California Homeowners Can Reduce Their Property Taxes

California Homeowners are Being Over-taxed

Due to recent decline in real estate value, California homeowners are paying hundreds or thousands of dollars extra in property taxes. Homes bought between 2004-2007 are most likely to be effected by this problem. If you purchased your home within the last four years, you are probably paying more property taxes than you should, based on your original purchase price. Now's the time to file an appeal to the Clerk of the Board to reduce your yearly property taxes.
Your Taxes Do Not Automatically Decrease

As property taxes decline, your taxes do not automatically decrease. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to file an assessment appeal to the Clerk of the Board to readjust your yearly taxes accordingly. The deadline to file appeals is usually 30-60 days after you receive your property tax notice from the assessor's office. Appealing early, ensures that your application is received on time and increases your chances of getting approved for a tax reduction. Although the County Assessor's Office is promising tax reductions to 128,000 homeowners, greater tax reductions can be granted to homeowners who individually file their own re-assessment appeals to the Clerk of the Board. Here's why? The County Assessor's Office only gives a limited tax reduction ranging from $200-$600 becauuse it assesses your property, rather than appraise it. This assessment is based on a national average, but the value of homes in some neighborhoods have declined by more than 50%; homeowners in these neighborhoods should recieve more in tax reductions. If you hire an expert to file the appeals application for you for a reasonable amount of money, this is the best way to go. These experts are real estate appraisers who know how to evaluate and compare the final sales in the immediate neighborhood with an unbiased opinion. I recommend Pacific Coast Securities, an Orange County- based tax reduction company to file the application for you. I've searched around and this company is the cheapest, charging only $79 for their services. Visit their website at pcsappeals.com.
The Appeals Process Can Be Difficult

When filing an appeal, the homeowner needs to know a great deal about the current market conditions, the value of his or her property and extensive knowledge of comparable properties. This information serves as evidence that you are being over-taxed. Filing the appeals application on your own can cause your application to be denied and force you to pay higher property taxes than you should. The No.1 reason County Assessors deny appeals applications for re-assessment and summon homeowners to court hearings is because applications not completed by professional real estate appraisers often contain mistakes and inaccurate market information.
You're Not Alone

Real estate appraisers and attorney can help you file your appeal application to make sure you are approved. However, there are companies that are charging up to 50% of your savings to file the application which can average to as little as $1000. A company that I used this year to reduce my property taxes is Pacific Coast Securities, The Tax Reduction Specialists. They were very affordable and efficient. They only asked for a one time fee of $79 to file the application. I saved about $1300 in property taxes with their company.
Their website address is http://www.pcsappeals.com
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

The Role Of The Property Tax Consultant In Litigation

In the event that a valuation settlement cannot be reached during the administrative remedy, the property owner and/or manager often ask for recommendations regarding possible litigation from their property tax consultant. Since litigation support is a large practice area in the property tax consultant industry, consultants play various roles. These roles can range from passive to intricate participation during the litigation process. The absolute least agent participation level should include advising the client that an ARB order has been issued and the deadline for filing appeals.

In both scenarios, the consultant handles the property tax appeal through the administrative remedy, which includes protecting the taxpayer's rights and providing remedies available in the Texas Property Tax Code. In a passive role, the consultant's participation typically ends with issuance of the Appraisal Review Board's (ARB) Notice Of Final Order. At this point the property owner assumes the responsibility of appealing a protest provided by Subchapter C of Chapter 41, Section 25.25 or Subchapter B, Chapter 24. The taxpayer will retain legal representation and expert witnesses necessary to proceed with their litigation.

In the latter case the owner will rely on the consultant to become part of the litigation team, typically made up of an expert witness, attorney and the consultant. Each team member has a fiduciary relationship with the property owner and this must be understood and kept in mind. The members of the litigation team bring different areas of expertise, which are needed in order to bring a successful conclusion to a property tax lawsuit. For example, a real estate appraiser might be designated as the expert witness. In addition to preparing a market value appraisal, fair and equitable study and giving testimony, the appraiser may be asked to provide additional services, including: [1]

1. Advising an attorney on matters of standards of practice, professional code of ethics, market data sources, and industry trends

2. Helping frame questions for appraisal experts on either side of the case at depositions and during trial testimony

3. Case management

Additionally, the appraiser can also be utilized to identify incorrect methodology, inaccurate data, and an inaccurate application used by appraisal districts.

