services We Offer

A lot of this work comes to us through attorneys, bankers, brokers, and CPAs, so we write with each of them in mind. See how we work with each of them →

Property We Appraise for Tax Appeals

On the residential side, we appraise single-family homes, condos, townhomes, and two-to-four unit buildings. On the commercial side, we value apartment buildings, retail, office, industrial, mixed-use property, and land.

Property Tax Appeal Appraisal for Homeowners

Most assessors set values with a mass appraisal model that covers thousands of homes at a time, so nobody walks through yours. As a result, the model can miss an older kitchen, a foundation problem, a busy street, or square footage that was recorded wrong. Our appraisal looks at your home as it actually stands and compares it with sales that truly match it. That way, you bring evidence about your property instead of an argument about the neighborhood. To see how those sales get picked, read how appraisers compare homes.

Commercial and Income Property Tax Appeals

Income property is often assessed with market-wide rents, vacancy rates, and expenses. Your building, however, may not match those numbers. For example, older leases at lower rents, a tenant who just moved out, or expenses well above the norm can all hold the value down. So we start with your rent roll and operating statements, then compare them with the local market and recent sales. The result is a value built on what the building actually earns. Our article on what drives apartment building value shows how income turns into value.

Condo Units and Association Appeals

Condo appeals come in two sizes. A single owner may appeal one unit, and in some places the association can also file for the whole building at once. Either way, the value has to reflect the unit’s floor, view, and size, along with the building’s age and amenities. We appraise single units for owners, and we also work with boards and their attorneys on building-wide appeals. Our condo and HOA services page covers the rest of our association work.

A Second Look Before You File

Not every high assessment is worth appealing. Before you file, an appraisal shows where your property’s value stands compared with the market value your assessment implies. If the gap is small, you may decide to wait. On the other hand, a wide gap means you go in with a documented number. Keep in mind that an appraisal doesn’t guarantee a lower assessment. Instead, it gives the decision, and the appeal, a value you can support. To see why an online estimate falls short here, read about a Zestimate versus an appraisal.

Value as of the Assessment Date

An appeal isn’t about what your property is worth today. Rather, it’s about the value on the assessment date your jurisdiction sets, which is often months earlier and sometimes more. For that reason, we prepare a retrospective appraisal, using the sales, leases, and market conditions in place on that date. Our article on retrospective versus current market value explains why the date matters.

Vacancy, Condition, and Deferred Repairs

A building with empty space, a failing roof, or years of put-off repairs is worth less than the same building in good shape. Still, an assessor working from records may never see those problems. We document them with photos, repair estimates, and vacancy history, and then show how each one affects value with market evidence. For instance, the cost to cure turns a repair list into a number the reviewer can check. Our article on the three approaches to value shows how cost, income, and sales each weigh in.

Reviewing the Assessor’s Data or Another Appraisal

Sometimes the problem starts with the property record. For example, the record may list the wrong square footage, an extra bathroom, or a finished basement that isn’t there. We check the record against the property and put the errors in writing. In addition, we review appraisals that someone else prepared and check the sales, the adjustments, and the date of value. Tax attorneys often bring us in at this stage to test the numbers before a hearing.

Testimony at an Appeal Hearing

Some appeals end in a hearing, and a few go on to court. In either case, the report has to stand up to questions from the other side, so tell us early if a hearing is likely. Then we write the report with that in mind, and our appraisers can explain and defend the value in person. Read what makes an appraisal ready for litigation.

Local Appeal Rules by Market

Every county sets its own assessment calendar, appeal forms, and hearing steps. Filing windows are also short and vary from place to place, so check yours as soon as your notice arrives. Our market pages cover the local rules for Chicago property tax appeals, Dallas property tax protests, Philadelphia property tax appeals, Phoenix assessment appeals, and Naples VAB petitions. For the evidence side, see how to document vacancy and condition in a Chicago tax appeal and what holds up at a Naples VAB hearing.

How to Order a Property Tax Appeal Appraisal From PahRoo