Current Events
{ Thursday, May 17th, 2012 }
Appeal Your Property Taxes
- It is not physically possible to have more fun with the words “clip art” and “property tax appeal”.
I just received my 2012 Annual Notice Of Assessment from Fulton County. Somewhere in between yet another Crate & Barrel catalog (please, for the love of G-d, stop sending me catalogs!) and my over bloated water bill was the thin, seemingly insignificant envelope. It almost got tossed with the daily direct mailer pimping out the Chase Sapphire card. Almost.
I liken this annual mailing to the check-up reminder postcard that my dentist sends me. They’re both easily overlooked, yet essential annual milestones. They both have the potential to be expensive… especially if they’re ignored. While the dental visit comes with possible upside (Free Toothbrush! Highlights Magazine! Nitrous Oxide!), there is no such upside with the tax assessment notice. Where there is upside- if you’re paying attention- is in the appeal of the tax assessment.
Many home owners don’t realize that they have the right to appeal their tax assessment. What this means is that you can actually file a formal appeal with the County, and present your case as to why your property taxes are disproportionately high. The process can take some time- the County is still hearing appeals from the 2011 cycle- but for many who have gone through the process, the end result can mean shaving a significant sum off of the annual bill.
Should you appeal your taxes? If you respond affirmatively to any of the points below, you might want to consider:
1. The assessment has valued your home higher this year than it did last year, despite your understanding that home values have gone down in your area over the last twelve months.
2. The assessed value of your home is signficantly higher than you believe your home would sell for in the open market.
3. You’re philisophicaly aligned with any opportunity to reduce the amount of your money that you’re required to share with the government.
What’s most important is that you make your decision asap. You have only 45 days to appeal your 2012 assessment. That’s it. There are no do-overs, nor are there are any extensions.
If you’d like to discuss the appeal process, feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email. I can give you my professional advice from a real estate perspective, as well as share my personal experiences as someone who has gone through the appeal process in the past. While I can promise you that the appeal process is nothing like visiting the dentist (no nitrous oxide, free toothbrush or Highlights Magazine), there is the possibility of saving significant money in future property tax owed.
{ Friday, April 27th, 2012 }
Inman Park Festival and Tour of Homes
This weekend is Inman Park Festival, the grand daddy of Atlanta neighborhood festivals (in my humble opinion, of course). Bands, beer, a rockin’ parade, kids’ activities, arts & crafts festival… it’s got a little bit of everything for everybody. Part of the festival is the 41st annual Inman Park Tour of Homes, an absolute can’t miss event for connoisseurs of architecture, homes and general real estate pornography.
If you can’t make Inman Park Festival, or just don’t want to deal with the crowds, The Peace, Love and Bugs Earth Day Festival and Volkswagen Show looks pretty awesome. I’m usually not one for “classic car shows”, but I’ve always had a thing for classic VW vans, so I might just check it out.
{ Monday, April 23rd, 2012 }
Year Of Boulevard, Summer Of Opportunity
Subsequent to my recent post about the new townhome development in the Old Fourth Ward, I’ve had a number of people ask me about the Year of Boulevard, a project that I referenced in the post. For those not in the know already, Rebecca Burns’ piece on the Year of Boulevard, featured in the most recent Atlanta Magazine is absolutely phenomenal. File it under “must read”. For those in the know, or those just more inclined to watch a short video rather than a read a more in depth expository piece, I recommend that you check out the video below.
Year Of Boulevard from Some Good Co. on Vimeo.
Consider what you can do to be a part of the solution. Atlanta City Councilmember Kwanza Hall and TEDxAtlanta have partnered to bring a Summer of Possibility to the kids of the Boulevard corridor. Find out how you can be a part of the movement through summer-camp scholarships, internships and entrepreneurial mentoring.
