Hoboken Mom Condo Living
Planning the long-term & juggling the everyday

Chances are, if you are a Hoboken homeowner, you are paying too much property tax. During the real estate boom, local governments set values high on new construction. But in a declining market, you have a very good chance of appealing your property assessment and winning.

That is especially true if you own a property constructed in the last 20 years. Hoboken is overdue for a tax reassessment, so new construction condos bear a disproportionate share of the property tax pie. Those Willow Terrace houses could be looking at a rude awakening since they are paying taxes comparable to new construction two-bedrooms.

How can you tell the amount your NJ municipality has your property assessed at? By visiting the online New Jersey tax record database and looking up your address (note: keep your search as short as possible, ie. 610 Newark St). Take the assessed value and divide it by .2716. Using my old two-bedroom condo as an example, the city has assessed it at $607,879.23 (165100/0.2716). Kind of a far cry from the actual sale price of $460k, so this unit is fair game for an appeal. Zillow gives an excellent estimate of how much your property is actually worth right now, so that would be my next stop on the property appeal train.

So now that you’ve decided to file an appeal, how do you do it? Basically, you have three options:

1. Download the tax appeal documents from the state website, fill them out yourself. Cost: $25 filing fee.
2. Use an online service like easytaxfix.com that completes the paperwork for you. Cost: $79 + $25 filing fee.
   (You get $20 off at checkout if you click through my blog).
   
3. Use an attorney who either operates on a contingency fee basis like 1/3 of your annual tax savings or else charges a flat amount. The standard # I am seeing is $500.

I filed a tax appeal last year using an attorney on a contingency fee basis and received a discount of $857, so my fee was $286. I liked the idea of knowing there was a professional expert taking charge of my case, and since if the appeal failed I would only be responsible for the $25 filing fee, it seemed worth the gamble.

The thing is, tax appeals are big business for attorneys. They file hundreds if not thousands each year, all at the same time (your paperwork MUST be filed by April 1, which means it has to get mailed a week beforehand), and that means they don’t spend a lot of time on each individual. I didn’t get my appeal settlement until August, and there were complications (it had to do with ownership; I purchased my four-bedroom in March, so the appeal had to be filed in my seller’s name, which caused confusion at my attorney’s office since their files had the appeal listed under my name) that required me to follow up very frequently.

The overwhelming majority of tax appeals are settled without going to court, so chances are you do not need an attorney. Since I had to spend so much time last year following up, I figured I would choose the middle road this year and use easytaxfix.com to file my appeal (full disclosure: a good friend gave me a coupon for a free appeal). It took me about an hour to fill in my information, print the application on legal-size paper, and mail it in. The support team was very helpful and responsive since I got stuck a couple of times (their system couldn’t find my property address, but they emailed me a link within 10 minutes after my query).

Overall I was very pleased with the ease of use and excellent filing instructions. There were a couple of quirks in the system, such as the fact that I had to choose three comps out of a list that was woefully inadequate (the state disallows a lot of recent sales, labeling them NU for nonusable because they are short sales or foreclosures), and the fact that there was no street # on two of the addresses provided, but I think the mail would arrive just fine anyway. I didn’t bother calling the Municipality Assessor as recommended since I already checked my property square footage online. Easytaxfix website estimates I will save another $1,865/year on my taxes, which would be terrific. If you are looking to save some money on fees and are prepared to spend about an hour, an online appeal site is the way to go. My favorite part is the peace of mind of knowing that my appeal has been filed instead of waiting for a call back to find out what is going on.

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2/19 Update: This is the response I got from Easytaxfix regarding the lack of street address #: Yes, we can change this.  Please note that “City Hall, Washington Street” is the address provided by the NJ Division of Taxation so it probably will still get there. See the Hudson County link: http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/lpt/aaddr.shtml

2/21 Update: The online square footage is often incorrect in condos that were converted from older buildings or townhouses. It will be really obvious if your square footage is incorrect because the # will be ridiculously small (ranging from 0-222 square feet). To enter the correct square footage on your appeal form, you need to call the Municipality Assessor and ask for the square footage they have on record for your unit (ask them to check the second card in your file, the first one has the incorrect #.) In Hoboken the assessor is SAL A BONACCORSI at 201 420-2024. I will call next week to check their office hours and post them here.

