Archive for the 'Simsbury' Category
Who Pays the Most Taxes in Hartford County?
So who pays the most taxes in Greater Hartford? It’s not as easy to figure out as it might seem. All the talk of revaluations, budgets, and referendums got us thinking about how we could get at that question using the real estate data in the MLS.
We decided to look at all the single family home sales in Hartford County that were input using the Grand List 2009 mill rates. The initial data set had just over 4,000 closed MLS transactions (deemed reliable but not guaranteed) with listing dates between July 1, 2009 and June 19, 2010, which should have been input using the Grand List 2009 mill rates. After eliminating deals with missing data, we ended up with just over 3,800 data points spread across 29 towns.
Next we did some simple calculations and took the median values for everything. Ideally all of this data would have been published in a sortable table embedded in the post, but we couldn’t get it to work right (feel free to send tips or hints). Instead you’re getting the same large table sorted in different ways … our apologies in advance.
The first sort is based on the dollar amount of taxes paid – who wrote the largest checks?
Residents of the more expensive towns wrote the largest checks. Since the values of their homes are the highest, the tax bill – even at a lower tax rate – will he higher.
What if adjust for the home prices? Who pays the highest percentage of their home’s value as taxes each year?
With this adjustment, some towns with low median sales prices have moved to the top of the list, though some of the higher median sales price towns are also paying more than 2% of their home’s value in taxes each year.
Finally, we could adjust for home size to see who pays the most taxes per square foot of house…
This time we see towns with smaller homes and higher median sales prices leading the pack. The results should be very similar to a sales price per square foot calculation. People end up paying the highest taxes per square foot in towns where they also pay the highest purchase prices per square foot.
These results show a slightly different result that simply looking at the mill rates, though the mill rates are helpful as a quick first estimate. Farmington has some of the lowest taxes of the towns with high median sales prices, while Windsor Locks is the least taxed town with low median sales prices.
Hartford County Revaluation Schedule
Last week we gave an overview of the 2011 City of Hartford revaluation. Here’s the revaluation schedule for the rest of the towns in the County.
2010: none
2011: East Hartford, Enfield, Hartford, Manchester, Marlborough, Newington, Plainville, Southington, West Hartford
2012: Berlin, Bristol, East Windsor, Farmington, Glastonbury, Granby, New Britain, Simsbury, South Windsor
2013: Avon, Burlington, Canton, East Granby, Rocky Hill, Suffield, Wethersfield, Windsor, Windsor Locks
2014: Bloomfield
The process is basically the same everywhere. Towns review all the properties to make sure they have the correct stats – beds, baths, size, etc. Next they gather information on sales and feed all the data into the computer. A value is assigned to each property and the owners are notified – generally in the fall of the revaluation year.
West Hartford has an FAQ document on the part of their website related to the 2011 revaluation. Here is their answer to one important question that homeowners often have.
What will happen to my assessment if I improve my property?
While property improvements generally increase the value to your property, they may or may not change the assessment to your property. For example, while replacing a roof covering, a furnace, a water heater or updating your electrical main should have a positive effect on your market value they are not likely to increase your assessment. Landscaping your property should increase its curb appeal and could also increase its value, but would not increase your assessment. There are also improvements that would increase your market value and correspondingly your assessment. Some of these changes include adding central air conditioning, finishing off a basement, building an addition, and possibly remodeling a kitchen or bath(s).
Even after property owners receive their initial letter, they have an opportunity to challenge the new valuation. It usually begins with an informal hearing, which is basically just a meeting in which the owner can present their case. We always advise bringing data to support your argument. If the informal hearing doesn’t produce the desired outcome, then there is a more formal appeals process. This can vary by town, so be sure to check with your assessor to find out the exact process.
Remodeling Cost versus Value
The November 2009 issue of Remodeling Magazine included the 22nd edition of their annual report about the financial impact of various home improvement projects. They look at both midrange and upscale projects, and hit on all the major renovations, calculating the percentage of the cost that could be recovered in a sale. Data is broken down by region and even by major cities within a region. I was excited to discover that Hartford is one of the cities profiled, meaning that the data is specific to our area. Check out the complete list of projects and paybacks for Greater Hartford on the Cost vs Value Website.
There is lots of interesting data – here are some observations after poking around the various reports:
- Most projects allow homeowners to recoup between 60% and 80% of their cost. Basically this is saying that it is not appropriate to think about renovations as “investments” since they will rarely increase the value of a home by more than the cost of the project. Sellers sometimes think that they should recover at least 100% of the value of recent projects. Every situation is different, so in some cases that may be true, but in general remodeling projects do not “pay for themselves” except when the owner’s enjoyment of the finished work is factored in.
- Most of the projects with higher payback percentages are structural renovations that have little opportunity to customize. For example, siding and window replacements rank highly. On the other hand, projects that are often very specific to the owners bring a lower payback. Examples here include a sunroom addition or a home office renovation.
- At the national level, payback amounts for most projects have decreased since last year. However in the New England region paybacks have actually increased for most projects, though the report doesn’t try to explain why this might be true. Perhaps the data simply reflects the fact that the housing stock in New England is older than in other parts of the country so renovations are more important here.
- Payback amounts are generally higher in the Hartford metro area than in the New England region, which are in turn higher than the national averages. Renovation projects are apparently very cost effective in our area – good news for us! Three projects return an average of more than 100% in Greater Hartford (siding replacement, converting attic space to a bedroom, and replacing the front door).
Check out the full report to see the specifics for any projects that you’re considering. The key message that the study sends is that each dollar spent on the average remodeling project translates into less than a dollar of increased value for your home. That being said, the payback for every project is going to be different. It will be based on the needs of your home and specific decisions made within the project.