Want to Sell This One?
Help Defray Property Taxes

I originally posted about 1415 June Ave. — in Golden Valley’s South Tyrol Hills neighborhood — last Summer (“$700k Below Tax Value“).

At the time, the asking price was $799,900 — against a tax assessed value of $1.504 million.

Thanks to that latter number, the home carries an almost $24,000 annual property tax bill.

Which likely explains why it’s still unsold almost six months later — and the asking price is now $784,900.

Unsolicited Advice

You’d certainly expect the property tax bill to drop dramatically once the home sells so far below its assessed value.

However, it’s not a slam dunk.

That’s because tax assessors consider foreclosures to be distress sales (true), and therefore not necessarily reflective of fair market value (patently false).

Put it this way: if anyone thought 1415 June was worth more than $784,900 . . . . they’ve now had almost two years to snatch it up (the home originally came on the market in March, 2009, at an asking price of $1.679 million).

To entice Buyers who can afford the home but not the attendant property taxes, here’s my advice to the bank-owner: pick up some or all of the property tax bill for a period of time.

Sellers now routinely pay up to 3% of Buyer’s closing costs.

In this case, what the Buyer really needs help with — at least temporarily — are the property taxes.

About the author

Ross Kaplan has 19+ years experience selling real estate all over the Twin Cities. He is also a 12-time consecutive "Super Real Estate Agent," as determined by Mpls. - St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine. Prior to becoming a Realtor, Ross was an attorney (corporate law), CPA, and entrepreneur. He holds an economics degree from Stanford.

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