This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Getting a Fair Appraisal in Malibu's Challenging Market

Here is some good information about getting a fair appraisal in today's tight real estate market and how to keep your property taxes fair.

Since our local Malibu real estate market took a downturn, some people have complained they couldn't buy, sell or refinance a home because an appraiser used bank-owned (REO) or short-sold homes as comparables in the valuation process, which dragged down the value of their home. While using REO and short-sold properties can lower the value of a home, some homeowners are upset that their county assessor will not use these properties as comps for their property taxes.

Making sense of the story

  • In Malibu, some assessors will consider distressed sales when looking at comps, but it varies widely by county, neighborhood and house. In general, assessors will always look at non-distressed sales first and if there are enough, disregard REO and short sales. However, if there are not enough standard sales or the home is in an area dominated by distressed sales, the assessor likely will take these properties into account.
  • Under Proposition 13, property is assessed upon change in ownership at its fair market value. That is usually the same as the sale price. However, with distressed property, the sale price may not equal fair market value. Between changes of ownership, assessors can raise values only by an inflation rate, not to exceed 2 percent per year, plus the value of major improvements or additions.
  • Under Proposition 8, owners who think the market value of their property has fallen below its assessed value can ask for a temporary reduction to the fair market value.
  • Homeowners who think their homes are worth less than the assessed value can usually ask their assessor for an informal review. If they are still not satisfied, they can file a formal appeal with their county's assessment appeals board by Sept. 15 or Nov. 30, depending on the county.

Find out what's happening in Malibuwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?