It’s been difficult to take a tour of homes for sale in Midtown Columbus over the last couple of years without seeing one or two homes that had listing prices at or below the home’s last sale price.  While many Midtown Columbus communities fared far better than others or some suburbs, keeping their value because of their location to both downtown amenities and solid neighborhood sales, sale prices haven’t been what they were five years ago.

This creates a conundrum for the home buyer who ends up purchasing a property for less than its assessed value  for tax purposes. No one wants to pay more taxes than they have to but getting a deal on a Midtown Columbus home the last few years meant that you probably will do just that, for at least a while.

I reccomment that Buyers plan on paying the current assesed taxes for a period of two years after they buy their home, start the appeal process as soon as possible (after all, what is a better indicator of a home’s value than what a buyer is willing to pay for it on the free market) and hope it takes closer to 12-18 months.

An article in today’s Dispatch notes that, ”a record number of Franklin County property owners are winning appeals for tax cuts.

So far this year, the Board of Revision has agreed more than 94percent of the time that a property is no longer worth the value on the auditor’s books. Two years ago, 54percent of appeals prevailed.

The recent success rate is likely skewed, cautioned Anthony J. Frissora, chief of staff for Auditor Clarence Mingo. The board frontloaded the most obvious cases, including appeals for properties that recently sold or were appraised for less. And it’s less than halfway done with this year’s appeals.

“But there’s no question that (the success rate is) going to be above the 54percent by far. It’s definitely trending upward,” Frissora said. “People are trying to look at ways of saving money in this economy. Our job is to get the value right.”

The number of appeals has more than tripled since 2008, when 2,263 property owners filed. This year, 7,818 owners made claims.”  Read the rest of this Columbus Dispatch story here