Hycomp
November 13, 2009, 12:57pm
14
Well, we purchased our house in White Oak in 2001 for $75k it came with 2 completely useless lots directly next to it. The house wasnt really worth $75k, but at the time it was the only thing on the market in our price range. A short time later, everything went wrong, roof leaking, hot water tank, A/C, basement flooding, mold issues… you name it and it went wrong. Then the reassessment went into effect.
The county claimed the house was worth $78k, even needing all the repairs. They said the small lot next to the house was worth $18k because the corner of my $200 aluminum shed was on it. They stated that the lot was occupied by a structure so it was valued higher. WTF? Then they claimed the 3rd small lot was worth like $11k or something. Meanwhile I couldnt even cut the grass because the lawn mower would get stuck in the swamp.
Our mortgage went from $600 / month to $850! We filed an appeal and showed up at the hearing with an appraisal of $22k for the house and $5k for both lots… but we lost.
The house wasnt worth dumping anymore time or money into, so our only option was bankruptcy.
Were you getting a check from the county, local school district and municipality prior to the reassessment? A quick glance at the millage numbers on the Allegheny County Treasurer’s website would put total taxes for a property assessed at $107,000 in White Oak at $2734.87/year total for school, municipality and county combined.