It’s usually not a good occasion when you receive a letter from the City and County of Denver Department of Finance Assessment Division, but that’s what we had waiting for us in the mail last week. Yes, our Real Estate Notice of Valuation for our Denver home had arrived to let us know that the market value of our home had changed. Opening the letter we were a little more than startled to learn the county of Denver is valuing our home with a 23% increase in value over the previous year. Ouch!
The Low-Down on Denver Home Values
We wrote the other day about hot Denver neighborhoods that increased in value over the past year , but none of those numbers approached 23%. It seems a few other of my friends and clients received similar surprises since I’ve had a couple calls about this in the past week. Though the Denver housing market has been fluctuating and isn’t as hot as it may have been in the past few years, the current county assessments are for the estimated value of your Denver home or condo as of June 20, 2008. The county is using sales from January 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008 to determine your home’s market value as of June 2008.
How to Protest the Value of of Your Denver Home or Condo
Looking into the valuation notices you’ll see the comparable properties used to determine your home value along with characteristics of all the other homes. The methodology may seem a little confusing but if you believe this is far off the market value of your home in 2008, then you have the right to protest the county valuation of your home. You’ll need to provide your own estimated value along with justification and provide your own comparables to back up your property valuation.
Luckily, this process does not involve picket signs or walking down the street chanting but is easily done by submitting a protest form online, in person or via the mail (fax is also available but not recommended). Your can complete your protest appeal online at http://www.DenverGov.org/onlineprotest or mail your protest form to:
Assessment Division – Real Property Protest 201 W Colfax Ave, Dept 406 Denver, Colorado 80202If you’d like to protest your Denver home value in person, call (720) 913-4164 to schedule an appointment with the appraiser’s staff.
Drop us a line if you need help with information on home sales in your area. Good luck and leave us a comment on your recent assessment and if your decide to protest!
