Can be accessed online

http://www.bcassessment.ca/Pages/default.aspx

go to For Public tab and then e-valueBC.

Thank you lonesome sparrow for posting the link.

This is so wonderfull that our assessments have increased. Our friendly city hall will be able to rape us even more then last year
Cheers

I find it very hard to believe that the assessed value of VLA homes increased by $14K, while in comparison Lakewood / Heritage / Foothills increased by a mere $1,300??

“This is so wonderfull that our assessments have increased. Our friendly city hall will be able to rape us even more then last year”
You dont really understand how property taxes work. If your house was valued at $100 then you would pay 2000 or 3000% rate… at the end of the day its the same. ;)

Had a look at my home’s assessed value only to find I now have a basement with 600 sq feet of finished area and a 4th bedroom. If only I could find the entrance to the basement so I could start enjoying this newly discovered BC Assessment luxury.

I discovered that I lived in a 1.5 story house. I could swear that my stairs go up a full floor height to three upstairs bedrooms, bathroom, hallway and sitting area.

Shows they need to hire some people who know more than just number crunching comparative area sales. It makes little difference to the City. It could, however make a difference to the individual homeowners when they put the house on the market.

Maybe in the future the government will contract out the assessment’s, look out, Commonwealth Assessment Corporation.

Does anyone know if we got a snow clearing budget this year our road has`nt been done since last year…

I’ve discovered over the years, that this is one crew that is completely inept.

I would strongly suggest, if you disagree with your assessment that you take the time to fight it. Typically, their number 1 tactic is to stonewall you, thinking you won’t bother going through with the appeal process, but if you do, I can assure you a favourable outcome if you appeal to logic and common sense. Find good comparables and go to the hearing prepared, and you’ll do fine. It’s very intimate, you won’t be on display for the public. Leave emotion at the door, and I promise it will be a cakewalk.

It’s no wonder to me why the organization is full of clowns though. They tried to recruit me while I was in college, and I was already making more as a first year student in my chosen profession than they were offering after obtaining their bogus BA in real estate bs. Only people with little to no other options would work at a place like this, and so they get the dregs.

God … a whole year without clearing snow ….

I doubt too many people are interested in trying to get their residences appraised at higher values than the assessment authority determines.

If one is looking for a mortgage, then an independent appraisal is done for the specific piece of real estate. The government assessment may provide that appraiser a guide, but the homeowner needs to point out to the appraiser some of the highlights of a custom home, such as the qulity of the finishing and fittings which some may not be that conversant in unless they do a lot of custom homes. Typically they do a percentage premium for three levels of finish.

My mother’s house, for instance, has been upgraded with European style windows (windows which tilt both inward and outward, top to bottom, side to side, and switch over to full side hinges), some polycarbonate glass for security, as well as roll shutters.

I doubt there are many appraisers who would be able to judge the life left in the windows and the value they add to a house. In fact, the value may never be recouped unless there are buyers willing to pay a premium for such quality.

In my mind assessments are done in such a way that they may be relatively accurate to within 10% of the value 90% of the time there is a sale in the year of the assessment. It is the unusual cases which will fall outside of that envelope.

Assessments and appraisals are not exact sciences.

An assessment is just a number the City can set their tax rates on. No, it’s not always ‘right’, but what’s ‘right’ is often in the eye of the beholder.

Your property taxes are calculated based on a mill rate of its assessed value, per $1,000.

When the city trumpets their property tax rate is staying the same, if your assessment increased by $50,000 you are paying higher taxes because the millage rate is applied against the total assessment.

It is always worth fighting an unfair assessment. BC Assessment only exist for tax purposes, they provide absolutely zero service for the public, and their assessment has nothing to do with the market selling price of your home.

A permanent reduction in property assessment amounts to a permanent reduction in your property tax burden, so it is always worth fighting.

To start, find comparable properties to your own and compare their selling price to your assessed value. Make note of differences of superiority in lower selling properties to your own. eg: 30 years newer house, paved driveway, more square footage, by school, etc… Next, phone up BC Assessment and dispute your assessment using some of the points you discovered. The agent will stonewall and refuse to adjust, there is a strong chance they will belittle you or insult you. Your next step is to schedule an assessment review before a panel. If you have comparable (or far superior) properties to your own which sold for LESS than your assessed value, it’s almost a certainty they will reduce your assessment. The 10-15 minutes this takes will save you hundreds off your taxes.
Bring photos, it helps.

BC Assessment agents rank somewhere between back alley abortionists and concentration camp guards in my books. They are not on your side, they only exist to exploit others for a profit.

“their assessment has nothing to do with the market selling price of your home.”

Totally false in my opinion ….

If I sold my home in the past mid 2011 to mid 2012 it would go in the group of comparables as well as geographic based data.

The reason why the VLA would have gone up by over 14% in assessment while the Heritage area would have gone up just a little is because the type of housing prices-location-types located in the other three areas was far more popular likely based mostly on the low prices available.

Seems there has been a “correction” in the City of Vancouver of around 20%, especially in the condo market.

“A permanent reduction in property assessment amounts to a permanent reduction in your property tax burden, so it is always worth fighting.”

We have been in our house for 35 years, so that has worked iin my favour so far.

However, once one is interested in selling, it is difficult to overcome a low assessment when trying to get a higher offer.

If an error has been made in calculation which lowers the assessment too much, you could be losing more in the sales value than many years of additional taxes would have cost. In fact, all other things staying the same, it would take me 100 years to pay out the increased assessement amount in taxes.

100 highest assessed properties in Northern BC.

Single family residential in PG might be of special interest.

http://www.bcassessment.ca/Assessment%20Roll%20Information/Northern%20BC%20Top%20100%20Valued%20Residential%20Properties-Final.pdf

I found out I have two full bathrooms, I’m still trying to find the tub out of the half bath.

I’ve always found BC Assessment very reasonable to deal with in disputing any values they’ve determined that I believed were too high. In every instance the Assessor has either adjusted the values right on the spot, or sent someone around to do a re-assessment of the property and improvements in question. And then made a reduction. For a government agency I think they do a good job, all in all.

Property tax itself is really an archaic anachronism that is one of the most unfair methods of taxation levied in our modern times. It should really be abolished. It puts those who actually ‘do’ something on their property at a permanent disadvantage to those who ‘do’ nothing, and simply hold it for speculation.