City of Airdrie Tax Assessment — is it accurate? When I go to listing appointments and discuss the market value of a home with my clients, often they will reference the City of Airdrie tax assessment. I am here to tell you that, very rarely does a tax assessment reflect the market value of a home. In fact, Realtors rarely pay attention to it! There is no general rule either, it isn’t always higher or always lower than the true value.
Why is this, you wonder? Well for several reasons.
1. You didn’t get a basement permit. If you finished your basement but did not pull a permit, the city doesn’t actually know this. Therefore, it won’t be reflected in the value. P.s. it’s easier to sell a house with basement permits!
2. All those renovations you did? Again, the city doesn’t peek into your home when they do the assessments, they don’t know that you renovated the kitchen. The only way they find this out is if you pulled permits and gave them an estimate on the cost of the work.
3. They are basing their assessment on the assumption that your home is in decent condition. If there are holes in the wall, rotting decks, cat pee in the carpet, leaking appliances, etc. your home won’t sell for the same price the neighbours did that have everything in mint condition…unless you start fixing things up!
4. Market fluctuations. The assessments happen once per year. For example, your assessment was sent in January of 2022. This is based on sales from July 1st, 2020 – July 1, 2021. So it’s going as far back as 18 months ago. They time adjust it to July 1, 2021, which in my opinion adds a complicated layer. I understand that a blanket formula is needed for this kind of valuation but rarely do we as agents, time adjust (there are circumstances though where it’s necessary, but that’s another article). Guess who never typically goes this far back to determine value? Realtors. Guess what else wasn’t happening 18 months ago? This crazy booming market!!!
The City has a great method of determining a value for the purpose of collecting taxes. What I am here to tell you, is not to confuse this with market value (what your home can sell for today).
Here’s the deal, if you want to know what your home is worth right now, call us.
We are happy to come by to give you an honest assessment. It doesn’t matter if you’re not planning on selling. If you just want some peace of mind, we’re happy to help.
Here’s another tip, if you believe your home is worth substantially less than the City’s assessment, you can contact the City’s assessment department at 403-948-8855 to initiate an in-house review. This is where an assessor will verify property details, review the market value against comparable properties that have sold, and if an inspection is required/requested, that will also be completed.
If you would like access to more recent comparable sales to back up your claim, call us. Again, we are happy to help!
If you are still not satisfied with the result, you can file a complaint. Here is the link to the form you will need. If you have trouble getting the PDF to load (like I did), I can send it to you.
There is a time limit for filing a complaint, so you want to get the ball rolling sooner rather than later if you have concerns.
Here’s your last tip, lower assessments mean lower taxes. Don’t hold on to a high assessment because you think it will validate you in believing your home is worth more than it is. It doesn’t mean sh*t when you want to sell your house.
As always, I’m happy to filter the stress with unfiltered honesty.
Take care,
Natalie