Property Tax Value Arbitration

I just spent the last three days taking a 30 hour class o Arbitration. Something new has come to Texas and it's very exciting! Unlike many other states, Texas homeowners are sent a new tax value the first week of May every year. If a home owner is unhappy with the value, they are allowed to fight the value assessed. This value is not necessarily the market value of a home, or what a buyer will pay for the home. This is just the tax value of the home that the appraisal district assesses.

Once you receive your notice, you have a certain amount of days to make it known that you're not happy. Most people just go to the county appraisal office during business hours and ask to speak with one of the assessors. If not happy with a one on one conversation, the home owner can then chose to go to the ARB, Appraisal Review Board. This is where the home owner gets 15 minutes to state their case and a panel of 3-5 people decide what the value should be.

If the home owner still is not happy with the value, they can then file for Arbitration. They send in a notice to the State Comptroller's Office along with $500 and wait for a hearing. That's where I come in! When someone requests a hearing, they have the opportunity to chose an arbitrator as long as both parties agree, but what's mostly been happening is the Comptroller's computer spits out a name and when I'm sent a notice, I can either accept it or decline it.

Once the hearing is accepted, I have 120 days to render an award. This means I need to send out notice to both parties to have a hearing within about 45-60 days in case either needs to reschedule somewhere in there. Arbitration means the home owner cannot file suit in court to fight their value once a decision is made. If the home owner prevails, they will receive $450 back from their initial $500 deposit. If they lose, they lose their $450 as well.

This is a new process in Texas and I'm sure there are going to be some glitches the first couple of years, but I'm excited to have just completed the required course work and roll plays, and I'm sending in my application today!

Dallas Real Estate- Texas Foreclosures

There's some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that Texas saw a 16% decrease in foreclosures in September over August.

The bad news is that Texas saw a 23% increase in foreclosures in September '06 over September '05.

There are 11,988 homes in some type of foreclosure, and since many people are just late on their payments, this isn't the actual number that will be foreclosed on. With these numbers, Texas is 1.5 times the national average... so sad...

Time Management- Bathroom Breaks

I've read lots about Time Management, and I've taken a couple of classes that also talk about scheduling and learning to manage your time. My problem with all this information is that I've never seen or heard anything about how to schedule in Bathroom Breaks!

Bathroom Breaks are very important, and sometimes I'll have to go for a couple of hours before finding 30 seconds to "sit down." It's not good for your bladder or your kidneys. What's funny is that I'm typing this because I've been trying to get to the bathroom for over an hour now, but emails keep coming in or the phone keeps ringing and then I have to follow up with others when I get off the phone that requires more information. So, instead of getting up and going, since I now had 2 minutes to spear, I decided to type this out with my foot tapping.

It's a fierce circle throughout the day, and I drink A LOT of water!!

Does anyone have any tricks on working bathroom breaks into your busy schedules? This is just another sacrafice I make for great customer service to my clients!

Dallas Real Estate- September Sales Dip

Sales are down in North Texas and inventory is up. We still have less than a 6 month supply, so it's still not technically a Buyer's Market like some would think. However, many buyers are waiting to buy thinking they'll get that massive deal overnight. Most Buyers are listening to National news which is typically quite different that our local news since the report came out a couple of months ago showing we're 18% undervalued compared to the rest of the country. Still, people like to sit and wait.

Median sales price dropped 3%, a decrease for the first time since September 2004. September is typically one of my slowest months, but this was the busiest September I had ever had, with 4 closings. November and December are typically my busy months, and I'm hoping to keep that tradition.



SEPTEMBER HOME RESALES
Year-over-year change in area pre-owned home sales and prices:
Category Homes Change Condos Change
Sold 6,622 -15% 431 -7%
Median price $143,150 -3% $115,250 +2%
Average DOM 69 -3% 78 -8%
Pending sales 7,747 +5% 455 -2%
For sale 46,966 +13% 3,887 +12%
SOURCES: Texas A&M University Real Estate Center; North Texas Real Estate Information System