This is all new to me.....I have been looking at a house in Michigan that I
want to buy. I took a real-estate broker with me to look at the house and
he told me that it is $100,000 over priced. I have come to the reason for
the overprice comes from the fact that the seller believes that the SEV is
gospel. The SEV is $180,000, making the seller think that the house is
worth $360,000. I have found, after doing a lot of homework that SEV"s are
useless. I found that the house on the corner sold last month for
$198,000.....the SEV x2 was $392,000. Another house at the other end of the
block (these are pretty much equal homes) has an SEV of $168,000. As you
can see... two equal houses have very different SEV values ($168,000
compared to $392,000). Now I will finally get to the question. If I am
able to purchase the home at its true value of $260,000 will I be stuck with
the $360,000 SEV to determine the tax that I must pay....or is the SUV
adjusted to the purchase price of the house. What I am afraid of is that
the adjustment is not made automatically.....I would have to appeal to the
tax folks and pray that the proper adjustment is made. If an appeal is
needed it seems to me that the risk to get the proper adjustment is to
great, making it foolish to purchase the new home. The current tax for a
$360,000 home in our community would come to just over $500 per month.

Thanks for any reply
MJ

My Name tossed us a propoerty tax puzzle...
This is all new to me.....I have been looking at a house in Michigan that I
want to buy. I took a real-estate broker with me to look at the house and
he told me that it is $100,000 over priced. I have come to the reason for
the overprice comes from the fact that the seller believes that the SEV is
gospel. The SEV is $180,000, making the seller think that the house is
worth $360,000. I have found, after doing a lot of homework that SEV"s are
useless. I found that the house on the corner sold last month for
$198,000.....the SEV x2 was $392,000. Another house at the other end of the
block (these are pretty much equal homes) has an SEV of $168,000. As you
can see... two equal houses have very different SEV values ($168,000
compared to $392,000). Now I will finally get to the question. If I am
able to purchase the home at its true value of $260,000 will I be stuck with
the $360,000 SEV to determine the tax that I must pay....or is the SUV
adjusted to the purchase price of the house. What I am afraid of is that
the adjustment is not made automatically.....I would have to appeal to the
tax folks and pray that the proper adjustment is made. If an appeal is
needed it seems to me that the risk to get the proper adjustment is to
great, making it foolish to purchase the new home. The current tax for a
$360,000 home in our community would come to just over $500 per month.

Gnerally the SEV is one-half the sale price. In high-falutin'
places like Ann Arbor it might be 40-30% of the asking price.
You might consult with the treasurer or assessor at the
jurisdiction in question. I have never heard of an assessmnet being
reduced, and keep in mind that we have that artificial ceiling that
suddenly blows away (Hurricane Headlee!) when the propoerty is sold.
SEV is generally available on-line at the county's website.

HTH
--Karen M.
I'm a planner, not an assessor!