{ Wednesday, April 18th, 2012 }
HGTV Serenbe Green Home Giveaway
If you’ve been to Serenbe before, then you’re already familiar with just how unbelievably cool the 1,000-acre community is. Its focus on green building, sustainability and organic farming is well known worldwide. If you haven’t been to Serenbe, you need to get on board and check out the art galleries, shops, restaurants, stables, farms… and of course, the beautiful homes.
Now is your chance to change all that. Serenbe and HGTV have partnered up to create the 2012 HGTV Green Home, and I’m giving away two tickets to tour the home, and lunch at the community’s beloved Blue Eyed Daisy Bakeshop. First, some info on the HGTV Green Home, then, details on the lunch/tour giveaway:
As the beautiful, custom-built home located in the idyllic setting of Serenbe awaits the winner of the fifth annual HGTV Green Home Giveaway, visitors can preview the home and get a taste of the green life. Before a lucky winner calls the HGTV Green Home “home,” visitors will have the chance to tour the house Tuesday – Sunday from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. beginning May 4 through June 24. Proceeds from the $20 admission ticket will benefit the Serenbe Institute, the non-profit community organization that explores, embraces and expands the connections between nature, culture and the art of living, and the Chattahoochee Hills Charter School.
I know what you’re thinking: ”Wait a second, HGTV is giving away an entire house, and A Is For Atlanta is offering me two tickets and a couple of sandwiches?” Yes, you are correct. But free is free, and there’s nothing quite like a Spring afternoon down at Serenbe. To enter to win the tour ticket/lunch giveaway, email me at Jon (at) aisforatlanta.com. In the body of the email, complete the following sentence:
In five years, the Atlanta neighborhood that will see the largest median home price increase will be ________.
Contest Deadline: Monday, April 23 at 5 pm.
{ Monday, April 16th, 2012 }
New Townhomes In Old Fourth Ward… Not Inman Park
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about a new townhome development under construction on Highland Avenue, just off the Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail. My headline was succinct, and to-the-point: New Townhomes In Inman Park.
Not long after posting I found out that there was one small issue with the headline/post: I was wrong. I received the following post comment from a reader:
Of course, This story needs to be corrected. The west side of the betline is Old Fourth Ward- not Inman Park. The border is often confused, but it is important that folks realize this kind of activity is happening in Old Fourth Ward. Thanks.
My first reaction, predictably, was knee-jerk disagreement and indignation. As my wife will attest, I am a know-it-all. This commenter has his facts wrong, I thought. And what chutzpah, blighting my comment section with erroneous information. My second reaction- as my wife will also confirm- is to whip out my phone/iPad/computer and comfort myself with a cocktail of Google, Wikipedia and whatever else I can find to confirm what I think I already know.
It turns out that the commenter was 100% correct- the west side of the BeltLine is in the Old Fourth Ward, not Inman Park. BeltLine maps reveal this, as do Atlanta Public School maps (this development would be zoned for Old Fourth Ward’s Hope Hill Elementary, not the elementary school that serves Inman Park, Mary Lin Elementary). While the new development sits behind N. Highland Steel, a retail/apartment complex that’s most certainly within Inman Park, its close proximity to the neighborhood does not qualify it for being in the neighborhood. These two developments may be separated by less than a few hundred feet, but between those few hundred feet runs a border that clearly delineates two distinct neighborhoods.
As the commenter said, “it is important that folks realize this kind of activity is happening in Old Fourth Ward”- and I couldn’t agree more. Between this new development, the phenomenal new Old Fourth Ward Park, the Beltline’s Eastside Trail and the city’s “Year of Boulevard” initiative, there are some great things going on in the neighborhood. One of the goals of this site is to shine a bright line on positive news like this, and in crediting these new townhomes incorrectly to Inman Park I short changed the Old Fourth Ward of credit where credit was due.
Credibility matters. This site is nothing without credibility, nor is my business as a Realtor. Consider this post as a correction, an apology, and a pledge to getting it right the first time moving forward.
