A number of Wauwatosa property owners are questioning their 2010 property assessments. They say volatility in the housing market has caused the City to overstate the worth of homes. One property owner, for example, was assesed at $252,000 but says offers on his home are coming in from $180,000 to $205,000.
Officials say city property values as a whole are off no more than 5 percent above or below fair market value.
Are the officials correct, or are homeowners right when they say their property is assesed much higher than what real buyers will pay?
Let us know what you think in our forum.
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I understand people being upset about their assessments, but the amount of taxes paid are relative. The city needs the same amount of money to provide services regardless of the assessed value of property in the city. Therefore, if the assessed value of property in the city uniformly dropped by 20%, it would not change the taxes paid by $1. The only folks who should be upset by the assessed value of their properties are those whose value dropped by a greater percentage than the city average.
No, my assessment isn't too high. When the market plunged and I realized I couldn't sell my house for anything near the assessed value, I requested a reassessment, which was done promptly and, it seems to me, came in within realistic expectations. The system worked.
I read your story and at the end of the story it says homes are 195,000 avg.price and they sell within 77 days, not true. Steve Miner is not in reality of what houses are selling for. we have houses that sold for 200,000 less then they did 3 years ago. We have houses sitting for more than 9 months on the market, and prices keep dropping.We have lost around 30% of are value in our homes , and the property taxes should be 30% less. When you have people walking away from thier homes, because they owe more than what they are worth and you have auctions and forclosures and short sales in your area , that does effect your value. City hall raised your assessment when the bubble was here and everyone could sell their house for more than what they bought it for ,but no more ,the city knows it , and are laughing, all the way to the bank with these high assessments and they will not lower your taxes. You are stuck paying high taxes and people are leaving Wauwatosa, because of it. Go to recently sold homes in Wauwatosa and that will tell you what sold in the last year and you can compare yourself who is telling the truth. Joe Heder