Property Tax Appeals in Colorado:

Anyone who owns real estate property in Colorado should have received their notice of the new tax assessment. Owners have until June 1st to appeal their new valuation. Values have changed substantially both in the Denver metro area and throughout Colorado

First, should you appeal your valuation?
1. If you have purchased your house in the last 3 years and your assessed value is higher than you purchase price then you likely should appeal.
2. Also if your assessed value is higher than what comparable properties have sold for in your neighborhood you should appeal.
3. If you own a commercial property and there has been substantial change in tenancy you should appeal.
4. If the information listed on the assessment is incorrect (square footage, beds/baths, etc…) and overstated

How do you appeal?
1. Colorado is different than many other states. In Colorado, the assessment cycle is every two years.
2. For this year’s cycle, you can only use comparables from June 08 to June 30th 2010. This is critical to remember when appealing your taxes.
3. The appeal process is governed by state stature so each county is basically the same (some might allow online appeals while others may not)

Items to help you determine the value of your property?

1. For residential properties, comparables are the best indicator of value. Most counties provide a list of the comparables by neighborhood that were used with their reassessment
2. For commercial properties there are two methods
a. Comparables; similar to residential properties, one can locate comparables of commercial properties that have sold in the 08-6/30/10 time frame
b. Income approach: This approach takes the net operating income divided by a reasonable cap rate for a property to determine the value. More information on this calculation along with CAP rate, etc.. can be found at: http://www.fairviewlending.com/underwriting.htm#33

Can you appeal taxes yourself or do you need to hire someone?
1. I have personally appealed taxes on both residential and commercial properties and have been very successful
2. The appeal process is not that difficult if you have a basic knowledge of real estate
3. If you have a very large (>2 million) commercial property and do not have real estate expertise, you might want to consider hiring an expert

Resources for appealing your taxes:

• Denver County: http://www.denvergov.org/Default.aspx?alias=www.denvergov.org/assessor

Fairview Lending is an expert in Colorado Real Estate. We are private lenders that strictly lend our own money. We underwrite all our transactions in house locally and close your loan quickly. There are no upfront fees and we hold and service all of our loans after closing (we are not brokers). For more information on Fairview’s Colorado private lending programs please call 303…459..6061 or visit: www.cohardmoney.com