Grrrr doesn’t get much more frustrating. Layers of government systems that don’t work. Hope you get yours sorted. I was at “service bc” yesterday, at least the government employee was good but the red tape is driving me out of business.
Back this past fall I had someone from BC Assessment phone me regarding a secondary suite conversion I was doing for a client. The project wasn't yet complete and the permit was still open. I can only assume they knew about the work because of the building permit. All they were interested in was if any new living space had been added, to which the answer was no. Turning an existing but unpermitted suite into a legal one by upgrading to proper fire separation assemblies, separating HVAC, etc, plus some nicer finishes.
I doubt anyone on here would complain about undervalued assessments since it directly affects how much tax you pay. It could be argued that potential buyers MAY look at assessments to get a feel what they should offer for a house- it really isn't a precise market value. So no real benefit! Most people haven't bought their house as an investment but as a home. Some may feel it is a confirmation of all the sacrifices they went through to own it and now it is worth so much more than they paid for it. Really just a tool for the government to keep inflating value and treating it like a piggy bank that they can raid for more money
Taxes you pay depend on the mill rate that the municipality or your town or city levels. This of course depends on the budget they pass. As for assessments all you can hope for is that it is fair. In my case I built a smallish spec quality home on a waterfront lot because there is just my wife and I and it was the waterfront that was important to us. We were fine for a few years-then these 4 to 5000 sq ft luxury homes were built mostly by absent owners and suddenly assessment values started to increase by huge amounts. My assessment as a % seemed to increase greater than theirs. Finally I am looking at a 5000 sq foot luxury home with 6 baths with an assessed sq foot value of $311. My spec house with 2 baths and End of the Roll carpet was $403. I had to object-but mine is the cheapest home in the neighborhood and of course the natural tendency by them is to try and even out the assessments. That is what I think happened over the course of 5 years. So you should be vigilant because over assessment can happen but you need to document it.
Haha just took a better look at mine and my building is only worth $72,000.00 hahaha. The two rotten rental houses across the street are each worth $120,000 on the buildings.
| Feb 12, 2024 | $1,396,000 |
They would do that because their assessment purports to be the VALUE of the property as of july 1 2024. There is no better proof of value than somebody willingly paying that much money. Better insight into the market than all the educated guesses. Expect the neighbourhood assessments to rise next year--be very hard to fight with an actual cash example available.
Are you OK with inviting them into your house? If there’s anything in there that hasn’t been disclosed in the past as an addition or renovation, it will be included going forward.
