Pay Less Property Taxes

If we can get serious for a minute here during the current financial crisis, one way to give your budget a shot in the arm is to pay less property tax to the government, charlie, uncle sam, and the like. I'm not trying to use this forum to solicit my services as I feel that any educated person can handle their assessment appeal on their own. The way to pay less property tax is to first make sure that you are paying too much. You probably are by default. If the assessment of your home multiplied by 3 is more than you think your house is worth, then you're paying too high of taxes.

You better make damn well sure that they're too high because if they're low and you're wrong, you'll end up with higher taxes. Don't appeal your assessment if you've made any additions or substantial renovations to your home. If the government doesn't know, don't let them find out. Most of these assessments were done well over ten years ago and since that time they just multiply them upward every season. Usually that works, but if you haven't noticed yet, property values aren't exactly climbing.

All you need to appeal your assessment is fill out the required form and prove why it is too high. You don't need a lawyer, nor do you really need an appraiser. That makes things easier, but it doesn't make sense to pay $350 unless you're going to save more than that. All you need is someone with access to MLS or time to head down to your local county/township assessor and sort through the files. You'll need a few sales over the past year or so that prove your house is worth less. Try to focus on sales with similar parking, bedrooms, bathrooms, and other key ingredients like lot size and home size. You'll want to throw in a few current listings as well because those things are dropping faster than Brett Favre's career passer rating. Now just take this data to the assessor and explain your argument. It is as simple as that. Good luck.

Ode to Nader

With all the money that you've saved from your tax appeal, why not treat your home to a new television. Prices are currently bottoming out at the start of football season. There is inventory to be cleared for the holiday season, so hit up your local discount store and make a deal happen. Samsung HDTVs are the absolute way to go. I've got one, my friends have Samsung, and even my neighbor went with Samsung. Personally, I steer clear of LCD. I am a fan of the plasma. I like the sharper colors and contrast. The best way to buy an HDTV is to see the thing in action, so don't buy online or without a sample on the floor. The new LED televisions look pretty sharp and they are very slim. These features come with a price tag. Try to get the newest version you can within your budget. Technology is constantly changing. I would suggest a 1080P at this point unless you're looking at a second television solely for cable or satellite use, then 720P would suffice.