A few weeks ago, I helped some friends buy a house near Ginter Park for around $175,000

Here’s the glitch: the city is assessing the house at a value of $339,000.

Hmmmm…  let me do the math…

How Common is it?

A recent study in Philadelphia found that 40% of homes in that city are being assessed outside the acceptable standard of 80-120% of a home’s true market value.

A quick glance of houses for sale and houses that have sold just in the past 6 months in my Southside neighborhood (Westover Hills/Forest Hill/Woodland Heights) gives an idea of the local community.

For Sale:

5202 Sylvan Court

Tax Assessment $400,000

For Sale: $299,950

Annual Overpayment: $1,200

2601 Semmes  Ave.

Tax Assessment: $201,000

For Sale: $152,000

Annual Overpayment: $588 

3728 Brookside Rd.

Tax Assessment: $180,000

For Sale: $150,000

Annual Overpayment: $360

Sold in the last 6 months:

5030 Devonshire

Tax Assessment: $217,000

Sold: $175,000

Annual Overpayment: $504

4603 Forest Hill Ave

Tax Assessment: $276,000

Sold: $240,000

Annual Overpayment: $432

5202 Caledonia

Tax Assessment: $475,000

Sold: $422,500

Annual Overpayment: $636

2000 Westover Hills Blvd.

Tax Assessment: $319,000*

For Sale: $282,500 (pending)

Annual Overpayment: $438

*mistake: the tax assessment above is actually from 2011. The current assessment is actually $265k.

Total overpayment for these 7 homeowners: $4,158.

That’s a lot of iPads, folks.

Remember This:

• City and County assessments are (usually) not accurate gauges to determine the true market value of a home.
• You might be paying way too much in real estate taxes.
• Don’t be impressed if a house that’s for sale boasts a list price “thousands below assessment!!”

Here’s what to do if you think your real estate property value is being over-assessed:

1.  Contact your city/county tax assessor’s office.  Requesting an assessment appeal is free of charge and it is not a really time-consuming process.

2.  Make sure you make your appeal before the deadline for your city/county (see below).

3.  Gather evidence for why you believe your property is not worth the amount it is being assessed for.

• If you just bought your house and the purchase price is far below assessment, use that as evidence!
• If houses in your neighborhood are all selling for well below what your house is being assessed for, use that as evidence!
• Remember that an assessment falling within 80-120% of hour home’s true market value is generally considered acceptable.
• If you aren’t sure what the true market value of your house is but you suspect your city/county is over-assessing you, give me a call; in a couple of minutes I can give you a pretty good idea.

4.  Stop paying money that you don’t owe.

Contact your City/County Tax assessor’s office:

Richmond City: (804)646-5700.  Appeal Deadline: July 31

Chesterfield County: (804)748-1000.  Deadline: March 15

Hanover County: (804)365-6029.  Deadline: March 15

Henrico County: (804)755-7380  Deadline: April 1

If you live in Chesterfield, Henrico, or Hanover county, your lowered assessment rate will be applied retroactively from January 1 of this year (as long as you request your new assessment before the deadlines above).  Unfortunately- if you live in the city of Richmond- your new lowered tax rate will not apply to you until 2014.

Better late than never though…

Jay McGee is more than a Real Estate Agent.  He helps people meet their Financial and Creative Goals when they Buy or Sell their Home in the Richmond Area.

He gives a microloan to somebody in a developing country every time a home is Bought or Sold with him.  Learn why here.
Contact: jaymcgee.kw@gmail.com

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All that kills abundant living,let it from the earth be banned:

pride of status, race or schooling, dogmas that obscure your plan.

In our common quest for justice may we hallow brief life’s span.

                -From the Hymn: For the Healing of the Nations

I guess everyone has skeletons in their closet; every person, every nation.  Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and it brings cause for us to celebrate the progress we’ve made as well as our shortcomings on some of the biggest skeletons in our national closet: slavery, racism, mounting economic inequality.

Ostensibly, I’ve got two big strikes against me regarding the issues above.

I’m from Detroit.

