Dispute BC Home Assessment? What does this mean, how can it help you and should you do it? Read below for more information.
On January 1st, of every new year, the BC government releases their property value assessments. These assessments are taken as of July 1st, the previous year. You should be receiving a paper copy, but you can also see your valuation online at: www.bcassessment.ca/
Not only can you see your own property assessment, but you can also see any civic address throughout the province. Some interesting information in there, not only about the value of the property as per BC’s estimators, but also information about the property itself (square footage of the home and lot size, bedrooms, bathrooms, previous year’s assessment and value, etc.). Kind of awesome for those of us that like to geek out a bit on data!
I would like to mention that by no means is your BC Assessment an accurate representation of your Actual Market Value. Please keep this in mind. Market Value differs greatly, especially when you consider the assessment was completed 6 months prior to the government releasing this information. Real Estate is often affected greatly by its environment (political, economic — inflation for example) and even world events, and in a half-year, many things can alter property value. While real estate in the Lower Mainland (West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Delta, Surrey, New Westminster, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, the Tricities: Port Moody, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and beyond) is often sheltered and less affected by external influences, even large-scale socio-economic factors can present challenges to our market.
Although an increase in your home assessment CAN potentially mean an increase in property taxes, it is not always the case. If your property has been affected negatively by outside influences and you believe the valuation to be incorrect or higher than it should, you may have a case to prove. Ultimately, you could see a reduction in the valuation, and with that, potentially a reduction in property taxes. Who doesn’t want to save money? I have a guide in a document that explains the processes, what you’ll need to do and prove value and how you can dispute BC home assessment valuations. Send me a quick email by clicking here and receive a link to download your free guide on this process!
If you’d like to find out how your property actually compares to the BC home assessment in a current market evaluation, click here for my form. I will get back to you very shortly with a comparative market evaluation that examines comparable properties that have not only sold recently, but also properties currently on the market. It’s often nice to see a snapshot of how long properties are sitting on their market, how they compare to yours and what separates those that sell from those that don’t in a more well-balanced market from the seller’s-market we’ve been accustomed to in the last couple of years.
Always on your side.
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