2/22 Update: I spoke to Diane in the Hoboken Assessor’s office. The office hours are 9AM-4PM Mon-Fri. When I asked to check my condo square footage she said she had a number of requests and would have to call me back. Apparently it is unusual for new condos to have incorrect online square footage. If an appeal is submitted with the incorrect square footage, it will NOT be rejected, the #s will get corrected in the appeal hearing, so no need to worry if you weren’t 100% sure about the square footage.

Part 2: Property Tax Appeal: Do you need an attorney?

Part 3: Q&A on NJ property tax appeal

Get $20 coupon through this link

How to balance young families with revelry at http://patch.com/QAoh

Reader Q&A at http://bit.ly/aCFhzj

Kathy. First time living in Hoboken during the parade.  How bad will Saturday be? Should I get out of town?  Or just stay away from Washington?

My response:

Stay away from Washington St from Friday PM to Sunday AM. Our part of town isn’t bad in terms of driving (basically, you can), but I am planning to take the kids on a Saturday day trip, returning in the later afternoon, when the worst of the celebrations should be over.

The biggest problem in South West Hoboken is house parties since there are relatively few bars here. Since the police are cracking down on them this year, it should be quieter, but I would still get out of town during the daytime just to be safe.

Newspaper column about parenting in Hoboken on St. Patrick’s Day

Q: How long does the whole process take on average from mailing out the forms till approval?
A: The appeals are reviewed from building to building, so it depends on where your building falls in the review list. My building got reviewed in early June, and settlement offer letters were in the mail by the second week. You have to sign
and send them back to accept the offer. You have until August to accept a settlement before having to go to court.

If you win your appeal, the new lower assessment is retroactive back to January 1, so don’t worry about the timing of your appeal review. You can call the tax assessor’s office to find out your status at the end of April. In Hoboken the assessor is SAL A BONACCORSI at 201 420-2024.

Q: You have an assessment ratio on your blog but where did you get that from?
A: The 0.2716 is the current Hoboken tax ratio. More info at http://bit.ly/dfWh8n

Q: If I win my appeal, will I get a check in the mail?
A: No. The amount of your reduced assessment will be credited toward your next property tax bill, usually the third quarter. Make sure to contact your lender so you can lower your monthly escrow payment.

Q: I got a huge amount off my taxes last year when I appealed. Should I appeal this year?
A: Not unless your property is overassessed by more than 30%. Zillow gives a pretty good property value estimate, check it out to see whether you are still overassessed.

Q: If I hire an attorney, will I have to pay upfront?
A: In most cases, no. The attorneys represent property tax appeal clients on a contingency basis, which means they won’t bill you until after you get a credit on your property tax bill. If your appeal gets denied, you are typically responsible only for the $25 filing fee ($100 for properties assessed at over $500,000). Keep in mind that tax appeal attorneys only accept clients they are sure can get a reduction, so you might be paying a lot extra for unnecessary professional representation. There is usually an additional fee for going to court.

Q: The state documents for property tax appeals keep talking about appraisals. Do I need one?
A: No. They are talking about the assessed value, not an actual appraisal. If you happen to have one lying around from a recent refi, it can’t hurt if you have to go to court, but 70% of all appeals get settled before they get to court. The municipal assessor has a formula they use to determine whether to settle (ie. your property is assessed for more than 30% of the current market value, so they offer 10% off).

Property appraisals typically cost several hundred dollars, so they are not a standard part of a property tax appeal for attorney-filed appeals either.

Q: I bought my property in January. Can I file my appeal in my name?
A: No. Tax appeal credits are retroactive back to Jan 1, so you have to file in the name of the owner of record as of that date. You can still sign your name (ie. “Jane Doe for Prior Owner”). And the refund will get credited against your next property tax bill (usually third quarter) so no need to worry about receiving a check made out to the wrong name!

Part 1: What is a Property Tax Appeal?

Part 2: Property Tax Appeal: Do you need an attorney?

I have a Coverdell savings account for my 3 y.o. and am planning to start one this year for her little brother. It’s similar to a Roth IRA.  http://nyti.ms/byRrkA

Our account is with Vanguard and is at breakeven after two years. It’s only $2k/year but hopefully will grow into something decent by the time my kids need it. The funds can also be used for K-12 expenses, a nice feature that you don’t get with a 529.

The developer of the Neapolitan in South West Hoboken just dropped the price on the last 3BR unit left. The new asking price is $715k (he has a lot of flexibility if he sells FSBO b/c no commission cost), the property taxes are being appealed and should come down a lot from their current level, and the building and unit are really nice. Very large bedrooms, lots of closet space, beautiful Brazilian cherry floors, really nice gated grassy courtyard where the kids ride bikes and play in the snow.