The attorney is the captain of the litigation team and his fiduciary relationship with the property owner trumps all other activity involved in the litigation. The relationship with all other team members is secondary to that of the relationship between the attorney and the property owner. Further, other team members must be aware not to engage in any activity that constitutes the unauthorized practice of law. Once litigation has been filed, the property owner will become the Plaintiff and will be the direct client of the attorney. The agent is not the attorney's client. Thus, communications between an attorney and the tax agent may or may not be confidential and may be discoverable. Privileged communications should most often be directly between the owner and attorney.

The attorney's role includes counseling the property owner on the feasibility of litigation, defining and explaining the taxpayer's rights, disputed facts, and remedies. Generally, the litigation process includes the filing of the petition, discovery of the facts (informal and formal interrogatories, requests for production, depositions, disclosure of experts, requests for admissions, etc.), motions to the court, pretrial proceedings such as case management conferences, settlement conferences, referral to mediation or arbitration, preliminary motions to allow or exclude evidence at trial, pretrial briefs, trial preparation, jury selection and instructions, trial by judge or jury, post-trial motions, and appeal of the judgment.

Consultants who participate in litigation support can be divided into two categories; involved and heavily involved. The consultant that falls in the first category will generally work as a conduit of information between the owner and the attorney. For example, the consultant would forward the attorney copies of evidence used during the administrative process, Notices of Final Order, and other general information.

[1] As defined in The Appraisal of Real Estate, Twelfth Edition
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

Do You Really Need a Tax Attorney?

You may find yourself in the position of believing you need a tax attorney. Depending upon your situation, this can be beneficial to you. If you have some facts, it can help you to decide if this is your best option.

One instance in which a tax attorney is your best option is if you have not kept your tax payments up-to-date. Whether this is due to simple lack of adequate knowledge about your tax obligations, or from neglect, you may find yourself in the position of either knowing or assuming that you owe taxes which you have not paid. Personal problems, business upheavals, and other factors occasionally figure in to many people not paying their taxes on time. Tax issues can also be a problem for those who have recently changed their filing status, or for those who are dealing with business taxes.

If you owe back taxes, a tax attorney can help you. This kind of help does not relieve you of your financial obligations; instead, it makes your obligations clear to you, and gives you the information you need to meet your obligations. A tax attorney can help you with the necessary paperwork, figuring how much tax and possible penalty fees you owe, and the most reasonable method and schedule for making your payments.

A tax attorney can also help if there has been a discrepancy with various aspects of your taxes. For example, if your tax return was not completed correctly, resulting in overpayments or making a smaller payment than you should have made, a tax attorney can assist in correcting the information and dealing with your payment status.

If you have decided that you need the services of a tax attorney, it is essential that you find one who is qualified. While you may be tempted to take shortcuts in order to save money, in the longrun you will be saving not only money but time and unnecessary stress if the tax attorney you choose is qualified and experienced. When you are in the market for a tax attorney, it is in your best interest to determine in advance if he meets these standards. As some attorneys offer a free initial consultation for prospective clients, you will have the benefit of being able to request this information before you enter into an agreement to work with a particular attorney. If he or she is recommended by a previous client who was completely satisfied with the full scope of his or her services, this is also a good sign that you are dealing with an experienced, qualified professional.

Although the prospect of dealing with a tax attorney may seem intimidating, if you are facing financial or legal problems associated with your taxes it is the first and most important step in getting your tax issues resolved. In order to get the best possible results, and to avoid any unnecessary pitfalls, it is essential that you choose the tax attorney who is qualified to meet your needs. Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

Overseas Investment Property

Overseas investment property offers many benefits to the astute investor. With locations offering established or emerging overseas investment property markets, there are many attractive options.

Investors are inevitably drawn to the current overseas investment property “hotspots”, where property can be secured at comparably low prices. These areas often offer high capital appreciation, as tourism is attracted and re-development is undertaken to maximise rentals and the resulting returns/profits.
As well as investors being attracted to overseas investment property opportunities due to the high capital growth and rental returns predicted, many opportunities are also offering an element of personal use.
Not only is the personal use element an added attraction that investors may not benefit from in UK property investment (for example), this can also substantially reduce the cost and increase viability of travelling abroad to your investment property for holiday purposes.
Particularly with more economical flight packages on offer to popular destinations and the comparably lower cost of eating, drinking, etc. The cost saving of accommodation for investors is a very attractive proposition.
Investors particularly interested in the personal use aspect of overseas property investment may be governed by the country and area in which they would like to visit and spend their free holiday time in the foreseeable future.

