For those of you planning to buy, and for those who already own, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), will be issuing notices advising home owners of the updated assessment of the property value of their home.
This value is based on sales and trends in the real estate market. The last assessment update was in 2005, and most homeowners in Toronto and surrounding areas can expect that their property value has increased. Carl Isenberg, the President and Chief Administrative Officer (MPAC), has stated that house values in Ontario have increased 20% over 2005 and that there will be a phased in approach resulting in an average increase of 5% per year.
Review your notice and if you believe that your property would not have sold for the assessed value as of January 1, 2008, you can contact MPAC, they will review the assessment. During this notice period, hours at the MPAC offices will be extended and can be reached at 1.866.296.6722.
Rachel Loizos is an associate lawyer at Sotos LLP in Toronto. She practices in the areas of real estate, wills and estate planning and corporate commercial law.
Thanks for this timely reminder, Rachel.
Do you have any tips for home owners who would like to verify the validity of the assessments they have received? Have you heard of particular counterarguments being more successful?
Urmi
Posted by: Realosophy Team | November 25, 2008 at 09:14 AM
Just following up on Urmi's question, the first thing people should do is follow up with their realtor to get a list of comparable properties that sold around Jan 1, 2008.
They should also ask their realtor to do a Comparative Market Analysis for their home with Jan 1,2008 as the valuation date. The CMA will take differences between your property and the comparables into account to arrive at a valuation.
If MPAC's valuation is higher than the one prepared by your realtor, you have a case to appeal your assessment.
Another thing you can do is compare your property's assessed value to the assessed values of other comparable properties. If your assessed value is higher than similar homes in the area, you may have a case to appeal your assessment.
Having said that, I'm not 100% sure if MPAC is making the new assessed values available on their website yet. I know the olds ones are available. I am going to go through this for a few properties over the next month, I'll follow up if I have any more tips.
Alternatively you can hire property tax consultants to appeal your taxes for you. Most of them only require payment if they succeed in reducing the assessed value of your home.
Try Ontario Property Tax Consultants.
http://www.optc.ca
Posted by: John Pasalis | November 26, 2008 at 08:19 AM
good post
question I have based on this is, what property tax figure must agents post with the seller's listing?
more to the point, are they obligated to provide prospective buyers with the 4 yr MPAC increases are [assuming just about everyone has received theirs now in the GTA?], as this will no doubt affect a home's marketability.
thx
Posted by: Rob | November 26, 2008 at 05:52 PM
Rob,
Agents should be showing the tax amount indicated on the seller's most recent tax bill. They usually don't indicate the assessed value of the property as part of the listing.
It's really up to the purchaser to request the new assessment for the property
Posted by: John Pasalis | November 27, 2008 at 12:18 PM