Loudoun County Real Estate Statistics and News

Loudoun County Tax Assessments And Tax Rate - Update

I received my 2007 Loudoun County property tax assessment in the mail last night.  Surprisingly, it was very accurate.  I did a market analysis on my house prior to seeing the county assessment and felt that a value of $415,000 was in order.  The county assessed the value at $420,000.  This value represents a decrease of 12.8% from the 2006 assessment value of $482,000. 

If you haven't received your assessment in the mail you can go to the Loudoun County government website and find out your assessed value.  They say the 2007 values have been updated.

If your assessed value isn't at least 10% lower than last year, you are currently over valued or you were under valued last year.  If you need to find out which it is, here is a post that outlines how to go about do that and getting your assessed value changed.

Now for the bad news.  The Loudoun County supervisors will probably raise the tax rate from the current level of .89 per 1000 of assessed value to .975.  This is an increase of 9.55% over 2006.  Given this most likely scenario, anyone whose assessed value was not decreased by at least 9.55% will end up paying more in property taxes this year.

Loudoun County Real Estate Market Update

Loudoun County real estate inventory levels continue to remain steady.  Currently there are 2020 homes for sale in Loudoun County.  Levels have been in the 2000 unit range since December.  January was a very balanced month with no increase in inventory levels.  An unseasonably warm beginning of the month helped sales while listings have remained moderate. 

In Ashburn, new listings and sales were identical with sales coming in at 125 for the month.  This was also exactly the same number of sales last January. This ends a string of 22 consecutive months of year over year declines in units sold.  This is one indicator that says Ashburn is at an intermediate bottom in the marketplace.

The spring market is just around the corner and we are seeing a healthy amount of buyer activity.  So far the number of listings has been an unusually quiet for the beginning of the year.  Last year the listings were being added at twice the rate of sales.  This started in January and lasted all the way through June.  We will be keeping an eye out to see what happens this spring.

Loudoun County Tax Assessments

Within the next couple of weeks, Loudoun County will be mailing the tax assessments for your property.  They will include the new assessed value of your property for 2007.  Your property taxes will be calculated by multiplying the assessed value by .0089.

As we all know, the fair market value of our homes has depreciated during the last year.  In most cases, the depreciation has been between 10% and 15% since the last assessments.  The 2007 assessments should reflect this drop in value.  If it does not, then you have the option of having your assessment reviewed.  There is a process in place to do so.  You can access the Loudoun County assessors website and download the application and instructions for the review process.  The deadline is March 16, 2007.

The success of your review will depend on providing the county with the value you think your home is and supply the tax assessors office with supporting evidence of your value.  It will also require that you fill out the form in its entirety.  Failure to do any of these things will more than likely result in your review being rejected.   

Because of our access to certain databases, we can expedite the process for you if you would like.  We can provide the necessary documentation, supporting evidence and answers to questions regarding the process.  We are setting up appointments to meet with homeowners beginning February 16th.  The fee for this service is $20 and covers the costs necessary to research your property, provide a market value asessment and provide support documentation.  Below is the procedure for setting up your appointment.

1.  Email or Phone our office with your Name and Address.

2.  Set up a time to pick up your Market Value Assessment and Supporting Documents.

3.  Go to the website for the Assessors office and Download the application form.

4.  Bring your application and $20 fee in to our office at your appointment time.

5.  Pick up your Support Documents and Discuss our Assessment of your Property.

6.  Mail your application in to the Assessors Office along with the Support Documents.

Just to give you an idea of the savings potential, the average home in Ashburn had a value depreciation of close to $70,000 in 2006.  An assessment review could realize a savings of $623 based on the average 2007 property tax bill.

Other Resources:

Loudoun County Real Estate Tax, Assessment & Parcel Database - Go here to find your Parcel ID Number, Tax Map #, etc.

Loudoun County Assessor Website - Go here to download application for review

If you know of anyone else who would like to take advantage of the review process, please feel free to forward a link to this post.

Seller Mistake #3 - Picking the Wrong Agent

When it comes to selling your house, the single most important decision you will make is what agent to use.  Any mistake made with regards to listing your house will directly effect the cash you will receive at closing.  Mistakes will come directly out of your profit, or in some cases lately, directly out of your bank account.  Therefore it is vital that you choose an agent wisely.   

The three mistakes that can cause the most damage to your bottom line are:

1.  Picking an agent that is not familiar with your neighborhood or does not have proven experience in your neighborhood.  The differences that exist between marketplaces in Northern Virginia is so drastic that unless an agent is experienced in selling in your town or at least the same county, the chances for errors in the listing of your home increase dramatically.  Another reason choosing an agent with experience in your area is important is the current reliance on networking.  An agent that can pick up the phone and speak with another agent they have done business with in the past, can get constructive feedback on your house and anything else going on in the neighborhood.  An unconnected agent will be flying blind.  In the month of January, less than 49% of the listings sold were from agents outside of Loudoun County and some as far away as Bowie, Maryland and Fredericksburg.  The question is how is that effecting the price of homes in your neighborhood.

2.  Choosing an agent you are related to.  This is called the guilt listing.  You feel guilty not listing your house with your sister/mom etc.  You don't want to create any drama in the family so you give them a chance.  Many problems with this.  First they are usually agents that fit into the first category.  They don't know the area and don't have the necessary connections to get you sold.  Second, it is never wise to mix business and family.  The sale of your house is a business transaction.  I recently listed a home for a couple that used their sister to list the home.  After 12 months they finally made the decision to cancel the listing with her.  They held off doing this because they didn't want to hurt her feelings.  The lost in equity for this couple during that time period will be close to $50,000.

3.  Choosing an agent because of commission.  This is the penny-wise, pound foolish listing.  If you are not an experienced home seller and you do not have the necessary resources and time to do most of the work than choosing a discount or help-u-sell agent could mean disaster.  Discount agent offer lower commissions because their cost structure has been lowered.  The problem is some agents cut costs in areas that can lead to longer sales cycles, less exposure and in turn lower sales prices.  In today's market you can usually negotiate a lower cost with an experienced full service agent.  And in fact, our firm has a program set up specifically for customers that need a lower commission but don't want to go it alone.

In a marketplace as competitive as ours is today, don't put yourself at a disadvantage by making any of these mistakes.