We all know that tax
assessor's records are so reliable.....HA! I
had a fairly unique situation pop up today that I wanted to
share......as it is quite rare, but if it happens to you, it can be
devastating.
SCENARIO: The
house is 12 years old and currently shows a square footage on the tax
records of 2815 square feet. Buyer 1 bought it with the tax
record showing 3112 square feet; buyers 2, 3 and 4 at 2815 square feet.
So the appraisal comes in yesterday at 2575 square feet,
which, of course, causes the appraisal to come in low. The measurement
has to be wrong, eh?
I
know buyers 2, 3 and 4. I ask each if they have appraisals of
the home. None do. Hmmmmm. Buyer 4 asks
the bank for the appraisal and they refuse. Hmmmm.
So
I get on the tax assessor's website and pull up the home and pull
up the sketch of the home the tax assessor used to measure.
The sketch is is NOT the home that is being sold.
Hmmmmm.
Then
I remember buyer #1. The builder was going to build a spec
home and buyer #1 wanted to change the plan, and the builder agreed and
the new home was built. You can probably guess what drawing
is still on the tax records 12 years later. Yes, the plan
that the builder had originally planned to build.
We all need to remember
the spelling of assume. Ass
U me.
We all pull up tax records to verify information, but how many pull up
the sketch that the assessor used in making the square footage
calculations. Most agents would say "Is there a sketch on
the tax records?". I don't mean to be harsh about saying
that, but it is AssUme d that the square footage over a 12
year span had to have been corrected at some point, right?
Surely one of the 4 appraisals measured the home, right?
Surely the sketch has to be correct, right? That is
what I Ass U Me d.
We
all have had square footage problems with relatively new homes from a
builder's measurement to an assessor's measurement; but what are the
odds that such a scenario would pop up where the floor plan measured is
not the floor plan
of the home. Honestly, not that often; but one time will wake
you up. How long does it take to check the drawing?
One click and about 3-4 seconds to say "yep, that's the same
plan".
You
might want to pull up your own tax records and not only see if they
have the correct plan, but even check the calculations of the
measurements. Odds are pretty fair that there is an error in
the calculations. For my seller, I told them that there is a
tiny bit of good news as you can go back and get rebated on your tax
differential over the past two years. I had one client with
an 800 square foot area error. At 4000sf, not 4800sf at $270/sf at a 2% tax rate, they
got a pretty sizable refund.
God
willing we will make this work by day's end and make it a win win for
all; but I thought it would be a nice lesson to share to all........
Here the appraisal is the buyer's property, they should be the first to know what it says. However, sometimes the listing agent is not given a copy of the appraisal. Once the property is closed the data is supposed to be recorded by the county clerk's office, where it is further shared with the tax assessors office.
Thanks you for your lesson, it is well taken. I don't believe that I have access to a sketch with the click of a button, now I am on a quest to find out! thanks!
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
;)
;)
we can get in alot of trouble here if we rely on tax records, however, I always check them..!