Housing News
ValueAppeal.com Helps WA Homeowners Dispute Property Taxes
Property Tax Debacle
As an agent, you’ve gotten that phone call, “why does my tax bill say this or that and why is it so high?” right? Sure you have. I’m not sure of national options for the appeals process, but Washington-based site ValueAppeal.com claims to streamline and simplify the complicated with their free “assessment analyzer.”
At least for agents in Washington, this seems to be the answer to the “what do I do about this insane tax bill?” phone call that happens at least once a year. Without raising your liability, freaking your broker out or your having to pull comps for free, you can send homeowners to a site that simplifies the appeals process (or may help them understand that their assessment is actually on target and correct).
For those outside of WA, do you know of any appeals sites in your own area?
AgentGenius.com does not have a financial relationship with ValueAppeal.com.
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Housing News
Average age of houses on the rise, so is it now better or worse to buy new?
With aging housing in America, are first-time buyers better off buying new or existing homes? The average age of a home is rising, as is the price of new housing, so a shift could be upon us.
The average home age is higher than ever
(REALUOSO.COM) – In a survey from the Department of Housing and Urban Development American Housing Survey (AHS), the median age of homes in the United States was 35 years old. In Texas, homes are a bit younger with the median age between 19 – 29 years. The northeast has the oldest homes, with the median age between 50 – 61 years. In 1985, the median age of a home was only 23 years.
With more houses around 40 years old, the National Association of Realtors asserts that homeowners will have to undertake remodeling and renovation projects before selling unless the home is sold as-is, in which case the buyer will be responsible to update their new residence. Even homeowners who aren’t selling will need to consider remodeling for structural and aesthetic reasons.
Prices of new homes on the rise
Newer homes cost more than they used to. The price differential between new homes and older homes has increased from 10 percent traditionally to around 37 percent in 2014. This is due to rising construction costs, scarcity of lots, and a low inventory of new homes that doesn’t meet the demand.
Click here to continue reading this story…
Housing News
Are Realtors the real loser in the fight between Zillow Group and Move, Inc.?
The last year has been one of dramatic and rapid change in the real estate tech sector, but Realtors are vulnerable, and we’re worried.
Why Realtors are vulnerable to these rapid changes
(REALUOSO.COM) – Corporate warfare demands headlines in every industry, but in the real estate tech sector, a storm has been brewing for years, which in the last year has come to a head. Zillow Group and Move, Inc. (which is owned by News Corp. and operates ListHub, Realtor.com, TopProducer, and other brands) have been competing for a decade now, and the race has appeared to be an aggressive yet polite boxing match. Last year, the gloves came off, and now, they’ve drawn swords and appear to want blood.
Note: We’ll let you decide which company plays which role in the image above.
So how then, does any of this make Realtors the victims of this sword fight? Let’s get everyone up to speed, and then we’ll discuss.
1. Zillow poaches top talent, Move/NAR sues
It all started last year when the gloves came off – Move’s Chief Strategy Officer (who was also Realtor.com’s President), Errol Samuelson jumped ship and joined Zillow on the same day he phoned in his resignation without notice. He left under questionable circumstances, which has led to a lengthy legal battle (wherein Move and NAR have sued Zillow and Samuelson over allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and misappropriation of trade secrets), with the most recent motion being for contempt, which a judge granted to Move/NAR after the mysterious “Samuelson Memo” surfaced.
Salt was added to the wound when Move awarded Samuelson’s job to Move veteran, Curt Beardsley, who days after Samuelson left, also defected to Zillow. This too led to a lawsuit, with allegations including breach of contract, violation of corporations code, illegal dumping of stocks, and Move has sought restitution. These charges are extremely serious, but demanded slightly less attention than the ongoing lawsuit against Samuelson.
2. Two major media brands emerge
Last fall, the News Corp. acquisition of Move, Inc. was given the green light by the feds, and this month, Zillow finalized their acquisition of Trulia.
…Click here to continue reading this story…
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Jason Sandquist
July 14, 2009 at 9:20 am
Any ideas if they are planning to be in all fifty? They started following me the other day on Twitter and thought it was a nice tool. Not sure if it is accurate or not but fills a void.
ValueAppeal
July 14, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Thanks for mentioning us Lani! We actually have plans for an affiliate program so realtors can actually earn referral fees for sending clients our way.
Jason- Yes, we plan on rolling out our service across the country 1 county at a time. If you have a vote for a particular county let us know.
Joe Loomer
July 15, 2009 at 9:52 am
Jump across the country and start next in Georgia!
Our county website has all the procedures for appealing your tax assessment, and the adjacent county – home to the actual city of Augusta – has already stated they will not raise values this year.
Georgia’s State Assembly did not fund the Home Tax Relief Grant this year – the vessel for homestead exemptions ($200-$300 tax reduction), so our taxes are all going up without the need for increasing the value of the property. Smoke and mirrors – more state tax revenue without having to defend higher property valuation in a stagnant housing market.
Navy Chief, Navy Pride
Matt Thomson
July 15, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Apparently they’re not in all of Washington yet. I entered my address and got a message that they don’t cover my area of the country yet.