Unit includes heated indoor garage parking, two elevators, lots of young families in the building. Almost entirely owner-occupied (over 90%), so no rowdy tenants on St Patrick’s Day. Very financially stable building, reserves over $100k and all the 3BR/4BR owners put down payments ranging from 30%-90%, so no danger of short sales! Located one block from 2nd St Light Rail, check it out at http://bit.ly/neap3BR!

Figuring out child care is even harder. Read more at http://patch.com/OAjI

I have a confession: the only reason why I used easytaxfix.com to file my 2010 property tax appeal was because I never got a fee agreement from my attorney for this year’s appeal. I emailed them in early January saying I wanted them to appeal on my behalf and traded emails several times; each time my contact said she would send the fee agreement. But she never did.

The whole reason why I wanted to use an attorney was because I don’t have time to deal with the appeal myself. Sure, the thought did cross my mind that I could save a lot of money (1/3 of the tax savings) by doing it myself, but I am up to my eyeballs in work and new clients. No, better to leave it to the experts. But what do you do when the experts drop the ball?

From time to time, easytaxfix.com sends out promotional coupons. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a few of them, and when I offered them to other moms in my community, was surprised to find that they had similar experiences to mine. One had an attorney tell her he had filed her appeal, but he never did.

Let’s look at some #s. There are 40,000 residents in Hoboken ages 18 & over. Let’s say there are 20,000 residences in Hoboken alone. The tax appeal deadline in all of NJ is April 1. That means that your average tax appeal attorney is going to be handling 100% of their appeal volume in February and March. I know some practitioners handle thousands of cases, to the point where they have rapid-fire sessions with the municipal assessor:

Assessor (states property address): I offer to settle at [insert #].

Attorney: Accepted.

Rinse, repeat.

Last year, my attorney forgot my name. Seriously, he rejected my settlement offer because he didn’t recognize my case name. Since he ultimately went back to the assessor months later, right before the court deadline, and got my settlement reinstated, I was kind of okay with that, but I had to call his office about 20 times to follow up.

There are times when you do need an attorney, like when you are appealing for a commercial property. But for your run-of-the-mill residential owner, this is not rocket science, and that is where I recommend Easytaxfix.com. It definitely takes more research than just signing a fee agreement, mainly because the available comparables are not slam dunks. But the whole process took me less than an hour and I know my application has been received because I sent it via priority mail. Even if I have to go meet with the assessor (unlikely, chances are he’ll send me a settlement offer by mail) I am still coming out way ahead of the 10 hours I spent last year chasing after my attorney. I am also coming out ahead financially ($84 for easytaxfix.com versus $500 for an attorney, plus an additional $250 if they have to go to court). For me, knowing my application is being processed is priceless.

2/26 Update: A reader contacted me asking how to easily determine how much the city has assessed for her property value. The fastest way to do that is to use the easytaxfix.com calculator. If you enter your address on their website (the system may have trouble finding it, email them your address and they will send you a link to get in) then the next screen shows you your city property assessment along with your potential tax savings. You do NOT have to use the service, but that initial window is very useful.

Part 1 of Property Tax Appeal discussion

Part 3: Q&A on NJ property tax appeal

Republished from my original post on HobokenMoms

Phil & Teds Vibe tires: DO NOT wait until they wear out

I love my Vibe (and more to the point, my 3.5 & 2 year olds do too), but I have to admit the tires are the weak point of the design, especially the rear tires. Slow leaks, punctures requiring inner tube replacement & the outer treads wearing through.

I have made several emergency trips to the bike shop to replace the inner tubes, but my last visit there, they told me I needed to replace the outer treads. Went to El Bambi in Hoboken and the guy there told me you cannot buy only the tread; only the entire wheel is sold by Phil & Teds (including the hard plastic support that snaps onto the stroller). He happened to have some in stock, which he sold me for $70 each plus tax.

I went home and got online, and immediately found the replacement outer tread for $14.99. I bought 6 for $103 ($13.37 shipping). And I returned the entire wheels to El Bambi the next day.

If you have a Vibe, you might want to stock up on treads to take to the bike shop. They will replace the inner tube for $16 and put the treads on at the same time. Otherwise you might find yourself forking over $150 to El Bambi for two tires, like what happened to my friend. Twice.

It’s when the second child arrives that life gets complicated.

Read more at Patch.com