Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdog
One thing I didn't see mentioned in this Post was any reference to the
'Age of property' used in valuation ?
I am a Gilford resident and contacted the Assessor's office about my current assessment, and they said the was also a factor in determining valuation.
Their theory was that materials used to build a house today, under current
building regulations, are not the same as they were, 25-50-100 years ago.
Like 2x6 framing, versus 2x4 framing, quality of windows used, roofing.
They came up with a long list of differences, which would affect value.
Seems to me they are throwing every possible factor into the house construction they can think of to boost the value, which would increase the taxes. And let's not forget a 'view' tax', if your property has a view of the lake or mountains, make it more valuable, than a house just 'plunked' down on a vacant lot. And the folks who have waterfront property, OMG !
The old way of determining value by square footage, still applies, but not as much anymore.
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A key thing to remember is that the valuation is supposed to reflect current market value, and like it or not, a house with a great view is more valuable. So is a house with 2x6 walls instead of 2x4s. And certainly a house by the water has higher value. It is not as easy to translate these types of value adds as it is something like more square footage, but they DO impact the value of the property. If I could likely sell my property for $800K tomorrow because the view is to die for vs. someone with the exact same land and house a half mile down the road valued at $400,000 because their view is lousy, then I should be paying property taxes based on an $800K valuation. Unfortunately, determining value is not an exact science and all of us would like to believe that paying $1 in property tax is a dollar too much.