I’m a Real Estate Agent…

First, Detroit.  A couple of years ago, cartographer Eric Fischer produced a series of maps based on census data.  Maps of cities show where people live based on what color their skin is.  It is an instant way to visually grasp the reality of segregation in American cities today.  And guess which city is one of the most segregated?  My home town, Detroit.

Click to read Time's article on the maps

Red dots represent white people.  The blue dots represent black people.  Every dot is 25 people.

I grew up in the suburbs on the Northeast side of the city.  My, my family, my friends-almost everyone I knew- are a handful of those red dots.  Without being able to see the street names on this map, I can tell you that that dense line of red next to the dense line of blue by that box on the far right is Alter Rd.  I know that because even as a kid- even though no one ever told me to- I knew to turn around on my bike once I got to Alter Rd.  To the east of Alter are the Grosse Pointe suburbs (solid red) and the west side of the street begins the city (instant blue).  For the most part, Alter Rd also represented the outer boundary of the world to myself and my friends.  Segregation.

I was surprised to see that Richmond, the old capital of the South, is a more integrated city than many of the larger Northern cities.

Click to find your own city map

Still, you can easily identify some neighborhoods the bright red West End, or the heavily blue Jackson Ward.

The maps point to this simple fact: skin color is still, generally speaking, is one of the biggest factors in determining where people choose to live.

And that leads me to my second strike: I’m a Real Estate Agent.

Before the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Real Estate Industry was one of the most influential contributors to racism that existed.  Housing discrimination was the norm.  Back then, it wasn’t hard to find neighborhood communities or Real Estate companies that would display signs making it clear that Whites were the only neighbors or clients allowed.  Of course, the norm for many industries before 1968 was blatant discrimination, but the Real Estate Industry, because they had a hand in where people would or wouldn’t live, had the potential to be a powerful voice as Civil Rights continued to grow in our country.

For the most part, the R.E. Industry was slow to change their ways.  Laws were passed, but practices continued, and still do.  In 2006, there was a legal investigation into a Chicago R.E. company for refusing to show certain properties to black buyers.

My Hope for Richmond:

That we become a more purple city and a less red and blue city.

That the functional segregation of our school system breaks down more and more every year.

That businesses, especially grocery stores, invest in  and serve the urban, largely black communities.

That Sunday 10am will be the least segregated hour of the week and not the most.

That as my 2 little white children grow up, they will have dear friends who are not only white.

That in the old Capital of the Confederacy, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream would happen again and again in our daily lives…

I have a dream that one day… the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood

Jay McGee used to live in Southeast Asia, doing language research and literacy development. Now he’s a Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty. He gives a microloan to somebody in a developing country every time someone in Richmond buys or sells their home with him.  Learn why here.
Contact: jaymcgee.kw@gmail.com

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Every once in a while, you run across something on the web that is exceptional.  The ol’ laptop is good at spewing forth tons of content that’s entertaining, but it’s harder to find things that are… Inspiring.  Peaceful.  True.

What makes people happy?  We go to such lengths to measure GNP (Gross National Product) but isn’t Gross National Happiness even more important?

Click to enter balloonsofbhutan.org

Instead of “Gross National Product”, Bhutan uses “Gross National Happiness” to measure its socio-economic prosperity, essentially organizing its national agenda around the basic tenets of Buddhism. Bhutan’s fourth king, Jigme Singe Wangchuck, invented the idea in 1972, to give his tiny country some international clout and guard against potential future invasion by its two mighty neighbors (India and China).  (taken from balloonsofbhutan.org)

Jonathan Harris traveled to the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, taking a snapshot of happiness.  He asked people 5 questions:

• What make you happy?
• What is your happiest memory?
• What is your favorite joke?
• What is your level of happiness, between 1 and 10?
• If you could make one wish, what would it be?

He recorded people’s answers and took beautiful photos as he traveled.

The recordings and pictures are beautiful, simple, and honest.

How many balloons are you holding?

Jay McGee used to live in Southeast Asia, doing language research and literacy development. Now he’s a Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty. He gives a microloan to somebody in a developing country every time someone in Richmond buys or sells their home with him.  Learn why here.
Contact: jaymcgee.kw@gmail.com

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