Overseas investment property opportunities within a few hours flying time may be a viable option for weekend visits, whereas countries with flight times in excess of 10 hours (for example) may not make a short stay an attractive proposition and would be more suitable for visits of 7 days or over. Certainly an important factor to consider to ensure that you can make the most of the personal use that your chosen overseas investment property has to offer.
One thing is for certain. Overseas investment property can not only offer substantial capital growth and rental returns, but also a set period per year of personal use can offer further investor savings when it comes to travelling abroad.
For investors interested in overseas investment property, there certainly are numerous benefits which can offer the best from both business and pleasure. Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

Easy Daily Cash - A Home Business Review

In today's economy, more people than ever before are looking for a way to earn extra money without having to work a 2nd or 3rd job. For many, starting a home based business, or an online home business
, is the answer to earning an additional income.

There are a number of various home-based businesses to choose from. One online home business that has recently launched, and is creating a lot of attention, is Easy Daily Cash. This home business claims to offer an income opportunity along with a product that is in demand today. Let's take a closer look at Easy Daily Cash and what they offer.

There are a lot of people looking to start a business on the Internet today. For many of these people though, they don't know what to do, or they don't have the right tools to build a business online. Easy Daily Cash is helping to solve these problems by providing a packaged collection of Internet software. This package includes everything that anyone will ever need for their computer, or to start their own online home business. In fact, the package is so large that it could literally take you days to download all of the software they include.

The collection is said to be valued at over $115,000. The demand for computer and Internet software is a 600 Billion dollar a year industry. That's important, because one of the things to look for prior to starting any home-based business is that you have a product that is in demand. Everyone can use software for his or her computer, or his or her Internet business.

Easy Daily Cash is also a home business opportunity. With their system a person will earn a 100% commission on every sale. This money is paid to that person directly, not the company. There is no waiting on getting a check. The company uses a 2-up pay plan. This is a proven pay plan that is currently used in many different industries outside the home business arena.

The owners of Easy Daily Cash also make themselves available to everyone Monday through Friday. This makes it easy to get the answers to any questions someone may have. They even list their phone numbers on the replicated websites. It is important to note that Easy Daily Cash is not a network marketing or MLM. They are a direct sales company.

Having more free time and living a more satisfying life is the goal of every home-based business owner. Easy Daily Cash tries to help make things easier by offering a wide range of marketing tools and ideas. These tools include an individual marketing website, marketing tools and advertising, free leads, an available autoresponder loaded with 7 pre-written messages, as well as lead packages. Many of their tools will allow even the busiest of people to market their business passively if they desire.

Easy Daily Cash is taking advantage of the popular and ever-growing software market. If you have been looking to start your own online home-based business you may want to take a closer look at this opportunity. Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

The Best Time for Atlanta Realtor

Atlanta, the capital city of Georgia has amazingly transformed itself in last few years into internationally acclaimed commercial hub. It reflects in Atlanta everywhere especially in life style and real estate sector of the city. Due to ample job opportunities, this city is facing huge inflow of working forces and prominent real estate company like ‘Gordon Street Realty’ perfectly understand the need of the city and hence it is all set ready to provide the best houses, apartments, office spaces, etc.
Today, the city is taunting itself as “the city too busy to hate”. But, story was not same all the time. First time, it was opened for white settlement around in the year 1823. Originally, it was inhabited by the Creek and Cherokee Native American. After the construction of Atlantic Railroad line in 1836, it became the major trade route to the Midwest. Later on, even American civil war severely affected development and prosperity in this zone. But, after the war again it was rebuilt and recognized as the official capital of Georgia in 1868 and from that year onwards, the city is simply blooming everyday. It has become more vibrant and widely recognized for popular music. Great foods and eateries are also pioneer center of attraction for the tourists. In concluding words, heat of ease in Atlantic life style can be experienced by analyzing the growth of real estate business.
There are varieties of speculations amongst Atlanta realtor. They say that the greatest boom in Atlanta real estate is yet to come. So, even financial advisers have supposed that investment in Atlanta property is a wise decision. An investor can check property prices listed in Atlanta real estate market. It would be the first step towards investment. A proper study of the current real estate trend is extremely essential. Investors also can browse Atlanta magazine, newspaper and website for information. But, before approaching any agent, few points must be very clear. Investors must have idea about their investment limitation, must carry credit report from bank, cash availability for down payment, interest rate and so on. Investors also should be ready for paying few other charges like attorney’s fee, taxes and other transfer fees.
Before finalizing and paying full amount, investor must visit the site and takes care of location, basic facilities and other amenities. However, Gordon Street Realty itself takes care of such things. Almost all prominent companies including Gordon Street Realty make sure the availability of hospitals, schools, colleges, recreational centers, etc in near about locations.
Atlanta has always remained a very important location from the date of its establishment onwards. Even in contemporary circumstances, it has maintained and upgrading its identity. The city is remarkably establishing its importance amongst industrialists and hence demand of property is rapidly rising here. This article explores different aspects of Atlanta city.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com