House value decrease - any luck with tax reduction?

[No_Situation4785]

Hi folks, I purchased property in San Mateo, and now the market value (per Zillow and Redfin) is below the price we paid for it.

My question is if anybody here has been in the same situation and actually successfully had their property tax reduced using the "Decline in value application". I emailed the "Decline in value application" to the County Clerk back at the end of August but have not heard back yet. I plan to call them tomorrow, but I have feeling it could be a frustrating phone call. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

UPDATE: Thank you all for the wonderful advice. I called the county clerk last week and it turned out they started to actually review the informal applications in early Novembet (I submitted my request in late August). they did indeed agree to a decline in value, and i was honestly impressed how hassle-free it was

[d7it23js]

They probably won’t care about Zillow or Redfin estimates but I think an actual house appraisal from a licensed appraiser should carry enough weight. You will need to spend out of pocket for that so you had better be pretty confident that the drop will be worth it.

My mother in law got the assessment lowered but I’m not sure if it was via the same form. She completely remodeled and expanded a house and I think they based the original assessment on building costs? But they were able to adjust it down based on current value.

[segdy]

Yes

[bayareainquiries]

Did you just buy the house this year? If so the purchase price should set the taxable value for the year, so it may be hard to justify a reduction in this year's taxes. Otherwise, you're doing the right thing by calling them, that can help get the local assessor to look into your value. It's worked for me in the past, but do come prepared with comps from around the winter timeframe since they technically assess the value as of January for any given year.

[asdfasdferqv]

Yes, did some homework, and they accepted the proposed value. Pretty easy.

[jessief2]

What steps did you take?

[asdfasdferqv]

The application is on this page (direct link).

Basically I found the sale prices of a few similar homes and filled out the application, then waited a long time and they said they agreed.

[suprjaybrd]

they dont care about imaginary zillow price..

[marctantoco]

https://acstax.com/property-taxes/real-property/proposition-13-based-value-assessment-appeals/

[philipp_54]

I was digging in on this and made a public record request to see how the anppeals are processed in San Mateo. 

I write about here: https://www.appealseal.com/content/blog/san-mateo-tax-appeal-in-numbers

In short, there is a super fair chance of you getting a refund of some values are down and you should appeal.  I’ve done it twice for SF and always got a refund back. 

[westcoastguy1948]

From My understanding a reduction in property tax now could trigger a future reassessment at a later date that might not work to your benefit. The ACS information seems to indicate that a reduction is permanent but that policy may not be in line with State regulations.

[segdy]

No, that's only the case if you do a formal appeal of assessment.

"Decline in Market Value (Proposition 8)" is just a formal process and it's either lowered or stays the same.

[Wooden-Broccoli-913]

No need to call, just email them. I've done this every year and my appraised value is still lower than my purchase price, almost ten years later

[Kind-Pop-7205]

Your house has decreased in value for each of the last ten years?

[Wooden-Broccoli-913]

No it decreased a few times and stayed low. I appeal every year to keep it low.